Al-Ittihad CEO building solid foundations for bright future at Jeddah club

1
0 seconds of 1 minute, 14 secondsVolume 90%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
Next Up
2
01:29
00:00
01:14
01:14
 
Short Url
Updated 13 August 2024
Follow

Al-Ittihad CEO building solid foundations for bright future at Jeddah club

Al-Ittihad CEO building solid foundations for bright future at Jeddah club
  • Domingos Soares De Oliveira spoke to Arab News about the standard of the Saudi Pro League, Al-Ittihad’s scouting and Karim Benzema’s status at the club, among other issues
  • Domingos Soares De Oliveira: I think that the work which started maybe one year ago, one year and a half ago, about attracting very important players, it has to continue

At the end of September, 2023, Domingos Soares De Oliveira was announced as the new CEO of Ittihad Club Company, and in February he was named as part of the club’s new three-man Sporting Committee, alongside Sporting Director Ramon Planes and coach Marcelo Gallardo.

The moves look to give the reigning Saudi Pro League champions the best possible structure and governance as they look to a bright future.

De Oliveira spoke to Arab News about his first six months in the role and gave his views on various topics, including the standard of the Saudi Pro League, Al-Ittihad’s scouting and Karim Benzema’s status at the club.

Here are some highlights from the interview.

Taking over the position of Ittihad Club Company CEO…

At the time I was leaving Benfica, I had different opportunities in terms of new roles in different continents. But when the proposal from Ittihad came, I was really surprised by it because I got a lot of exciting information from the transformation the Kingdom was facing, and all the professional clubs.

This club has a fantastic legacy. We are the (current) champions, we won two Champions Leagues. We were the first club in the Kingdom, I think, and I’m sure that we are the club that has the best fan base. I’m not sure if it is the biggest, but in terms of commitment, in terms of passion, they are fantastic. We have 18 or 19 different sports, so the responsibility about being the CEO of Ittihad is a enormous responsibility. But at the same time, it’s a great challenge also because the Kingdom and the Ittihad, they are facing a new reality.

I think we are entering in a new era. We have right now a transformation process coming from a club with a different profile in terms of shareholders, to now a much more structured club. We have a new management in place, we have a new governance in place, we have a new squad in the sense that we were able, with the best programs, to attract different players — much better players.

I think to be honest, it was the best opportunity a professional like myself as CEO from a European club could get.

Role of Saudi football in the Kingdom’s culture…

Well, it’s quite impressive because I think the story of the Kingdom and the story of our club, they mix together. In fact, the club was established in 1927 and the Kingdom in 1932.

So, you can see Saudi people are very proud of their history, like Ittihad fans. I think you have a great, great history, and really every day I am surprised by this country and the opportunities about this country. It’s about unity, it’s about community, all those values that you have in your country. The same way, we have inside Ittihad.

The ambitions of Saudi football…

Well, the Saudi Pro League has an ambition and we share the ambition as a club. But also, I believe we can easily be part of the top five leagues in the world. And I think we can have the ambition to be much more than that, because we have now a strategy in place, strategy that is totally aligned with Vision 2030.

We also have now a new challenge, which is in 2034 the country will organize the World Cup, so we have to develop our players to be ready for 2034. And in this sense, the transformation that the SPL is doing, for example for next season, to have only 25 players, which means 15 Saudi players in the squad, (will mean) that the clubs will have to invest much more in the Saudi players.

And I think we are part of this process because if you see what we have done in the winter, we hired five Saudi young players and we are very happy with the way they are performing here. In fact, we have, as you know, the Olympics team and we will have to take five players from our squad to (Paris 2024). We are proud about that, even if it represents a difficult challenge for our coach.

How technology will impact football…

Technology will have a strong impact in two areas.

First of all, in terms of the digitalization that we have inside the company, all departments, the commercial departments, financial, all of them are embracing digital.

For scouting, it will be extremely relevant to gather as much information as we can from players, to have access to information that happens in the training sessions, to have access to live information that you have during those matches. The SPL is already sending us a lot of information, but we want to go much further and we want to have much more technology in all areas in the club.

Al-Ittihad’s scouting of Saudi talent across the Kingdom…

Scouting is a critical part of our business. Without the right raw materials, you cannot build a good product. This is obvious in any industry, but especially here. So, what we need is, and this is what we are establishing, is, first of all, to have a scouting department with a strong focus in the Kingdom.

