edi287:
Samu makes L'Equipe's Top 50 players under the age of 20.

TheGoodJoe:


What Iheanacho suffered at City under Guardiola was lack of regular playing time. Not delivery. He scored sufficiently and had assists in the few games Guardiola gave him.

Rohr was braver earlier. That was when Kelechi was banging in goals. The conservative play came after the South African loss, that was after he took risks by fielding Awaziem in defence. After that, the fear came in and it has not been the same after that.

What you wrote up there does not contradict my point.

andrew444:


My own dey come soon

Still thinking of my player to recruit.

Earthquake3:


Don't go near my Balogun

safarigirl:
I'm seeing some funny names in that Top 20 that are there because of affiliation more than talent

Phil Foden? LOL

safarigirl:
thesupernerd is the origin of epistles, how e wan take look me?

Kelechi dey straff you na wetin make you wan die on top him matter?

andrew444:


I don't recruit old players balogun should be 30

Make David okereke or Denis bonaventure just join better club or make onyekuru go laliga

Una no go hear word

soetanoreoluwa:


Exactly, the medics are just trying to take Precautions for any possible relapse. He's good now.

safarigirl:
I'm seeing some funny names in that Top 20 that are there because of affiliation more than talent

Phil Foden? LOL

TheGoodJoe:


Foden was rated higher than Sancho before he left, see what he did at Dortmund. As for me Foden is better than Sancho. I think many know he is high quality. He is kept on the bench by the likes of Silva, Bernardo Silva, Gundogan, De Bruyne who are top players with Silva being World Class.

andrew444:


Hudson odoi ahead of chukwueze just because he is english?

NONSENSE

Icon4s:


Meaning we are going to the AFCON with an unfit striker in Odion Ighalo.

This is totally not acceptable. Simon was dropped from the WC squad because of injury now it is Ighalo's turn and nobody is saying anything.

Not as if he is a Mohammed Salah or Sadio Mane.

Call me an Ighalo hater if you like but I will always say what is right or wrong. Rohr has just lost my respect with this one. Period!

safarigirl:
I'm seeing some funny names in that Top 20 that are there because of affiliation more than talent

Phil Foden? LOL

andrew444:


Who told you ighalo is injured? if so are you really sure about this and what your source?

Icon4s:


Just wait. U will soon find out.

forgiveness:


Remember, The ministry wanted the friendly match going to the world cup be played in Abuja with the President in attendance to act as send off but pinnick and his crew ignored the plea and went ahead to play the match in Port Harcourt.

That was disrespectful.

andrew444:


Who told you ighalo is injured? if so are you really sure about this and what your source?

edi287:

You think I was joking when I said Osimhen wasn't dropped because of uncertainty over Ighalo's fitness??
Do you really think it made any sense or whatsoever to take BOTH Osimhen and Onachu if Ighalo was 100 percent(note this has nothing to do with Nacho before certain mad man jump on my throat).

forgiveness:


NFF wants independence. Independence they have.

Why should the same NFF look up to the ministry of sports for support?

Icon4s:


Meaning we are going to the AFCON with an unfit striker in Odion Ighalo.

This is totally not acceptable. Simon was dropped from the WC squad because of injury now it is Ighalo's turn and nobody is saying anything.

Not as if he is a Mohammed Salah or Sadio Mane.

Call me an Ighalo hater if you like but I will always say what is right or wrong. Rohr has just lost my respect with this one. Period!

Humility017:

Goal-greedy strikers hold the key to Nigeria's Afcon success
by Colin Udoh

Nigeria have always had the good fortune of being blessed with an array of attacking talent, especially going into an Africa Cup of Nations, and this edition is no exception.
As much as a good backline has always satisfied the maxim of "defence wins championships," it has been the swashbuckling forward line which has captivated the fans and shot the Super Eagles to continental glory on three occasions.

Witness: 1980 Nations Cup-winning forwards Segun Odegbami, Adokiye Amiesmiaka, Aloysius Atuegbu and Henry Nwosu, through to 1994 winners Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Samson Siasia, Finidi George and Emmanuel Amuneke, to combined silver and bronze winners Victor Ikpeba, Osaze Odemwingie, Ike Uche, John Utaka, Yakubu Ayegbeni, and the more recent 2013 winners Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Moses and Ahmed Musa.
Even before kicking a ball in anger at this month's edition in Egypt, Gernot Rohr's class of 2019 is sure to rank amongst the most lethal of the country's selections, at least in theory.

They have scored a combined total of 87 goals in club football this season, a remarkable return which puts them in good stead for the title. But more on that in a bit.
Odion Ighalo leads a stellar cast of players who are almost as underrated as they are deadly. At least at club level.

