₦airaland Forum

the egyptians have suffered 27 plus years of hurt that was just the release of many years of pained emotions. i think losing out to algeria in 2010 particularly hurt them to the marrow. like the great alex ferguson said after manchester united miraculously won the 1999 champions league
''BLOODY HELL FOOTBALL!''

Icon4s:
Blood of Jesus!

I have watched the highlight more than 10times already.

That moment when that penalty was awarded. God!

bros don't waste your time forgiveness will never let facts get in the way of winning an argument. i also remembered that particular game in 2000 wasn't sure if it was congo or malawi. the fans were using plastic bottles as missiles against our players. at a point gbenga okunowo had to be begging them to stop when he wanted to play a corner

tglobal:
Bottles don't have to be glass. Plastic bottles filled with water and cans can still be dangerous. That is even beside the point as what I disputed was your claim that there was no such thing as throwing missiles at players at AFCON 2000 which you claimed to have attended but the finals.

It's a pity there is no clip of that match around.

However, on the question of bottles and "objects" not being allowed in the stadium, take a look at what happened to the Tunisians at Abuja stadium in 2009 in the video below from 2:51 - 3:03. You don't have to be in the stadium to know that those weren't pure water sachets:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgoS-jH5cUk

TheGoodJoe:
The guys agent knows work.

If elderson's agent was working for shehu homeboy would be playing for real madrid and not in cyprus

Joebie:
Joebie's Player Ratings

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Alex Iwobi (8/10)
Iwobi came in at the right time (Rohr must be given credits). He paid Zambians in their own coins with his speed. His introduction brought immediate impact to Nigeria's game. He continued from where he stopped with Arsenal keeping his composure to convert the game's only goal. Much credits must be given to Arsene Wenger for his fine development. No wonder his celebration was that Gunners machine gun salute -- so adorable to watch.

Eddy Onazi (5/10)
Onazi was one of the most noticeable men on green shirt, not for his plays but his hair color. He failed to connect with his a long ball earlier on. However Onazi has been the man covering up for Echiejile all along -- and he did just that today. I find it hard to spot any fine moment from the Trabz midfielder. His performance was average for the little time he spent on the pitch.

Victor Moses (6.5/10)
VicMO had his good moments of helping in build-up, but his performance today was below par should what we know him for be anything to go by. Although it was apparent from the start of the game that he was one of the main men Zambia planned to mark out, he still had a fare good number of options to make, but he rather tried too often to run into a sea of Chipolopolo players.

Ola Aina (5.5/10)
He looked more comfortable in Left Back than the man he replaced, for the relatively short time he spent on the pitch. The Zambians had some good real estate at particular moment though, but Aina didn't get the luxury of support Echiejile got while on the pitch. His high point was when he put through a clever pass that could have passed for a fine assist (Who said Aina cannot use both legs?). A debut performance alas!

Leon Balogun (6.5/10)
Struggled for pace in the first half, but made some adjustment in the second. Next time he will need to adjust more quickly. Going by his standard, his worse game in a SE shirt. By the game's standard, he was just good enough to keep Nigeria safe. He rose time and time again to head away Zambia's forays and even moved forward to assist in dead ball situations.

Troost-Ekong (7/10)
Was more lively than his CB partner. Ironically, Ekong hardly does well when his CB partner is not in good shape, or absent. And it showed again today. Ekong did not have a fine showing in the first half either. But he came good in the second half several times even when it seemed the Zambian would beat him for speed. A couple times he got some good support from the RB -- Thanks to Shehu!

Abdullahi Shehu (8/10)
Everyone's MOTM. What more can I say? He was the embodiment of a modern wing back. He looked like Chelsea's version of Victor Moses today, supporting Ekong when needed especially in the second half. His combination with Iwobi sealed the game for us. If his performance against Cameroon meant he found a new home in the RB position, his performance today meant he has just sealed that spot.

Mikel Agu (5/10)
Struggled to match the intensity of the game when he was called in prematurely to replace injured Onazi. Picked up a needless caution but eventually settled in in the second half. He still has a lot to prove if he must displace any of SE's midfield regulars.

