International Football
Brazil fear lack of European matches could cost them in Qatar
Brazil are the bookmakers’ favourites to win the World Cup but their lack of friendlies against European opposition over the last four years perturbs coach Tite, who fears it could cost them in Qatar.
Brazil were drawn in Group G on Friday and will face Switzerland, Serbia and Cameroon in the finals.
They are unquestionably the best side in South America along with Argentina, having recorded a record 45 points in the qualifiers and going unbeaten in all 17 matches.
But without game time against teams such as France, Spain, England and Germany, Tite admitted there was a question mark over just how good the five-times world champions really are.
“We don’t have these encounters so there’s a doubt,” he said last year.
In the four years between the last two World Cups, Brazil faced eight European teams including holders Germany, hosts Russia and eventual winners France.
However, in the four years since Belgium knocked them out at the quarter-final stage in Russia, they have only once met a team from Europe, beating the Czech Republic 3-1 in a March 2019 friendly.
That is down partly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has squeezed the football calendar since 2020, but it is also because of the Nations League.
The launch of the Nations League in 2018 was designed, according to UEFA, to “reduce the number of meaningless friendlies”.
Brazil, though, see such friendlies not as meaningless but as a chance to test themselves against the best in the world and Tite has repeatedly asked the Brazilian Football Confederation to arrange games against European sides.
“Any friendly against any European team, because it is important,” he told reporters last year. “We want it. The side wants it.”
The Europeans, meanwhile, appear less worried, if comments from Spanish coach Luis Enrique are anything to go by.
When asked about the lack of transatlantic encounters, he shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t think we miss playing against teams from other continents,” he told TNT Sports Brasil last week. “European teams are the top level, the four semi-finalists at the last World Cup were European.”
“The day we have to play against them we’ll try the best we can. It will be tough, of course, but I don’t think it is a problem.
–Reuters
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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