So, we will develop a kind of a network of scouts around the Kingdom in order to identify the best talent. In fact, we are not doing that for the first time now. If you see what we did in the winter, and the players we scouted in the winter, we were able to attract those players. Everyone recognized that we did a good job at that time.

But it’s more than that. I think we need to scout at the youngest ages, and not only in Jeddah. We need to be able to identify players that are maybe today eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 years old and to attract them to the club.

We have to take care of them, we have to take care of their families. But we have to have a comprehensive strategy and the comprehensive role model for these young kids and to define a program together with their families, to develop not only the players, but also the young men.

Balancing local and international scouting…

We want players like we have today, which are role models, which are able to play and to work hand-in-hand with the Saudi players.

So, we have a network of of international scouts. In fact, the football department we have today are scouting everywhere (across) the globe. It’s part-international and part-Saudi.

International, (we seek) much more established players; and national, young players that we can be proud of in two or three years from now, and especially in 2034.

Ittihad’s role in helping Saudi Arabia become an international sporting hub…

Saudi has probably the best program I saw so far in terms of becoming a hub for sports. Very often, the investment in other countries is based on investment by the clubs, and the clubs keep themselves in a very, I would say, individual position.

Here, you can understand that the Ministry of Sport has a strategy and they are supporting the clubs in terms of developing the different sports the clubs can have. In our case, we have 19 different sports. We have very individual sports with strong performances. If you look to badminton, to archery, to table tennis, tennis, we have a fantastic group of young players with very good results.

Taking part in the Said Super Cup in Abu Dhabi…

For us to play in the most important competitions, it’s very important. We want to be part of the international competitions, of the Super Cup, of the King’s Cup, of the SPL. We are a club that likes to be challenged, that likes to accept defiance, that likes to fight, because we have this spirit, a fighting spirit.

So, going for the Super Cup, even if it is in Abu Dhabi, even if it will be a little bit more difficult for our fans to be there, even if we have some players that are playing (with the Olympic team), and we are proud of that, we are facing that with strong confidence. We believe that we can deliver a very good result and our ambition, and our president’s ambition, and our coach’s ambition, is to succeed.

Al-Ittihad’s new sporting committee…

The sporting committee is something that the board decided to create. So, it’s a decision coming from the board and in the sporting committee there are three persons: Myself, the sports director, Ramon Planes, but also the coach (Marcelo Gallardo). The sporting committee is mainly in charge of the decisions related with the market. So, with players that we want to hire, with analyzing the squads, where do we have positions that we need to reinforce, which players are now maybe at the stage that we would eventually prefer them to to be sold? Because, of course, the clubs also need these revenues coming from player-trading.

So, it’s about the sporting decisions, not, of course, the decisions from the coach. We do not decide who is going to play or not, but in terms of especially around the market and around the players. I think it was a very brave decision from the board because very often the board members like to be involved in these kinds of operations, but they understand that it’s critical that such decisions are taken by professional people that are used to take those decisions.

The five players we hired in the winter transfer window are a result of this sporting committee’s decisions and the support we got from the board to take those decisions.

The professional standards of the Saudi Pro League…

The Saudi Pro League is a very interesting competition. We have very good players in the Saudi Pro League and we have very good organization inside the SPL with experts that I met for the first time here, but are people that know a lot about the industry. I was myself part of the Portuguese league for a very specific topic, which is the TV rights.

But what I found here is extremely professional. Now, for the product to be very attractive, we need that the competition is strong, so all clubs have to try to fight for the same results. Of course, there are clubs that are bigger than others. In this sense, I think that the work which started maybe one year ago, one year and a half ago, about attracting very important players, it has to continue.

We need to attract more players and to have those players in the different clubs, for the matches to be much more attractive. We don’t want that it’s easy to win against a small team. It should be the same concept as, for example, the Premier League, where a small team can beat a big team because the TV rights revenues are spread in a very democratic way.

The Saudi players that have impressed the most..

My players, to be very honest. So, those are the players that I like. I don’t want to emphasize one specific player because then it would be unfair for the rest of the players.

But I think we have a group of Saudi players, some of them quite senior, others quite young. They all deserve my respect — I think they are very good professionals.

Growing the Al-Ittihad brand globally…

Al-Ittihad is already a well-known club outside Saudi because it’s part of the Kingdom’s historical brand, but also because we were able to attract some young players and players like Benzema, like Kante, like Fabinho, Luis Felipe, Jota. They bring a lot of attention to the club.