Mikel Obi (7/10)
He tried to use his ball holding strengths, but as expected the Zambians never let him settle. Let's not forget that wonderful run he made in the first half too early. He missed a half chance in the first half. Going by his passes, Mikel was not at his best today. Overall, a pretty decent shift put up by the Super Eagles captain.

Ezenwa (6/10)
Was the more tested GK in the first half, when a close call saved him from conceding. He did the needed for the Super Eagles, the most memorable being a long-rage Zambian effort he parried away to safety.

Onyinye Ndidi (6.5/10)
Onyinye wasn't one of the most noticeable players in a green shirt today. But he rose high to draw a good save from the Zambian goalie in the second half. That attempt got Rohr's endorsement as one of the best attempts by his boys. That was a vote of approval. He gets my nod to start again.

Odion Ighalo (6.5/10)
Worked hard enough for the team, despite not scoring. He put pressure on Mweene in the first half in an attempt to prevent the Zambian captain from having a clear sight to launch attacks. He showed poor decisions in front of goal, one time blasting away when presented with a half chance. Another time not reading Simon's mind to quickly. He was guilty of trying to do too much with the final ball. Judging by this game alone, he returned back to his familiar ways prior to the Cameroon double header.

Simon Moses 6.5/10
If not for Ighalo's lapses, he would have carved one of the finest assists we've seen from the Super Eagles in recent times. His switch to the right flank caused Zambia some problems initially. He seemed to tire out just right in the time we needed some new blood in attack.
Thanks Simon for bowing out!

Elderson Echiejile (5/10)
Got support from his partners as usual and was found out of position a couple times in the first half. He had no business going forward as he failed to pull any tricks in the final third. Considering that speed is not one of his assets he should have sat behind. He didn't give Balogun the support enjoyed by Ekong at the other side of defense. He survived through the encounter until he picked up an injury.

Spot on ratings shehu, ekong, balogun, Mikel, vicmo put up a real warriors performance, Zambians were great but I'm concerned with how they almost over ran our midfield in Russia we will face better midfielders rohr definitely needs to reinforce that area. Elderson yes will go to the world cup but no way should he be a starter

Icon4s:
What's the meaning of this now?

I believe you are more matured than this.

bros it's harmless banter. Read my post I didn't and will never insult them when teams win or lose we tease each other. That's to show you how good they even are if they were bad I wouldn't be trolling them

Yes I know but you can be sure if it was the other way round they will be all over this place jokes apart the ghanaians have a very good national team africa will be poorer for it if they don't qualify for Russia next year

Make I look 4 trouble ghana ghana ghana ghana ghana ghana ok I mentioned your name wetin una wan do

Congrats everyone who did it thank you Jesus thank you lord

Game day everone go out and give our SUPER EAGLES unconditional 200% support may God grant us this day.

GO SUPER EAGLES AND WRAP THIS UP TODAY

guy it's not that straight forward o! they are playing away to ecuador a country with high altitude. the argies haven't won their last 3 away matches against them. getting a draw won't be enough (i think) but can they win? yes but if you were a betting man i wouldn't advise you stake your life on it

Icon79:
You're a fulltime mugu! How exactly is Argentina going down? Or you do swallow everything you hear from the so called pundits on TV?

Right now, Argentina has exactly the same chance of qualifications as Nigeria, OK. They just need to beat Ecuador (who incidentally are out of it) to qualify .... the same way we just need to beat Zambia to qualify. We can qualify tomorrow and the Argies can qualify on Tuesday, that's just the bottom line.

The truth is, only one country (brazil) has qualified in the South American group. Four places are still open - that mean, even the second placed Uruguay can still miss out, same with Chile, Columbia, Peru, and Argentina. Tuesday would decide who goes to the world and who stays home amongst the 4 nations.

If I am a betting man, I would put my money on Argentina ahead of countries like: Chile who are playing Brazil away and/or Colombia who are playing Peru away. So my prediction is that the Argies would finish the job by beating Ecuador, but if the worse comes to the worst and they fail to beat Ecuador, they can still qualify via playoffs - depending on the results of the other fixtures. So the talk of Argentina's demise is very premature, IMHO.

