₦airaland Forum

It is what it is really.

To be fair Northern hubs like Kaduna and Jos produce decent talent but you're right that the SE/SS tend to produce 55-60% of our best followed by SW, North and other parts of Nigeria.

The bottom line which I agree with you wholeheartedly is always field your best players whether they all come from one village in the SE, SS, or North.

EElopa:
We like to lie to ourselves in Nigeria. I just mentioned parts of the country that best Nigerian players come from. I am pan African to the core and if the best Nigerians players comes from Borno it will not mean a darm it to me as long as they are the best players. If an American coach present a basketball team filled up with white players most logical people will question if they are really the best players in the country because data suggests that the best basketball players in the country tend to come from black urban neighborhoods.

This should be music to the ears of Charlesemeka.

SolaFide:
🚨 Super Eagles land rising star.....

A major boost could be on the way for Nigeria...

Reports indicate that Al-Ittihad striker George Ilenikhena has agreed to represent the Super Eagles after productive talks with head coach Eric Chelle.....

The 19-year-old, born in Nigeria and raised in France, is reportedly set to strengthen Nigeria's attacking options alongside Victor Osimhen.....

Since he has never featured for France at any level, he would be eligible to play for Nigeria immediately if selected.....

A potential debut in September's AFCON qualifiers could mark the start of an exciting new era.... 🇳🇬🦅

#fyp #SuperEagles #EricChelle #GeorgeIlenikhena #AFCONQualifiers #NaijaFootball

Ikorodu born and bred only took up athletics couple of years back.

His rise has been meteoric.

Mujtahida:
Is this Kanyin home grown?

I love Tobi pa. Tobi Express. A real rolls Royce on the tracks, galloping like a gazelle

Talent spotting and grooming was really good in the 80s and early 90s but poor administration really sabotaged what could have been a golden generation of athletics.

The emergence of Kanyin and Ogazi alongside our ever reliable sprint Queen Tobi gives me hope that we are entering our best ever era of athletic competition.

AndSunGorilla:
We had two athletes at the finals of the men's 10m Seoul Olympics. We held Africa sprints male and female by the jugular. Olapade, the Ezenwa Brothers, chidi Imoh, innocent Egbunike, Mary Onyali. Fatima Yusuf. Chioma Ajunwa, falilat Ogunkoya, Yusuf Ali, Sunday Bada, we produced a lot. I don't think we are producing as many as we did then. Thank God for Kanyin, Tobi Amusan and I think one young dude doing 400m or is it hurdles now. The NSC needs to sit up. What happened to our table tennis dominance (Atanda Musa, Yomi Bankole, bose Kafo, aruna Quadri, module oshunnake etc).

Remember him making the 100m finals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

There was a story of an American sprinter can't remember his name who attacked him after a race.

Kog45:
Yes you are right,Olapade Adenekan na my big big brother o.

We lived together in the neighborhood Fate GRA Ilorin,finished his secondary school in 1985 with C&S Ilorin and just two years intervals he made it to Seoul Olympic in 1988,started representing Nigeria right from secondary school,youth games in Finland,was in the C&S Ilorin team that represented Nigeria in handball international youth games in Sweden,very versatile sportsman,played football,handball, volleyball,table tennis with ease.

Damn that's cold Shows he could have probably gone faster instead if he didn't turn to troll Seville.

I like Kanyinsola's confidence and competitive spirit but he should tone down the gamesmanship a little bit.

TheSuperNerd:
Ajayi was literally trolling the World Champ... 😂😭

https://x.com/i/status/2078485084496183393

Crazy facts around the famous picture of Messi bathing Yamal when he was a baby.

The photo was taken 19 years ago. What was Messi's Jersey number then for Barcelona? 19. What is Yamal's number now with Spain? 19.

The final is being played tomorrow on the 19.

But jokes apart I don't know Maths too much however what are the odds that a footballer who was still up and coming would take a picture with a baby who will not only grow up to be a potential great himself but be his own opponent in a WC final? Lol crazy stuff.

Great news.

Exciting to see more young defensive prospects moving to top leagues.

Papi85:
💰 €30m + €2m bonuses
✍️ 4year deal
🫰30k p/W
🤝The deal is agreed
Paperwork due to be done over the weekend.
All going to plan Nwaiwu will be a Fulham player 🇳🇬
⚫⚪#FFC #Transfers #TransferNews

Now you're bringing up an entirely different issue unrelated to the screenshot you shared earlier.

The general consensus on this thread is that the SE need upgrades to some current personnel Iwobi included. That is not the issue for me. What I'm querying is a random post that hasn't been verified to be true painting a player in bad light that he doesn't care that Nigeria missed out on the WC.

Iwobi and any other player's overall performance is fair game to be criticized but let's not hang them based on potentially false or misleading information.

elyte89:
I don’t have to wait for any blog before pointing this out. If you’ve followed my conversations about our World Cup qualification, you’ll know I’ve been saying the same thing long before it became a trending topic.

