International Football
WE ASPIRE TO BE ON TOP OF THE WORLD, NDIDI TELLS SINGAPORE PRESS
BY DAVID LEE.
In 1977, Brazil football legend Pele predicted that Africa would deliver a World Cup champion by 2000, as he was impressed by the talents in the continent.
Since then, African footballers have made an impact in Europe. At the last World Cup in Russia, more than 70 per cent of the 115 African players called up across Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal were playing for European clubs.
However, it was also the first time since 1982 that no African teams made it to the round of 16.
Corruption and a lack of infrastructure, and even the disproportionate allocation of World Cup spots – Africa has 48 countries vying for four places, while 13 slots were up for grabs for 54 European teams – have often been cited as reasons for Africa’s lack of progress at football’s biggest stage.
But in an exclusive interview with The Straits Times, Nigeria
midfielder Wilfred Ndidi said he believes that African teams can make a bigger
impact at the World Cup. They need to believe more in themselves and play as a
team to get to a World Cup final, or at least surpass the quarter-final feat
achieved by Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), and Ghana (2010), he added.
“With the right mindset and belief in our qualities, and playing together as a team and not just individuals, we can make every game count and get the wins to go as far as possible,” said the 22-year-old Leicester City player, who is here with Nigeria for a friendly against Brazil today as part of the Brazil Global Tour.
While Nigeria have blazed the trail for Africa by winning five Under-17 world titles and Olympic football gold in 1996, and reached the second round of the World Cup three times (the most for an African team), the Super Eagles have never progressed past the round of 16.
German Gernot Rohr, who has coached Nigeria since 2016, said that African teams still have to improve in terms of organisation and discipline. The 66-year-old said: “It is always the same problems – waiting days for our equipment to arrive, visa issues – we have to do better.
“We need to do better work with the young players, who need to have more discipline. We have African players doing well in Europe, some like our stand-in captain William Troost-Ekong are born in Europe and bring back good philosophy and culture which others can learn.”
Citing Nigeria’s 4-2 win over two-time world champions Argentina in 2017 as evidence that the gap is narrowing between African teams and the world’s best, Ndidi believes that a combination of experience and youth will also help Nigeria’s cause.
With 2015 Under-17 World Cup winners Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Osimhen in Nigeria’s squad in Singapore, Ndidi said: “We have closed the gap and we are still growing. You can see we are trying to play a young team at the World Cup, and at the African Cup of Nations.
“We are young, mobile, and we can play good football. Everything comes with time, we are trying our best and we are getting there.”
Tonight’s friendly against the Samba Boys will give the Super Eagles the opportunity to show the world they are ready to soar again, even if they are missing John Obi Mikel and Odion Ighalo, who have retired from international football, and injured striker and captain Ahmed Musa.
Brazil beat Nigeria 3-0 in their only meeting in 2003 but the latter are plotting an upset. Troost-Ekong said: “Brazil are one of the best teams in the world and we have to respect them. But if we are at our best, we can make things difficult for them. We shouldn’t fear them or be afraid. We have young players who want to prove ourselves.”
-The Straits Times
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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