As a matter of fact, they were very unlucky not to win yesterday. Lionel Messi hit the post in the second half and created numerous opportunities that his team-mates were unable to convert. Sergio Aguero would've probably buried some of those chances, if he were available yesterday.


O pari

Goke7:
some of us don't feel nervous at all, football is a game you win, draw or loose, nff's life depends on this so you can't blame them. But don't you think if Nigeria can't win tomorrow's game, then we have no business at the world cup? We need to win to continue to rubber stamp our credentials as african soccer giants. Only two african countries scare me no matter how good we are on any day; Egypt and Ghana, for the rest african countries , no chill not even CIV. Despite the way we abuse our team, all african countries still dread the eagles including even Ghana and Egypt, forget the noise, Nigeria is a scare any day for all african teams

bro sometimes football is not maths no matter the pedigree of a team. argentina yesterday drew with peru at home. the peruvians are no where near the argentines in talent but hey stuffs happen. france last month thrashed netherlands then surprisingly drew with luxembourg that's football for you.

like you i'm quietly confident we will win tomorrow so no worries. i only posted that for people who are feeling unduly scared

like every super eagles fan it's normal to feel nervous about tomorrows game but i feel our players have done enough to earn our unflinching support. us as fans should also play our part. the players need our backing more than ever tomorrow. let's all (players, coaches, fans, media etc) continue to be focused and remain humble

please let's easy up on the arrogance. i saw some pictures on twitter of nff branded champagne bottles. i take God beg however is in charge keep it under wraps and let's not tempt fate

LET'S GO SUPER EAGLES AND FINISH THE JOB TOMORROW

sis you are preaching to the converted. it's komekn who needs to see your below stats

libero808:
8 games.
4 goals
3 assists
is impressive

on the bolded its too early to say at least wait till december before giving a definitive answer. yes the belgian league might be lower quality but a lot of gems of recent have emerged from there

komekn:
Essentially very few English clubs can teach you technical football. And if any it will.be in the top six of the EPL. The rest will struggle.

Nonetheless the less certain clubs have pedigree got instance Charlton Peterborough and MK Dons have always played a good standard of technical football.

In recent times things have changed dramatically particularly with the top 6 EPL teams. It's now about teaching technique. Showing skills and ball control even well before positional sense and structure. This is the trend until 12 years old.

So for instance Everton produces very good teams because from the age of 5/6 they are playing structured football with specific positions. However individually they are not developing.

All the Nigerian and African players that I know, who were at Everton have all attested to this fact not been taught any skill.

But back to Liverpool, Solanke is in the first team and his presence sent Origi out. Awoniyi is in a low level club he is not making waves.

Lukaku was playing for Anderlecht at the age of 16 he had played 91 games and scored 41 goals at the age of 18. Not surprisingly Chelsea came and the rest is history.

What I am saying is for Awoniyi to get in to Liverpool he has to be outstanding in the Belgium league. Which he simply is not.

How many games has he played and how many goals it's not outstanding. That's why I say and I can tell you he is a forgotten man at Liverpool as well.

yes he was fast but his intelligence was what stood him out for me.

tbaba1234:
People forget that young finidi was very fast too but he had more to his game than pace.

to be fair things have changed a bit at chelsea as regards the youth setup. christensen is in the team this year, musonda too has been involved with the first team. last season chalobah played a role while aina was also on the periphery of the team. conte unlike mourinho has shown faith in the youth players as long as you are good enough.

Awoniyi yes he's still a bit behind but truth be told the strikers in liverpool now how many won't he have a fair chance against? sturridge and mane yes are miles ahead of him but who else? solanke i'm yet to see anything outstanding. has he even scored a competitive goal yet? origi who's now at wolfsburg didn't exactly blow peoples minds at lille before he was recalled back to liverpool. i think if awoniyi works hard and keeps his head down i don't think he would be so far from liverpool first team squad like you make it seem

i can understand that with your vast knowledge of the english youth football setup which you are deeply involved with you would think alot of these british nigerian boys are ahead of their counterparts in mainland europe but from my own personal opinion the only area where the english game has a huge advantage is the physicality but technically there is still some way to go even though i will admit things have improved in that regard somewhat

komekn:
Awoniyi is now near 21 he should really be cutting it and proving his quality. The chance if him ever playing for Liverpool seems to be a pipe dream now.

