I don't know, but this guy has not lost a match ever since we hired him. Take note of that. He even made us win our first away match in Burkina Faso back in 1997. So I think we may eventually qualify.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/4710307.stm

IMO he was good for us back then with his 3-5-2 formation. Note that the average Nigerian player is a midfielder, so such a formation would actually suit us.

My quarrel is this: a coach is hired after the World Cup with a view to getting ready for the next World Cup. Hiring Troussier at this point doesn't do jack shit to our qualification chances, except if we can use 'board-room' power to get to Germany.

He is a good coach when it comes to national teams as his record clearly states. The question is, are we serious this time? My answer, sadly is NO!

why are u so pessimistic about it.

i do not want us to qualify but i want us to build a new team at least prove ourselves in the nations cup...."if we qualify"

i think we are this time.....but don't count on it.

Problem with Super Eagles  if u can give an intensive look into it is unseriousness. An average coach with the super eagles can make the best with the quality of players we have. This takes us into knowing that a Nigerian feel he is doing every thing in life only to make money unlike other countries like America, Britain, Brazil where their major purpose in life is to be useful to the country.

Knowing what our purpose in life is (as it can be proved, making dough), how can u expect already established players  "SUPER EAGLES" that individually is as rich as a state in Nigeria to start working for a "should-be employee" to him? Nigeria can never give them enough incentive to make them play hard 'cos it might cause it (Nigeria)  another 3yrs loan from IMF to satisfy the "expensive" players.

We can give a second thought on why our "locally" players here in nigeria are doing best in the world; excerpt: Flying Eagles, Enyimba. This is nothing than they have not tasted that fruit (God warned against in Adam and Eve) pounds. So, they can be impressed at the mention of 100s of thousands of our naira(nairaland, bless u) and in trying to claim it, they play zealously. That's even why I feel sad when I see some of our blessed local players bought to play in foreign clubs. I wouldn't pray for it but I foresee Mikel Obi likely to start messing up after LIVERPOOLS starts feeding him it that evil fruit (money). I am not saying is not good to make money but if it'll deprive you of your wonderful talents for your country, is not helpful.

What am saying is that the work of TROUSSIER has to start from preaching to the players, telling them that the love of money is always the beginning of failure in  any ambition. He should also have what it takes to discipline a player 'cos Nigerian players lack discipline. This is not a matter of trying to please or compromise maybe inorder to be liked by the players, then, alas, u'll mess up withour country.

All these tactics-teaching i.e. formations can then come after all these players have been well disciplined. U cannot teach  somebody from far from u, it is when they are close to u that u can put into them  whatever talents u have. CHUKWU tried it and it landed him into football exile. I believe he (CHUKWU) had all it takes to make it but, due to the indisciplinary trait in our players, CHUKWU never sat with them and plan for them.

If our TROUSSIER has been appointed, I feel it will be helpful, maybe, our players might have the fear of whitemen

well actually the fear of whitemen cannot make them change.

the only reason why i feel he was chosen is because he has an understanding of the way we run things here in Nigeria.

i agree with the discipline aspect but its not just about discipline but also about how well the players know each other i mean playing together and blending play together.

time is too short. Nigerians like the firebrigade approach....when it reaches the 11th hour then we start looking for solutions.........that has been our attitude.....and its bad

fear of the whitema? I hope you are not serious

despite always running after white people, have we ever won the world cup? we think only white people can help u win abroad, but yet we haven't one once and we still have no faith i ourselves, even for something s silly as football. may GOd save te black man from himself

it is not that a whiteman......we need expertise..........ok if u r talkin of a black man.......we could as well have taken Jean tigana for a coach..afterall he is black..

At least with Troussier our team wont be so predictable as in the Chukwu or Onigbinde days when even my grandmother could predict the starting line up and our approach play based on the players that turned up. Dont forget that a high powered panel has been set up to ensure our qualification.(although i think chief Tony Anenih should be added to head that team) so we still have a good chance of qualifying.or what do you think?

Actually for qualification the mathematics (if you're an optimist) are in our favour.

Why?

We had the best possible result after that stupid game against Angola the next day when Algeria and Zimbabwe drew 2-2.
That 2-2 effectively knocked Algeria out of the Nations Cup but ensured that Zimbabwe haven't pulled too far off from Gabon.

