₦airaland Forum

Nigeria is the only semi-finalist from the last edition that has made it to this year's semi-final once more. Write Nigeria off at your own peril.

IronGalaxy:
You almost topped that group not by defeating us but by having our points docked.. let it also be said, your group was darn easy.. lets see when you meet, Congo, Morocco, Algeria etc.

The only thing wey dey vex me about our AFCON run so far be say we no get to jam South Africa for road. I know a lot of them are humble now and some have even switched to supporting us but e sure me say that match go be 5-0 guaranteed and we'd have served them that humble pie directly. Then dem go know say their WC qualification was a lucky fluke.

yinkeys:
I think Egypt will beat Senegal
I pray Nigeria beats Morocco but our eagles will face serious adversity

That would set up a Nigeria vs Egypt final.

Perfect, because we need to explain to the Pharaohs that the friendly match before the tournament was just for charity, and pummel them beyond pardon.

So basically Nigeria is the only team to have knocked out a North African side in this quarter finals round.

lbrichman2:
Correct!!!
Make we try push top 20!

If we beat Morocco, I think we have a good shot.

Just looked up the Egypt vs CIV stats.

Bruh, how is Ivory Coast behind with 71% possession. Which kind haramball Egypt dey play like this?

Since Emerse Fae took over this team, Ivory Coast have become fond of scoring heartbreaking goals at the dying second to upset their opponents. Will Egypt bottle this lead?

lbrichman2:
We don't need to wait till then
If we are not fast, another country can move ahead of us
Tie him down now!!

I fit naked swear for NFF if they let that man go.

We are clear favorites now.

Odunayaw:
Nah, he just refuses to be bullied

I'm sha loving it.

Let me be honest. I think referee is on our side.

I'm not going to be calm until we score. See as shiitt just hold me for the past 30 mins.

Subzero0477:
Lol Morocco were head and shoulders above Cameroon, all these ref talk na consolation

I just tire abeg. Cameroon wey dey struggle to string three complete passes this night.

Mujtahida:
I was surprised when the guys on the hindsight podcast mentioned it in their latest edition that our players were fearful in that match against Congo.

That day, it was that fear that I saw in our players eyes that made me give up.

One of the reasons I'm wary about this Algeria fixture. These set of Super Eagles players are not just hard to motivate, they fold easily too when the occasion is massive.

Against Ghana in 2022
Against CIV in 2024
Against DRC last year

Blueelf:
I know this is early

But

Should Morocco win tonight and we somehow edge Algeria, do we have a chance of beating Morocco since our players are notorious fowlers

Cc thesupernerd, mujtahida fivefootninja

I never reason Algeria finish, you dey tell me of Morocco.

Tom Saintfelt must be taken into custody and prosecuted for crimes against AFCON after this match. I've seen many haramball games, but this easily ranks as one of the most devastating and hazardous of them all. Wtf!

It still frustrates me that we lost a clear advantage over Algeria in terms of fitness. They played 120 mins. We were supposed to wear them down with a team playing at its absolute peak. Now we'll be going to face Algeria who got to Marrakesh before us, with a squad that missed one full day of training plus might be half-distracted by the match bonus issue. The most frustrating part is that if we crash out, every body will just move on like nothing happened and the NFF will continue along with their business.

I'm doubtful if Iwobi is going to get enough space to give those passes like he did against Mozambique. Mahrez will be on his case. It's true that Iwobi sits too deep to mark but Mahrez has nothing to offer defensively. He has all the time in the world to shadow Iwobi. And we know how bad it can get when Iwobi loses the ball. We need to sharpen other outlets of creativity so that just in case Iwobi is locked up we won't be out of ideas.

Kog45:
Only Onyeka can win this match for us.He need to neutralize that midfied,if he does that we're free to go

We also need him and Ndidi to provide serious help to Osayi-Samuel. The Algerians will be licking their lips at the prospect of setting a dangerous winger like Amoura on him. If Wan-Bissaka struggled to contain him, then your guess is as good as mine.

mekabuachi:
Final whistle what platform are they active on?
Checked Instagram didn't see anything really tangible...

They're on YouTube. All the football content creators I follow are on YouTube. These are the ones I always watch in order of who I think are the most tactically astute and best at reading games.

Gaant Football
SoccerNittyGritty SNG
African Five-A-Side Podcast (not Nigerian but the dude has some interesting insights when he reviews games)
Final Whistle
EaglesTracker
Sunday Oliseh's Global Football Insights ()
Football Fans Tribe
Nigeria Football Weekly
The Hindsight Podcast
The Beautiful Game With Mike
The Ugo Amadi Football Channel
ATW Center Studios

Mujtahida:
You should be doing something like this too bro. You'd do well. All you need is consistency.

There are few channels I must watch pre and post our matches.

The hindsight podcast
Football fans tribe
Eagles tracker
Victor modo
Victor Ademola
Gaant football
Naija football bias (our own BascoVanVeli's)
Soccernittygritty

And many more. They enhance and enrich the viewing experience

Hmmm. I follow all these ones too. I'll add two more:
Final Whistle
ATW Center Studios

Especially Final Whistle. Those guys are really good at reading games and predicting results.

Can we all please just shut the F up on Osimhen already? This debate has become boring, pointless and annoying with no more interesting angles to push the conversation forward. Let's talk about the Algeria game!

The World Cup dream has gone to blazes
AFCON dream has gone to blazes
And now even the Nairaland Super Eagles thread has gone to blazes
We should ban football in this country and start focusing on cricket or something

semid4lyfe:
They are training regularly in Fez where they played the group stage and R-16 matches.