Firstly, I stated Championship and EPL.

I consider Awoniyi a forward player and a hybrid type attacking midfielder.

Using his parent club Liverpool fc, I know the club quite well. Currently ahead of him is in the context of Nigerian origin players are Solanke, Seyi Ojo, Bobby Adekanya and Oviemuno Ejaria. That's 4 all in the same club and all Nigerian origin. I could go into the U18's and 16s but that would be overkill.

Then let's look at other clubs Chelsea is a strange place for Youth players. Has the best youth set up in England wins everything year in year out. But almost zero teenagers get any playing time. Awoniyi wouldn't make it in Chelsea's U18 team.

Currently, Tega, Ike Ugbo look better prospects. Can I add Ademola Lookman from Everton.

But let's look at the Championship as well currently Tega on loan from Tottenham is making waves at Aston Villa and Onyedinma at Millwall. I am looking at stand out players not ones just making the numbers.

komekn:
Agreed, to emphasis Echiejile is now quite obviously the WEAK LINK.

i think against the zambians we might get away with fielding elderson at LB but why take the risk of playing a shaky echejiele when a more competent person (aina) can do the job

yes aina is better than shehu younger too but at the moment his services will be needed more in the LB role. shehu should do ok against the zambians. over the next few games unless we don't find someone who can displace or give echejiele good competition i expect aina to make the RB position his own

komekn:
Firstly, there is no hype around Aina.

He is now generally recognised as the best right back in the championship. If he was not a Chelsea player he would be definitely in the EPL as a regular.

The best, youngest and most expensive left back in England plays for Fulham in the championship.

Imported has nothing to do with it.

Is Shehu better we do not know with a big YET.

great to see all our players injury free and getting into shape. seems Vicmo is finally in town too. good to see akpeyi has improved that's what keen competition gives you iron sharpening iron.

onazi has also improved lately he's almost back to his full on beast mode needs to work on his long balls and shot accuracy.

i don't expect any change from the previous 2 games starting XI but i hope rohr gives aina the nod ahead of elderson. only change might be akpeyi to displace ezenwa not that i would prefer this but for some reason rohr rates akpeyi.

i expect the zambians to set up to park every bus available and hope for a lucky counter attack goal. we should just be calm and patient the zambians will grow weary of defending and come out of their shells that's when we then hit 'em hard.

safarigirl:
his work is to aggravate people and open disgusting teeth

That guy should be twelve in reality

lol no need to get aggravated just use his own arguments against him then look at him jump from pillar to post.

That said he does make some valid points from time to time

forgiveness:
Who was the coach before Oliseh?

Did Keshi have any part in the nations cup qualifiers before Oliseh took over?

Yes the game keshi coached we won oliseh and siasia bungled the rest so what is your point?

forgiveness:
Hahahahahah! This girl just like wahala, I swear.

Wetin man do na?

Make I no talk wetin I see again? Shuuuu!

I am not even talking about the weakness or strength of our team. I am only discussing what I saw when I watched the Zambia's game and I noticed they rely on crossing the ball from the wings.

Virtually, all their goals came from the wings during this campaign hence the need to block or stop them from the wings.

Besides, there is one guy Orchestrating the play from the midfield and I think he has to be tamed.

But here you are talking about hate and your feelings when you know they are inconsequential in public domain where opinions should/must differ.

This is no longer Football matter girl. Hold yourself and stop expressing feelings that has nothing to do with soccer in public domain.

Even this feelings are fake because you are in a fake cyber World where Saint could be mistaken for devil or devil mistaken for saint.

Now, put that behind you and let's talk Football.


It depends on where the coach plays Mikel.

If Moses Simon and Victor Moses have athleticism are they to hold the Zambian's wingers?

