International Football
All eyes zero in on Qatar as football spectacle begins to take shape
On Monday, the countdown begins. For five weeks, English Premier League and La Liga kits will be stashed aside as club allegiances take a back seat.
Instead of the Gunners, Blaugrana, or Nerazzurri, nicknames of teams like Die Mannschaft, Selecao and La Roja will roll off tongues as national pride comes to the fore.
Until Dec 18, only the flag on their chest will matter to the more than 800 players from 32 teams who will begin to trickle into Qatar for the World Cup.
It is an unfamiliar, unusual and uncomfortable scenario as they shift their attention away from their employers midway through the established club football calendar. This is the case for supporters, too.
Timing aside, the host nation has come in for criticism over a number of issues ranging from human rights to its stance on homosexuality and consumption of alcohol.
Qatar pledged labour reforms and since 2016, has improved salaries and living conditions for migrant workers, among other revamps.
Change, though, takes time and as it continues to take place, teams and players will no doubt make their opinions heard over the next few weeks.
Through it all, the World Cup remains special for what it is at its essence: a football spectacle.
Every fan can recall their first tournament experience. Mine is watching Roberto Baggio sky his penalty against Brazil in 1994 on television as I was getting ready for school that morning.
The World Cup creates moments you live with forever
It mesmerises and bewitches. Stirs and stimulates. It can even pit brother against brother.
Nico and Inaki Williams, for example, play for the same club, Athletic Bilbao, in Spain where they were born.
In Qatar, though, 20-year-old Nico has been selected to play for the Spaniards, while big brother Inaki, 28, will represent Ghana, where their parents were born.
Depending on how the teams fare in the group stage, the brothers could meet in the quarter-finals. If they do, it will be all “business”, even if their mother Maria has a “divided heart”, Inaki told ESPN last month.
The World Cup can kindle a wide array of emotions, and also stokes fandom and worship even in nations that have never kicked a ball on its stage.
In India, fans from the small village of Pullavoor in Kerala erected towering cut-outs of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar in the Kurungattu Kadavu river. It is a level of devotion not many can comprehend.
An Instagram account of Argentina fans based in Kerala has 183,000 followers. In comparison, Ghana’s official football federation has 123,000.
Dhiman Sarkar, a football journalist with the Hindustan Times, explains that the love for Brazil’s football team in India stems from their reputation as entertainers and for being “possibly everyone’s second favourite team”.
“The support for Argentina,” he adds, “is because of Maradona and 1986. (That) was also the first time all games were televised live in India. And how could anyone not fall for him!”
If that was what matches on TV 36 years ago could do, imagine what emotions the World Cup will rouse among football fans over the coming weeks.
The fact a full-scale, in-person tournament will take place is already a massive step forward for the game following nearly three years of the pandemic. The delayed Olympics in 2021 were the first global sports event to take place amid Covid-19. The athletes were in Tokyo but not the fans, with Japan barring spectators in stadiums.
This time, in excess of 1.2 million visitors will arrive in Qatar to attend the tournament, and Fifa president Gianni Infantino has predicted that five billion people – or roughly two-thirds of the world’s population – will watch the action on TV around the globe.
For five weeks, the football world stops and watches
-The Strait Times
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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