International Football
AFTERMATH OF POT ALLOCATION, NIGERIA MAY DRAW FAMILIAR FOES
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The possibility of Nigeria facing Argentina again in the World Cup looms large on Thursday as FIFA allocated qualified teams into four pots for the final draw coming up at Moscow’s State Kremlin Palace on December 1.
Expectedly, Nigeria, ranked 42 has fallen into the last pot along with seven other teams- Serbia, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia.
In principle, teams in the same pot will not meet at the group stage. The principle of drawing the teams into the groups will remain unchanged. This means that no teams from the same confederation, with the exception of UEFA, which could have up to two teams in the same group, will be drawn into the same group.
With three African teams in Pot 3, Nigeria will therefore draw an opponent only from the following Pot 3 teams: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden and Iran. With the exception of Europe, teams from the same continent are not put in the same group.
Europe sometimes had two teams owing to their higher number of teams than other continents. FIFA decided that only sporting principles were applicable in the allocation of teams into pots.
The three teams in Pot 3 are Tunisia, Egypt and Senegal. The top seeds along with hosts, Russia are in Pot 1. They are Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland and France. Nigeria will draw one of those teams on December 1.
Argentina is the only team in Pot 1 that Nigeria ever faced at the World Cup. Spain leads Pot 2 which also has the last team to qualify, Peru. Others in the Pot are Switzerland, England, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Croatia.
Sports Village Square recalls that Spain and England are the only teams in Pot 2 that Nigeria faced at the World Cup.
But outside that, Nigeria had met Uruguay at the FIFA Confederation Cup in Brazil in 2013, Switzerland in a friendly match on November 20, 2007 in Zurich. Nigeria won the encounter, 1-0 through a goal scored by Taiye Taiwo,
Apart from the goalless outing at the World Cup 2002, Nigeria had also met England in a friendly match on November 16, 1994. In fact it is exactly 23 years this Thursday that the match was played on the sacred turf of old Wembley.
Nigeria had met Colombia twice in the past. The first was in Cali on November 19 2008. Nigeria lost 0-1. When Nigeria met Colombia again in the preparation for South Africa 2010, the encounter in Milton Keyne in England ended 1-1.
Mexico had met Nigeria five times in the past. The first time was a 1-1 draw at the then Intercontinental Cup (now FIFA Confederations Cup) in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Mexico excelled 5-4 on penalties. Next was the 2-1 defeat of Nigeria in Dallas, in the 1995 US Cup, before a 2-2 draw in Mexico City on October 10, 2007 and another 2-2 draw on June 1, 2013. Both sides met again in another friendly match that ended goalless in Georgia, United States on March 6, 2014.
The Pot 3 is led by Denmark, the team that knocked Nigeria out at the Round of 16 at France ’98. Also in Pot 3 is Iceland. The only encounter Nigeria had with the country was on August 22, 1981 in Reykjavik. Nigeria lost the friendly match 0-3. It was in the preparation to face Algeria in the final qualifying series for Spain 1982 World Cup.
Costa Rica is the only team in Pot 3 that Nigeria had never met. Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt and Senegal are other teams in the Pot 3. Sweden beat Nigeria 2-1 at World Cup 2002.
| POT 1 | POT 2 | POT 3 | POT 4 |
| Russia | Spain | Denmark | Serbia |
| Germany | Peru | Iceland | Nigeria |
| Brazil | Switzerland | Costa Rica | Australia |
| Portugal | England | Sweden | Japan |
| Argentina | Colombia | Tunisia | Morocco |
| Belgium | Mexico | Egypt | Panama |
| Poland | Uruguay | Senegal | Korea Republic |
| France | Croatia | Iran | Saudi Arabia |
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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