I must admit that this Nigeria team is very lacklustre in comparison not only with the Nigeria team of the 90s but also in comparison with other African teams going to the World Cup. With all respect to Lukman Haruna - Haruna is probably going to be Nigeria's key player, now please compare him to Okocha, Finidi, Amunike, Oliseh and others, or Kwadwo Asamoah, Alex Song, Achille Emana, Yaya Toure, Didier Zokora, Karim Ziani or Steven Pienaar from other African sides.

@marutimon,
in ur words, haruna is probably GOING TO BE and for his going to be, u have gotten the licence to compare him with all these players u mentioned above.
if i may ask, if the super eagles have all these qualities in one player, it simply means we have won the cup.
do u know that fifa will ban nigeria if they notice that we are playing with all these players compressed in one?
if u are normal, tell me what is the relationship between okocha's style of play and that of amunike.
the haruna that u are selling his game here undoubtably has skills but lack stamina and i tell u, today's soccer needs more of stamina than skills.
again, haruna lacks speed and vission. i watched him destroy nigeria in the under 20 world cup when he carelessly gave the ball away.
well since u said he will probably be these players, let us wait till then.

Yaya toure is creative but i think black generally lack players that can dictate the pace of the game in the middle.
Nigerian should send their young stars to la-mesia(the home of creative midfielders).
xavi,inesta,fabregas,Arterta,jds,thiago are the kinda of players the poster was referring to.

Who says there are none, the only problem is politics and we all know how they do their selection.

How they do their selection? Enlighten us please

The author of this article don't know west African foot as far as i'am concerned. How you gonna write about west African football without talking about the great George Weah.

At least i was vindicated by this world Cup. There are no creative players in West Africa, in fact in all of Africa. It seems as if Europe specifically the English premiership is determining the kind of players we produce (tall/strong ones with hardly any skill). There is no flair no creativity. Where are our Forlan's, our Zidane's and co.?

Please, please, nobody should mention Lukman Haruna's name again.

davidif:

At least i was vindicated by this world Cup. There are no creative players in West Africa, in fact in all of Africa. It seems as if Europe specifically the English premiership is determining the kind of players we produce (tall/strong ones with hardly any skill). There is no flair no creativity. Where are our Forlan's, our Zidane's and co.?

We all saw how the English players and the EPL players all failed in the tournament.

EPL produced more players than any other league yet none of them made the Golden ball nominee, None was in the Team of the tournament, Infact the highest scoring EPL player was Tevez with 2 goals same with Uche Kalu

^^^^
uche kalu plays for what club?

marutimon:

I must admit that this Nigeria team is very lacklustre in comparison not only with the Nigeria team of the 90s but also in comparison with other African teams going to the World Cup. With all respect to Lukman Haruna - Haruna is probably going to be Nigeria's key player, now please compare him to Okocha, Finidi, Amunike, Oliseh and others, or Kwadwo Asamoah, Alex Song, Achille Emana, Yaya Toure, Didier Zokora, Karim Ziani or Steven Pienaar from other African sides.

You obviously don't know football because if you did you would know that alex song, zokora, and yaya toure are defensive midfielders not attacking midfielders. The other players you mentioned are all average players as we saw this world cup. There is a reason why they all play for mid-level teams in Europe.
By the way, Lukman Haruna would fade away in a year or two just like other Nigerian talent before him like the Pius Ikedia's, ifeanyi udeze's, ogbeche's, opabunmi's and several others. This guys were once called the future of Nigeria, well it seems that it was a very short future.

JIY:

has there ever been a great West African winger? -- something Vernon attributes to the conditions in which most children there learn the game.
A very interesting article! As to the question, yes, there have been. I must agree with others on the forum regarding Finidi George. He was a great winger, way up with the best of them. And what about Emmanuel Amunike? Surely, he must be ranked among the best. Then there is Tijani Babangida, who was also very effective in his prime.

As to midfielders: Amokachi must come to mind as an attacking midfielder though some might think of him more of a forward. What about Oliseh?

I guess, this debate depends on perspective. We should remember though that in the 90's Nigerian players were among the best in the world. I do not think there  should be much debate about that. The situation today is different however. Even Nigerians should admit that.

When i think of the best wingers of the 90's, i think of Roberto Donadoni, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Marc Overmars. I can't put finidi talkless of Ammunike on that list (and don't even mention a one dimensional player like tijani or ikedia). To me the most important attribute of a mordern winger is the ability to pass/cross the ball. David Beckham might have been one dimensional but that skill he had, he was sooooooooo good at it that he was able to play for the top teams in d world. In fact, he could decide one game with one deadly cross to the head of one his teammates. Oh, did i forget that he had the best free kick in the world, something that the likes of finidi, ammuneke and tijani could not even begin to boast about.
I wrote a piece about how we create more talent in naija here https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=478629.msg6380836#msg6380836

Though i am a great critic of nigerian football any person that says Finidi was not a world class winger in his time is just trying to be funny.

