International Football
NFF should learn a lesson or two from Senegal
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
“Winning is a habit. Unfortunately so is losing.” – Vince Lombardi
Senegal Jollof rice is certainly better than Nigeria’s. Well, that could be because Jollof originated from Senegal. Even then, can’t Nigeria perfect it, just as Brazil did in football, despite England’s claim as originator of football?
It is certainly indisputable that Senegal are currently the best in African football. Their dominance looms large enough that even their worst antagonists will notice it.
In a space of 17 months, the Senegalese have swept all African national teams’ titles. None of the title was won on home soil. None of their teams was led by a foreign coach.
For the sake of emphasis, they won the African premier football competition – Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, the African Beach Soccer tournament in Mozambique, the African Nations Championships in Algeria, the Under 20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and now the Under 17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria.
It is left for imagination if they will not add the Africa Under 23 title to it next month to have a clean sweep of Africa’s six national teams’ trophies.
Yet some years back, Senegal were just medium size African football powers while Nigeria were contenders for continental domination.
What has really propelled Senegalese football lately while Nigeria football is steadily creeping into anonymity?
Nigerian referees are hardly considered for international appointments. Our lead football brand, the Super Eagles has been consistently inconsistent.
No Nigerian male footballer has won the African Footballer of the Year since the crowning of Nwankwo Kanu in 2000.
We no longer have the absolute dominance we had in women’s football in Africa.
The control Nigeria had in youth football, even at global level, has waned considerably as school football competitions which were the hunting ground for rising talents have long lost relevance. We have had in the past where some school boys moved directly to the national teams.
That is now history. We revel in having a glut of football academies that their owners just established for pecuniary purposes to traffic young boys abroad.
Our Under 17 players are supposed to be school boys and girls who should be writing their West African Examination Council examinations in May and June, yet we don’t seem to ask CAF to shift the competition calendar.
The African Schools Football Championship ended without Nigeria’s participation ostensibly as we have no credible national football championships.
Our clubsides have literally turned to the football the other African clubs kick about in both CAF Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
There is hardly a coach from Nigeria that commands continental respect. Yet, all the five titles Senegal have won in the past 17 months are with their nationals as coaches.
Nigeria will rather go for foreign coaches that are without track record of success.
With vast shorelines and beaches, we could not raise formidable beach soccer teams and had to convert field players to beach soccer players.
The results had been so disheartening that Nigeria had to stop participating in the African Beach Soccer as if beheading is the cure for headache. No concious effort to encourage the formation of beach soccer clubs and domestic competitions across the vast beaches that spread from Lagos State through Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Cross River State.
The concerns of the NFF seem limited to national teams. Football development has taken a back seat. Yet, in other climes, football is a big industry that even attract foreign investments.
It might be argued that Nigeria too has had its moment of dominance, but certainly not at the level that Senegal have done – a clean sweep of all titles.
Nigeria, by now should learn to make winning a habit. You don’t just win once in a while. Like a legendary American football coach, Vince Lombardi once said: “Winning is a habit. Unfortunately so is losing.” Which one do we subscribe to?
Let’s get across to Senegal and Morocco and find out what have been responsible for their rising standard.
Let the NFF take a cue from the Book of Proverbs 6:6 – “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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International Football
From garbage collector to Starman of Ancelotti’s Brazil team: the story of Ribeiro
“I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me.!” Alex Ribeiro
Alexsandro Victor de Souza Ribeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1999) was, until a few days ago, a semi-unknown to the general public in Brazil.
However, Carlo Ancelotti, impressed by his strong performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, insisted on calling up the Lille centre-back… and giving him his debut.
Not only that. He started alongside Marquinhos against Ecuador (0-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and helped the Seleçao keep two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the qualifying rounds.
Alex, as he likes to be called, impressed with his 1.92 meters (6′ 1″) frame and confidence. According to ‘R10Score’, he was the Brazilian player who completed the most actions with the ball (186) and the second with the most cuts (11).
He completed 154 of the 166 passes he made (92% accuracy) and won 12 of the 16 duels he was involved in: 5 of 7 at ground level and 7 of 9 in the air. “A gentleman defender,” boasted the official Ligue 1 Portuguese account.
His path to the elite wasn’t easy. “I don’t think you know this, but this is my first game as a professional in Brazil. Strange, isn’t it? There’s nothing better. To debut in Brazil like this, with a win and qualification,” he boasted after defeating Paraguay.
These first few days with Ancelotti have been unique; I’ll remember them for the rest of my life. I’ve responded well not only to myself, but also to the coach and the Brazilian people. I was able to demonstrate my ability to those who had doubts. Few people give me the opportunity that the manager has given me,” he insists
The Lille centre-back took his first steps in Flamengo’s youth system, where he even met Vinicius.
“When we played against Real Madrid, Vini came up to me and hugged me. He said, ‘I’m glad to see you here, brother.’ That inspired and motivated me even more,” he told ‘Globo Esporte’.
‘Fla’ cut him off. He had to make a living as a street vendor. He also collected trash, especially cans. “I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me, so I went to Europe to play in Portugal’s Third Division.”
Praiense (2018-20), Amora (2020-21), and Chaves (2021-22)—the latter already in the Second Division—were his springboard to Lille. The Bulldogs signed him in 2022-23 for €2 million. He has become a more than worthy successor to his compatriot Gabriel Magalhaes.
“Little by little, my name is spreading. My football is reaching everywhere. This includes Brazil,” he said before making his debut with the Seleçao. Now that he’s made it, he has another challenge: “I want to continue it.”
-Marca
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