International Football
Randy Waldrum promises Nigeria, a world class women’s national team
Days after leading the Super Falcons to once more earn a berth at African women football’s flagship tournament – the Women Africa Cup of Nations – American gaffer Randy Waldrum has informed thenff.com that the mission of the current technical staff of the nine-time African champions is to see the team match the world’s best teams yard-for-yard and width-for-width at the most glamorous championships.
The 65-year old, signed on by the Nigeria Football Federation in October 2020 to steer the Falcons to new levels after decades of flagrant domination on the African continent, believes the current squad has the spirit, depth and capacity to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Team USA, Germany, Japan, Norway and Brazil when the die is cast.
The Falcons have been to every single edition of the FIFA World Cup since the competition was launched in 1991, but have only survived group stage attrition on two occasions – in the USA in 1999 and in France 20 years later.
“Our initial mandate as given by the NFF was to qualify the team for the Women AFCON in Morocco. That, we have achieved. However, in the preparation and process, we also had in mind the imperative of building a squad with the strength, stamina and technical balance to give the world’s best teams a good run for their money, anyday and anywhere.
“I am happy that we have qualified for Morocco, where our first goal will be to qualify for the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year summer. We will continue to work on the project, getting young players who are good enough to compete with the old guard, and pick the best team always. I like the spirit of the players and their commitment to the cause, and it is an incentive in itself to keep working hard at the project.”
Waldrum, a former American professional soccer player who has coached the USA U23 girls as well as the senior women team of Trinidad and Tobago, underscored his boldness when he handed four players their first caps in the crucial 2022 Women AFCON final qualifying round, first leg match against the Lady Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in Abuja on 18th February. Defender Ashleigh Plumptre (who has trained with the Nigeria team since August 2021 but got FIFA go-ahead to represent Nigeria at senior level in December 2021), midfielder Amanda Mbadi and forwards Ifeoma Onumonu and Esther Okoronkwo gave good accounts of themselves on the day.
Plumptre was the heart-throb of the crowd with her strength and savvy in defence, while Onumonu, who plays for Gotham FC in New York, scooped the honours by scoring both goals that handed Nigeria the advantage in the two-leg fixture.
Okoronkwo, who plays for Saint Etienne in France, was the heroine in the return leg, hammering the nail in the coffin of the Ivorians with an 87th minute goal that sealed a 3-0 aggregate win, after goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie had saved a penalty with 11 minutes left in the first period.
Ageless and tireless stallion Francisca Ordega scored a goal that was ruled out in the opening half, and the fact that the Falcons felt strongly that they were denied a penalty of their own summed up the fact that they gave as much as they received in Abidjan. The performance ledger was of a different colour from the way they puttered and petered out against the same Ivorians in the race for a spot at the 2020 Olympic Women’s Football Tournament.
Veterans Onome Ebi and Osinachi Ohale also stood firm in defence, with Toni Payne and Rasheedat Ajibade pulling strings in midfield.
Talking about strength-in-depth, another veteran, Rita Chikwelu still have some fire in the middle of the pack, and Uchenna Kanu and Christy Ucheibe can add lustre at the fore on their day.
There are still options like Akudo Ogbonna, Rofiat Imuran, Oluwatosin Demehin, Nicole Payne and Christy Ogbonna in the defence, with veteran Tochukwu Oluehi able to deputise for the fabulous Chiamaka Nnadozie in goal. In the midfield, Amarachi Okoronkwo can deliver long passes and bullet shots when least expected, and Ngozi Okobi is able to provide penetrating passes that puts the strikers in good steads to deliver. Regina Otu and the Israel-based duo of Yetunde Aluko and Peace Efih are additional ammunition in midfield.
The nifty Gift Monday remains a strong force in attack, and is sure to challenge Onumonu and Okoronkwo for starting places when the team regroups sometimes in April.
The picture is of a New Nigeria squad that is able and blessed in all departments, and could achieve great things under a focused technical crew. Waldrum, recently handed a fresh two-year contract that will last till after the World Cup in Down Under, has no doubts whatsoever that his team could become one of the world’s very best soonest.
“The girls are bold, inventive and help one another out there on the pitch. It is a good picture that brings good feelings and you have the conviction that this is a team that can do great things.
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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