Chelle has a lot of work to do. We can’t keep banking on the same players, especially in midfield. The Iwobi-Ndidi combination has been part of two failed World Cup qualification campaigns, and it’s time to explore better options.

I also believe Moses Simon and Chukwueze should gradually be phased out. Football is about evolution, and every successful team knows when it’s time to refresh the squad.

We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. If we’re truly serious about qualifying for the World Cup, then difficult but necessary decisions have to be made.

Hmm is that what he actually said!?

Don't trust all these blogs and their sensationalistic post.

Wait for the actual full interview to get the context of what he said.

elyte89:
When we talk ,we know what we are saying …look at the mentality of the players u want to bank on , to qualify us to the World Cup

Even if one critically look at this team,you will
Know some of these players are not even bothered or will I say destined to go to the World Cup

See I get being forced to bunker due to superior attacking quality of opponent (even at that show some attacking ambition) however what I can't forgive is going full haram when you still have the resources to damage your opponent.

Look at Nigeria vs CIV in the 2024 AFCON final we just invited pressure after we scored whereas had we showed intent like Fabregas spoke to by bringing Moffi and KC earlier in the 2nd half maybe we would have stemmed the Ivorians attacking surge.

Now speaking specifically to last night's game Tuchel could have brought Saka, Rashford, Mainoo, even Madueke but he chose to be cowardly.

TheSuperNerd:
Listen to Cesc Fabregas. Just listen... He's voiced my thoughts all this time.

Tuchel na disgrace to Elite Managers/Coaches. Him and Southgate, no difference.

Cc TheGoodJoe, Elyte89, Chrisooblog, Goke7

Fascinating the way Fabregas explains why he doesn’t want to sub on a defender to keep a 1-0 lead

🎥 @thepfabusiness pic.twitter.com/3hESAz30KK

— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) February 11, 2025

Gbam plus during the dying embers of the game the Argentines clearly had momentum so it would have been wiser to see out the time remaining and regroup for extra time.

This is in contrast to the English who started defending 30 minutes to go even with all the talent at their disposal to have finished off Argentina before resorting to defending deeply.

Goke7:
England has more football pedigree than Egypt and with the array of talents and stars they have more was expected from them compared to Egypt. England was also chasing history to be in the finals after 60 years and for a country who boasts of having the most exciting football league in the world what happened yesterday was not normal so Egypt can’t come into this conversation at all!

Tuchel is JP that went to Harvard. Cowardly unadventurous football.

Bringing Konsa and Dan Burns to come and do what?

TheSuperNerd:
Hunger my foot. Tuchel's 1st 3 changes were all defenders. He brought the pressure on himself.

Were France not hungry too against Spain? Did Spain suddenly sit back and invite pressure? Spain kept at it and scored a second goal.

Now after this second goal, what was Spain's first sub? An attacker in Ferran Torres.

Do you wanna know their next 2 changes? 2 midfielders.

So please dont tell me about hunger or how easy it is to criticize Tuchel. He was tactically stupid. That is the truth.

Followed by Ehen!? and snapping of fingers. You know your own done be be that

mostob:

I agree that Tuchel was at fault.

But whatever tf Bellingham said to Messi here was also a factor…. 😂 pic.twitter.com/gmdrYgA1PB

— Castro1021 (@Castro1021) July 15, 2026

That nod!!!

But on a serious note how did Tuchel metamorphosize into José Peiserio within 30 minutes? Diabolical isn't even the right word.

Ibime:
Oga come and carry your useless coach

See the way this moomooo broke our heart, now our enemies are victorious

feast with what? Mbappe that won world cup aged 18 with goals and assists follow.

ChrisKels:
I wan give dem small joy because their tears dun too much after Yamal comot both their idol and their idol worshiper.


I want an Argentina versus Spain final.

If yamal wins the world cup at 19, we feast on mbappe.

If Messi wins the 2 world cup in a row and breaks the 64 years record, we feast, squeeze, fry and roast Ronaldo.

We need reinforcements in attack o especially LW with Leo's departure.

Still need backup for Saka (madueke no be am) and another forward.

Rice and Saliba need a break. Hope Berta and Arteta are being proactive o cos our rivals are not smiling with their recent signings.

mostob:
Lol.. Declan Rice is a warrior. If Arsenal should conclude that Bruno deal, we might have to wait till September ending to see Rice on the pitch.

Same thing with Saka and Saliba(thie one might be longer

One of the best posts by the SE handler

Beating Spain isn’t for everyone pic.twitter.com/14jzDQNT2z

— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) July 14, 2026

Naira for crude swap agreement with NNPCL hasn't been followed to the letter because most of the crude oil has been committed to paying off debts borrowed against future production. So until that ends the endless back and forth with Dangote will continue.

