₦airaland Forum

PietroRico:
If the bebe and macheda were world class, inter and juve would have come for them. It's that simple.

* Bebe, the one who can bench Beckham? Ukwu!!!

* Juve are local champions. What's their status in Europe? Juve is just a name, they are in same class as Porto. No world class player can be in Juve ATM.

coogar: lost which argument?
you don't even have any evidence of pogba playing badly that season to deserve sitting on the bench for rafael.

you are just using your residual memory & from what we have seen here, your residual memory is never reliable. united didn't concede a goal in all the league games pogba played in 11/12. so how's he not ready?

how's a player that put up outstanding performances in the FA youth cup not ready to play for united in the league & yet rafael & js park were considered ready to play in the midfield. must you always argue against logic?



he was outstanding in all the games he played that season. excellent performance that is way above whatever rafael/park can produce in the central midfield.



so the same pogba suddenly drank a magic mixture and became world class on the back of one season at juventus? juventus must be very special!



none of them offered what pogba had in store apart from anderson & cleverley. pogba had penetration in his game - something carrick, gibson, scholes & o'shyte never had.

the issue here is SAF never even played pogba well enough to assess his strength. he just gave up on him or he was trying to prove a point that was needless. he forgot he was going to retire & leave our midfield in jeopardy.

SAF messed up big time - i know he would release another book before he dies documenting all his managerial mistakes of which letting pogba go would be one of them. we won't be flirting around vidal, herrera, etc if SAF had simply promoted morrison/pogba in 11/12.

I have told you countless times you don't know soccer. You can go writing and writing base on your video game knowledge.

Pogba stood no chance in 2011/12 against Scholes/Carrick, Ando/Cleverley, in few matches- Carrick/Rooney/Giggs.

Rafael, Fabio and Januaj delivered on their debut. Rafeal in an away UCL fixture. Januaj and Fabio played like they had been in the team for ages.

But in your opinion, we were to be doing try your luck with Pogba who was even below Welbeck in his first season as senior.

If Bebe or Macheida had gone to Inter or Juve, we would have been told SAF made a mistake to let a 'world class' player like Bebe go.

In Man United of 2011/12, these 'reserve' plays stood no chance in the midst of Scholes, Carrick, Oshea, Gibson, Anderson, Cleverley.... Fabio, Rafael and JS Park had delivered at first attempts from the midfield. Januzaj delivered on his debut. But Pogba, we were suppose to keep trying even when we were sliding down on the table.



Pogba my foot!

PietroRico: he had no reason to be patient.
He owed united nothing.
He's not even english.
As far as he was concerned, his development was being stunted.
He had to leave.
One can hardly blame him.

It took me a long time to accept this truth I must confess.
I was mad at him for a long long time.

He left, so be it.

I personally don't miss him. SAF released Stam, RVN, Beckham. Who is Pogba to hold SAF to ransom? He left and SAF won the EPL.

coogar: you can't remember but you are making judgements on what you cannot remember?? stop pretending you have an answer to every united issue. zip it when you can't remember or you dunno what is being discussed

pogba had only 3 appearances totalling a mere 71 minutes in the entire season. united didn't concede a single goal in all the 3 league matches pogba appeared in. so how's he wack?

you mean pogba can be worse than starting js park & rafael as central midfielders? you really believe that? before the game against blackburn, had rafael ever played as a central midfielder? so what trust does SAF have for rafael for starting him in a league game over a specialist like pogba?




stop lying -
either you accept you never saw any of united's games that season or you watched the games from that famous calabash of yours that saw hargreaves clip messi's left foot.




elampiro has a famous calabash where he sees the "director's cut" version of all matches. forget what you see live. elampiro's calabash saw messi vs hargreaves duel in camp nou. skysports, supersports, ITV, etcetera all missed this duel but elampawa saw it in his crystal clear water in the famous calabash.

When you have lost an argument, you resort to calling people liars. I could have as well go dig up Pogba's matches to back my claim. I am just saying what I saw of him, just as I saw Diouf, Bebe, Tosic, Machaida. Among the above it's only Macheida's Villa game that I can remember off hand, but their abilities remains in my memory.

Are you saying too, that Pogba did not play cup matches?

Anyway, Pogba I saw was not ready and was below our make shift midfielders talking more of Gibson, Oshea, who had won top matches for us.

