₦airaland Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yK-CjZQENg

This are the legends of Barcelona's La Masia academy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijxk39bcaJk

Ajax football academy slideshow.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/01/magazine/20100606-ajax.html

Nigerians are fond of complaining about problems are hardly ever coming up with solutions. My solution to fixing Nigeria's footballing woes is
[size=18pt]ACADEMIES, ACADEMIES, ACADEMIES.[/size]
For those who don’t know, football academies are not places where people are taught football but where young talent is polished. They get the best players at a young age (it varies by country) and teach them skill and technique. It is not a substitute for learning football on the streets or anywhere you grew up playing, its just a place where the skills you learn growing up are enhanced and were you get to learn how to play the game in a more structured manner.
In the 70’s when the dutch realized how far behind they were in football. The Dutch football federation ordered all professional football clubs to establish their own football academies, the most famous of this is the prestigious Ajax football academy that has churned out the likes of Johan Cruyff, Bergkamp, Wesley Sneijder and several others. The Ajax academy has been copied by several teams and one of the most successful is Barcelona’s remarkable “la masia” academy that produced majority of the world cup winners in the spain squad.
In the 80’s, when the French went through the same thing, they responded the same way but in addition to that they also created a National football academy which is now known as the legendary Clairefontaine academy. Here they assemble the best of the best from around the country and subject them to the best training with the best coaches in the game. T
There are two ways of developing talent, you can do it the Brazilian/south American way where the best kids are brought in from the streets or the playgrounds  of the ghettos at age 13 and trained or you can do it the European way where they start from age 7 and taught mostly academics while playing football part time. The Ajax model believes that it is not the amount of time you train but the quality of instruction during the training that is why they get the best trainers and coaches to teach these kids. Allowing the kid to participate in games on very few occasions prevents them from being more susceptible to injuries. During the whole process, some students are weeded out while some are brought in, then at age 16 when you are eligible to sign a professional contract, the best of the best are signed by the club, while the rest are let go.
The advantage of the brazillian/south american model is that they produce the most skillful players; players who are very creative and who can improvise because they grew up learning football on the street. The disadvantage of the European model (the same model that they use  in England and America) is that some of this academies tend to overcoach players at a young age restricting them from expressing themselves on the pitch and they end up being robots with no skill like Wayne rooney, Michael Ballack or Steven Gerrard as compared to the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Maradona, or Messi: this are the players who learned the game on the street first and went to academies that taught them to express themselves and be creative instead of beating tactics into there head at age 13.
I think Nigeria should emulate this if we want to become better. Pepsi football academy is a third world academy that is not going to produce the likes of Messi and co. Watching Kanu retire and realizing that our next best thing is Lukman Haruna is very very disconcerting.

For those interested in learning more about the Ajax academy they might want to go to this site.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=how%20a%20soccer%20star%20is%20made&st=cse

For those who can't get enough of the cup, here is the spanish team flying back to spain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hmyjj8Fd4w&playnext_from=TL&videos=xnkmefrSdUA&feature=feedu

there is also the one of them landing in spain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CYHiWKie_M&playnext_from=TL&videos=QsiFInaZfVA&feature=feedu

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=478528.msg6379770#msg6379770 date=1279042448]Shift your attention to the Female U20 World Cup.
It's interesting. . . . .[/quote]ha ha ha, were

poster,
Thanks for the post, absolutely awesome. I wish i too could do a traditional wedding but i am stuck abroad and there are hardly any fine naija girls here.

AjanleKoko:
Well, aren't people paying for university education already?

The idea is that 70% of the so-called 'potential university students' will go to technical schools and polytechnics, which will be free and government-funded.

If the unskilled suddenly become the minority, that will be difficult. And the quality of skilled education , as we have in the technical schools and polytechnics, will go up.

