₦airaland Forum

fabyom:
Brother do not loose hope. I keep having this subtle feeling that Mujtaa Marcus Pig might be right after all. Maybe by this time tomorrow we will all be here jubilating and celebrating. I hope so, I just hope so. I want my country people to be happy, to smile together and joyous. Super Eagles Arise just like Afcon 2013 quarter final against Côte devoir when everyone has written us off but we shock them.
ARISE SUPER EAGLES, ARISE. Yes you Can!!

. Amen oo,Amen

Rockyrascal:
lol permutation as started already

. Lmao. I'm telling you my brother . Wetin we go do na

mumemma:
What if Croatia loses to Argebtina but wins iceland....

. Then we'll either come first or second on goal difference. I just gave that analysis in the instance of us coming 1st.

I know it sounds crazy but Nigeria might end up topping this group with Argentina behind: If Argentina beat Croatia today=4 pts for them and lose to us,they remain on 4 pts. When we beat Iceland and Argentina,we take 6pts. If Croatia lose to Argentina and draw Iceland,they take 4 pts. Then goal difference comes in to settle second between Arg and Cro. Whewww,we still got a chance,quite slim but we're good

Martz101:
thanks for this, idowu has not shown his better than Echiejile

. I don't think anyone has complained of Idowu here. If so,then you can't say he's not better than Echiejile. In fact Idowu is WAY better than Echiejile.

Icon4s:
I’m ready to sacrifice myself for the team – Captain
The Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr, has stated that the position that Mikel Obi plays was not the reason Nigeria lost its match against Croatia.
Following the 2-nill drubbing of Nigeria by Croatia, many soccer loving Nigerians have reserved the harshest remarks for the Super Eagles and their handlers.
Many sports analysts believed that Nigeria lost the match from the bench rather than the pitch and blamed the head coach for some glaring technical mistakes.
Rohr said, “There should be sacrifice. Etebo playing number 6 doing very well. There was Ndidi playing number 6, doing very very well. Do you want us to play with 3 number 6?”
While defending the position that Mikel played in the match against Croatia, Rohr said, “We’ve won all our games in Nigeria in the last two years. This Obi Mikel in this attacking position is giving the size of passes. Remember against Cameroon, we won 4-0.
“It was exactly the same organisation. So, if you had played with Mikel as number 6, and another one, number 10, and you lost the game, you would ask the same question, ‘Why did you change now and you make him play number 6? You won all the games with him in number 10.

Source: https://www.makeitglobal.biz/mikels-playin/

. I understand his point but change is inevitable and at this present time,Mikel doesn't look best suited for the Number 10 role.

LieDetector:
Lol. This is a joke right? If this is our legitimate starting line up, then come 7pm on Friday, I'd start preparing beans other than witnessing another heart break. Onazi and Echiejile of all people? Ighalo too? I comment my reserve

. Lwkmd

daveP:
Simy
Joel Obi
Onazi
Ogu/Omeruo

. Are you saying he's gonna start Joel and Onazi together again?

soetanoreoluwa:
Idowu might be out

. Hmm,will that be a good decision? Hopefully

soetanoreoluwa:
According to Charles Anazodo

He said Mikel to play as DM and Vic Moses as wing back

Colins Udoh too share thesame too...

They are both in Russia...

. If Moses plays as a RWB,where does that put Tyrone?

Icon79:
What does Peterside Idah know about the team to make such a pronouncement? Is he a part of the technical crew


O pari

. All I know is that he's present in Russia and does regular interviews from time to time. So obviously he's got some connections.

Icon4s:
Was he saying it as the team's media officer or his own suggestion?

. Nope,but he sounded pretty convinced and confident. Let's just wait and see.

Idah Peterside said on Channels TV today that there would be 4 changes to the lineup tomorrow. He didn't say exactly who but hopefully it works out.

daveP:
in this calendar year, which African striker scored more than 20goals at church level/this last season?