The Table
[table] P W D L GF GA Pts
Angola 8 4 3 1 8 6 15
Nigeria 8 4 3 1 11 4 15
Zimbabwe 8 3 3 2 9 8 12
Gabon 8 2 3 3 11 10 9
Algeria 8 1 4 3 6 10 7
Rwanda 8 1 2 5 5 12 5[/table]

At 3 points below Zimbabwe, and 2 games to go, Gabon are in there with a shout (the only problem is that their head-to-head against the Zimbabweans is inferior, but in terms of semantics, the scenario is like this: we have 2 matches, against Algeria who are out, and against Zimbabwe (here in Nigeria, let's hope we don't blow it). Angola have 2 against Gabon (who have every chance of going thru) and Rwanda (away). If we can play our politics well (in this case it isn't match fixing) and get Rwanda to play their level best that day against Angola, they just might sneak at least a draw, and why because Angola's only away win thus far has been against nobody. The point being that if Rwanda are properly motivated that day, then we have a good chance to go thru...

I have a more comprehensive analysis of all the group scenarios, lemme find it...

Found it... this is where I posted it initially (http://www.juventuz.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=10114&postid=731627#post731627), a bit long but happy reading!

Looks like Round 8 was the most crucial of all the rounds to date. Could we have five new African teams at the WC in Germany? To summarise - Ghana delivers what captain Appiah promised...Super Eagles stunned at home by the Palances Negras...Togo still proving that they are worthy of WC spot...Elephants are so close to Germany, but have to overcome Cameroon in Sept...Bye bye Egypt, see you in SA2010, why did you not start Mido today...

Note that FIFA takes into account head-to-head record between the sides before goal difference.

Group 1 [Togo (17), Zambia (16), Senegal (15), Congo (10), Mali (5), Liberia (4)]
Senegal [2 - 2] Togo
Zambia [2 - 1] Mali
Liberia [0 - 2]Congo

Togo is still leading the group; this is incredible for Stephen Keshi's
men. All they have to do now is win their final two games v Liberia (h) and
Congo (a), and they'll be going to Germany. They face Liberia in September, a team that has conceded 10 goals in their previous two away qualifiers, and relies on local players to cut costs. The turnaround for this team must be the 2-1 come-from-behind win over Mali in March; that game which got abandoned when the Togolese took the lead in the dying minutes of the game.

Prior to this weekend, Senegal had won their 3 previous home games, scoring 9 goals and conceding just 1.
The visitors opened their account through Nigerian-born Adekamni Olufade
(Charlerois), but two quick goals from Mamadou Niang (Strasbourg) and Henri Camara (Celtic??) gave the home side the advantage at half. The second half saw the Togolese press the home side, and despite time-wasting tactics by Diouf and co, the visitors equalised through another Nigerian-born, AS Monaco striker Sheyi Adebayor. Adebayor capitalised on a defensive blunder to increase his goal tally in these WCQs to 7 and silence the crowd in Dakar. At the final whistle, the Togolese faithful went nuts in Lome, gathering in the main square celebrating through the night (source RFI)

If the Hawks of Togo manage to qualify for Germany, Keshi should get the African Coach of the Year honours. A former captain of Nigeria a decade ago, Keshi took over the Hawks in 2004 and would have been happy to finish in the top three. This is a Togo team which just beat Equatorial Guinea in the qualifiers to make it to the group phase, and were not expected to make it this far. By the way, Keshi was once assistant coach of the Super Eagles, a team smarting from this weekend's results (smile)

Zambia beat Mali in Chililabombwe to climb to second spot, with goals from
local boy Linus Chalwe and Collins Mbesuma (Kaizer Chiefs). Soumaila
Coulibaly (Freiburg) had equalised for the Malians after the Zambians' first
goal. Coulibaly shot home from outside the box after an indirect free-kick,
catching GK Kennedy Mwane by surprise. The home team dominated the match and deserved to get the max points. Zambia now face Senegal at home in a game which will decide second place, should Togo beat Liberia in early Sept.

So Mali, the team that finished fourth at last year's ANC, with players like
Bagayoko (Nantes), Kanoute (Spurs) and Sissoko (Valencia), find themselves out of the running for Egypt 2006. Shame. They shuold have gotten Jean Tigana back when the Malian FA was hiring and firing coaches at will (Henryck Kasperczack, Christian Dalger, Henri Stambouli).

