International Football
After teams’ arrivals; all set for Aisha Buhari Cup
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Eko Hotels, the place of abode for the six teams featuring at the inaugural invitational international football fiesta, the Aisha Buhari Cup is already bubbling with activities.
By Monday, all the five invited teams that will join the hosts, Super Falcons of Nigeria, have arrived.
For the tournament, the teams are in two pools – A and B. Nigeria heads the Pool A which also have Morocco and Mali. They play their round robin series at the remodelled water front stadium, the Mobolaji Johnson Arena that was previously named Onikan Stadium.
The Pool 2, head by South Africa has Cameroon and Ghana. Their matches will be played at the renovated Agege Stadium in Lagos mainland.
www.sportsvillagesquare.com brings to you points of interests on the participating teams.
NIGERIA
- The host team and leading lights in women’s football in Africa became the first African side to play at the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in China in 1991 after defeating all their opponents home-and-away in the qualifying series.
- For many years, the Super Falcons remained undefeated by any African side. They had a 28 match unbeaten run from their debut match of 16 February 1991 to 10 December 2002.
- Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala and Perpetua Nwokcha are record winners of the African Woman Footballer of the Year Award having each won four times.
- Nigerian women have won the African Woman’s Footballer of the Year Award more that women from other countries. In 17 editions, Nigerian women won 11 times.
- Nigeria’s Super Falcons have won the African Women’s Championships more than any other team. In 13 editions, they won 11 times.
MOROCCO
- Morocco have featured at two editions of the Women African Women Championships .
- Moroccan women drew their first ever international match, 1-1 with South Africa on 5 July 1998.
- Morocco’s biggest defeat, 8-0, was inflicted by Nigeria’s Super Falcons on 17 October 1998 in Kaduna.
Mali
Mali’s women’s national played their first international match against Cote d’Ivoire on 9 August 2002. It ended 2-2.
Mali’s biggest win was a 8-0 defeat of Guinea in Conakry on 23 February 2008.
Mali’s biggest loss was a 8-0 defeat by Nigeria on 9 April 2015 in Abuja
SOUTH AFRICA
- South Africa’s Banyana Banyana have featured in two Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016.
- South Africa won their very first international match, 14-0 against Swaziland (now Eswatini) on 30 May 1993.
- South Africa’s biggest win, 14-0 was against Comoros on 31 July 2019.
- South Africa’s biggest loss was 13-0 to China on 7 September 2003.
- South Africa won the COSAFA Women’s Champions four times in a row; 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
- Banyana Banyana of South Africa made their AWCON debut in 1995 and are beaten finalists a number of times: 1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018. They also have five players that have played over 100 games for their country.
Desire Oparanozie from Nigeria and Thembi Kgatlana of South Africa won the Golden Boot at the 2014 and 2018 AWCON finals respectively, with five goals each.
GHANA
- Ghana’s women’s national is named Black Queens has qualified for three FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in 1999, 2003 and 2007 as well as reaching the final of the Women AFCON Cup thrice, in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
- Ghana’s Gabrielle Onguene, Galle Enganamouit and Ajara Nchout have three FIFA World Cup goals to their names.
- Ghana’s Black Queens were the ones that broke the 28-match winning streak of Nigeria’s Super Falcons in Africa when they defeated Nigeria 1-0 in Warri during the 2002 African Women’s Championship in Warri on 10 December 2002.
- Ghana’s first international match was a 5-1 loss to Nigeria on 16 February 1991 in Lagos.
- Ghana’s biggest win was a 13-0 defeat of Guinea in Conakry on 11 July 2004.
Ghana’s biggest loss was a a 11-0 loss to Germany on 22 July 2016.
- CAMEROON
- Cameroon have been runners-up at the African Women Championship four times in 1991, 2004, 2014 and 2016, losing to fierce rivals Nigeria on all occasions.
- Cameroon’s first international match was a 2-0 loss to Nigeria on 15 June 1991.
- Cameroon’s biggest win is a 8-1 defeat of Mozambique on 13 September 2018.
- Cameroon’s biggest loss was a 6-0 loss to Nigeria on 27 October 1998 in Kaduna and to France 10 October 2018 in Paris.
- Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses beat Ecuador 6-0 at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup to become the first African side to score so many goals in a single match in the history of the global soccer fiesta.
Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has been named the new head coach of the England national team, the country’s Football Association said in a statement on Wednesday.
The German, who is England’s third foreign manager, after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello, will be assisted by Englishman Anthony Barry, the statement added.
“We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him,” FA CEO Mark Bullingham said.
Tuchel replaces Lee Carsley, England’s under-21 manager, who has been in temporary charge since the resignation of Gareth Southgate after England’s defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final in July.
-Reuters
German Thomas Tuchel has been appointed head coach of the England national team on Wednesday.
Born: Aug. 29, 1973 in Krumbach, Germany.
PLAYING CAREER
* Tuchel played for his local club TSV Krumbach, before moving to FC Augsburg’s academy at the age of 15.
* He never played for Augsburg’s senior side and joined German second division team Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992.
* After eight league appearances for Kickers, Tuchel moved to fourth-tier SSV Ulm.
* Tuchel made 69 league appearances for Ulm as a central defender before he was forced to retire in 1998 at the age of 25 due to a knee injury.
COACHING CAREER
* Tuchel began his coaching career with a youth team role at VfB Stuttgart in 2000, working with future Germany internationals Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber.
* He returned to Augsburg and took charge of their reserve team for the 2007-08 season.
* Tuchel was appointed Mainz 05 manager in 2009, replacing compatriot Juergen Klopp.
* He guided Mainz to Bundesliga stability during his five-year stint at the club, gaining plaudits for his team’s high energy, attacking style of play.
* Tuchel took over from Klopp as Borussia Dortmund coach in 2015.
* He led Dortmund to a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2017 German Cup final. He was sacked by Dortmund three days later.
* Tuchel joined Paris St Germain in 2018 on a two-year contract, replacing Unai Emery.
* He won two Ligue 1 titles, including a domestic quadruple in his second season, and guided the club to their first Champions League final, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
* Tuchel was sacked by PSG on Christmas Eve in 2020, despite the club finishing top of their Champions League group and sitting third in the Ligue 1 table.
* He was named Chelsea manager in January 2021 on an initial 18-month contract following the dismissal of Frank Lampard.
* Tuchel revived the team’s Premier League season and guided the London club to the Champions League final, where they beat Manchester City. Chelsea also won the Super Cup and Club World Cup.
* Chelsea sacked Tuchel in September 2022 following a shock 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League group game.
* Bayern Munich appointed Tuchel to succeed Julian Nagelsmann in March last year.
* Bayern decided to let Tuchel go at the end of the 2023-24 season despite a contract until 2025. Tuchel steered Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2022-23, but they finished the last campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
* Tuchel will become England’s third foreign manager after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello.
* Tuchel will take over the team in January ahead of the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
-Reuters
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
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