We Africans are yet to decode that Europeans love to dominate the middle. Yet they've rarely built a defence than can soak in pressure like the south Americans.


African teams need a hot and big reawakening!


With what I'm seeing now, I doubt Ghana would put a 2010 here atall.

. If I'm not mistaken,Nwakaeme did in the Israeli league.

What is this now? Why are you disgracing yourself like this?

TheEminentLaity:
Even Nigerians have forgotten about him.

. Don't say that

Hmm,maybe there're stylishly thanking him for not making it to WC. They think they're wise

AIG07:
they won't allow us. Did we inform them earlier? I'm sure we didn't. I raised it some months back that there is need for our SC to write the Local Organizing Committee that Nigeria is coming to support her team with drums and trumpets. But the old chairman has ran out of idea and still think we are in the 20th century were you just go to someone's land and be doing anyhow. They appeared at the stadium with live chicken and were expecting them to be given pass. Our Supporters club are a joke

. Live chicken?? . For what exactly? To crow? This country sef. Let's hope things get rectified by Friday.

pelezico:
Senegal leading the way while Nigeria flounders

. Enough of these comparisons abeg. Na wa ooo.

AIG07:
The Senegalese came supporting their team with drums and trumpets. But Naija fans no show up.

Maybe our drums and songs would have reminded our players that they are Nigerians.

. I heard drums and trumpets weren't allowed during our match .

SerVik:
There be ice dragons here. By aron gunnarsson.


I hope our World Cup opponents aren’t reading this, because I’m gonna tell you exactly what has made our tiny country so successful.

But first, I need to explain a little bit about Iceland. Because I’ve noticed that now, whenever I meet people, they’ll say, “Oh, you’re from Iceland? That’s so cool. Northern Lights! Yeah, man!”

After the Euros put our country in the spotlight, it seemed like everybody started going to Reykjavik on vacation.

But I’m not from the vacation part of Iceland.

I’m from the north of Iceland.

If you try to find my town on old maps, it just says: There Be Ice Dragons Here.

My hometown is a place called Akureyri, with about 18,000 people. There wasn’t really much else to do there except play sports, so I began playing football. Of course, I dreamed of becoming a pro. But there were two problems.

First, I could only play in the summer. You see, in the winter, the pitches were covered with … come on, everybody say it together! You guessed it: ice and snow. And I’m not talking about the kind of winters you have in England, where a few centimeters of snow cause panic. I’m talking about proper winters. Several meters of snow. Minus 10 °. Four or five hours of sunlight a day.

Have you seen Game of Thrones? Well, then you get the idea.

So in winter, I played handball instead. But that didn’t solve my second football problem. You see, when the snow finally melted, I didn’t play on grass. That kind of luxury was reserved only for the senior players.

So I had to play on gravel.

Seriously.

Safe to say, it wasn’t ideal. One day I came home with this horrific gash on my leg, and my mother was shocked. Of course, all I had done was to go into a sliding tackle, but you’d think I had been fighting a bear!

The team I started playing for was called Thór, named after the god of thunder. (I’m not making this up — you can ask my mother.) And I wanted to be a footballer so badly. I was doing these sprints, I was hitting the gym … basically, I was working like a madman. But I also knew the odds were stacked against me. I kept asking myself questions, and I didn’t like the answers.

Aron, how many professional footballers have come from Akureyri?

Not many.

And how good can you possibly get by playing only in summer on a gravel pitch?

Probably not very good.

But I chose to ignore the facts. And then came the game-changer. You see, years ago, the Icelandic Football Association invested heavily in these indoor halls with artificial grass. Suddenly every kid in Iceland could play football all year.

Do you realize how big a deal that was for us? All year!

Of course, I immediately moved into my local hall. I made it my living room. They often had to kick me out at night. But there was still this mental block. What I mean by that is, nobody really believed you could win anything as a footballer from Iceland. In fact, this one time, a player on our national team told me a story about how he told his club coach that he dreamed of playing in the Euros.