The only part I still don't quite get yet is that by law 450,000 barrels of crude oil production is always reserved for domestic refining but no one has explained satisfactorily how this reserved crude is being utilized.

CrystalTiger:
Is their a reason why Dangote is now selling crude in the Nigerian market in dollar?

Don't understand this new development at all..

https://www.nairaland.com/8709286/price-hike-looms-dangote-begins

Yes you're right about Iwobi. Didn't want to drop it plain like that so it wouldn't seem one doesn't appreciate Alex's efforts.

I disagree a bit about the striker position. Osimhen and the backups for now satisfy me. We just need more creativity from the middle of the park and wings. Akor, Moffi are decent even in Victor's occasional absence. Of course we will continue to scout for young hungry forwards to bolster the squad.

I think a combination of Sani Suleiman and Otele will soon answer the M.Simon situation. The same way the sudden appearance of Azeez and Zadok seems to have given us decent options on the right.

elyte89:
What we need most now is a better player Dan iwobi (iwobi shld be a back up plan)

A dependable striker even if the player is not good Dan osimhen;at least something close (while akor and odas we taught were good can fight 4 SS)


And a good left winger dt can permanently replace or place Moses Simon to bench ..limit his role completely in the team

I still think Benji is the best to partner Bassey. Could be proved wrong down the line but will want to watch Nwaiwu more often to see what he brings. Am glad we are increasingly building the SE's strength in depth.

Next up is to discover a reliable back up for Iwobi and another solid LB.

elyte89:
If dis transfer happens,I fear for dt new kid ,he might be forced to play right back ,Dts if Aina or bewene guy is unfit

No body will want to touch the pairing of a Bassey/ nwaiwu if Dey are both playing 90 minutes together in their club .

5 SE defenders potentially playing in the EPL at the same time! Good stuff!

Papi85:
🚨 Info: Chibuike Nwaiwu 🇳🇬

Chibuike Nwaiwu has reached an agreement with Fulham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for a contract until 2030.

The Cottagers must now find common ground with Trabzonspor 🇹🇷, which is uncompromising on the asking price for its defender.

Very tragic. Condolences to his family, club, and entire South African National football fraternity.

Odunayaw:
Jayden Adams of Bafana Bafana who was at this WC has passed on.

Sad.

He was described as Moses Simon with PhD on the Super Eagles thread

raumdeuter:
Airmarks Doku has been a total waste this world cup

Stay strong and well Chief.

larride:
Thank you to everyone that reached out with their substance. I am genuinely grateful.

Thank you to everyone that overwhelming showed me love, understanding and their prayers, I'm grateful to you too.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

@Supernerd and PDPGuy look out for this exceptional teenager Miracle Ezechukwu.

Heard she has a PB of 11.15 in the 100m incredible for her age.

Potential to be our next track queen.

Great that she's also going to the Commonwealth Games.

Akor fall my hand too. If he was desperate to leave Sevilla I believe his qualities could have attracted a midtable team in any of the top 5 European leeagues not relegation cannon fodder in the Serie A!

Wish him all the best anyway.

EElopa:
I hear that Akor Adams has joined Venezia. I am really disappointed in this move, but I will never fault a man for chasing a living. Sometimes I really feel some of these Nigerian players cannot just see beyond their noses. Akor Adams will struggle to score for this team because Venezia will be just like another poor newly promoted Serie A side that will struggle to score all season. I don't really know what is happening behind the scenes in Sevilla, but you see, this move doesn't make sense at all. I wish the lad all success but am highly disappointed in this move because I rate Akor Adams. I like what he brings to the game for the Super Eagles. A completely effective team player for the Super Eagles.

When you want something done right bring on an Arsenal player

TheSuperNerd:
And dem don put 1 past am. Merino again!!! 2 mins on the pitch and gbam!!!

Lammens oooo... Lamentations... Papi85 oooo...

Doc mbanu I no gree. How many successful crosses have you seen Doku deliver in his career let alone this WC?

Anyway Doku is a fellow Christian bros so make I know drag am too much.

TheSuperNerd:
Doku still better ooo. Abeg ooo... 😂😂

The Moroccans sef you're hyping in the cold light of objective analyses what did they actually do? Drew with one of the poorest Brazilians teams in recent years, Beat an above average Netherlands on penalties, and get outclassed by France that Senegal went toe to toe with.

So I should quake in my pants because they defeated world super powers Scotland, Haiti, Canada? Really?

Nigeria should do better but use a more appropriate example for comparison not a country relying on board room antics to win an undeserved title.

Joebie:
if we use that logic we can make so many conclusions. football no be maths. look at your achievement across the board. no use only one match take appease urself

50% of our midfield playing in a highly rated EPL is good reading.

Damioduso1:
🇳🇬 Nigeria could field an all-Premier League back four this season:

▪️Calvin Bassey
▪️Semi Ajayi
▪️Benjamin Fredrick
▪️Ola Aina