International Football
AGAIN, PELE HOSPITALIZED WITH URINARY INFECTION
Brazilian soccer great, Pele was hospitalised in Paris with a strong fever, but his condition is not life-threatening and he should be released “within a couple of days,” one of his long-time friends said on Wednesday.
The football icon has been in and out of hospital recently. The 78-year-old was suffering from a urinary infection and being treated with antibiotics, his friend and spokesman Pepito Fornos, who was with Pele at the hospital, said.
“Everything is under control. Everything’s fine.”
Pele was admitted late on Tuesday as a precaution after attending an event in the French capital with France’s World Cup winning youngster Kylian Mbappe.
He was still in hospital on Wednesday evening, though in a possible sign he was making a recovery, he said on Twitter: “I met Kylian Mbappe and his parents last night in Paris at @Hublot event.
“We talked goals, World Cups and watches. Great company!”
Earlier, Mbappe had written on social media: “I had the chance this evening to spend a once-in-a-lifetime moment with the living legend @Pele.”
Pele, revered by many as soccer’s greatest player ever, is alone in winning the World Cup three times, first lifting the trophy aged 17.
The Brazilian was swift to praise Mbappe after he set last year’s World Cup in Russia alight with his electric speed and goalscoring.
Mbappe became the youngest player (19) to score two goals in a World Cup game since Pele in 1958. He also became the first teenager since Pele to score in a World Cup final.
“If Kylian keeps equalling my records like this I may have to dust my boots off again,” Pele tweeted at the time.
Mbappe replied: “The King will always remain King.”
The Paris St Germain forward told Tuesday’s event he would never match the Brazil great’s scoring tally during his career. Pele says he has scored 1,025 goals.
“Even with the goals in playgrounds, goals on the PlayStation, I could never equal (that),” the 20-year-old said at the sponsors’ event.
Mbappe and Pele had been scheduled to meet late last year, but had to postpone, again because of Pele’s health, French media said.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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