“That’s a nice thought,” the coach said. “It’s just a shame you’re from Iceland.”

Pretty depressing, right?

Personally I didn’t let that bother me, but I did know I had to leave Iceland to evolve as a player. So when I got the chance to join AZ Alkmaar, in Holland, I took it. I was 17 years old. And man, it was tough. The football was on another level. In my first training session, I got nutmegged four times. I was so embarrassed that I considered jumping on the first flight back to Iceland.

https://cdn.theplayerstribune.com/uploads/d07bf7f8-180504sr_arongunnarsson_p1453_0135.jpg?width=1000

But the hardest part was leaving my family. I spent the first two months holed up in a hotel, calling my mother, crying, saying I didn’t really want to do this. Thankfully, my family encouraged me to keep going, and deep down I was still hell-bent on making it.

I guess all my tears paid off, because 18 months later I got the call for the Iceland senior squad. They were playing a friendly against Belarus in Malta, and I had to get on a flight immediately in order to make it in time. Only I didn’t have a car. During my first year in Holland, I had been riding a bicycle everywhere because I couldn’t afford anything else.

So you know what my mother did? She bought me a scooter.

A red scooter. It looked more like a motorcycle really, which I thought was kind of badass. I actually grew quite attached to it. So when they called me up to the national team, I strapped on my backpack, put on my bike helmet and drove to the train station, where I got the express train to the airport.

Thanks for that one, mum �

So I go off and live my dream, playing for Iceland, and it’s incredible. I fly back to Holland, and I’m still in the clouds. I’m buzzing. I’m a big time footballer now, right? Well, I walk outside the train station to fetch my scooter from the rack where I had parked it … and what do I see?

In the very spot where my scooter was supposed to be, there’s nothing but a single tire with a chain wrapped around it.

Someone had stolen my damn scooter while I was off playing Belarus.

My mother just laughed about it, but I’m telling you, I was genuinely upset! That robbery really brought me down to earth quickly.

A few years later, I was part of the group that qualified for the 2011 under-21 Euros in Denmark. That was a big deal, because Iceland had never done that. By the time we entered qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, many of us guys from the under-21 team had become part of the senior side.

Of course, even with all that young talent, we were never supposed to make the World Cup.

People always used to say, “Iceland? Bah, there’s not many world-class players in Iceland.”

But, actually, with 330,000 people living there … we don’t have many players full-stop.

So we had to be clever about the way we played. And that’s where our former coach, Lars Lagerbäck, came in.

When you look at Lars, he doesn’t appear to be a prolific coach. He’s very understated. But, man, he knows what he’s doing. When he arrived in 2011 he began holding these meetings about how we defended. They were long, and honestly, extremely boring. Just so, so boring. But Lars kept going on about it. Positioning. Corners. Throw-ins … none of the fun stuff. In training, we’d play attack vs. defense, just so that we could work on our defensive shape.

Because of that collective spirit, we made the playoffs, and faced Croatia. And when we got a 0–0 draw at home… honestly, I thought we had a chance. Then in Croatia, when they went 1–0 up but got a man sent off, we just needed one goal. One goal. We were so close…

But we never made it.

Croatia won 2–0.

Afterwards our locker room was like a graveyard. Not just because we hadn’t won, but because we hadn’t played well. But then somebody says, “Well… Let’s just go to the Euros then!”

I still don’t know who said it, but I remember thinking, He’s right. Screw this. Let’s just move on to the next one.

So that’s what we did. We started working even harder. And in that qualifying campaign for Euro 2016, we just got better and better. Our fans were a huge part of it, too. When we played Holland at home in October, I remember we went up 1—0, and the stadium fell quiet for a bit … and then …

BOOM, BOOM, HÚH!

I turn around. What was that? It was like the sound of a thunder strike.

BOOM, BOOM, HÚH!

Shivers run down my spine.

BOOM, BOOM, HÚH!

You see, that was the first time our fans did the famous Viking Clap. We may only play in front of 10,000 people, but when they do that clap … man, it feels like 100,000.

