Most nigerians re ungratefull , imagine nearly beating Italy dat is in top 10 in d world nnd people re still NT happy , abeg keshi. U too much

I do suport that mikel shuld av a retink if he want to play for naija or not.

Robertbh:
poor you! Pigin will not solve his problem;it has to do with words with the same sound. Eg word-world

@frodobee facepalm criticizing some one and then this happens lol

Robertbh:
poor you! Pigin will not solve his problem;it has to do with words with the same sound. Eg word-world

@frodobee facepalm criticizing some one and then this happens lol mean while the eagles were pretty much sh**it there were just lucky

they more encouragement and discipline

u piple wu re sayin mikel shuld b opt out of d team.u guyz dnt watch futbal,witout no doubt,u piple re til dsame piple hypin praises on mikel wen he play wel at afcon,fifa config matches,u dnt xpect a playa 2 dliva evwi tym.if u dnt mak mistak at d early stage,u beta dnt make mstake at d final stage,cos u wunt b able 2 gt ur foot bk in it, i play futbal wela,dre re tym i play at ma peak.nd dre atym i play rubsh, dre re tym hazard wuld play rubsh,yap i wuld gt angry.bt i knw wat he kan do on a vwy gud day. Ok keshi abeg dnt tak mikel 2 d world cup we dnt nid hm,nd c wat wuld hapen. As 4 mikel,he lyk drawin atention of camera 2 hmslf.dt iz problem. JST A PITY 90% OF U DNT PLAY FOOTBALL

2 me.. dose boys ar finally practicing what i taught them

frodobee: @bastien i think you have a message and we understand it. But next time, for better understanding use any medium convenient to you like pidgin english. 'word of advice' 'exit door'.

that is why we nigerians cant go far. You are after his mistake instead of the point he made. Does he look like someone that cannot spell word? We better stop this kind of nonsense cos it can't lead us anywhere.

bastien: Onazi of course!!!!

See guys I gat something to say,there Is one player in the team that need to be show the exist door if only he will change his way,at this moment pride shouldn't come in,Ameobi,ambrose and Eyeama should for me be the ones doing the pride stuff and not Mikel,is he bcus he has won champions league n others,that doesn't count,Kanu won many and yet didn't play with pride,how about Pirlo or Xavi,this are complete midfielders,that when ever they are called,they Answer with honour and dignity to there country,and serve them well,we all saw what Pirlo did today,how he changed the game etc,Mikel doesn't seems like he wanna be in that squad,he romance the ball to much,and shading players like he is d strongest,(mean why,when he is in chelsea he doesn't do that,he play with the team and more offensive) after today match,Vincent Enyeama went to him,and give him world of advice!

Think,so one (elder) should talk to him!

nairaland should create a dictionary section for users...

I think I will give them a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10




They played against a supposed better side but proved more to us than we expected.
The Italian coach being a sound technical man saw a flop in the middle and quickly reinforced it in 2nd half of the game that was why alot of Nigerians thought Mikel didn't play well in that half



Besides the Italians needed a win badly to boost their status in FIFA ranking but they were disappointed with the outcome of the game.

bengreat: The best match of the year so far

Whats your rating?

The boys did pretty well, could have done better though. They played more of a reactive style as against the proactive style of the Italians. Next time, they should approach their game with more purpose, play with the pride befitting of African Champions, and take their chances when they come. Overall, it was a good game; I give them a Grade B.

Best match of the year. A+ 110%

ifetoyosi: follow on twitter @ifetoyosiazeez nd ama ff bck

Nw ffing Go ff Back

it is so disheartening that many people don't know football;they just come here to blab.First of all,i would give the Super Eagles B3 for their performance even without some of our first team players,we still tried though we were exposed at the back. I saw some posts and laugh. Mikel playing with pride?please what do you want him to do?you thought playing two games in 48hrs is easy?someone was talking about keshi not using Ambrose and Echiejile,do u wanna kill them?they were only rested. Guys,watch and understand football before u comment.