Someone that played for Ajax when ajax was probably the top team in europe and beating the likes of Ac Milan and Real Madrid black and blue in Champions not world class

Again the premiership at this period was shoit and nothing to write home about.

@Asha,

Maybe Davidf can learn from that.

Beckham only played for those clubs because of his commercial appeal and had nothing to do with his football skills.

The way he shuttles between LA Galaxy and AC Milan should tell you that he has nothing to offer in football, In his Madrid days assembly of Galacticos He was the worst player on the field time and again and his purchase disrupted the Madrid game.

Real Madrid didnt win anything for most of Beckhams Career there.

Best Free kick in the world? Beckham cant even make top 5. Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Juninho, Mihajlovic

Beckham was more of a hit and miss free kick taker similar to CR7

dayokanu:

@Asha,
Real Madrid didnt win anything for most of Beckhams Career there.

Best Free kick in the world? Beckham cant even make top 5. Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Juninho, Mihajlovic

Beckham was more of a hit and miss free kick taker similar to CR7

Wow! you are holding on to straws son. Blame beckham for real madrid failing to win a trophy, that's a good one. By the way, why are we talking about Beckham, i was talking about Finidi George. Finidi's free kick is not on the same level as the guys you mentioned talkless of Beckham.

asha 80:

Someone that played for Ajax when ajax was probably the top team in europe and beating the likes of Ac Milan and Real Madrid black and blue in Champions not world class

Again the premiership at this period was shoit and nothing to write home about.

ha ha haha, chai! the things you hear on nairaland sha. When was the dutch league ever as good or even better than the english league ehn? If the dutch league was better than the english league then why did the english league have 3 slots at the champions league while the dutch only had 2? why didn't the dutch have 3 like the english or 4 like the Italians, Spaniards and Germans? Also, if the Dutch league was sooooooo good why was there a mass exodus of players from Ajax to other better and bigger leagues? why didn't they just stay at home like everybody else? Why did Dennis Bergkamp even come to Arsenal in 1994, why didn't he just go back home?

Oh yeah, did i also forget to tell you. English teams have won the champions league 11 times and have been runners up 6 times. While the dutch league has won the champions league 6 times and have been runners up twice. Now tell me who the better league is? Nonsense, una no sabi argue, next time bring your facts and stop arguing with conjecture.

davidif:

Wow! you are holding on to straws son. Blame beckham for real madrid failing to win a trophy, that's a good one. By the way, why are we talking about Beckham, i was talking about Finidi George. Finidi's free kick is not on the same level as the guys you mentioned talkless of Beckham.
ha ha haha, chai! the things you hear on nairaland sha. When was the dutch league ever as good or even better than the english league ehn? If the dutch league was better than the english league then why did the english league have 3 slots at the champions league while the dutch only had 2? why didn't the dutch have 3 like the english or 4 like the Italians, Spaniards and Germans? Also, if the Dutch league was sooooooo good why was there a mass exodus of players from Ajax to other better and bigger leagues? why didn't they just stay at home like everybody else? Why did Dennis Bergkamp even come to Arsenal in 1994, why didn't he just go back home?

davidif:

Wow! you are holding on to straws son. Blame beckham for real madrid failing to win a trophy, that's a good one. By the way, why are we talking about Beckham, i was talking about Finidi George. Finidi's free kick is not on the same level as the guys you mentioned talkless of Beckham.
ha ha haha, chai! the things you hear on nairaland sha. When was the dutch league ever as good or even better than the english league ehn? If the dutch league was better than the english league then why did the english league have 3 slots at the champions league while the dutch only had 2? why didn't the dutch have 3 like the english or 4 like the Italians, Spaniards and Germans? Also, if the Dutch league was sooooooo good why was there a mass exodus of players from Ajax to other better and bigger leagues? why didn't they just stay at home like everybody else? Why did Dennis Bergkamp even come to Arsenal in 1994, why didn't he just go back home?

My guy argue with brain!

Ajax in the early and mid 90s was a much solid and respected club than any other english club in that era.That you know.I never said the dutch league was then was a better league than english league but Ajax of then was a superior team than any english team then.Ajax's performances in the champions league then was fantastic.Yes english clubs then were shoit judging from their perfomances in europe btw 1992 to 1998.If you have proof of an english team doing well at that time in europe let me know.

Dennis bergkamp went to arsenal in 1995 not 1994 so stop giving false info here.1994/1995 he was at inter milan.