In 2011/12 we had Cleverley, Anderson, Carrick, Gibson, Oshea. Then Paul Scholes in the second period of the season. Paul Scholes and Carrick played the 2nd period. All the players were head and shoulder above Pogba.

PietroRico: I was just about to ask the same question.

A few cameo appearances is all elampiro is using to conclude.
Its laughable.

Oh! His appearances were even in the cameo. May be he would have been our Hazard now if he were patient. SAF had a plan for him.

coogar: so tell us, how many league games did pogba start in 11/12 to even assess his strength? answer that question & see how weak your position is concerning this matter.

I can't remember. I knew I saw him in some matches (whether league or cups). I haven't the time to go check out how many matches he played.

But all I knew was someone who had potentials in our midfield but the midfield was looking too big for him. He virtually forgot he needed to defend at all. At the end it was like a skeleton wearing agbada.


I need to temporally log out.

coogar: so tell us, how many league games did pogba start in 11/12 to even assess his strength? answer that question & see how weak your position is concerning this matter.

I can't remember. I knew I saw him in some matches (whether league or cups). I haven't the time to go check out how many matches he played.

But all I knew was someone who had potentials in our midfield but the midfield was looking too big for him. He virtually forgot he needed to defend at all. At the end it was like a skeleton wearing agbada.

coogar: SAF was a dïckhead with pogba & morrison. he waited too long to promote them. in 11/12, those injuries were a perfect excuse to play those guys but SAF screwed up.

he had promised pogba plenty of starts & appearances but he used rafael & js park in the midfield while pogba was on the bench. that was the last straw for pogba & he asked to leave man utd.

united lost a gem in pogba - when we went back to enquire about him earlier this season, he was valued at £60m. we all saw him at the world cup, even if we agree for argument's sake that serie a is weak, and pogba didn't do badly at all.

juventus' gain was united's loss!

All these are propaganda and judgment from hindsight. I didn't even see what he did in the world cup.

From what I saw, Pogba would have sank us below top four in 2011/12. He judgment was zero, his could only beat a man. Chikena.

Before Pogba, Carrick, Oshea, JS Park, Fabio, Gibson had been winning top matches from us in the midfield. Why did it make any sense for SAF to have to demote them suddenly for Pogba who had failed to impress at senior level?

Look at how good Januzaj is playing since last season, yet you feel is he not ready despite our wingers having a poor run. But you felt Pogba was ready ahead of senior players like Carrick, Oshea, JS Park and Gibson.

PietroRico: yes he was. SAF just didn't see it.
He's not infallible, is he?
Abi na God?
Age was catching up with him.

I saw Pogba, he wasn't ready to fill the vacuum left in the midfield in 2011/12.

PietroRico: SAF made a mistake with pogba.
The guy was ready.
All he needed was a little vote of confidence.

Are you saying he was ready to fill our midfield in 2011/12 after Ando and Cleverley injured?

You must have forgotten 2011/12. After the injuries which happened after 5 or 6 matches, SAF tried everything, lot of players but nothing worked until Scholes was recalled. At a time I became scared we could find ourselves in 4th or 5th.

PietroRico: then all of a sudden, he moves to juve and instantly becomes world class.

What magic did Conte work on him that made him mature over 1 summer.

Saf had problems wiith his attitude.
He was very ready.

EPL and Serie A are two different leagues. Even at that, there was a one year gap.

Don't forget too SAF gave him a chance. If he were okay, we wouldn't miss Ando and Cleverley, and we wouldn't recall Scholes. Pogba needed to just wait a little while- one more season.

PietroRico: he was!!!
It showed from the few cameo appearances he made.
He was head and shoulders abover every other soul at reserve level. This gulf in class b/w him and everybody else was wider than the gulf of guinea
SAF was just being a dickhead.

No he wasn't. Remember the senior appearances he was given. He virtually abandoned the DM/CM and played more like an AM. He gave signs but wasn't ready to fill the vacuum left by Ando and Cleverley.

ChristineC: I remember that game where Fabio scored. Paul Pogba was on the bench, it was reported that was the reason he refused to continue in Manchester & left for Italy

Yea, Fabio scored.

But the match that got Pogba angry was against Blackburn Rovers. We lost it and it was one of the reasons we lost 2011/12 season. That was the season we could hav reached 95-100 points if not for injuries.

Sincerely, Pogba was not ready at the time. He had great potentials, but he wasn't ready for first team football for us in the EPL.