For all of you calling Mikel names, I wonder if you really understand soccer.
Keshi played just two midfielders and if not for Mikel staying back to soak up the pressure, do you think Onazi could have been able to bomb forward?
Mikel was playing a dual midfield role last night cus Oduamadi was practically lost.

At the first half, Mikel played better but tired out in the second, you can't blame him who wouldn't after 90 mins just 48hrs back and the pressure he had to soak up in the first 45mins?

As for those saying Enyeama was talking to him about pride are pure ignorant, he was only cautioning about the way he reacted and bounced the ball that earned him a booking. He needs to manage his anger and Enyeama as the captain is right to point out that to him, you all can see he listened and not argue. That his reaction and those of other players to the ref after that booking made the ref to sit up and quit blowing for fun.

The guy saying Keshi made a mistake using the two full backs instead of Efe and Echiejile, you need to understand that this is the reason for friendlies to test players. You can not depend on Efe and Echiejile all the time, what happens God forbid they get injured? Every position needs a back up and Keshi is doing a great job in that aspect.


Great match overall and I think Shola just got himself a ticket to Brazil.

iamdsam: Yes. You're right. I saw Eyeama at ending of the match talking to him seriously, probably giving him advice. I don't seem to understand Mikel. He plays with too much pride. He always slows the pace of the Super Eagles whenever he gets hold of the ball. I won't like him to be carried along to world cup if he continues to play that sluggish football for Nigeria which he never plays for club. I also got a problem with Musa. This guy isn't a good attacker. He's very bad in the finishing. He finishes his ball anyhow. I think the coach should do away with him. When compare what Amoebi did yesterday, then you'll certainly support what am saying. I even respected Onazi more than Mikel yesterday. He played with pace going forward and running backwards immediately we lose the ball. Our defenders need to be more confident with the ball and try not to lose the ball quickly and should also try to easily fall back quickly whenever we lose the ball. Keshi needs to work on our defence seriously and the tactics of the team generally and needs to do away with some players like Musa. We don't need such players win spoils chances and opportunities to score goals in the world cup. Congratulations to team. It was a well deserved draw. We can only improve from here.

If u guys dont knw wat to comment why cant u shut up. My question is dat what is enyeama complaining of? And i will fixed some point out for u guys to reasons with me.
Point 1:- towards the end of the match we can all see dat the ref is just blowing nonsence in favour of the italian until mikel make a complain and moreso i think we need a player to rule d team as a captain dat can go to the ref to log complain rada than having a keeper dat we all knw dat he dont have d advantage to do dat.
Point 2:- If any african is going to win the world up it depends on the ref becuz they will blow against african.
I believe each and everyone of us can still remember Argentina U20 vs Nigeria U20 world cup final during the time of Mikel dat if not for the ref we would have been d one lifting the cup. So try to be wise cuz enyeama is just try to keep mikel out of his responsibility cuz he knw dat after mikel complian d ref changed blowing as a goat.

donigspain: I'll give them a C (average). To be candid, the super eagles were just lucky to have conceded only two goals and miraculously scored two. We were literaly out-played in every section of the pitch, ermm, okay maybe not in goal keeping.
Seriously, whoever played that Right Wing Back i.e. position two (jersey no 15) should never be called to the super eagles again. He caused our 5 and 6 to over-labour. His overlap was the poorest I have seen in the history of football and his recovery, hmmm, pathetic.
One sentence to summarize our outing tonight - We were just lucky.

Nigerians are so pathetic.Anytime we do well una go say we use luck.We win AFCON dem say we use luck.We win U/17 world cup,una say na overaged players and luck.Na wa for una oh.Nothing would ever satisfy you FOOLS.
Why is it every time we get a good result against teams,some FOOLS would say we use luck,but anytime we loose to teams(e.g confeds cup) u guys wouldnt say spain uruguay used luck ?.We dominated against uruguay and spain in d confeds cup,but our finishing was lacking,just like d italians yesterday.Y'all should have said uruguay and spain used luck to win us.But when its nigeria,una go say Luck Luck Luck !..Even if we win d worldcup,these fools would always find a way of discrediting d team by saying "We used Luck".Stupid mentality,i call it.