Ajanlekeko,
MY GOODNESS, THIS IS THE MOST ELITIST REMARK I HAVE EVER READ IN A WHILE. SO THE REST OF US WHO ARE NOT THE CHILDREN OF MILLIONAIRES SHOULD GO TO TECHNICAL SCHOOL SHEBI? SORRY OGA, THAT THOSE OF US WHO GREW UP POOR OFFEND YOU, LET ME APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING AS WELL TO DO AS YOU ARE WHILE GROWING UP, ME AND 70% OF OTHER NIGERIANS WOULD TRY OUR BEST TO BE INVISIBLE SO THAT YOU DON'T EVER HAVE TO LOOK UPON OUR UNKEMPT APPEARANCE WHILE DRIVING IN YOUR BUGGATTI. BUT HEY WHAT DO I KNOW? I AM JUST A BAREFOOT KID FROM THE THIRD WORLD SO I HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE HERE AFTERALL THE INTERNET IS FOR RICH FOLKS LIKE YOU.

haaaaaaaaaaaaalelujah, thank you mr. jonathan, its about time this people be called to task.

Is there anybody suffering from World Cup withdrawal symptoms yet? One of the reasons i hate the World Cup is that it builds up for over 2 years (when the qualifiers start) then gets to the climax and suddenly just as it started it ends and you have to wait a WHOLE MONTH for the premiership to start again. To make matters worse, the next one feels like an eternity away leaving us football fans feeling so sad, lonely, empty and anxious for the new season.

[size=28pt]I would say the universities need to be funded and please scrap the college of educations. In singapore that is known for having the best secondary education in the world. They simply get the best students from there master's degree programs and train them in teacher schools and an extra year of on the job training. Maybe its just me, but it seems that its the least intelligent people in university that end up being teachers. [/size]

[size=18pt]By the way, what was wrong with the Dutch and there dirty tactics? Look at van "Damme" Bommel kicking anything in sight.[/size]

dayokanu:
Can you show me any other regular top striker for a top footballing nation with this hopeless scoring records.

Morientes, Villa, Rooney, klose, Podolski, Muller, Henry, Nistelrooy etc Just show me anyone that has such woeful scoring record of less than 1 goal every 3 games

[b]LOOK, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT JUST LIKE MOST NIGERIANS YOU ARGUE JUST TO WIN AN ARGUEMENT AND NOT TO LEARN ANYTHING. THE PLAYERS YOU MENTIONED HAVE PLAYED MUCH LONGER FOR THERE NATIONAL TEAMS THAN EL NINO EVEN ROONEY AND PODOLSKI WERE STARTERS FOR THERE COUNTRY BEFORE TORRES WHO HAD TO BEAT THE LIKES OF RAUL AND VILLA FOR THE JOB. EL NINO BECAME A REGULAR STARTER WHEN RAUL RETIRED AND BECAUSE PODOLSKI AND ROONEY SCORED SOME GARBAGE GOALS AGAINST THE LIKES OF MACEDONIA AND CYPRUS DOES NOT MAKE THEM BETTER THAN TORRES. IF ACCORDING TO YOU KLOSE, PODOLSKI AND MORIENTES ARE BETTER THAN EL NINO THEN WHY  DON'T YOU SAY THAT PETER CROUCH IS BETTER AFTERALL HE HAS SCORED 21 GOALS IN 40 GAMES FRO ENGLAND.
MAN I AM DONE WITH THIS THREAD ITS SOOOOOOOOOO ANNOYING COMING TO THIS WEBSITE AND ARGUING WITH PSEUDO-INTELLECTUALS WHO JUST ARGUE FOR ARGUING SAKE  AND  WHO ARE TOOOOOOOOOO ARROGANT TO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE WRONG IN ANY ARGUEMENT. DON'T YOU PEOPLE KNOW THAT IT TAKES A MAN TO ADMIT THAT HE IS WRONG GEEZ.[/b]

[size=18pt]DIEGO FORLAN FOR WORLD FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR. THIS GUY WAS JUST SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD THIS TOURNAMENT. I HAVEN'T SEEN A PLAYER CARRY HIS ENTIRE COUNTRY ON HIS BACK IN MORDERN DAY FOOTBALL SO WELL BEFORE, ITS SO SAD HE IS GOING HOME WITH NOTHING. [/size]

NA LIE JARE. LOOKING FOR EXCUSES FOR LOSING.