That night, I looked at some of the Holland players, and I thought, Whoa … They must be feeling that.

At the end of qualifying, we needed a point at home against Kazakhstan to become the smallest nation to ever reach the Euros. That match was a struggle. I even managed to get sent off. But when we dug out that 0–0 draw…. We went ballistic. I sprinted out on the pitch with my jacket on. We did the Viking Clap so loudly that the whole of Iceland must have heard it. And when we went to a square in Reykjavik later that night, we saw tens of thousands of people waiting for us.

That’s when you realize that you’ve really made your country proud, you know?

Of course, qualifying was one thing. The tournament itself? Who knows? Many people thought we would be lucky just not to be embarrassed.

It’s funny, because I can recall the exact moment when I realized that we had something special. It was after a training session just before the tournament, when Eidur Gudjohnsen came up to me.

He said, “You know, Aron … I really wouldn’t want to play against us.”

I said, “What do you mean?”

He said, “Well, there’s no space. I wanted to play these passes, and I wanted to create chances … But I just couldn’t.”

And that’s when the penny dropped for me. Because if you didn’t know, Eidur is football royalty. He’s played for Pep Guardiola at Barcelona — he’s played with Ronaldinho and Messi. Basically, if Eidur says you have a great defense, you really do have a great defense.

We started off against Portugal. And everyone was talking about what Cristiano Ronaldo would do to us. “How many will he get? Two goals? A hat-trick?”

So when we ground out a 1–1 draw … well, the Portuguese weren’t happy.

Of course, we celebrated. Then I saw that Ronaldo had criticized us for having a “small-country mentality”.

And I thought, “Hang on, we’ve never been at this stage before. You have done it plenty of times. We’re Iceland. Of course we’re gonna be proud!”

We could only draw against Hungary next, so we needed a point against Austria in the final group game. They needed to win. As usual, we defended well. It was 1–1 on 90 minutes…. They’re putting pressure on us…. We clear a corner, we launch a counter-attack…. And we score!

Arnór Traustason! 94th minute! Iceland goes through to the knockout stage!

Unbelievable….

I guess you may have seen the clip of the commentator on Icelandic TV going berserk when we score. It went viral, and no wonder. I mean, the guy genuinely lost it. He was screaming and crying, losing his voice.

But the thing is, everyone in Iceland was feeling like that. It wasn’t just the players and the fans — it was people back home too. We were all going berserk.

As we celebrated on the pitch, I went looking for the drummer in the Iceland fan group. I knew him, so I gave him a hint … He told everyone to be quiet … and then we did our most famous rendition of the Viking Clap. We had never done it like that before, with both the fans and the players together.

It was just pure, spontaneous joy.

BOOM, BOOM, HÚH!

https://cdn.theplayerstribune.com/uploads/4e891484-ttwire_ap_494137560080.jpg?width=1440

We were so relaxed ahead of the Round of 16 game against England. We had reached our goal — everything else was a bonus. We actually had extra motivation, because everyone in Iceland loves the Premier League — they show every single game on TV. Literally. So now we had this great chance to beat our heroes. And just in case anyone wasn’t fully up for it, Eidur made a speech.

He said, “Is everyone full? Do we want any more? Are we still hungry?”

You can imagine the roar of the response.

It was the opposite for England, I think. I almost felt sorry for them. They were under so much pressure, and you could definitely tell. They were making simple mistakes, getting the basics wrong…. They knew the trouble they would be in if they lost to Iceland.

Everyone spoke about how bad England were, but watch the game again. Look at how organized we are. We run. We shut down space. We cover for each other. What Eidur had said after that training session was spot on: We really are horrible to play against.

When the game was over, I sprinted toward our fans so quickly that I forgot to shake hands with the England players. So if you guys are reading this … sorry!

And, then … well, I know this may sound weird, because I’m this Icelander with all these tattoos and a beard and all that. But as we celebrated, I wanted to cry. Honestly. When we did the Viking Clap with our fans, shivers ran down my spine.