^
Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal: United counter excellently

March 12, 2011

Both sides had their chances, but Manchester United were more clinical.



Sir Alex Ferguson had an injury crisis in midfield, so used Rafael and Fabio da Silva on either flank, with John O’Shea alongside Darron Gibson in midfield.

Arsene Wenger was without Cesc Fabregas, so Denilson came into the side and Abou Diaby played further forward. Kieran Gibbs started at left-back, andAndrei Arshavin replaced Tomas Rosicky.

The pattern of the first half was fairly simple – Arsenal dominated possession and territory, whilst Manchester United looked to play on the break.

Twins on the wing

In that respect, despite Manchester United’s highly unusual team selection, this was a battle we’ve seen many times before. United have overcome Arsenal in each of the previous two campaigns by playing almost exclusively on the counter-attack – think of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal on the break at the Emirates in the 2008/09 Champions League final, or Wayne Rooney’s similarly devastating goal in the Premier League last year.

Rooney tended to take more of a back seat role in United’s breaks here, however. He dropped deep into midfield when Manchester United were without the ball, generally picking up Denilson so United weren’t outnumbered in the centre of midfield. When United won the ball, the two twins would scamper down the flanks and form a front three with Javier Hernandez, and United sometimes looked like a 4-2-1-3. This is rather like how Benfica play when Jorge Jesus fields Carlos Martins as an additional holding player, and when Javier Saviola drops off into deep positions – see the game against Schalke. Interestingly, one of the wide runners in that game was also a converted full-back, Fabio Coentrao.

The starting line-ups

The use of full-backs in wide positions also benefited Manchester United defensively. Not simply because their natural defensive qualities provided a shield ahead of their back four, but because they had the energy and positional awareness to track back and cover the wide zones. This afforded United’s full-backs license to stick to their respective men when they came inside – Patrice Evra stuck tightly to Samir Nasri and got a couple of hard tackles in, whilst Wes Brown did a similar job on Andrei Arshavin.

Arsenal strategy

Arsenal played very nicely in the first half. Their movement was excellent, their passing crisp, but they suffered their old problem of not being able to create genuine goalscoring chances. Robin van Persie played right-of-centre and pulled Nemanja Vidic out of the defence – the Serb is superb when in the penalty box, but when dragged up the pitch he becomes vulnerable to pace and players going past him. Diaby provided that running, but was a little too clumsy and ponderous on the ball.

Another possible area of creativity came down Arsenal’s left. Gibbs frequently got time on the ball but his crossing was poor. Arsenal’s best chances came from a corner kick that van Persie headed wide, and from a Nasri shot that nearly caught Edwin van der Sar by surprise. Their ‘prettier’ moves came to nothing.

Second half

Ferguson made a change for the second half, giving Antonio Valencia his comeback, with the goalscorer Fabio departing. This meant Rooney on the left, Rafael into the centre and United going 4-1-4-1, with John O’Shea ahead of the back four. Considering how well they’d played in the first half, it was a surprise to see Ferguson change his shape, but if anything he was simply playing a more extreme version of the initial strategy.



United immediately sat deeper. Their central midfielders were sometimes in amongst Arsenal’s midfielders in the first half, but here they were firmly behind play. O’Shea occupied the space between the lines and denied Arsenal time on the ball in that area.

The home side extended their advantage with another direct attack. Van der Sar passed to Valencia, who ran 50 yards with the ball, and a couple of seconds later Rooney headed home. It was not a ‘classic’ counter-attack, not one dependent on pace – but United took advantage of Arsenal being slow to get back, and Valencia’s run was more direct than anything Arsenal offered all game – he had the time on the ball Arsenal’s players weren’t afforded.

Changes

Wenger’s changes were attack-minded. The deepest midfielder, Denilson, was replaced by a striker, in Marouane Chamakh. Wenger hasn’t been afraid to gamble this way in recent weeks – against Everton and against Barcelona he made a similar change and turned the game around on both occasions. It allowed van Persie to play in a permanently deeper role where he threatened straight away, winning a free-kick, but after that O’Shea played closer to him (almost a third centre-back at times) and Arsenal’s best chances came when they crossed the ball – Chamakh and substitute Tomas Rosicky should have scored from right-wing crosses.

