₦airaland Forum

BascoVanVeli:
5 Players Nigeria' Super Eagles need back against Cameroon

Colin Udoh, KweséESPN

As was to be expected, the slipstream trailing Nigeria's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying loss to South Africa continues to flow days later, and shows no signs of abating.

At least, not until the next game ...

Crisis meetings have been called by both the NFF and Sports Minister Solomon Dalung in a bid to decipher what went wrong against Bafana Bafana in Uyo on the weekend.

In the meantime, here are five players that Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr needs to have back for the 2018 World Cup qualifier double-header against Cameroon in August and September.

LEON 'TERMINATOR' BALOGUN
A beast in defence, Balogun not only has the intelligence to read plays, but the legs and lungs to hunt things down and terminate them either before they start, or at the point of danger. With him in the game, the probability is high that Nigeria would not have conceded the first of two goals against Bafana Bafana, and it is doubtful the Super Eagles would have suffered the breakdown that led to the second.

Here is why: either William Troost-Ekong or Balogun is normally designated to attack set-pieces in the opposition box, while the other stays home. In Saturday's game, the defensive midfielder (Ogenyi Onazi) and one other defender (Shehu on this occasion) stayed back to defend against breakaways and somehow lost their man. If Balogun was in the team, either he or Ekong would have remained, and Percy Tau would not have had the time and space he got to race away and score.

If Balogun gets fit, and stays fit till that Cameroon game, that defence will perk up considerably.

JOHN OBI MIKEL
Many have spent much of Mikel's international career defending his immense importance to the Nigeria team when many were questioning what value he adds. Now it is obvious for all to see.

Mikel is no flashy Austin Okocha-style number 10. What he gives is a world-class ability to control the midfield with calm efficiency and direct play at his own pace, forcing both his teammates and opponents to play the game his way. More like an Andrea Pirlo, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes combo in one.

His reading of the game and the way he breaks up play is second to none, and his passing (in range and accuracy) is almost peerless in Africa. Deployed in a free, albeit advanced role, for Nigeria he has recently added the odd goal to his toolkit, as he showed against Algeria.

With him in the team, Nigeria would have found the solution to open up the narrow Bafana tactics, Iheanacho would have had chances, and every single player on the team would have a calm, controlled and available outlet under pressure.

Mikel's rehabilitation is going swimmingly and he should be ready for Cameroon.

VICTOR MOSES
The Chelsea star has the ability to open up the tightest of defences, especially from wide, or to arrive at the right time inside the box for a simple finish. With him out wide, the Super Eagles could probably have scored one of those first half chances they created.

Victor Moses is always a dangerous attacking winger for Nigeria and is also great at tracking back to support his fullback, a lapse that cost the Eagles the first goal, when both the left-back and wide forward pinched in, leaving defensive midfielder Onazi as the man to try to stop the cross that led to the goal.

Hopefully Moses recovers on time from his toe surgery to bring the cutting edge back in September.

ODION IGHALO/BROWN IDEYE
Now this is a choice that Rohr will not like because he is all about building a team of young players. But looking at Saturday's game, Nigeria needed an old-fashioned centre-forward who could have given the South African centre-backs more than enough to think about.

They needed someone who could have knocked down balls and held up play for arriving midfielders or wide forwards. It is hard to recall Iheanacho winning one aerial battle, even though his hold-up play was of a generally decent level. At least one of these two are desperately needed in the team at any point in time.

Rohr, who does not appear to rate players playing in China - except for Mikel - would do well to get one of these in when he names his squad for Cameroon.

VINCENT ENYEAMA
This chap needs to come back ASAP. Rohr has spoken to him, communicates with him regularly, and is hoping he will change his mind about not playing for the Super Eagles. KweséESPN understands from sources close to the player that he is mulling over the situation.

His presence, organization and stability he brings to the back - not to mention his quality goalkeeping in one-vs-one situations - will greatly help an inexperienced backline. In the absence of Balogun or a competent defender, Enyeama would have attacked that ball before Tokelo Rantie got to it and that first goal could have been avoided.

For the second, Enyeama would have called Shehu and Onazi to watch Tau on that breakaway and would have been quick off his line to meet him halfway to stop the ball. In any case, whenever the Super Eagles attack, Enyeama is always outside his box. He probably would have got to that ball before Tau.

The Lille goalkeeper is still in great form, and only missed two games of the French Ligue 1 season with injury. His return would not only provide a confidence boost for the squad, but would mean that Carl Ikeme's injuries would not be cause for hair-tearing. Until he decides whether he wants to return or not, Nigeria will just have to hope that Ikeme is fit for Cameroon.

GoodBuhari:
"That is why you are called the Icon of experience"

Forgiveness what do you have to say

Besides, I just wonder the number of mentions you must have had yesterday.
Cc: TheSuperNerd, Safarigirl, Kog45, ......

sontoly:
FC Utrecht Cyriel Who Contributed 42 Goals Last Season Opt For Nigeria Ahead Of Belgium.


