International Football
Points of interest ahead of Nigeria-Ghana World Cup play-off
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
To be or not to be? To qualify or to drop out. These are the posers hanging over the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Black Stars of Ghana as they go head-on collision to decide which of the two goes to the World Cup finals in November.
Both countries have 71 years of intense rivalry. Yet, none of the past 59 matches holds greater importance than this Tuesday’s match. It decides which team goes to the World Cup.
Yet, this is not the only World Cup fixture that ever pitched the two. But this is the only one in which both sides have almost equal chances of picking the ticket. A goalless draw will see the match going into penalties.
A score draw gives the advantage to Ghana. It is a win that Nigeria need to be at Qatar 2022. As usual, Sports Village Square takes an in-depth look at the match and comes out with the following points of interest.
- This is Super Eagles’ 112th match in the history of FIFA World Cup series. Only Morocco who go for their 120th game when they host DR Congo on Tuesday have more qualifying matches than Nigeria in the African series of the World Cup qualification. Like Nigeria, Tunisia who host Mali will also be going for their 112th match. As for Ghana Black Stars, the Abuja match marks their 90th World Cup qualifying duel.
- This match is Super Eagles’ first competitive appearance at the Abuja stadium in 11 years. The last time the Super Eagles played there was on 8 October 2011 when they drew 2-2 with Guinea in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
- Nigeria has never lost a World Cup match at the Abuja stadium after beating Rwanda 2-0 and Algeria 1-0 in 2004; Zimbabwe 5-1 in 2005; South Africa 2-0. Equatorial Guinea 2-0, Sierra Leone 4-1 all in 2008; Kenya 3-0, Tunisia 2-2 and Mozambique 1-0 all in 2009.
- The last time the Black Stars played a World Cup qualifying match in Nigeria, they lost 3-0 and the Super Eagles qualified. That was in the edition of 20 years ago. Will history repeat itself?
- The first goal of an international match at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja was scored by a Ghanaian. He is Patrick Agyemany who opened scoring in an eventual 3-1 defeat of Ghana by Nigeria on 30 May 2003.
- Nigeria had picked qualifying tickets at home on four occasions. Those were for the editions of France ‘98, Korea/Japan 2002, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018. The other two instances – USA’94 and South Africa 2010 were achieved away from home. Ghana on the other hand had picked qualifying ticket away from home twice when they beat Cape Verde 4-0 in Praia to qualify for the first time in 2006 and Cairo when they lost 1-2 to Egypt but qualified on 7-3 aggregate for Brazil 2014. The qualification for South Africa 2010 was achieved at their ‘sacred’ Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi after a 2-2 draw with Mali.
- Both Nigeria and Ghana had their debut World Cup qualifying ties facing each other on 28 August 1960.
- They last crossed each other’s path in the 2002 World Cup qualification.
- Nigeria’s legendary goalkeeper, Emmanuel Okala had his baptism in World Cup qualifying series when Nigeria faced Ghana on 10 February 1973.
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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