On Sunday, Liberia welcomed the Red Devils of Congo Brazzaville to the
Samuel Doe stadium in Monrovia, hoping to end their six game losing streak in the name of "rebuilding a new team to replace the likes of George Weah, James Debbah et al". They seriously need rebuilding. A local team coach was given the task of managing the Lone Stars for this game. Strange. No foreign-based player featured for the home side, as they could not afford the wages of these players. The visitors took advantage of the Liberian deficiencies by handing them a two-nil defeat, both goals courtesy of Ngandzoua

My prediction - Togo, used to be Senegal

Group 2 [Ghana (15), South Africa (15), DR Congo (12), Cape Verde (10), Burkina Faso (9), Uganda (7)]
South Africa [0 - 2] Ghana
Uganda [1 - 0] Cape Verde
Burkina Faso[2 - 0] DR Congo

Ghana is finally going to the World Cup. Well, that's what it seems like, after this weekend. Talk about a double dose of footballing fortune. They beat Bafana away from home and Burkina Faso defeat DR Congo, to give the Black Stars a commanding spot in the race. Bafana Bafana, the new wife of Ghana, were on a three game winning streak until they faced the might of midfielding-duo Stephen Appiah and Michael Essien. OK, let's not get carried away, they may very well draw their remaining games v Uganda (h) and Cape Verde (a), thereby gifting the South Africans their ticket to Germany.**

As with the Togolese, all Ghana has to do is win her remaining games and they're in!

This is a game the Black Stars *wanted* and they went there and got the
result, after camping in the high altitude of Naivasha in Kenya, and getting
the services of future African PoY Michael Essien. The $8,000 winning bonus also played a small_part in the motivation for the win. The SA team was missing Benni McCarthy through suspension and Quinton Fortune through injury, and the BS were without the safe hands of Sammy Adjei. The home team enjoyed the better of the first half and came close a few times but Shaun Bartlett (Charlton, no wonder, yeye boy!!) and Mabizela (Spurs) could not convert their chances. On the hour mark Stephen Appiah beat the offside trap and found an unmarked Matthew Amoah (Vitesse Arnheim) in the six-yard area for an easy tap in. GOAL!! Amoah is now 2 for 2, after opening his BS account in the previous game v Burkina Faso. With the match heading into extra time, Michael Essien (Lyon..maybe Chelski) headed home a Stephen Appiah cross, to give the BS a much needed away win at the FNB Stadium. Didn't South Africa beat them 3-0 in the same stadium in 1996 Nations Cup semis?

Saturday was a good day for Ghanaian sports fans; Ike Quartey also did them proud in boxing!

At the Stade de 4 Aout in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso did what they do best at home and beat DR Congo. The home side took an early lead through Saidi Penandetiguiri (Lokeren) and continued to press in an attempt to increase their lead. The points were secured when Moumouni Dagano (Guingamp 2 Div...think Didier Drogba) latched onto a defensive error in the Simba's defence and shot past the GK. The Burkinabes have lost once at home, to Cape Verde, so if they hold form, they may well beat South Africa in September . You know what that means!

Cape who? These guys were heavily favoured a month ago to disrupt the group and possibly, just maybe, squeeze past the big guns. They lost to Bafana two weeks ago and have now ended Uganda's *seven* match winless streak in Kampala. Godfrey Sserunkuma (SC Villa) got the winner after half hour of play. Cape Verde travel to DR Congo next then face Ghana at home; these are two very tough games, and for the team which, a few months ago, looked like going to the Nations Cup, things are looking very bleak.

My prediction - Ghana, used to be South Africa

Group 3 [Cote d'Ivoire (19), Cameroon (17), Egypt (13), Libya (11), Benin (2), Sudan (2)]
Cote d'Ivoire [2 - 0] Egypt
Cameroon [1 - 0] Libya
Benin [pp] Sudan Benin's overage players are in Holland at the WYC

Cameroon's IL won, but it did not matter as Cote d'Ivoire also won. This is
not going be an Elephant walk as I thought. The IL will be looking to win both games to advance from this Group of Death. I predict a draw in Abidjan, with both Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroon winning their final matches against Sudan and Egypt respectively.