Ukwu_Nnu: For all of you calling Mikel names, I wonder if you really understand soccer.
Keshi played just two midfielders and if not for Mikel staying back to soak up the pressure, do you think Onazi could have been able to bomb forward?
Mikel was playing a dual midfield role last night cus Oduamadi was practically lost.

At the first half, Mikel played better but tired out in the second, you can't blame him who wouldn't after 90 mins just 48hrs back and the pressure he had to soak up in the first 45mins?

As for those saying Enyeama was talking to him about pride are pure ignorant, he was only cautioning about the way he reacted and bounced the ball that earned him a booking. He needs to manage his anger and Enyeama as the captain is right to point out that to him, you all can see he listened and not argue. That his reaction and those of other players to the ref after that booking made the ref to sit up and quit blowing for fun.

The guy saying Keshi made a mistake using the two full backs instead of Efe and Echiejile, you need to understand that this is the reason for friendlies to test players. You can not depend on Efe and Echiejile all the time, what happens God forbid they get injured? Every position needs a back up and Keshi is doing a great job in that aspect.


Great match overall and I think Shola just got himself a ticket to Brazil.

Gud one and God bless u for clarifying things for the haters of mikel.

heskay0: Wetin una dey gain frm futball sef?

Why wasting your MB? Why must you even enter the thread if you are not a football fan? Leave football fans alone and go and marry your rugby.....lop

rapheal_olami: Funny how people comment. Don't forget these guys just finished a battle for world cup which the camping as started close to a week ago. Moreover, after the match in Calabar they had to fly to Europe. Imagine the stress of finishing training and a major highly rated match and flying hours in an airplane (No forget say na flying wahala kill one of our golden musicians o). I just checked the Italian Team player's profile and I realized that they consist of 70% Italian club players. Which implies that they will be so familiar with the weather in London and the distance won't be far from london to Italy considering that its the same Europe. Moreso, the Italians don't engage any match this week.. So they have less fatigue challenge.
So for me I will give nigeria a "B".

Mikel need to improve in his running/counterattack. Though he his good with counter passes sha o. But sometimes he slows down a counter attack. He is too slow for my liken and he passes the ball backwards many times. He plays more like a Centre Mid-fielder or more likely a defensive midfielder and the coach is using him as an attacking midfielder. I think Kalu uche (I don't know his form though) and Onazi plays well as an attacking midfielder.

For people saying Mikel is Overhyped, I think the player which is over hyped is Victor Moses. He is good but not as good has people do rate him. I don't think he is any better than Musa. He may be more reliable comparing him to Ideye sha. But Mikel should also work on his set pieces. Its bad if a midfielder of his class can't take corner kicks and free kick.


As for the players to be replaced for the world cup. I will vote Ideye out. He may be good but he is definite not fitting into the SE squad.

Oduamadi has only positioning to his credit, he lack other things expected of a striker.

I wish that those two will be replaced by Odewinge and Kalu uche if their forms are still good for the team o. I see Kalu as an utility player. We really need in that squad. We miss Garuba lawal. Someone that can switch positions easily. I don't think we need any addition or subtraction in t
he defense line. All we need is more world class friendlies to boost the home based guys' confidence, communication and compartment
. Becuase its not easy to play against the same balotelli and pirlo that you have been seeing on TV.

#YesYesYes. Up Super Eagle. Brazil2014 In grand style.................

its people like u that make me come to naira land ur inept analysis just encompasses my thoughts in entirety . I wish I can. like more than once

I now know why ameobi has been started the last two games for Newscastle, the guy was on point last nite, he has proved critics wrong.