My focus is to curtail the Zambian's wingers. It's as simple as that but if you have different opinions share them and stop using emotions to deal with the society.

That level of mind set is low.


Of course, we have a better team than Zambia but with wrong selection and tactics, believe me anything can happen.


Manchester City has better team than Chelsea is only in your dreams.

Zambia are no doubt a good team and I take your advice on-board that we prepare for them like we are facing Brazil even if it's a case of using a hammer to kill an ant so be it. But this your conspiracy theory about kayode's exclusion and bogus claims that the 2013 victory was a fluke get as e be

Joebie:
People who don't learn are people who think they know it all. They never concede. You never see them give others praises. You can tell them 99 truths, but they would rather focus on that one thing that seems untrue. Characters

mention names Na

TheGoodJoe:
Please, show me when I said join the main squad. I said train along side the team. If he is going along with the team to train in the World Cup, he will not be part of the main squad. That is, he will not be listed officially. Just training with the team for the chance to understudy Mikel. He gets into the official list when he merits his place with improved performances in camp and with his club.

sorry but I don't agree that he should train with the world cup bound squad based on grooming of his potential if he is good enough then he can be invited on merit. If not he can continue to improve at club level when by God's grace we beat zambia to qualify for the world cup we can then call him up with other hopefuls for the game against algeria to get a good look at them to see if they are good enough

TheGoodJoe:
I wonder where you read taking him to the World Cup. I said let him train alongside Mikel. Slowly groom him into the the team. This will be done in qualifier games and Friendlies. Not tournaments.

However, just like Argentina took a young Manuel Iturbe to the last World Cup without him being in the World Cup squad list, K. Nwakali can still join the team to the World Cup to train with them. He must not be part of the main squad list.

Gerrit?

bros what are you saying? One minute join the main team to world cup the next not be part of the main squad which is it? I said he can be invited to the super eagles to get a feel of how the team is

TheGoodJoe:
Joel Obi is a fantastic player no doubt but with respect to someone being groomed to take over Mikel, we are talking of a player having the precise balance in play and can cover a wide range of positions in the midfield, including the deep midfield role, playing as a deep lying playmaker.

I see K. Nwakali as a better fit.

Joel obi has unique abilities that stand him out. He can play with or without Mikel in our midfield so he's not necessarily his replacement.

K. Nwakali is a good potential no doubt but taking him to world cup based on that when we have better players than him would be a great injustice. He is still finding his feet in the lowly rated Dutch league. I don't mind him being invited to train with Mikel and co to get a feel of the national team

tbaba1234:
One of my biggest issues with Azubuike in the Olympics and even before that was poor positional discipline. Playing as a lone DM, he drifts out of position way too often.

He is a great prospect if his declared age is true or even close to true. Rating him close to Etebo is hyping in my opinion. He would do a decent job though.

I agree with you. i also have doubts about his age being that he played a couple of years in the NPFL. plus i don't think he's a DM his lack of discipline and positional sense make him unsuited to the role. his range of passing is more suited to the CM. i watched some of his games from his u23 day and i concede to him he was able to dictate the pace of some games but as far as super eagles is concerned he's way behind mikel obi and a bit behind john ogu.

yes i will admit watching mikel agu hasn't sent my heart pulse racing. ndidi and onazi are definitely ahead of him in the DM role. esiti might still have a chance to displace agu. plus whatever happened to hope akpan? dude looked promising

Icon4s:
Been calling Timi's number since I got the news for him to tell me he is not dead but only rumours. But it has been switched off Been calling Timi's number since I got the news for him to tell me he is not dead but only rumours. But it has been switched off

my condolences take heart sir. enjoyed reading his twitter account when he gave updates about the u23s.

RIP

i'm shocked to say this but i actually agree with you for once

joel obi when injury free and match fit is a class player better than most of our present midfielders. during siasia's first coaching stint with the national team in 2011 joel obi was practically carrying our midfield on his back when mikel wasn't pulling his weight then.

i'm just patiently waiting for joel obi to stay injury free because i'm so sure he would displace onazi

forgiveness:
Seriously!!?

