International Football
EIGHTEEN FLYING EAGLES SET FOR RABAT AFRICAN GAMES’ ADVENTURE
Flying Eagles coach, Paul Aigbogun has released his final list of 18 players who will represent Nigeria at the 12th All-Africa Games starting this week in Morocco.
The U20 team has been training in Abuja for the past two weeks as they prepare for Africa’s showpiece multi-sport event. The team of 18 players and their officials will travel to Lagos on Tuesday and then fly to Morocco on Wednesday morning.
Aigbogun has kept faith with the bulk of the players who were part of the training camp in Germany before the FIFA U20 World Cup held in Poland May/June this year.
Plateau United’s Ibrahim Abubakar will captain the team while
there is a return to the squad for Success Makanjuola, Chinonso Emeka, Peter
Eletu, Collins Sor and Rabiu Mohammed who all featured at the FIFA U20 World
Cup in Poland.
The Flying Eagles will start their campaign in the football event on Friday, 16th August against Burkina Faso in Rabat.
Captain of the team, Ibrahim Abubakar told thenff.com that the team will do its best to put Nigeria on the podium at the continental Games.
“We have been preparing hard at training and the coaches have also been talking to us and telling us about the importance of the competition,” he said.
“I know Nigerians want us to do well and we want to make sure we make them proud by doing all we can to go as far as we can at the Games. This is a great opportunity for me and my teammates to make the nation proud and we are determined to do so,” Abubakar added.
18 FLYING EAGLES FOR RABAT 2019
Goalkeepers: Detan Ogundare (Kogi United), Matthew Yakubu (Clique Sports)
Defenders: Rabiu Mohammed (Plateau United), Mike Zaruma (Plateau United), Habibu Sadiq Yakubu (Rarara FC), Victor Arikpo Eteng (Sidos FC), Sanusi Abdulmutallif (Katsina United)
Midfielders: Peter Eletu (Prince Kazeem FC), Adewale Oladoye (Water FC), Liameed Quadri (36 Lion), Samuel Nnoshiri (Heartland), Abubakar Ibrahim (Plateau United)
Forwards: Emeka Chinonso (Brookhouse), Success Makanjuola (Water FC), Collins Sor (36 Lion), Saeed Jibril (Plateau United), Ahmad Ghali (MFM), Adesina Gata (Wikki Tourists)
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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