International Football
LEAVING NIGERIA WAS MY BIGGEST MISTAKE SAYS WESTERHOF
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The architect of the famed golden era of the Super Eagles, Clemens Westerhof, last six years ago made a sensational visit to Nigeria and hours later, was briefly a guest of editor-in-Chief of www.sportsvillagesquare.com at his Lagos home.
The Dutch tactician, who clocked 74 during the visit, took the Super Eagles to their highest level of achievement till date.
Besides Nigeria’s winning the Africa Cup of Nations Cup for the first time outside the country’s shores, he is also the only coach of Nigeria to have achieved the top three levels of the competition – runners up at his first attempt at Algeria ’90 and second runners up at Senegal ’92 before achieving the ultimate at Tunisia ’94.
He was the first coach to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup when the Super Eagles pulled a stunning 1-1 draw with Algeria in Algiers to win the triangular league that involved Cote d’Ivoire and Algeria.
Under him, Nigeria had their best position in the monthly FIFA ranking when the Super Eagles ranked fifth in April 1994. That was 26 years ago.
Westerhof, who came to Nigeria with a Dutch television crew to shoot a documentary on his exploits with the Super Eagles, believed an encore was in the offing.
He went into a little historical analysis to back his optimism.
In 1993, Nigeria won the U-17 World Cup in Asia and also qualified for the following year’s World Cup on the American continent.
In 2013 in Asia (Dubai), the Golden Eaglets were again victorious, while the Super Eagles got bound for the World Cup on the American continent, that time in Brazil.
“In the year of the World Cup, I won the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria, before heading for the World Cup,” he recalled glowingly.
“I believe Keshi should attempt to do better than I did 20 years ago at the World Cup.
“This means he has to take his team beyond the second round. He must go to the quarterfinals and possibly get to the last four,” said Westerhof.
He was to repeat the same challenge two days later at the occasion of his 74th birthday when he met with Stephen Keshi and two of the other players that made his 23-man team to the historic World Cup in 1994.
The other two former players were Peter Rufai and Daniel Amokachi.
Hear Westerhof’s charge to the late Keshi: “You are just at my level if you just get to the next round after also becoming an African champion. You have to get to the quarterfinals to get better than me.
“I will be happier if you get to the last four,” he told Keshi. Two days earlier, he remarked that Keshi needed to build the right team with the right players and right combination.
He observed that Nigeria had more overseas players now than during his era two decades earlier. “In my days, they were about 10 or 12. Now they are in hundreds.
“If Keshi selects the right ones spread across Italy, Belgium, England and Germany and if he is able to make the right combination of the best, he will certainly make a big mark at the World Cup”, Westerhof remarked before Brazil 2014.
He defined the right players and combination as a set of players playing as a team and fighting for each other for results and not those playing individually for personal glory.
He looked forward to a tactically disciplined side that was devoid of distractions. He insisted that Keshi should be left alone to select his players.
“He is the boss. He decides who he wants to feature. He decides those in the right frame of mind to achieve his goal.
“He has qualified the team for the World Cup. He is a champion of Africa. So, he is the right man for the job,” remarked Westerhof.
He charged Keshi to take interest also in the off-field attitude of the players while in camp. He gave an example of how he had to take a seat by the elevator of the hotel camp of the Super Eagles in their last home game in the USA ’94 World Cup qualifying series.
“I sat all night to ensure that no player sneaked out. I did it because I wanted to win. And we won (against Cote d’Ivoire) 4-1. The players had rested and were in the right frame of mind.”
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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