I must admit that it took us a while to come back down to earth after that tournament. But we managed to do it. You see, at our next team meeting, Heimir Hallgrímsson shook us back to life. He had been the joint first coach with Lars during the Euros, but now that Lars had left for the job in Norway, he was in charge.

His message was simple.

We had never made a World Cup in our nation’s history.

So … Why can’t we do it?

https://cdn.theplayerstribune.com/uploads/f6dab7d9-180504sr_arongunnarsson_p1453_0169.jpg?width=1000

I mean, we could have said, “We’re tiny Iceland. Nobody expects us to qualify. We won’t put any extra pressure on ourselves.”

But there was no way that was happening. That’s just not us.

In fact, at the Euros, we had already sent people to scout our World Cup qualifying opponents. That tells you something about our mindset. We wanted more.

Some of us players are nearing the end now. We’re in our late 20s and early 30s, and we know we’ll have to give way for younger players soon. That’s why it’s so important that we pass on the values that have made us successful. I mean, we could go to Russia and try to play like Barcelona. But what would be the point? We’d just be a bad copy. We’d definitely be a worse team.

That’s not what Iceland is about. It never has been.

In a way, I see our style as a symbol of Iceland. Just look at some of our players — I mean, maybe we’re not the most technical. Maybe we’re not the prettiest to look at. But would you want to fight us? I don’t think so.

We’re united. We’re tough. We fear nothing.

And that’s the lesson I want to pass on to our young players in Russia. I want them to realize that if you work hard, and if you have guys who are willing to stick together, anything is possible in football. Anything. CC: mujtahida


Aron Gunnarsson
ICELAND

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/there-be-ice-dragons-here

.
See his face like Ragnar Lothbrok's . But I still think this team is being overrated. Don't get me wrong,there're a compact side but there's a thing line between being precautious and then being FEARFUL of them and I think that's what's happening now.

Brownhypo:
Some ladies will be asking irrelevant questions like,
"will Nigeria buy Messi in our next Match"

come, take time o

. Today,my sis asked : Where is FANFANTINO from? I replied 'who'. I later found out it was Infantino(FIFA's President) she was talking about.

Caseless:
HFD! Nobody remembers fathers sef. This world sef.

. I'm telling you. It's crazy mehn. How many times in a year do we even celebrate our Fathers? Now compare that with the number of times we do our mothers. Pretty unfair,I say. Anyway I use this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to my dad(who's late now) for doing all he could to grant me the best life he possibly could even though he died when I was quite young.

Dad,I love you with all my heart. In life and in death and I hope I'm making you proud wherever you are.

Oasis007:


If that's not the Case he would have started Tyrone.



By the way, did I say all or some?! Bro, don't pour your anger and Frustration on me pls. Read well next time before you quote.

. Funny enough I said that with a light heart. C'mon it's a Sunday morning. I even liked that your post. Not everyone is out to attack you my brother.

LieDetector:
Remember how I was reserved and expressed my vote of no confidence when a hint of our starting line up yesterday was flashed. Rohr is so clueless for crying out loud. I pulled a statistics for you guys with the 3 5 2 where we average 1.3goals every 45mins and concede zero goal. But the white onigbinde doesn't know zilch. He played 4-3-3. Iwobi out wide. Shehu offered absolutely nothing going forward. Watch that game again and you notice the primary cause of the goals we conceded is shehu. Perisic had a field day. I pray Rohr doesn't play ebuehi in this tournament again. I really wish for him to be a world star but Rohr doesn't just fancy him. He should wait for for Holland call up.


We're back to our calculator days. Oh how I miss that. Let's solve some little algebra

If Croatia beats Argentina and we beat Iceland, it will be

Croatia - 6
Nigeria - 3
Argentina - 1
Iceland - 1

If Croatia draws Argentina and we beat Iceland, then

Croatia - 4
Nigeria - 3
Argentina - 2
Iceland - 1

If Croatia loses to Argentina and we beat Iceland, then

Argentina - 4
Nigeria - 3
Croatia - 3
Iceland - 1


Our qualification solely rests upon our shoulders. Beat Iceland then we have chance.


