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SUPER EAGLES DEMYSTIFY BRAZIL’S SELEÇÃO

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

It was Samba-decoded as the emerging Super Eagles assembly played with a lot of guts, but was held to a 1-1 draw by the record-holding five-time World Cup winners, the seleção of Brazil.

The Nigerian side, which placed third in the African Cup, has thus increased to four, the winless streak of the current South American champions, Brazil.

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Neymar being trailed by the Super Eagles’ duo of Wilfred Ndidi and William Ekong

For Joe Aribo, he showed he still has a lot to offer Nigeria as he scored the Nigerian goal just as he opened scoring in his debut for the Super Eagles last month in Ukraine.

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Joe Aribo on his way to open up scoring

For him, it is now two goals in two matches. After impressive display by the Super Eagles, it was Joe Aribo who plays for Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish league that got Nigeria the deserved lead.

The 35th minute goal can go for television exhibition any day. Aribo latched onto a Moses Simon’s pass, weaved past Brazilian stars including Marquinhos to slam a shot beyond Ederson for his second international goal in as many games.

It was a beauty of a goal! The main star of the Brazilian was to be Neymar. But he spent less than a dozen minute on the pitch as he had to be substituted after just 11 minutes 49 seconds due to a hamstring complaint.

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Injured Neymar on the bench

Interestingly, there were both jeers of disappointment at seeing the £198 million (S$344 million) man come off, as well as cheers when the Liverpool fans among the 20,385-strong crowd realised that Philippe Coutinho was the replacement.

Neymar started in a deeper central midfield role behind the front three of Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino and Everton as Brazil coach, Tite made just two changes as Sports Village Square had earlier announced.

 The exit of Neymar no doubt unsettled the Brazilians, as they could not find their rhythm.

The young Nigerian side, whose average age is 23.5 years, gradually imposed themselves in the game as the Selecao struggled to cope with Super Eagles’ pace and power.

Leicester City defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi was a beast in the engine room as he easily outmuscled the likes of Coutinho, even decking the Bayern Munich man in the 27th minute.

But in a twinkle of an eye, the tempo changed in the second half as Brazilian Coach Tite appeared to have gotten an anwer to the first half free-flowing football of the Super Eagles.

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The Nigerian side appeared not to have an answer. Within three minutes of the restart, it was obvious that the Nigerian defence would have to cope with a lot of pressure.

Brazil’s Skipper Dani Alves’ cross from the right was headed on to the bar by Marquinhos, and Casemiro was on hand to sweep home the loose ball.

The goal appeared to disorganized the Nigerian team as Brazil regained their esteem.

It was raid after raid into the Nigerian territory as more players had to retreat to help fortify the defence and banking on just break-away moves.

Under pressure, Goalkeeper Francis Uzoho made a landing that apparently got him injured and had to be substituted by debuting Maduka Okoye.

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It is not certain how serious Uzoho’s injury is and how long it may take him to return to the field.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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International Football

German Thomas Tuchel becomes 3rd foreign manager for England

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 - Bayern Munich v VfL Wolfsburg - Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - May 12, 2024 Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel looks on before the match REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth/File Photo

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

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Factbox on England head coach Thomas Tuchel

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Champions League - Bayern Munich Training - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - May 7, 2024 Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel on the pitch during a walk around REUTERS/Juan Medina/File Photo

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.

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* 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.

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* 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.

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* 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.

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* 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

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Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad

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Mateus Mane in England's colour

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.

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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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