The line-ups for the start of the second half

Arsenal looked better when Denilson and Diaby were both withdrawn. There’s a time and a place for Denilson’s solid, reliable passing, but it’s when Arsenal are ahead and want to slow the game down, keeping possession. He wasn’t needed in the second half. Diaby continued to be cumbersome with the ball, and the return of Aaron Ramsey saw a Ramsey-Wilshere partnership in midfield – which might be something we see more frequently in years to come. Those two offered direct forward passing from midfield, and Arsenal had several half-chances (and better) – the finishing simply wasn’t there. Chamakh was introduced to get on the end of moves, but with one goal since November (and that was against Leyton Orient) he hardly provides the potency the rest of the team lacked.

Johan Djourou’s late injury meant Arsenal played the final ten minutes with ten men, which effectively ended the game – a shame, as it was an interesting contest throughout.

Conclusion

On first glance United’s starting line-up was bizarre – seven defenders – but Ferguson managed to assemble them into a cohesive side with a clear gameplan – sit relatively deep, and use the pace of Hernandez and the da Silva twins on the break. It worked: Arsenal were always going to dominate possession, but United produced chances and could have had more than two goals, although the same could be said of Arsenal’s none.

The positioning of the twins was interesting. Brazilian full-backs are stereotypically attacking and therefore can often convert to playing as wingers with little problem, but it’s not always as simple as that. When Dani Alves has played as a winger, for example, he’s looked poor because his game is about making unspotted off the ball runs from deep.

However, Rafael and Fabio both adapted very well. They showed the expected energy and pace, but also good decision-making in the final third and a habit of getting into goalscoring positions. As Tom Williams has mentioned, there might well be a case for fielding pacey (young?) full-backs on the flanks in certain situations – it certainly worked for United

And this line up.

MrTA: I just found this very interesting online.

This lineup beat Arsenal 8-2.

DDG
Smalling
jones
evans
Evra
Nani
Cleverly
Anderson
Young
Welbeck
Rooney

This lineup with these same players beat a top 4 team 8-2.

Obviuosly wont forget the important bit, manager SAF.

Kai! Kai!! Kai!!!

I blame SAF back room staff jor. They didn't keep this player as fit as before. Cleverley, Anderson, and some others didn't remain the same when they returned from injury.

chrisley024: Yeah, that included. Most of the passers you claim we've pass it sideways and diagonal, they lack confidence in trying those penetrative passes. Lack of movement of the players and players hiding from receiving the ball are also the causes.

Our players don't hide from the ball. The only problem is they want to give it away (make a safe pass) as soon as they receive it.

chrisley024: Yeah he's struggling but the same for everyone. Our movement on-the-ball is very poor not to talk of the piss poor midfield.

Players around him need to be mobile and moving into spaces for a better performance from him.

This is what I meant last season when I said we needed to buy good dribblers. All our forwards are the same, no one can get past a man, except Januzaj and Nani. Januzaj is inexperienced and Nani is match rusty/ lack self confidence or has lost form. What do we have left, people who can pass, and most times passing the ball slowly. It is a reason I was a bit concerned that buying another passer in Mata was not the solution. But once Di Maria settles, Herrera and Mr New settle, we might get it right again.

The only thing Mata does better in the hole than in the wing is trying to score goals. His Assists and Chances Created from the hole is at par or worse than he does from the wing. Will Kagawa perform any less? What about those through passes (attacking through the middle) for which they said he was bought? The major advantage Mata has over other forward players is his firmness in possession/strong on the ball, even at this he doesn't cause problems with it in the final 3rd and he doesn't 'travel' with the ball either. Januzaj might end up our number 10 in no time. A number 10 should be able to travel some yards with the ball through the middle.

Any way, let's see if Di Maria will lift everyone.

* Survey: 83.5 % Madrid fans wanted Di Maria to stay.

* Rumours: had some rift with Ronaldo.

Odunharry: Manchester United player wages 2014/15.

Wayne Rooney – £250,ooo per week (Plus money from
advertising deals) Contract expires: Summer 2019

If I understood it well, Rooney actually earns £250k/week. The rest money are from his image right or something. I think bulk of his pay actually has to do with what revenue his personality attracts to the club.

He earns nothing near Messi and Ronaldo who are around £310k/week AFTER TAX. Rooney's £250k is BEFORE TAX.

ElFenomeno1: He didn't do any of that to the Iranian or the Swiss defence.... So why should Koz worry?!

Puyol is not Koz.

