International Football
Rohr: Nigeria deserves victory against Cape Verde
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has praised the resilience of his wards after the Super Eagles fought from behind to claim a 2-1 win against the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde in their Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup MatchDay 2 tie in Mindelo.
Rohr had to improvise after missing several key first team players largely the UK based who were unavailable due to the UK Government COVID-19 red-alert travel restrictions to the Island country.
Consequently, the German was forced to hand midfielders Innocent Bonke and Kingsley Michael their international debuts as he changed the side that beat Liberia 2-0 on MatchDay 1 in Lagos last Friday.
But in Mindelo, the Super Eages had to bounce back after Victor Osimhen’s 29th minute strike cancelled Dylan Tavares 19th minute opener for the hosts while the West Africans eventually ran away with a precious 2-1 win after a bizarre own goal by Kenny Rocha Santos some 14 minutes from time.
“Yes, it was a difficult match because Cape Verde is a very good team and they are used to playing on the synthetic pitch,” Rohr admitted after the match.
“It was not easy to raise a new team under three days because 10 players were missing, but Nigeria has players all over the world and we demonstrated that today.
“They were still able to play almost at the same level with the team that played the first game against Liberia.”
Victory in Mindelo gave the Super Eagles maximum six points after two rounds of matches as they romped to the top of their Group C.
They are closely followed by Liberia with three points after the Lone Star edged Central African Republic 1-0 on Monday in Monrovia. Both Cape Verde and CAR have one point apiece following their opening 1-1 draw in Douala.
“Of course, we are happy to win because it was not easy to come back after we were down 1-0.
“Though the second goal was unfortunate but it was as a result of our pressing that forced the goalkeeper out,” Rohr noted.
The former Bayern Munich defender was also effusive with praises for his new additions to the Super Eagles. “Both Michael and Bonke did well though it was their first game after we lost all our midfielders from the first game.
“We already had them in our plans. Bonke has been doing well with Malmo in Sweden and they qualified for the Champions League and so he’d been on our scouting list for some time.
“Also for Kingsley who was also in the starting lineup of Bologna in Italy last week and they both did very well,” Rohr added.
Nigeria and Central African Republic will next month engage in a back-to-back duels as the race towards Qatar 2022 gathers more steam.
International Football
German Thomas Tuchel becomes 3rd foreign manager for England
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
International Football
Factbox on England head coach Thomas Tuchel
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
International Football
Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad
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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