As for dutch players not lasting long in their dutch league or Ajax are you aware of bosman ruling?Are you aware that before it came in 1996 their was restrictions on foreign players(including even fellow eu nations) on domestic leagues around europe?Are you aware that if not for this ruling clubs like inter,arsenal can never field an all out 'foreign players'in their league matches and europe competitions? Do you know what the EPL would have been like scottish league if the bosman man ruling did not come into effect?Restrictions varied from nation to nation but it was not usually more than 4 foreigners playing at a time.In EPL it would have been Man U plus maybe Liverpool league.

The reason why dutch players were moving was because of more freedom to move and money.

Ajax played 2 back to back Champions league finals in that time no English club could achieve that.

In the mid 90's Ajax, AC Milan and Juventus are the top clubs in Europe

dayokanu:

Ajax played 2 back to back Champions league finals in that time no English club could achieve that.

In the mid 90's Ajax, AC Milan and Juventus are the top clubs in Europe

Yeah, but that does not mean there league was better than the English league, it just meant that there team was simply better which means that the Dutch league was a very top heavy league, with one good team and everybody else average.

The point was Finidi was playing in Ajax which was stronger than any English team, Real Madrid, Barcelona at that point and he played for one of the best 3 teams in Europe of that era and was a regular for them.

Finidis Ajax at their peak whooped Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borrousia Dortmund and AC Milan effortlessly

dayokanu:

The point was Finidi was playing in Ajax which was stronger than any English team, Real Madrid, Barcelona at that point and he played for one of the best 3 teams in Europe of that era and was a regular for them.

Finidis Ajax at their peak whooped Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borrousia Dortmund and AC Milan effortlessly

Don't throw the word "effortlessly" around anyhow jare. Like i said, when i think of wingers of the 90's i think Roberto Donadoni, Ryan Giggs, Marc Overmars, Luis Figo this where the players who played for the big clubs around the world and became household names. I can't put your boy there because if he was so good, the Barca's, Madrid's, and the Italian Clubs would have been trying to break the bank for him but obviously he ended up in a mid table team like Sevilla.

If you dont know ask questions

In 1995 Ajax beat AC Milan home an away 4-0 aggregate (AC Milan won the CL the previous season)

In 1995 Ajax beat Bayern Munich 5-2 aggregate

In 1996 Ajax beat Borrousia Dortmund home and away 3-0 aggregate(Dortmund won the CL following season)

In 1996 Ajax beat Real Madrid home and away 3-0 aggregate

Tell me which of those wasnt effortless

Now tell me why Finidi would leave Ajax that was top 3 in Europe for Real Madrid, Barcelona or those Italian clubs whom Ajax was beating regularly in Europe.

Tell me how RealMadrid, Barcelona Man Utd and co fared in Europe at Finidis peak in the mid 90's

Once more I tell you in the mid 90's Barcelona and Man Utd were not top clubs

Now tell me why Finidi would leave Ajax that was top 3 in Europe for Real Madrid, Barcelona or those Italian clubs whom Ajax was beating regularly in Europe.

Tell me how RealMadrid, Barcelona Man Utd and co fared in Europe at Finidis peak in the mid 90's

Once more I tell you in the mid 90's Barcelona and Man Utd were not top clubs

Oh, then why did he go to a team like Real Betis that was waaaaaaaaaaay below those teams that he used to beat uhn? Also, why did his colleagues like Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Winston Bogarde (AC Milan), Seedorf (Sampdoria), de Boer's (Barcelona), Kanu (Internazionale) all end up in this clubs then.

davidif:

Oh, then why did he go to a team like Real Betis that was waaaaaaaaaaay below those teams that he used to beat uhn? Also, why did his colleagues like Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Winston Bogarde (AC Milan), Seedorf (Sampdoria), de Boer's (Barcelona), Kanu (Internazionale) all end up in this clubs then.

Have you considered that Finidi even with his football age was about 5 yrs older than these other guys.

He simply went for the money because Betis was on a spending spree then They bought Denilson for a world record in the same period.

Its just like questioning any player who goes to man Citeh now.

Finidi was the top Right winger in Europe and he had a lucrative offer from Betis.

Finidi knew his age and he simply went for the best deal available which the Barcelonas and madrid cant give. Teaming up with Denilson and Alfonso Perez

He simply went for the money because Betis was on a spending spree then They bought Denilson for a world record in the same period.

Correction: Denilson went to Betis after the 1998 world cup, that was two years after Finidi.

That is still within the same era, Would it be wrong to say Man City bought Robinho and Silva within the same era when they had a rich sugardaddy?

dayokanu:

That is still within the same era, Would it be wrong to say Man City bought Robinho and Silva within the same era when they had a rich sugardaddy?