But I think we need to move forward. That’s the reason, for example, this preseason will be different from the preseason we had last season. So, we will be in Europe. We will have part of the work we will do during the preseason (be) between Spain and Portugal. We will play European matches not only in Portugal and Spain, but also probably in Central Europe.

This is what we want to do. We want, first of all, to prepare our players for new challenges. We want them to play against very important teams in Europe, but we want also the international community to be aware about the quality we have in this club. And I think it is a good opportunity to showcase some of the Saudi players that we have today, as they are very, very good.

I don’t think they are well known in the market, but they will be known if we take those players and we put them in the best stadiums, playing against the best teams.

The impact of signing Karim Benzema…

Well, let’s start with off the pitch. It’s obvious, Karim is a player that is, I would say, a global player. There are very few global players. I would call it a global brand, but it’s a global player. Everyone in the world knows Karim Benzema. So, the impact from Karim Benzema followers in our club was impressive.

I think that the fact just to see Karim with the black and yellow shirt, it’s a fantastic demonstration for the world about our club and the way we can attract these kind of players.

But the second, on the pitch, it’s much more important than the first one. Karim is the Ballon d’Or winner. Karim played in probably one of the best leagues in the world. He was part of the French national team. So, the quality of Karim — no one can have any doubt about that. Karim, as you know, was injured for a certain period and probably the last two months. Now, in the last training sessions we had this week, Karim is already in very good shape and I think he will be extremely important for the rest of the season.

I’m glad to see that he’s smiling, I’m glad to see that he’s committed and I will be glad to see him on the pitch.

Addressing the supporters’ frustrations this season…

My experience about the role we have in the club cannot only be in this very short term. I understand their frustration, and their frustration is my frustration. We would love to have delivered better results during this season. But, from my experience, the right thing to do is to prepare the foundations for the future.

If we have the right foundations, we will be able to deliver the best results in the future and the right foundations, right now, is, among others, to have an academy. We have already the new land, and we will start building the academy in a very short period. The foundations are also about having a very good management team, a very good professional team. We have already a professional team in place.

The foundations are also about taking smart decisions in building the squad between international players and between Saudi players. We are taking those decisions.

Those foundations, once they are in place, the success, the sporting success, will be obvious. We need to go faster, we need to go deeper than our competitors, and we will do that. So, for our fans, that I totally respect, I understand them, but please believe that we are doing the right job right now, which is to prepare the future.

The future will be a brilliant future.


Ronaldo leads Al-Nassr to third in table

Ronaldo leads Al-Nassr to third in table
Updated 15 March 2025
Follow

Ronaldo leads Al-Nassr to third in table

Ronaldo leads Al-Nassr to third in table
  • Big-name attacking stars steal show in first half, Ronaldo sets pace
  • Comfortable cushion after first period

JEDDAH: Cristiano Ronaldo scored again to set Al-Nassr on their way to a 3-1 victory over Al-Kholood on Friday to move them into third in the table and keep their faint Saudi Pro League title hopes alive.

Al-Nassr’s big-name attacking stars stole the show in the first half with Ronaldo setting the pace.

The 40-year-old struck in the fourth minute with his 19th league goal of the season. The ball fell to the Portuguese star just outside the six-yard box and he made no mistake in guiding his shot into the bottom corner.

Five minutes later the visitors thought they were back on level terms as Myziane Maolida had the ball in the net, shooting home from near the penalty spot, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Sadio Mane extended Al-Nassr’s lead after 26 minutes. Ronaldo was involved, freeing Salem Al-Najdi down the left and his cross was met first time by the former Liverpool and Bayern Munich star.

There was still time before the break for Jhon Duran to give the home team a comfortable cushion. The Colombian picked up possession from Angelo outside the area and then shot low into the corner with a clinical finish.

The game fizzled out a little just before the hour as Al-Nassr were reduced to 10 men following Nawaf Boushal’s second yellow card.

Ronaldo was substituted soon after and while the five-time Ballon d’Or winner did not seem happy at the decision as he exited the pitch and headed down the tunnel, at least Al-Nassr had the points in the bag.

An own goal from Ali Lajami with 18 minutes to go gave some brief cause for concern, but game management meant Al-Nassr moved into third with the win, above Al-Qadsiah who missed the chance to go level on points with Al-Hilal in second after falling to a 1-0 defeat at Damac. The deadlock was finally broken after 101 minutes by a penalty from Habib Diallo.