They only refused to travel to Marrakech as scheduled until their allowances and bonuses for the group stage and round of 16 was settled.

Algeria is a damn good team, by my assessment even better than Senegal and I don't feel good about playing them. I hope we win but if results go otherwise. I wouldn't be surprised too.

Baba training in Fez and Marrakesh cannot possibly be the same. They should have at least been acclimated to the terrain where they'll play the QF.

Honestly I'm starting to think this AFCON is lost to us. The damage cannot be reversed. Not because the players are poor but because little things like this go a long way in affecting the squad. Especially these current set of Super Eagles who are difficult to motivate in the first place.

Just my opinion sha. I've heard and seen enough bad news in the last 24 hours to lose hope in this tournament. We won't go the World Cup and we may not win the AFCON.

Eric Chelle tried his best, but when Nigeria is involved, it's like pouring water into a basket.

minfelix:
oga still on still, people said their attack was very good, especially in that game Vs senegal…because Algeria don beat them now their attack is now shitty

Is my name people? Why not focus on what I'm saying instead of bringing other people's opinion into the discussion?

Anyway, it is a fact that DRC were just not clinical against Algeria on that day. If you watched the game, you'll see that. DRC's strength is midfield and defense. They are highly physical and they know how to execute good counters, but their point men aren't always the best. Haven't you noticed that majority of their games tend to be low-scoring games? (1-0, 2-0). If Yaone Wissa had played that Algeria game, don't be surprised DR Congo would win or drag the game to PK at least.

It's not about what people are saying. It's about what happens on the pitch.

ThunderFireAgba:
And I don't see that game having more than 1 or 3 goals cos both defenses are tightened up. It may end in 1-0, 2-0, 2-1 in anyone's favour.
It will be a tough match with alot of counters against the Nigerian side. Hope out LB and RB are equally to the task.

We'll have to wait and see. With the way Nigeria has made attacking transitions so far in the tournament, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up running rings around Algeria's defense. It takes only one goal to force them to come out and play. Then again, with the current strike going on in camp, I won't be surprised to see a downgrade in Nigeria's game this Saturday.

ThunderFireAgba:
Any team that scores first, wins the match. Most especially in the 2nd half.

Given our low propensity for staging upsets, I have to agree here. This is one aspect where I respect the Super Falcons more than the Super Eagles.

minfelix:
in group stage many of people here sang the praise of DRC a formidable team🤣….now becos Algeria beat them, they are now shitty🤣🤣….remember even the Senegal in their group couldn’t beat them also….

I didn't say they were shitty. I said their attack was shitty. This is how you people misread others in your ignorance and start doubling down on some whole other BS.

minfelix:
Our group is not tougher than theirs ooo, make we calm down dey defend somethings naaa🤣🤣

Algeria
B/Faso
E/guinea
Sudan


Nigeria
Tunisia
Uganda
Tanzania

Since the start of Afcon being a 24nation tourney in 2019 burkina faso and Equitorial Guinea has been romancing around R16 and Quarterfinals stage, that cant be said of Uganda and Tanzania…the DRC dey even beat has also been a regular on the knockout stage…..

dont get me wrong, my money is 100% on Nigeria beating Algeria….but Algeria will be a hardnut to crack….and again i still trust Nigeria to do a “Germany-Brazil 2014” scoreline on them

I watched the games from both groups. Equatorial Guinea have been godawful this tournament. Same with Sudan, they only really turned up in the game against Senegal but that was like for the first 10 minutes only before Senegal started pressing oil from their head. I'll give you Burkina Faso only. But even that Burkina Faso, see how they struggled to beat them.

Tanzania on the other hand have exceeded expectations. When we struggled to edge them 2-1, I thought it was a fluke, but after watching them against Tunisia and Morocco, I have to say they really outdid themselves in this tournament. They almost upset Morocco. Tunisia was flying high until we met them. People forget how easily they dominated Uganda in their first game. As for Uganda, they were poor, I agree, but more like Sudan. Not as disappointing as Eq. Guinea.

minfelix:
The statement of them beating DRC who is a stronger opponent in Round 16 is an eyebrow raiser that they will provide a tougher test than Tunisia….many people even said that DRC vs Algeria came so early as a fixture in this afcon..

They beat DRC because DRC attack was shiitty. Benin pressed this same DRC in their first game so I'm not sipping the DRC kool-aid with you. I'm confident we'll score against them.

This will be a game of who can outscore who because we'll score and we might also likely concede. Although I have to note that our defense has looked slightly better in this knockout stage than during the group stage. Mozambique attack is more lethal than Uganda and Tanzania and yet we were able to keep them quiet for the full 90 mins and even almost scored a 5th.

minfelix:
even Morocco sef is not a stiff test…remove the fact they are the host, i no see dey difference between them and Tunisia…what is making morocco a tougher test is their 12th and 13th man on the pitch

So what is it about Algeria that makes them a "stiffer" test than Morocco apart from their fast wingers? Their defense is not better than Congo or even Egypt. They faced poor teams in their group. Our group was tougher than theirs. Plus the very first strong opponent they faced dragged them to extra time and would have beaten them if they were more clinical. Algeria haven't faced an attack like ours yet in this tournament. They will surely concede against us.

To me, all the North African teams in this tournament dey the same WhatsApp group. The reason people are hyping Algeria is because they've exceeded expectations.

Many people online were predicting they'll not perform well because of their last AFCON outing where they lost to Mauritania, as well as the fact that their squad is on the aging side. So their performance so far is impressive given the context.

But they're not miles better than Morocco or Tunisia.