International Football
How the Super Eagles will qualify for Qatar 2022
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Nigeria need an outright win to qualify for the Qatar 2022 when they face Black Stars of Ghana in Abuja on Tuesday. A goalless draw will take the game into penalty shoot-out. A score draw will give the ticket to Ghana.
There is the possibility of another scoreless draw, Eguavoen and Amuneke therefore need to add penalty kicks to the training schedule of the Super Eagles.
The ghosts of the Afcon final match of 2000 must be banished.
Super Eagles have faced a penalty shoot-out situation in World Cup qualifying series only once. That was on 12 July 1980 when they beat Tunisia 2-0 in Lagos to bring aggregate scoreline to 2-2.
Nigeria triumphed 4-3 on penalties. Sports Village Square recalls that that was the first time the Nigerian national team had a penalty shoot-out situation.
The team has a lot to learn from lessons of history. They have to realise how an hitherto simple arithmetic can turn into a complex Greek puzzle.
The most recent example of such was the qualifier played against Cape Verde whom they had beaten at home. Even with a first minute goal in Lagos, it was a miracle how the team managed to survive the remaining 89 minutes of regulation time.
First within four minutes, they lost their solitary goal advantage as the visitors were threatening to even win the match. The situation easily opened the exit doors for Gernot Rohr.
Rewind to the Africa Cup qualifiers in 2020 when within 30 minutes, the Super Eagles were four goals up against visiting Sierra Leone. But under a spell of 20 minutes, the visitors cancelled the four goals and threatened to even add another one in what has become one of the biggest come-back stories in African football.
The often repeated phrase of ‘It is not over until it is over’, is applicable here.
Nigeria missed out in the maiden edition of the African Nations Championships (CHAN) which is for the products of the domestic league owing to complacency.
Nigeria scored two goals before half time and Ghana staged a remarkable come-back in the second half to win 3-2. Ordinarily, such a result may not be too bad for a team that will host the return leg as they needed just a goal to advance.
Alas, the return leg in Calabar ended goalless. Adios, home advantage! Such lessons call for cautious optimism as well a focus until the game is over.
Lessons should also be learnt from the last Africa Cup of Nations when the Round of 16 encounter with a heavily depleted and hitherto unimpressive Tunisia.
But the same Tunisia bounced back and fortuitously eliminated the hitherto unbeaten Super Eagles from Afcon 2021. There are lessons to be learnt.
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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