Germany recall Goretzka and Adeyemi for Italy Nations League tie

Germany recall Goretzka and Adeyemi for Italy Nations League tie
Updated 15 March 2025
Follow

Germany recall Goretzka and Adeyemi for Italy Nations League tie

Germany recall Goretzka and Adeyemi for Italy Nations League tie
  • Nagelsmann, who coached him at Bayern, said: “Leon is in a very good phase from a sporting perspective“
  • Adeyemi has not pulled on a Germany senior shirt since 2022 and this is the first time Nagelsmann has selected him

BERLIN: Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann on Thursday recalled the in-form Leon Goretzka and Karim Adeyemi to his squad for the two-legged Nations League quarter-final tie with Italy.
Injuries to key players including Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz, Niclas Fuellkrug and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen necessitated several changes as Germany look to reach the final four of the Nations League for the first time.
Bayern Munich midfielder Goretzka last played for Germany in 2023 but has regained the form of a few years ago.
Nagelsmann, who coached him at Bayern, said: “Leon is in a very good phase from a sporting perspective.”
Adeyemi has not pulled on a Germany senior shirt since 2022 and this is the first time Nagelsmann has selected him.
Appointed Germany manager in September 2023, Nagelsmann has repeatedly selected on form rather than reputation, having regularly left big names out of the squad.
On Thursday, Nagelsmann said he selected “players who play regularly for the club” and added he wanted players to be “on fire (and) show their spirit even if they don’t play from the start.”
Midfielder Nadiem Amiri has been chosen for the first time in five years as he benefits from Mainz’s rise to third spot in the table.
Inter Milan center-back Yann Aurel Bisseck, 24, is the only debutant.
“We’ve got great respect for him,” Nagelsmann said of Bisseck, adding “he’s got a lot of talent and brings plenty to the table.”
Manchester City back-up Stefan Ortega joins Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann and Stuttgart’s Alexander Nuebel, on loan from Bayern, as the goalkeepers.
Nagelsmann did not indicate which of the three would play but said he would opt for the same player for both games.
The coach complained about the scheduling of the Bundesliga, with seven members of the national squad involved when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen and last season’s runners-up Stuttgart play on Sunday.
Nagelsmann said he would now have “the shortest training period” he has ever had as Germany coach.
They face Italy in Milan on March 20 before hosting the Italians in the return leg in Dortmund on March 23.
Italy eliminated Germany with two goals in extra time at the same venue in the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
Germany had never beaten Italy at a major tournament until winning on penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nuebel (Stuttgart), Stefan Ortega (Manchester City/ENG)
Defenders: Yann Aurel Bisseck (Inter Milan/ITA), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstaedt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Ruediger (Real Madrid/ESP), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfielders: Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Pascal Gross (Borussia Dortmund), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart)
Forwards: Jonathan Burkardt (Mainz), Tim Kleindienst (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart)


Baniyas crowned Mother of the Nation Jiu-Jitsu Cup champions in Abu Dhabi

Baniyas crowned Mother of the Nation Jiu-Jitsu Cup champions in Abu Dhabi
Updated 14 March 2025
Follow

Baniyas crowned Mother of the Nation Jiu-Jitsu Cup champions in Abu Dhabi

Baniyas crowned Mother of the Nation Jiu-Jitsu Cup champions in Abu Dhabi
  • Al-Jazira finish second, Al-Ain third
  • Baniyas’ Asma Al-Hosani won the gold medal in the adults’ 57 kg category

ABU DHABI: Baniyas Jiu-Jitsu Club emerged as champions in the Mother of the Nation Jiu-Jitsu Cup, which concluded on Thursday at the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy.
The two-day event, which showcased elite female jiu-jitsu athletes, saw Al-Jazira finish second and Al-Ain take third place.
Abdulmunem Alsayed Mohammed Al-Hashmi, chairman of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, president of the Asian Jiu-Jitsu Union, and senior vice president of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation, congratulated the winning clubs while acknowledging their role in supporting athletes by providing a well-rounded sports environment that enhanced their readiness and offered real opportunities for competition and growth.
Al-Hashmi said: “The incredible success of jiu-jitsu in the UAE is made possible by the limitless support of the country’s wise leadership and its commitment to developing talent.
“The achievements of Emirati women in local and international competitions demonstrate the success of the federation’s strategy in building a solid foundation of female athletes capable of competing globally and bringing pride to the nation.”
Baniyas’ Asma Al-Hosani, a gold medalist in the adults’ 57 kg category, said: “This victory is the result of months of hard work, refining both physical and mental skills.
“Winning requires more than strength: It demands strategy, adaptability, and teamwork. I aimed not just for personal success but to contribute to my team’s achievement.
“I’m grateful to Baniyas and the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation for their support and will continue striving for more success.”