Dr Know:
That's it; that goal! yes that goal Yakubu missed

[size=28pt]WHAT OF NIKLAS BENDTNER'S MISSED GOAL LAST SEASON OR WORSE MALOUDA'S MISS WAS EVEN WORSE, SO NO EXCUSES. [/size]

obstead200:
Just like chris rock once said in one of his comedy shows, I think naija should be allowed to own guns but not bullets.
make bullets sooo expensive that one would have to think twice b4 using one. then we can hear pple making statements like
" I'm gonna blow your f''kin head off if only I can afford a bullet!

but dont worry, i'm gonna work hard and save a year's salary so that i can buy a bullet. then u'll be a dead man!"

One of the funniest commediy skits i have ever seen in my life.

[size=38pt]NPA![/size]

dayokanu:
Can you show me any other regular top striker for a top footballing nation with this hopeless scoring records.

Morientes, Villa, Rooney, klose, Podolski, Muller, Henry, Nistelrooy etc Just show me anyone that has such woeful scoring record of less than 1 goal every 3 games

Wow!!!!! you learn new things on nairaland all the time. Morientes, rooney, klose, podolski, an old thierry henry and van Nistlerooy are now better than Fernando Torres. Hurrah, clap for yourself mr. kanu for coming up with such excellent analysis. My word, you are such a genius, that is why i always want to get your advice.

buzugee:
without a question of doubt this is a very anemic estimate. i am leaning more towards 90 percent. folks you have to remember that craziness is relative. you dont have to be outright crazy to be certified crazy. nigerians are a very peculiar bunch. they all have some kind of mental defect that either makes them extremely hot tempered ( our igbo brothers and hausa brothers should know about this one), extremely morally bankrupt ( fraud, embezzlement, armed robbery, police checkpoint robbery, immigration officer robbery, etc etc), extremely ostentatious (this is a mental defect too), extremely inconsiderate (this falls under sociopathic behavior and includes closing a whole street because they are havin a party), extremely arrogant (this is sociopathic behavior), easily bawled over by material goods (this is sociopathic behavior ).
my point being over 99 percent of nigerians have sociopathic tendencies. this is a mental disorder

Gbam! ori e pe jare (your head correct jo)

PAUL THE OCTOPUS HAS SPOKEN, SPAIN WOULD WIN THE WORLD CUP.

dayokanu:
Can you please show us his numbers in the National team or anywhere outside the EPL where he is able to play against senseless defenders and keepers

Since starting for Athletico at age 18, El Nino had 75 goals in 174 appearances in La liga for Athletico, he has 24 goals in 79 appearances for the national team and has 56 goals in 79 games in the EPL.

I agree with some of the posters here that Customs are really really wretched but no one beats [size=38pt]NPA![/size]

The Nigerian Port Authority makes everybody look like children.

Dr Kitaun:
Which confidence ? Torres na overhyped player jare !

how could he be overhyped when his numbers speak for themselves. This guy is just coming back from a major surgery and he is not even 100% yet and according to you he is "overhyped". Every player goes through slumps especially after coming back from injury. Why don't you go stick to your "monkey post" and stop commenting about football jare.

[size=18pt]PEDRITO RODRIGUEZ LEDESMA SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO THE PEOPLE OF SPAIN FOR NOT PASSING TO EL NINO WHEN HE WAS WIDE OPEN. IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 2-0. EL NINO REALLY NEEDED THAT GOAL TO RESTORE HIS CONFIDENCE GOING IN TO THE FINALS. [/size]