Then, Ahmed Musa, Paul Onuachu, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Kalu, Samuel Chukwueze, Henry Onyekuru and Moses Simon make up the names that Rohr can select from to fill the starting positions in his front three at any point in time.
It is a fearsome selection. It is tough to remember when last the Super Eagles had such a deep pool of talented and in-form attackers on their roster, if ever.
Rohr has picked a forward line that is as diverse as it has been lethal infant of goal, a group so talented they can score in a variety of ways with deadly precision. And therein lies their strength: the ability to offer different looks to different opposition depending on how they shape up.

Ighalo is the typical, old-fashioned centre forward who led the rest of the African field in goals scored during qualifying, rattling off seven goals during the series. He offers brute strength, close quarters combat, headed goals and the fox in the box tap-ins.
The 29-year-old is also the designated penalty taker, and has a 90 percent-plus success rate from the spot.

Both Onuachu and Osimhen are Ighalo backups, offering largely similar but also slightly unique skillsets. Onuachu's long-limbed frame means he can reach farther than most with his lower extremities to claim second balls, or keep them away from the opposition at close quarters.
It also means he can generate more power than most from range with minimal backlift, like he showed in scoring against Egypt, and he requires next to no elevation to reach high balls. For a man of his size, his nimble feet also comes as something of a pleasant surprise.

Osimhen, on the other hand, is a younger and quicker version of both, who can deliver venomous rockets from distance with the same instinctive ease with which he can poach inside the area.
His 20 goals this season for RSC Charleroi are the second highest scored by any of the Nigerian forwards on the squad. Onuachu leads the way with 22.

Out wide, assistant skipper Musa is the orchestrator in chief. His pace has proven troublesome for even the best teams in the world, as he showed at two World Cups. Despite his small frame, he can also be deployed with success (as his time at CSKA Moscow shows) as a central striker.
Same thing applies to Onyekuru, whose 16 goals this season for Galatasaray is evidence enough of his clinical efficiency. He is just as quick, just as strong, as the best around despite being a slightly built player.

The other three, Moses Simon, Samuel Kalu, and Samuel Chukwueze, are marked by their waspish frames, nimble feet and venomous firepower, in addition to a rapid burst of sprinters pace.
All three thrive on trickery, take-ons and hit the ball with such vicious force from range that they either score or set up tap-ins for the teammates.
Chukwueze is particularly adept at this and, as the only natural left-footer in the group, his ability to play as an inverted winger makes it extra difficult for fullbacks to stay with him when he cuts inside as he is wont to do.

This diverse combination of forwards is one that will have defenders cursing their luck. It is no surprise they have managed a combined return of 87 goals amongst them this past season.
As phenomenal a number as that might appear to be, it is still only second amongst the countries travelling to Egypt. Senegal's forward line have scored an astonishing 103 club goals between them.

And so the Super Eagles frontline will need to up their game in Egypt if Nigeria are to win the title. Their last two friendly games, against Egypt (sans Mohamed Salah) and Zimbabwe, yielded a grand total of just one goal. And they were playing at home.
In Egypt, they will need to do better. But at least no one can accuse this frontline of not knowing their way to goal. That, in itself, is cause for more than a little optimism.

Africa.espn. com

andrew444:


Osimhen dropped or nacho ? You mean osimhen was supposed to be stopped ,please explain to me bro

If ighalo is not fit osimhen should start at afcon please

forgiveness:


The pitch was put in order but Pinnick ignored and went to Port Harcourt.

Pinnick acted on his own accord by taken the team to Aso rock after he had disrespected the office of the Presidency.

Now, the office of the president has unleashed.......to chase after him and at the same time left the federation to Pinnick and co fate since he is the boss.

“The minister of sports has directed that the Abuja National Stadium should to put in shape for the Nigeria and DR Congo friendly match. We are putting everything possible in place to ensure that the turf is ready on time. As you can see, the pitch is now lush green, safe for some few patches which we are working on.

“We are putting in every effort to ensure that the pitch is put in good condition to be to host the Eagles versus DR Congo match. The Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr was also here to inspect the pitch and he is more favourable to playing here from the way he spoke,” an official told Complete Sports.

Earthquake3:


Fifa and their stupid ranking

edi287:

Not necessarily for Nacho - it could be Semi. That's what I heard...

TheGoodJoe:


I think Foden was 16 here when he made his debut for City in a preseason game before he came out as the best U17 player at the U17 World Cup where Sancho was in the team.

You can see his class in his play in this game.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YCjxSqHKJ8

tbaba1234:


He was injured at the start of camp..