International Football
African quintet handed tricky 2022 World Cup groups
The five African countries at this year’s World Cup have been handed tricky groups at the tournament with Tunisia drawn to face world champions France while Cameroon will play five-time winners Brazil.
African champions Senegal will take on hosts the Netherlands in Group A with Ghana drawn in Group H to play Uruguay in what will be a repeat of the 2010 World Cup quarter-final.
Morocco will play Belgium, the second highest ranked side in the world as the Atlas Lions will take on the European side in Group F.
Africa’s biggest hope will be pinned on Senegal, who won the recent TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, as they will play hosts Qatar and Ecuador.
The Teranga Lions, led by captain Sadio Mane of Liverpool, have been in excellent form over the year, having won Africa’s flagship tournament when beating Egypt in the final in February before beating the same opponent last week to qualify for the competition.
The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia will face tougher opponents in Group D as they will play title holders France, Denmark and a team from one of the playoffs in the coming weeks.
Cameroon are in Group G to face South American giants Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland while Morocco will face Belgium, Canada and Croatia in Group F.
Ghana will be seeking a revenge over Uruguay who eliminated them at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa under controversial circumstances and they will also face Portugal and South Korea in Group H.
No two teams from the same continental association were put in the same group, except for European teams.
In the overall draw, former champions Germany and Spain will clash at this year’s tournament after they were put in in Group E with Japan and the winner of the intercontinental playoff between Costa Rica and New Zealand in June.
Another interesting group is Group B where England will face geopolitical rivals USA and Iran as well as a winner from a playoff that involves their neighbours Scotland and Wales.
The draw in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Friday was attended by more than 2,000 guests including the CAF leadership led by President Patrice Motsepe, representatives of the five African countries participating in the competition as well as several other African federations leaders.
The draw assistants featured some African legends Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha of Nigeria and Algeria’s Rabah Madjer as well as former World Cup winners Cafu and Lothar Matthaeus.
Nigerian music superstar, David ‘Davido‘ Adeleke, opened the event together with American star Trinidad Cardona and Qatari sensation Aisha as they performed the song, Hayya Hayya (Better Together) , which is the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 official soundtrack.
This was followed by the opening speeches by the FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who vowed a spectacular tournament.
“I feel proud and happy that the world will see Qatar as we promised. We will provide an exceptional World Cup in our Arab world,” Sheikh Al-Thani assured.
Hosts Qatar, who will be playing in their first World Cup, will take on Ecuador in the tournament’s opening game at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.
The tournament gets underway on 21 November and the final is set for 18December, one week before Christmas.
Those Qatar 2022 groups in full
Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Netherlands, Senegal
Group B: England, Iran, USA, Scotland/Wales/Ukraine
Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
Group D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia
Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan
Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
-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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