He caused all kind of problems to Nigerian defence. He forced one or two goals. Enyeama stood between him and the goal several times.

Hope you weren't Supporting Germany over Nigeria last night?

leggo: "@iamsymonsezz: It's such a shame we don't have UCL football, we'd be able to get players like Lallana &Lambert.We'll have to settle for Di Maria.". Add balotelli who scores over 50% from set pieces..

Explain this. I don't understand.

Dwight Yorke feels the seemingly-imminent arrival of Angel Di Maria to Manchester United will bring the best out of Juan Mata.

Yorke thinks Mata, who netted The Red Devils’ goal in the 1-1 draw at Sunderland, could dovetail with the Argentine.

“Mata is too in and out of games, not doing enough and doesn’t kick on when he has a really good match,

“He needs to step up to the plate and do the things that attracted Man United to him - getting on the ball and supplying the strikers – and I think Di Maria will help him.

“Man United look an average team at the moment as they are passing the ball sideways, taking the easy option and becoming too predictable and easy to play against.

“But Di Maria will go past people, take the ball 20 yards up the pitch and create space for Mata, who at the moment gets quite stifled.”

[Source: Skysports]

.........,


Sky Sports News Reporting Di Maria close to being finalised and Daley Blind and Nigel De Jong could be done for combined £26 Million.


..........

Louis Van Gaal has confirmed Chris Smalling "seems to have a groin injury" and he will be assessed tomorrow.

Dadehmola: 25/08/2014 08:30, Report by Mark Froggatt
Van Gaal explains Januzaj substitution

Louis van Gaal has explained his thinking behind the decision to play Adnan Januzaj in central midfield during the second half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The boss introduced the Belgium international for Darren Fletcher in the 63rd minute as one of two deep-lying midfielders in his 3-5-2 formation. While the substitution did not yield a match-winning goal, it showcased the 19-year-old’s willingness to play out of position for the team.

“It is not usual that we have four injuries in midfield,” van Gaal told reporters. “Every club that has that, has a problem. That is why I played Januzaj in midfield because as a coach I want to win. I have said that we need creative passing and I thought Januzaj could provide that. That is the reason.”

When pressed further on the subject, van Gaal explained how Januzaj’s history of playing in central midfield as a young player gave him the edge over his fellow substitute Shinji Kagawa.

“Kagawa, I have tried to play him in that positon in the US and he could not fulfil my wishes and my philosophy,” the boss said. “We have spoken about that and he is more of a 10. Mata was playing at 10 and I thought I had to change the other players, which is why I chose to bring on Januzaj.

“It is because of creation. Kagawa can also create, but I asked Adnan to play there because of the lack of midfielders. When he played in Belgium, he played in midfield so I asked if he could do it for us. I said to him 'you are on the bench as a midfielder' because I want him to focus.

“He played there and you could see it's not so many times that he's played there. But he did his utmost and I cannot demand more.”
www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2014/Aug/Van-Gaal-explains-decision-to-play-Januzaj.aspx

*In short, if only cleverly wasn't the sideways and clueless type...

Good insight to knowing Gaal' mind.

coogar: that was the most laughable part & thanks for bringing this out. if this doesn't tell you there was a competition between the two to see who would score, nothing else would.

2 rêtarded nanny-goats chasing individual glory. a good cross from the byeline, oshoala was well placed to shoot into the net. ayila came from nowhere nudge her in the back & disrupt her shot.

Lol.

Ayila is a bush girl. Her dad probably told her to try to score. It's not all of them that have no brain. Ayila and Sunday. Dike has brain too, only speed let her down.

One midfielder had a bad game yesterday, I can't remember her name. She was one of our problems last night, although she did well in the semi.

coogar: like i said, no football brain.
everyone of them wants to be the heroine. "na me score am" mentality killed the falconets.

pauline breman took the ball from our defender. she ran the ball into the box but she was selfless. she saw a teammate standing free & in a better position to score. she didn't try to be a heroine, she did what an intelligent player would do by passing the ball.



you are buttressing my point!
7 goals, golden ball winner, sexiest yänsh, cutest bòobs - they are all individual awards. the biggest prize is the team award - the cup. we failed to get that!

germany played like a team - we played like a bunch of individuals meeting in a local park for the first time. team work will always overshadow individual effort.