4Aces take LIV Golf Singapore team lead after Johnson’s 8-under 63

4Aces take LIV Golf Singapore team lead after Johnson’s 8-under 63
Updated 14 March 2025
Follow

4Aces take LIV Golf Singapore team lead after Johnson’s 8-under 63

4Aces take LIV Golf Singapore team lead after Johnson’s 8-under 63
  • Johnson has won once in each of LIV Golf’s first three seasons and can become the first player to win in all four seasons
  • “I couldn’t turn my head to the right,” Johnson explained

SINGAPORE: 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson is back to full strength — and back at the top of the leaderboard.
Johnson leads LIV Golf Singapore presented by Aramco by three shots after a bogey-free 63 in Friday’s opening round at Sentosa Golf Club. His 8-under round matches his best single-round LIV Golf performance, relative to par, in 109 career regular-season rounds.
His 4Aces, seeking their first win since 2023, lead the team competition by two strokes over Torque GC.
A week ago in Hong Kong, the 40-year-old Johnson woke up prior to the first round with a sore right shoulder that limited his range of motion. He shot rounds of 75 and 72 to drop to last place after the first two days.
“I couldn’t turn my head to the right,” Johnson explained. “I kind of just pulled when I was on the through swing, so I was hitting everything left. It wasn’t a whole lot of fun.”
He received treatment between rounds and his body finally responded prior to Sunday’s final round. He shot a 6-under 64, tying for the third-best score of the day, but the leaderboard damage had been done, as he finished last for the first time at a LIV Golf tournament.
Feeling good about his game entering last week, Johnson said it was easy to dismiss the first two rounds and the final result because of the injury.
“Swung it really nicely on Sunday,” he said. “Obviously, the body loosened back up and I could hit the shots that I wanted.”
In shooting 63 at Sentosa’s Serapong course on Friday, Johnson hit 16 greens, tying for best in the field, and missed just three fairways. Meanwhile, his putter heated up, especially at the par-3 14th when he rolled in a birdie putt from 58 feet.
“I put a lot of work in the last couple of days on the putter,” Johnson said, “and it paid off.”
Johnson will enter the weekend seeking his fourth league individual title. He has won once in each of LIV Golf’s first three seasons and can become the first player to win in all four seasons.
His closest pursuer is Torque’s Sebastian Munoz, who continues to push for his first LIV Golf title. Munoz shot a 5-under 66 to take solo second. He has held or shared second after five of the first 10 rounds of the 2025 LIV Golf season.
“I don’t know if I’m going to get it done this week, but I’m working hard at it,” Munoz said. “I want that opportunity again.”
Eight players are tied for third after shooting 4-under 67, including five team captains: Jon Rahm (Legion XIII), Brooks Koepka (Smash GC), Joaquin Niemann (Torque GC), Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger GC) and Cameron Smith (Ripper GC).
Rahm is the reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion and Niemann already has a win this season. Koepka is the defending Singapore champion while Smith tied for second with teammate Marc Leishman as the Rippers won the team title in 2024.
The 4Aces shot a collective 14 under, while Torque is at 12 under. Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC are another two strokes back, with all four of their players shooting in the 60s. Not only do the Aces have a lengthy winning drought, Torque also hasn’t won since 2023, while the HyFlyers have yet to win a team trophy.
“We’ve got a lot of golf to play in the next two days,” Niemann said. “We’re excited to see what’s coming.”
Team scores
LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now involves all four scores now counting in every round in the team competition. (Click here for more on the new format). Here are the results and scores for each team after Friday’s Rd. 1 of LIV Golf Singapore.
1. 4ACES GC -14 (Johnson 63, Reed 68, Varner III 69, Pieters 70)
2. TORQUE GC -12 (Munoz 66, Niemann 67, Ortiz 68, Pereira 71)
3. HYFLYERS GC -10 (Tringale 67, Mickelson 69, Ogletree 69, Steele 69)
4. FIREBALLS GC -7 (Ancer 67, Puig 68, Masaveu 70, Garcia 72)
T5. STINGER GC -5 (Oosthuizen 67, Schwartzel 68, Burmester 70, Grace 74)
T5. LEGION XIII -5 (Rahm 67, Surratt 68, Hatton 70, McKibbin 74)
7. RIPPER GC -3 (Smith 67, Herbert 68, Jones 72, Leishman 74)
T8. RANGEGOATS GC -2 (Uihlein 68, Campbell 68, Watson 70, Wolff 76)
T8. IRON HEADS GC -2 (Lee 68, Catlin 70, Jang 72, Na 72)
10. SMASH GC -1 (Koepka 67, Kokrak 68, Gooch 70, McDowell 78)
11. CRUSHERS GC +1 (Casey 67, Lahiri 70, DeChambeau 74, Howell III 74)
12. MAJESTICKS GC +8 (Stenson 71, Westwood 72, Horsfield 73, Poulter 76)
13. CLEEKS GC +10 (Meronk 70, Bland 71, Kaymer 73, Kjettrup 80)
Wild Cards: Lee 70, Kim 73


