International Football
Aisha Buhari Cup: Morocco happy to rub shoulders with the best teams on the continent
Like five other nations of the continent, Morocco will participate from September 15 to 21, 2021 in Lagos, Nigeria, in the first edition of the ABC tournament officially called the “Aisha Buhari Cup”.
The six-nation tournament organized during the FIFA international window will bring together the best women’s national teams from the continent, including the Super Falcons of Nigeria, nine-time African champions and hosts of the event, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses, South Africa’s Banyana Banyana, Ghana’s Black Queens, Mali’s Eagles and Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses.
On the eve of the competition, CAFOnline.com spoke with Morocco head coach Reynald Pedros. The French-born technician is eager to gauge the level of his squad, less than one year ahead of the highly anticipated TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup 2022 in Morocco. And what could be better than a high level competition for that?
CAFOnline.com: What do you think of Morocco’s participation in the Aisha Buhari Cup and what opportunities does it offer you and your team?
Reynald Pedros: The opportunity to participate in this tournament is something important for us because we are starting the season with this first FIFA date in September and we will participate in a tough tournament. It will allow us to shape a group and judge it against the best African nations. It is a great opportunity for Morocco to participate in this tournament.
What is your impression about your team’s opponents and their pedigrees?
We are in the group of Mali and Nigeria. Of course Nigeria is the favorite. After all, a football match is always unpredictable. We will do our best to be the best we can, to win our games. But we will always be at work. It is important. It will also allow us to see our opponents. We have already played against Mali, we will discover Nigeria, we will see the other nations of group B. So, it is a group that is bearable for us because we will do what is necessary to try to finish in the first two.
Is this already a preparation for the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations?
This tournament, eleven months before the Africa Cup of Nations, is important for us because the best African teams [are there]. But once again, we are still in the process. We still have time. This is the first tournament we will participate in with very tough matches.
It will be up to us, of course, to do our best to go to the end and especially to draw the necessary lessons to be able to progress and to arrive fully ready for the Women’s AFCON in July.
What do you think of this tournament considered to be a mini-Women’s AFCON?
This is indeed the first edition of the tournament and we thank the first lady for inviting us. Which means that we are one of the best African teams, so we will do everything on the ground to show that our place is here, and in our behavior too.
I think it’s going to be a tournament that will have to be renewed. When we have all the best African teams, there is quality and in any case, we will do our best to promote Morocco, to go as far as possible too, because we have ambitions.
-Cafonline
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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