There are many players ahead of Kelechi Nwakali but you want to specially groom Kelechi because those waiting in line, playing regularly two four seven, being nominated consecutively for MOTM & team of the week, week in week out etcetera are all mumunies from Somalia, ba?

Roben and Ribery are also injury prone. Why dem country no dey drop dem?

Joel Obi is miles a better player than John Ogu, Azuibike, Abdul, Etebor and Agu combined.

This is in regards to CMF position. Gbam!

Mickael2:
I agree sha but the sooner we fix it ourselves before someone exposes it the better for us. I mean we need to improve because this team isn't the finished article yet else Spain....hmmmm

yes I agree we need to have a plan B formation that we can fit into seamlessly in cases where games are not going the way we hope or the opposition has us figured out but the truth is it's damn hard finding a formation that consistently works for you in modern football.

there's a popular saying if it ain't broke don't fix it so its only logical we continue to use a formation that has worked thus far for us. i watched rohr's interview on channels tv and he explained that as much as 4-2-3-1 is the base formation depending on how the match is progressing can switch to 4-5-1, 4-3-3 or even 4-4-2.

well yes the SA match was poor all round but sometimes having the best tactics may not be enough if your players are unable to carry out the game plan.

bar one or two players the list is largely ok. i still expect moses simon to start ahead of iwobi because of the former's defensive discipline.
if there's any change i would make to our starting XI it would be for rohr to be brave and start aina ahead of echeijile.

let's continue to be humble and focused

LET'S GO SUPER EAGLES AND FINISH THE JOB IN UYO

Mickael2:
apart from Echejile I did not mention any starter so I don't think replacing them will affect the team chemistry one bit. We are still building that we all know, we already have a starting XI so now we should be looking at a bench that can provide something better than the starters or atleast something close to that level, Uche Agbo at CB or Ahmed Musa at WF isn't a step in that direction. However I get your point about team chemistry, but all to his own.


Tactical managers are managers who can pull off something extraordinary. Rohr hasn't done that, we have one stagnant formation, every substitution we make during the game is just the same as removing a 2ohm resistor from a standard resistor and trying to replace it with another 2ohm resistor, no diversity at all, 4-2-3-1 till thy kingdom come. When tactical awareness was needed against SA well we came up short and we blamed it on the absence of key players but top teams don't blame any loss on the injuries to key players. Iniesta is a great player but without him, Spain would still field a strong team with another formation, that is because the coach is tactical

wow one thing that clearly jumps at me was how poor our bench was a year ago. apart from the goalkeeping department we have greatly improved in other areas. let's continue to be focused and humble .

GO EAGLES AND FINISH THE JOB IN UYO

soetanoreoluwa:
Recap.. Till the list show face... #NGRZAM


This is our we lined up against Zambia at Ndola on 9th October 2016... That's a year ago...

Seriously the team as undergoned alot of transformation..






Line up

Carl Ikeme
Kelechi Iheanacho
Uwa Echiéjilé
Brown Ideye
Alex Iwobi
John Obi Mikel
Kenneth Omeruo
Ogenyi Onazi
Wilfred Ndidi
Moses Simon
William Troost- Ekong

SUBSTITUTES
Ikechukwu Ezenwa
Chinedu Obasi
-Nosa Igiebor
Daniel Emmanuel
Kingsley Madu
Anderson Esiti
Abdullali Shehu
Ahmed Musa
Musa Muhammed
Jamiu Alimi
Godwin Obaje
-Chisom Egbuchulam


This Is the first eleven and substitute against Cameroon in September 2017



NAME
Ikechukwu Ezenwa
Leon Balogun
William Troost- Ekong
Uwa Echiéjilé
Abdullahi Shehu
John Obi Mikel
Ogenyi Onazi
Wilfred Ndidi
Odion Ighalo
Moses Simon
Victor Moses


SUBSTITUTES
Mikel Agu
kelechi Iheanacho
Ahmed Musa
John Ogu
Aaron Olanare
Dele Alampasu
Tyronne Ebuehi
Anthony Nwakaeme
Chidozie Awaziem
Etebo



So, how is the line up gonna be against the Zambia?