The glaring omission in the Egyptian starting eleven at the Stade
Houpphouet-Boigny was coach Shehata resting Mido and Ahmed Hassan and going with his local-based strike partnership of Amr Zaki and Abdelhalim Ali. Both strikers were replaced at half, after the damage was half done by the Ivorians. Shehata's counterpart, Henri Michel, fielded his strongest side, with Aruna Dindane and Drogba leading the European-based players. A goal in each half from Africa's most expensive export kept the Ivorians clear at the top of the Group. Mido scored a consolation goal for the Pharoah's but was ruled offside by the linesman who was probably taking his siesta. Drogba was subbed to a standing ovation. On abidjan.net, they think he can solve the political problems in Cote d'Ivoire :rofl:

In Yaounde, the IL got the necessary three points through Achille Webo
(Osasuna) in their must-win game against Libya. I lost my match report for this game, PC crashed...grrrrrrrr

My prediction - Cote d'Ivoire, used to be Cameroon

Group 4 [Angola (15), Nigeria (15), Zim (11), Gabon (9), Algeria (6), Rwanda (5)]
Nigeria [1 - 1] Angola
Gabon [3 - 0] Rwanda
Algeria [2 - 2] Zimbabwe

Dear NFA, just fire Christian Chukwu and his coaching staff. While you're
at it, fire Samson Siasia too, and just bring in Stephen Keshi, the man you
sacked a few years ago, whom may just take Togo to the WC . WTF is going on, Nigeria was supposed to have qualified by now. They barely won their last game v Rwanda (!!) and now drew at home against Angola. Minnows in African football, I think not anymore. Okay, Nigeria *may* qualify for the WC, but they sure have made it difficult on themselves.

Christian Chukwu, who still believes his team will qualify "by God's grace", brought in the old legs, oops, big guns in Jay Jay Okocha and Nwanko Kanu (is he still 29 yrs old) Okocha, and Yak Aiyegbeni returned to the squad after being AWOL for the Rwanda game. However, coach Chukwu swallowed his pride (read coerced by the NFA) and played both players. Okocha (Bolton) opened the scoring with his trademark free-kick on 5
minutes and I thought the gates were opened for a mauling by Nigeria. After all, the Super Eagles lost to Angola a year ago, so payback was in order. There were few chances for either side in the half, and after recess, the Angolans started piling on the pressure and were rewarded when midfielder Paolo Figuereido beat GK Enyeama to level the scores at the hour mark.
Nigeria travel to Algeria in Sept and then face a Zimbabwe team whom they defeated 3-0 in Gaborone last year. However, if Angola beat Gabon (h) and Rwanda (a), they will be going to their first WC. So Nigeria should win both games and hope that Angola slip, or else we'll be seeing another new African face in Germany. Apparently the Nigerian team convoy was stoned by irate fans after the game. Only stones, they should have been flogged

Gabon beat Rwanda 3-0 in Libreville to hand the visitors their biggest
defeat in these qualifiers. The Gabonese are quietly moving into contention for a Nations Cup spot and could very well secure a place as the 16th team going to Egypt 2006. The home side opened the scoring through Alain Djissikadie in the 11th minute, before Londo Dieudonne (Raja Casablanca) and Nguema Zue (FC 105)wrapped up the scoring for Jairzinho's side.

My second biggest disappointment of these qualifiers, Algeria, almost won
their second game of these qualifiers. Almost, as they were within 5
minutes of beating Zimbabwe before captain Peter Ndlovu (Sundowns) blasted home the qualizer. Algeria have only won one game in these WCQs, against Rwanda, and with Mali, have been my worst teams in these qualifiers. Zimbabwe are not without their problems, with most players not showing up to camp in protest of the FA not paying them outstanding allowances and winning bonuses. Nothing new here. They were promised $100 million (Zim dollars ) if they won this game. Anyway, the game itself was a see-saw battle with neither side exerting itself. Algeria opened the scoring through Nasreddine Kraouche (Charleroi). The visitors pulled one back with an individual effort from Shingirai Kawondera (AE Pafos) who dribbled through the Algerian defence and equalised. The home side went ahead right after the break through Nadir Belhadj (Sedan...Ligue 2), before Ndlovu secured the much needed away point for the Zims.

My prediction - still Nigeria (misplaced patriotism?)[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d9/Nigeriaarms22.PNG[/img]

Group 5 [Morocco (16), Tunisia (14), Guinea (11), Kenya (10), Botswana (9), Malawi (3)]
Kenya [0 - 0] Morocco
Malawi [1 - 3] Botswana

The messed up group is becoming clearer now. Tunisia and Kenya have played 1 less game than everyone else. Kenya was suspended by FIFA last year so have to catchup with the rest. Tunisia are in Germany, and will be returning home after winning their final Confed game v Australia They then play a home/away series with Kenya, before facing Morocco on what will the biggest game of Round 10 (Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire would argue against that). This will be a rematch of the ANC 2002 final in Tunis which the home side triumphed. Morocco, by the way, remain the only unbeaten team in these qualifiers. The winner of that game will be joining Togo, Ghana etc to Germany (oops, spoke too soon).

