International Football
VATICAN CITY WOMEN PLAY FIRST COMPETITIVE FOOTBALL ON THE SIDELINES OF FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
BY MATTHEW SMITH
As the FIFA Women’s World Cup draws international attention to women’s football, the world’s smallest country have played their first ever match – against one of Italian football’s biggest names.
The Vatican City’s women’s team played their inaugural competitive match on May 26 against Serie A giants Roma.
Although the match, played over two 20-minute halves, resulted in “a double-figures defeat and a baptism of fire”, according to AFP, it represents a significant milestone for a trailblazing women’s team.
The Vatican City men’s team played their first match in 1985, and their first international in 1994 with a 0-0 draw against San Marino.
Eight teams compete in its men’s championship, which has run for nearly half a century – but there has never been an organised women’s team or competition.
Now women are finally wearing the Vatican’s colours of a yellow jersey and white shorts, bearing the keys of St. Peter and the papal tiara crest, on the football pitch.
“We thought the time was right to try to organise something, training and matches, also for women,” said Danilo Zennaro, a representative of the Vatican department of culture and sport, to AFP.
A group of about 20 women – including Vatican employees, and workers from the Bambino Gesu pediatric hospital administered by the Holy See – meet every week to train on the grounds of the Pius XI sports centre in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The training kits are mismatched and the level of play variable, but serious effort is being made.
“We are a very heterogeneous group, there are young people aged about 25 and 50-year-olds,” said 35-year-old Vatican employee Maura Turoli, who plays as a defender.
“It’s wonderful to be on the pitch and see husbands and children waiting for us and supporting us on the other side of the fence.”
Team-mate Floriana Di Iorio, who was already part of the women’s team at the Bambino Gesu hospital, said the side “goes beyond sport” and wants to “spread a message of great openness”.
She said: “The main objective is to convey a message of union, to be consistent, to keep our enthusiasm and perhaps also to be examples in places where the role of woman is still seen as a little marginal.”
Team coach Gianfranco Guadagnoli also manages the men’s team and works in the Vatican post office, but took on the challenge of organising the women’s team.
Speaking before the match with Roma, he said: “We’ve just started this group, the first training session was one of pain, problems, but they are doing better than expected.
“We’ve never played a 11-a-side and on a big pitch, but Roma have come forward and, we will try, even if our means are not those of a Serie A team.
“It does not matter, we go with our qualities and whatever happens happens, without problems or dramas.”
Undaunted by the Roma loss, the Vatican women are back in action in a tournament in Vienna later this month.
– insidethegames
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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