International Football
At the World Cup, opening matches are often crucial
As the first World Cup in the Arab world kicks off, it is pertinent to note that in the tournament, the outcome of the first match is often crucial and goes a long way in shaping a team’s prospects.
Such matches are sometimes tension-filled, irrespective of the relative strength of the teams. With
three first round matches, a team may not feel same pressure at their first match of the World Cup as they might prior to their third match.
But the opening matches may hold more importance than many realize. Take for instance France ‘98. Of the 16 teams that advanced into the second round, not one of them lost the opening match.
Ten of the 16 teams that went through to the next stage attained the required two victories necessary while four others went undefeated with a win and two draws.
Only Denmark which eliminated Nigeria in the second round of France ‘98 went through with just a win and two draws. Chile was able to keep afloat with three draws in their Group B encounters.
The trend is carried over to the next two World Cup finals. At Korea/Japan 2010, only two of the 16 qualifiers for the second round lost their opening matches.
They were Mexico and Turkey who lost their opening matches 0-1 and 2-1 respectively. Some others who drew
their opening games were also able to scrape through.
Such included both England and Sweden who played 1-1 draw in their opening game. Ireland drew 1-1 with Cameroon and was able to advance just as did Belgium and Paraguay.
The same thing happened at Germany 2006 when Ukraine and Ghana were the only teams that lost their opening games and still got to the Round of 16. The 11 others of the remain ing 14 had outright victories leaving Sweden, Switzerland and France as teams with barren draws in their opening game and still managed to advance.
However at the last World Cup in South Africa, Spain achieved a rare feat. The country became the first to lose an
opening round and still went on to win the final match. Also in winning the cup, Spain became the first European team to win the World Cup outside Europe.
The in-built rule therefore for ambitious teams in the World Cup or any tournament with similar format is to avoid an opening match defeat. A win of the first match can buoy confidence as it happened to Cameroon at Italia ’90 against Argentina and also to Nigeria 28 years ago as well as Senegal in 2002.
A defeat could be devastating to the psyche of a team as did to the potentially strong Spanish side that surprising
lost 3-2 to Nigeria in their opening game in Nantes.
Spain who were upset in the first match tried to make up and looked ahead to Paraguay and Bulgaria, and still looked good bet to still pick scale through to the round of 16.
But a scoreless draw with Paraguay made their 6- 1 pounding of Bulgaria in the last match worthless after the Super Eagles lost their last match to Paraguay in the final group match.
France ‘98 was the first tournament that comprised 32 teams divided into eight groups of four. The 16 teams that move into the second round are two top finishers of the groups. In the four World Cup tournaments before France ‘98, just 24 teams were involved, meaning four third place finishers also advanced out of group play.
Whereas in USA’94 for instance, a team could almost assure itself of a fourth match with four points from the first
round, the general consensus now is that a team must try to win twice to continue to the second round.
One fact that has emerged in the 92-year history of the World Cup is that only one team ever lost the opening match and went ahead to World Cup .
Only two teams have won the cup after drawing in the opening game. Paulo Rossi-inspired Italy in
1982 did not even record its first win until after the group games. Also in 1966, England recovered from their scoreless draw with Uruguay to win their next five games and eventually the cup.
The aspiring teams of Qatar 2022 will be wise to avoid defeat in the opening games
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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