International Football
Seven points of interest as Super Eagles begin quest for seventh World Cup appearance
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
As the Super Eagles begin their quest for a seventh World Cup appearance this Friday in Lagos, Sports Village Square is bringing out seven points of interest as Nigeria host Liberia at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
- The Nigeria versus Liberia duel will be Nigeria’s 105th World Cup qualifying match since the first one played against Ghana’s Black Stars in Accra on 28 August 1960. The 105 World Cup qualifying matches is the second highest in Africa after Morocco’s 116. In contrast, this match will be Liberia’s 59th World Cup qualifying match.
- Till date, no African side has raked up as many World Cup qualifying victories as Nigeria which has overall record of 58 wins in 105 matches. They are followed by Morocco’s 53 victories in 116 matches.
- The duel with Liberia will be the third time that the Super Eagles will be playing at the Teslim Balogun Stadium. In the previous two matches, Nigeria won 2-1 against Sierra Leone in a friendly match on 9 February 2011 and 3-0 against Lesotho in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match on 30 March 2021.
- With 30 players in the Super Eagles’ armoury, this is the largest assembly of Nigerian foreign-based footballers.
- Save for their last encounter which technically is categorized as exhibition match owing to the featuring of president George Weah, Nigeria and Liberia have met 17 times, the Super Eagles winning 10 and drawing four times. The remaining three encounters were won by Liberia.
- If fielded, the match with Liberia will be Ahmed Musa’s 99th international match, just one game for him to enter the famed FIFA Century Club.
- If Nigeria wins, Coach Gernot Rohr will be moving closer to equalling the number of victories Nigeria raked up under Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof under whose the Super Eagles had 27 wins. Till date, Nigeria under Rohr have won 22 matches.
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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