A lot of sports journalists on radio ate their words this morning with the eagles performance last nite and those who are tearing down the defence with criticisms on this thread I think are unfair considering the fact that 3 of our back 4 are home based players who are yet to play at such a high level.

The SEs performance in this match actually surprised me judging by the fact that they just finished a game against Ethiopia....thinking they did not rest enough. Truly Italy team had smooth passes through midfield into attack most of the time during this game but my surprise came from the fact that our men were able to withstand them and still find the space to score 2 goals!
Putting all odds together i think they did well looking at the FIFA rating of both countries. At least we can see that we have an attacker who can really contest aerial ball in the opponent's 18 yard and score a goal (Dike), we also have a player who can do such a flip at near impossible angle to score a goal (Ameobi)...those were classic goals compared to the ones scored by Italy. If we combine these with the qualities of Emenike, Moses, Musa, and a fine-tune of the defense, i think on a good day no team will find it easy to beat the SEs.

We have a team.

Well done Keshi and the men.

D7

Them play any match yesterday

Bastien or whatever you call yourself, you are either stupid or a cow. Do you even understand football? What position does Mikel play? After answering yourself also answer this. What is the role played by the position Mikel plays. Always weigh your words before pouring out garbage. Nonsense!

bastien: Onazi of course!!!!

See guys I gat something to say,there Is one player in the team that need to be show the exist door if only he will change his way,at this moment pride shouldn't come in,Ameobi,ambrose and Eyeama should for me be the ones doing the pride stuff and not Mikel,is he bcus he has won champions league n others,that doesn't count,Kanu won many and yet didn't play with pride,how about Pirlo or Xavi,this are complete midfielders,that when ever they are called,they Answer with honour and dignity to there country,and serve them well,we all saw what Pirlo did today,how he changed the game etc,Mikel doesn't seems like he wanna be in that squad,he romance the ball to much,and shading players like he is d strongest,(mean why,when he is in chelsea he doesn't do that,he play with the team and more offensive) after today match,Vincent Enyeama went to him,and give him world of advice!

Think,so one (elder) should talk to him!

I agree with u 2 some extent, watching mikel these days in super eagles shirt I noticed mikel is kinda havin some sort of over confidence when he's holding d ball even when its obvious he should pass d ball. He holds d ball too much thereby conceding possession 2 d opponent when he's crowded off d ball on numerous occassions. He doesn't try such in chelsea. Where I don't agree with u is saying its as a result of his pride, I see mikel as a very humble player. Whether we like it or not, mikel is our best midfielder right now, we can't just do without his sublime long and short range passes.

frodobee: @bastien i think you have a message and we understand it. But next time, for better understanding use any medium convenient to you like pidgin english. 'word of advice' 'exit door'.

..or dis kinda ITK weh u de do...or prof

4 me, its a win 4 naija! De really played like african champions. Will rate dem 80%, de hv suceeded in telling d world dat africans are no longer under dogs in professsional futbal! Kudos Keshi! Kudos Technical crew!! Kudos Eagles!!!

Nigeria did it so well during the first half and this was very clear for all to see. But I just couldn't understand their reason for some of the bad tackles that were so unnecessary and uncalled for during the second half.
And for God's sake what is the lazy Mikel still doing in Super eagles and why should Brown Ideye be called even to the bench? As far as am concerned this two should have no more business in the team. Mikel especially should be given Osaze's treatment Asap. He's just too proud and lazy, can't lay good passes and hold on to the ball stupidly

rudedough: I'll give their rating to TB Joshua, TB Joshua's picture saved them from loosing the match.

Yes of course,TB JOSHUA have alway save in Christ Jesus and will continue to save us in Jesus name. There is power of GOD thru that medium.

Sincerely speaking amoabi and dike shuold get more features in the team,they are just to wonderful,and ofcours vickor was superb

bengreat:
I think you are being unfair given them a C because they did their best against Italy and their best was good.

That was far from their best, our midfield wasn't in the game, our left and right backs were totally absent. We had lots of chances to close d game but wasted them.