International Football
African quintet handed tricky 2022 World Cup groups
The five African countries at this year’s World Cup have been handed tricky groups at the tournament with Tunisia drawn to face world champions France while Cameroon will play five-time winners Brazil.
African champions Senegal will take on hosts the Netherlands in Group A with Ghana drawn in Group H to play Uruguay in what will be a repeat of the 2010 World Cup quarter-final.
Morocco will play Belgium, the second highest ranked side in the world as the Atlas Lions will take on the European side in Group F.
Africa’s biggest hope will be pinned on Senegal, who won the recent TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, as they will play hosts Qatar and Ecuador.
The Teranga Lions, led by captain Sadio Mane of Liverpool, have been in excellent form over the year, having won Africa’s flagship tournament when beating Egypt in the final in February before beating the same opponent last week to qualify for the competition.
The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia will face tougher opponents in Group D as they will play title holders France, Denmark and a team from one of the playoffs in the coming weeks.
Cameroon are in Group G to face South American giants Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland while Morocco will face Belgium, Canada and Croatia in Group F.
Ghana will be seeking a revenge over Uruguay who eliminated them at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa under controversial circumstances and they will also face Portugal and South Korea in Group H.
No two teams from the same continental association were put in the same group, except for European teams.
In the overall draw, former champions Germany and Spain will clash at this year’s tournament after they were put in in Group E with Japan and the winner of the intercontinental playoff between Costa Rica and New Zealand in June.
Another interesting group is Group B where England will face geopolitical rivals USA and Iran as well as a winner from a playoff that involves their neighbours Scotland and Wales.
The draw in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Friday was attended by more than 2,000 guests including the CAF leadership led by President Patrice Motsepe, representatives of the five African countries participating in the competition as well as several other African federations leaders.
The draw assistants featured some African legends Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha of Nigeria and Algeria’s Rabah Madjer as well as former World Cup winners Cafu and Lothar Matthaeus.
Nigerian music superstar, David ‘Davido‘ Adeleke, opened the event together with American star Trinidad Cardona and Qatari sensation Aisha as they performed the song, Hayya Hayya (Better Together) , which is the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 official soundtrack.
This was followed by the opening speeches by the FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who vowed a spectacular tournament.
“I feel proud and happy that the world will see Qatar as we promised. We will provide an exceptional World Cup in our Arab world,” Sheikh Al-Thani assured.
Hosts Qatar, who will be playing in their first World Cup, will take on Ecuador in the tournament’s opening game at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.
The tournament gets underway on 21 November and the final is set for 18December, one week before Christmas.
Those Qatar 2022 groups in full
Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Netherlands, Senegal
Group B: England, Iran, USA, Scotland/Wales/Ukraine
Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
Group D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia
Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan
Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
-Cafonline
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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