International Football
FRANCE 2019: NIGERIA’S COACH, DENNERBY PREPARING FOR THE GAME OF HIS LIFE
According to FIFA.com, preparation is everything when it comes to succeeding at a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ This is a fact Thomas Dennerby is very much aware of. He took over as head coach of Nigeria’s women’s national team in January 2018 and jumped at the chance to take his team to the Cyprus Cup.
“First of all I was
very happy that we had this opportunity,” the Swede told FIFA.com.
“Playing at a tournament like this is extremely important for a team like
the Super Falcons. We played against teams that are ranked a bit higher. That
gave us a lot of experience.”
Nigeria met Austria, Slovakia, Belgium and Thailand at the competition.
“We were a bit unlucky in the first game [against Austria] and we can almost forget about it. We got a red card just after six minutes, but actually we did well in the first half.
“But when you play with only ten players for such a long time then you start to get tired.” That proved to be costly for his side, who eventually slipped to a 4-1 defeat.
“If you look at the games after that, we played really well against Slovakia in the first half, but we lost a bit of concentration in the second,” Dennerby continued.
“There were three penalties in the last 20 minutes, but we won 4-3. Our attacking play in that game was good. We had some really nice link-ups.
“I think our match against Belgium was probably our weakest game. We were very slow, we didn’t react and only acted after something had happened. We were better in our final match against Thailand – we worked more as a team again.
“If you put the game against Austria to one side, then we only let in one goal from open play. But I’m sorry to say that for different reasons we conceded too many goals from set pieces.”
That has left the 59-year-old and his coaching staff with plenty of work still to do, and not only in defence. “We definitely need to work on our attacking play,” he said.
“It’s one thing to score four times against Slovakia and three times against Thailand, but when you go to a World Cup where we will play against Norway, Korea Republic and France, it will be a totally new challenge for the players.
“We need to work on creating chances against the best teams. We need to work on our build-up play and trying to give the players more confidence on the ball.”
If that is a big challenge for the squad, it is for the coaching staff too: the players are extremely loyal to them, but are reluctant to make any mistakes.
“They really want to do the best and do the right thing,” said Dennerby, who guided Sweden to third place at the 2011 Women’s World Cup. “I’m not saying they don’t do that in Europe, but in Nigeria they’re more extreme. It’s good in many ways, but also very heavy on their shoulders because they want to be so loyal.
“They need to feel free, that they can make mistakes. They will get a smile from the coach anyway.”
It is a smile intended to give his Super Falcons self-belief as they look to learn and grow from their errors. After all, fortune favours the bold.
“We have a really tough group, no doubt about it,” Dennerby said. “I think we have a really good chance to have a good game against Norway and also against South Korea.
“And hopefully, if I can dream a little, three of four points when we come to the final match against France so that we can have that feeling of: ‘Wow this is a once-in-a-lifetime game against the host nation.’ If I were still a player, it would be the game of my life.”
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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