So Oshoala should have taken a magic gun and shoot down Ayila before you know she did her part to get us the trophy? She was mostly the reason we even got to this stage. If only you knew what reputation North Korea has in female football that she single handedly destroyed with 4 goals 2 assists.
You are right about the selfish play. That was largely due to inexperience. The Germans got one thing going for them- experience. We actually got some balls into the 6 yard area from the bye line, but they were organized to deal with them.

Remember the German keeper won the MOTM.

SailorXY: as far as I'm concerned, the defeat falls smack on Ayila's laps for her selfishness. ball dey enter net jeje, you still dey pursue am why? are you a defender?? SMH!

Exactly what I am saying. Oshoala redeemed whatever mistakes she had made before. She did well to get what should be the winner.

Remember too Ayila went into her way when she was to tap-in. That was a ball from the byeline.

coogar: she was the best player in our team on the day it mattered the most! it was the final - nothing matters like yesterday's game. it's the day no one should have been selfish or trying to claim any glory. football is a team work.



the german side i saw struggled throughout the regulation time. if the falconets had made the right decisions in critical moments of the game, beating them 5-0 wouldn't be an exaggeration. falconets controlled the game for 90 minutes - we lost the initiative when they scored in the 8 mins into the extra time.



they weren't tired, they were just stüpid. crossing the ball is more convenient than exerting force to shoot at a difficult angle. the germans were tired too but they never lacked their discipline in the danger areas of the pitch.



there was no evidence of her outstanding football brain last night. she played like a donkey. yes, she's got pace, power, aggression but there was no panache. she had a chance in the first half of extra time - instead of crossing the ball to a teammate, she attempted a shot on target & kicked the ball into the ground.

she's got no football brain!

Let me remind you first that Oshoala redeemed her self at the end as you always argue for CR7. If not for the stupidity of Ayila, she actually won the tournament for Nigeria.

You are right on many things like the way we dominated. But it's still wrong in one aspect. Without the previous matches, we wouldn't get here. Sometimes too football cn be crazy. If Ramos didn't score a late equalizer, Madrid would be worse than Falconets in their decision making. Barca losing to Chelsea. Bayern losing to Chelsea. There are many instances where we hear 'team A did the paying and team B did the scoring'.
This is women football, when we started few years ago, we were being beaten 8-0, etc. Our overall play is still developing.


* However on Oshoala, she was the most intelligent. She was going to bail us out and atone for all her earlier mistakes with a late winner. If Ayila didn't touch, she won the tournament and delivered on the biggest day.

You cannot say a player who scored 7 goals from 4 matches in the number 10 (forward) role has not brain.

You cannot say a player who is golden boot winner has little brain.

You cannot say a player with best individual goal has no intelligence

You can no say a player with one of tournament finest goals has little intelligence. A curly goal from 22 yards after beating a man.


* Most importantly, she's the player of the tournament. Golden ball winner.

coogar: vidal is the best box to box midfielder in the world. di maria isn't the best winger in the world. i will pay £80m for vidal if i were ed woodward. he's the missing link in our team.

Hmmm, this will lead to a long argument. Let's leave.

coogar: elampawa, this is not the time for sentiments. the falconets were better than the germans, they lost because they had no common sense & no discipline. their mental strength was non-existent. after germany scored, we barely tested their goalkeeper, we just faded off.

if our girls had done what pauline bremer did when she robbed abasi of the ball, we would have beaten them 4-0. don't try to be a hero from a difficult angle. get the ball to the bye-line & cross it. chances are there can be an own goal sef. we failed to do that each time with everyone taking stüpid shots from an impossible angle.

* You see, that's life. Our keeper has been our worst player until last night. Now you saw one match and you think she's the only sensible player.

* Germany and USA are powers of women football. When you play them, you have to think deep to try and do something different. It's like an EPL team having to come to Old Trafford in 2008. We aren't I same level in women football, so their game was expected to be more organized than ours.

* Our girls were tired in extra time. The reason they could not cross well as you observed. The coach didn't help them in the energy aspect. They ran too much in the first half.

coogar: the girls lacked discipline - everyone of them. only our goalkeeper gets her full credits. she made some outstanding saves. with all the skills possessed by oshoala & ayila, they lacked the football brain to match it. they deserved to lose.

Asisat Oshoala was easily the most intelligent player of the tournament. Her football brain was the best. Don't take one match in isolation.

If you read her profile in FIFA.com and other media you will her they described her before the final.

Don't forget, she won the golden ball and golden boot.