Tuchel calls up Marcus Rashford and ‘serial winner’ Jordan Henderson to his first England squad

Tuchel calls up Marcus Rashford and ‘serial winner’ Jordan Henderson to his first England squad
Updated 14 March 2025
Follow

Tuchel calls up Marcus Rashford and ‘serial winner’ Jordan Henderson to his first England squad

Tuchel calls up Marcus Rashford and ‘serial winner’ Jordan Henderson to his first England squad
  • Henderson and Rashford missed out on last summer’s European Championship under then-coach Gareth Southgate
  • The German coach seemed equally impressed by Rashford’s recent performances with Aston Villa

LONDON: Thomas Tuchel praised Jordan Henderson as “a serial winner” in welcoming him and a resurgent Marcus Rashford back to the England team on Friday.
Tuchel included the pair in his first squad as England coach ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley Stadium.
Both Henderson and Rashford missed out on last summer’s European Championship under then-coach Gareth Southgate and faced uncertain international futures.
But now they’re contenders for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“Jordan is, first of all, a serial winner,” Tuchel said of the Ajax midfielder. “What he brings to every team is leadership, character, personality, energy, make sure that everyone lives by the standards.”
The 34-year-old Henderson helped Liverpool win both the Champions League (2019) and Premier League (2020) before leaving in 2023 for Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia. He lasted just six months there and transferred to Ajax, in part to face European competition in a bid to keep his place in the England team.
“Jordan brings everything — he embodies everything of what we want (for) this team to be,” Tuchel said at a news conference at Wembley.
The German coach seemed equally impressed by Rashford’s recent performances with Aston Villa. The 27-year-old forward couldn’t get into Ruben Amorim’s team at Manchester United, but his loan to Villa has been a success.
“I felt that Marcus had a huge impact in Aston Villa,” Tuchel said.
“The impact was impressive — the physical impact was impressive,” he added, “and most importantly the impact against the ball, his work rate, his defensive impact, his hard work in counter pressing, his tracking back on his position was impressive.”
Villa beat Club Brugge 3-0 on Wednesday to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals.
“I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, we should bring him in to push him to stay on that level, to not fall back in old routines,” Tuchel said. “This camp is to bond with him, of course, to get to know him and push him to stay on exactly that level.”
Rashford joined Villa on loan the day before Europe’s winter transfer window closed, having not played for United since mid-December. Amorim had questioned Rashford’s commitment in training sessions.
Tuchel also included uncapped defenders Myles Lewis-Skelly and Dan Burn in his 26-man squad. Arsenal’s Lewis-Skelly is 18, while Newcastle’s Burn gets his first call-up at the age of 32.
England host Albania next Friday and Latvia three days later at Wembley Stadium.
“Everyone who is with us on this journey in the first camp is a contender for the World Cup,” Tuchel said.
While it’s just the first step, he added: “It is important to be in the first camp.”
‘Crash course’ starts Monday
Tuchel, who led Chelsea to the Champions League title in 2021, was hired to get England over the line. The men’s team’s lone World Cup title was in 1966.
Under Southgate, England reached the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup and back-to-back finals at the Euros. Spain beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final.
“We only have six camps, we only have 60 days. We need to take care of every single day and make sure that we are on point,” Tuchel said.
Harry Kane will remain the team captain, Tuchel confirmed.
The playing style will reflect the Premier League, he added.
“We should be brave enough to play like an England squad and should not try to copy other nations, other styles too much,” he said. “It should reflect the values of the country and of the strongest league in the world, which is the Premier League.
“We will try to increase our rhythm in our game, increase the intensity in our game,” he added, “and we will try to do it of course in a crash course from Monday and unleash the potential for Friday.”

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Trafford (Burnley)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (AC Milan)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Aston Villa), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)