YES WE CAN


Rohr should get his tactics right. 3 5 2 with the right players is the way to go

. Mehn,if Rohr refuses to play Ebuehi,it'll be extremely painful oo let alone if Netherlands call him cos he'll definitely accept. The boy has been patient enough abeg. I like Rohr but truth be told,he's beginning to really vex me.

Oasis007:


Good Morning Fellas. Someone of us are just smiling on Nairaland, but seriously bitter in reality even while making the Posts.

Truth be told , Rohr is the Architect of his own downfall. You experimented the same Formation (4 - 2 - 3 -1), perhaps the same set of Players during the Pre-World Cup Matches and got no positive Results.

You switched to the Formation that got you a resounding Victory against Stars-studded but Messi-less Argentina Team in the 2nd Half of the Friendly Matches and the Team starred and fruitful.

The Question is; Didn't Rohr learn anything from the Friendlies?! Didn't he obviously know we ain't gonna be successful at the Mundial sticking to the 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Formation?!

On several Occasions I suggested on this Thread that Mikel should form a Pivot with Ndidi as DMs in a 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 Formation, but Dudes keep saying Mikel is the most creative Player in the Team and Iwobi is better off on the Wing.

Guess our Eyes are clear now?! I've tried to get rid of the Pain, but it's still haunting me cos how can a Coach be so stubborn to do the necessary Changes the Team required?! You've seen it in the Friendlies, yet you failed to capitalize on it!

Mikel is a massive Failure playing as a No. 10 for the Team, also playing with a lone Striker won't help the Team to get the needed Results. It's not over for the Team - Iceland and the Argies are beatable if Rohr could get the Formation and the Lineup right.

Rohr should know he can't be rewarding his core Players at the detriment of football loving Nigerians, being loyal to some Players in the Team because they helped us to qualify for the World Cup. Keshi, Siasia were accused of feeding their Boys in the Lineup, ain't Rohr doing the same?!

I beg Rohr to please, bring back the Happiness to the Camp of Eagles Supporters across the World by doing the Needful; play the right Players in the right Positions in a 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 Formation, and we gonna be unstoppable.



Hope ain't completely lost, if Rohr can summon the courage to jettison his Conservativism, Cowardice and plays the above Formation and Lineup we will make it to the next Round.

.
If that were the case,he wud have started Ezenwa.

Goke7:
and to think we still have onazi and joel obi for bench, ah Jesu christi, lobatan

. Joel Obi fit come score hat trick against Argentina oo

AIG07:
ROHR KILLED US

. I agree

Kog45:
Sir forget all these [b]playing Iwobi as AM,Mikel as DM,Iheanacho and Ebuehi must start.
[/b]Rohr is not a good tactician.

. I never said such. What I want is to see Iwobi and iheanacho upfront with Idowu and Ebuehi as wingbacks. The midfield looks settled already

Mujtahida:
They didn't even play anything. We basically scored all the goals.

. I'm telling you. Abeg next time,I don't want to see Iheanacho on the bench. How Rohr does it I don't care to know. And please he should play Iwobi and Iheanacho together. Their camaraderie is similar to The Oyinbo Wall's. Bring Ighalo in the 2nd half. Another thing,I don't want to see Shehu play any group stage match again. Now Ebuehi will have a lot to do. Mtcheww

To me,Croatia weren't impressive. Mandzukic and Perisic didn't even play well. We were able to hold our own but we just couldn't link up with the attack hence,no goals and that's the result of an inappropriate formation. 3-5-2 works for us. How can you not use something that works for you? It baffles me.
Rohr needs to rethink oo

Just two subs? Hmm. I like Rohr oo but he should kindly go and check the name Lagerback.