Kenya held Morocco to a goalless draw in a match which will be remembered for the wrong reasons; a 15 yr old fan was trampled to death at the Nyayo Stadium where a capacity 40,000 crowd turned up.

Malawi had conceded 11 goals in 2 games before welcoming Botswana's Zebras at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. Coach Yasin Osman blamed the losses on the team's lack of concentration for the full 90 minutes (this man is sharp!!). He opted for a 3-5-2 formation for the Flames. The visitors lit up the scoreboard through Tshepiso Mwafulirwa ( Township Rollers) after ten minutes with an assist from Dipsy Selolwane (Chicago Fire) who doubled Botswana's lead before half-time. The Malawi Flames halved the deficit through Russel Mwafulirwa (Jomo Cosmos) right after the break. The visitors, however, secured the points at the death with Tshepo Motlhabankwe (Extension Gunners) scoring his first of the WCQ.

My prediction - Tunisia

Leading goal scorers
Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor (Togo) - 7
Didier Drogba (Cote d'Ivoire) - 6
Dennis Oliech (Kenya) - 6
Diphetego Selolwane (Botswana) - 5

Chxta. u dey yarn o.

the warning lights we there long before the WCQ started. we should have hired then not now. the NFA shoulda just waited till after the WC qualifiers for troussier.
I predict that if we fail to qualify, Troussier would get the boot.

Sadly, yes. If we fail to qualify, those idiots at NFA will blame him. What baffles me is why he accepted the job

yeah the problme with NFA (and the nigerian govt.) is that they never look at situations in the long run. they are constantly always trying to find a short cut to everything.

good luck to troussier anyway and i hope we qualify.

well, if we don't qualify, it would hardly surprise me or any non-NFA nigerian and i believe it would be good for us in the long run.

On the surface of it, it is better if we don't qualify, but trust me, if we dig below that surface, we stand to lose a lot if we don't. A whole generation will pass away without mixing with the new (we wouldn't have felt that if NFA organise good friendlies) and that is a great loss.

"Philippe Troussier has told BBC Sport that he will not be returning to Nigeria to manage the country's national team."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/4718225.stm

That's right, boys, Trousier isn't going to be the Super Eagles Coach afterall!

The fella so scared to brace up to the challenge. He will be happy right now for paying back NFA in their own coin coz they forget so soon what they did to him after he qualified us for the world cup.

From happening over the past weeks, just knew he gat something up his sleeves which he had finally un-earthed. Flimzy excuses you would agree with me!

Chxta:

Sadly, yes. If we fail to qualify, those idiots at NFA will blame him. What baffles me is why he accepted the job

Enuf said...

Here we go again,
Troussier has dumped us for health reasons
we are still without a techanical adviser
i don trie for this country


source http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/4718225.stm

Just got word today that the dude has rejected the offer from nigeria. he took a very good decision, nigeria is just lookin for who to blame if they dont make it to the WC. I guess he does not want to be blamed. Our fate now lies totally in the hands of the angolans, and nobody else.

no top-rate foreign coach will want to coach nigeria at this stage.

we have to qualify for the WC first.

hey dont blame the man, he cant solve anything only Anenih and a high powered PDP panel going to the right places can solve it

[color=#000099][/color]yeah rite..... u could say that again....

Now the white man has tturned us down, what will we do?

wat will we do..?
we just sit at home during the next world cup and build a better and formidable team (not this team o)

Dear Philippe Troussier,

We are very happy to know you are being the New Super Eagles Coach of Nigeria.  Now we are recalling your passion and sometimes too much unique personality in 1998-2002 in Japan.

In anyway, we've very much enjoyed your enthusiasm and countless passion, so  we would meet again some palce some where.       akira

Are we fools the guy that didn't want to coach us when were in desprate need of a good coach. He rejected us. Then after he gets fired he wants the job.

dblock,

Thanks a lot of your advice, but perhaps, next occasion, you will meet each other very happily,

tokyo