FC Utrecht new signing Cyriel Dessers says he is willing to pledge his international future to Nigeria ahead of Belgium, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Dessers scored 29 goals and provided 13 assist last season for NAC Breda to fire them to promotion to the top league before moving to fellow top division side FC Utrecht.
His goal feat sparked an international tug of war between Nigeria and Belgium, as he qualifies for both nations thanks to his Nigerian mother Sophie and Flemish father Herwig.
He trained with the Belgium U-21 in 2015 but didn’t make his debut as he was an un-used substitute in their game against Moldova in the qualifiers for Euro 2015.
22 year old Dessers has however confirmed his willingness to dump Belgium for Nigeria, if he is called up by the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr.
” For now my concentration is on my new club FC Utrecht but if anything comes from the coach of Nigeria it would be nice. I have to be realistic, the competition in Belgium is very large with Romelu Lukaku, Micthy Bastshuayi, Divock Origi, Christian Benteke and now Dimata”, he said.
” They are still very young, around same age as me. In Nigeria there are top strikers as well but maybe there will be a spot for me in the team than in Belgium “.
Michael James

http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/06/15/fc-utrecht-cyriel-who-contributed-42-goals-last-season-opt-for-nigeria-ahead-of-belgium/#

Mickael2:
A third choice striker that did not play a single minute all season long?? How reassuring.

How many goals did he score in the dutch league??

I repeat if you give me Nacho, Oshimen and Solanke and I am asked to choose talent wise, Oshimen first, then Nacho. I will even reject Solanke

maidaboi:
bros abeg leave that talk
why didn't england invited them to the 3 lions?

Mickael2:
so when the going gets tough they come to us but when it starts getting better they ditch us? Which sane coach will invite a lad who was finding it difficult to score in the dutch league? You make sense sometimes then at other times I just can't grab what your problem is

sontoly:
I don't totally agree bro, Jordan Ibe was begged to play for us when he was in Liverpool but the guy was looking for england call up now Nigeria no send am, ameobi also did the same thing his brother Sammy said he wants to play for england when he was at Newcastle.
Guy did the Nff throw a party before Iwobi agreed to play for us?, those lads prefer england as their first choice, then if they can't get it then they settle for Nigeria. Also know that some factors may lead to it, the advice from parents and loved ones also . If na me sef I will go for England as my prefer option.

sontoly:
bros one Legged?, really?? are u trying to be impressive or u just want make us laff?, all those players u mentioned are playing for their retirement, dey may not even bother playing for us.
if u don't give young players opportunities to get experience there won't be experienced players na.

maidaboi:
@forgiveness you are right the guy is good lets hope the move happens
and thank for all the news i'm really enjoying them

sontoly:
Bros won't blame NFF that much, I will blame the country as a whole, our sports generally is bad, we don't groom young players early probably cos of financial incapabity. Nigeria is the worst country to groom stars we like already made stuff we be like parasite reaping from English developmental football.
Lookman, Solanke and co will always have England as their priority, once dey can't make it to the squad den dey can consider there second choice. I don't blame dem that much.

Icon4s:
He should have as well also called for Utaka, Yakubu and Aghahowa

Icon4s:
YES raised to the power of 1000!

Remember I included Adi.

Dedebanky85:
Bro infact let me join u and expand it, Not only Tammy Abraham, if Solanke, Lookman, Ojo, and Onomah play for Naija, I go baff for street with G-strings. To a lesser extent, Tomori won't play for Naija. We keep idolizing our deepest fantasies but we know these arw just fantasies that'll never happen - not while they are relevant in football. Let's keep jonzing!

goldfish80:
England's Young Lions can handle the Golden Generation tag - Abraham

England Under-21 striker Tammy Abraham insists the Young Lions can handle being called the next Golden Generation.
The 19-year-old is confident Aidy Boothroyd's youngsters are ready to take the spotlight following the Under-20s' World Cup triumph on Sunday.
Paul Simpson's side were crowned world champions after a 1-0 win over Venezuela, with the Under-21s now aiming to echo their success at Euro 2017 in Poland.
The previous group named the Golden Generation included David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney but never got past the quarterfinal stage of a major tournament.
Chelsea forward Abraham is preparing for Friday's tournament opener against holders Sweden in Kielce and believes the new crop can cope if they are given the same nickname.
He said: "We definitely can handle that tag. We have guys who are talented, can work hard and have everything. It's just about blending in and becoming one, not just thinking about yourself.
"They did the country so proud and we would love to follow in their footsteps by winning the Euros. Obviously being the Under-21s we want to show we are the next up and coming players for the England squad, so there is a bit of pressure.
"But then we have some amazing lads, so we think we can go far as well. We can't have them bragging they won and we didn't!''
Abraham, who has been linked with a loan move to Newcastle or Brighton, was eligible for Simpson's Under-20s squad but was selected by Boothroyd for Euro 2017 after scoring 26 goals on loan at Bristol City last season.
He could have been a world champion but is determined to focus on succeeding in Poland with the Under-21s.
Abraham, who will wait until after the tournament to decide his future, said: "Yes it's bittersweet, it's true. It's a great achievement. I'm sure they're proud of themselves.
"The whole country is proud of them. They deserved to win it. But obviously I'm here to win the Euros and we've got a lot of good players, so we're in with a chance.
"A lot of the boys watched the whole game at St George's Park after training. I'm proud to have helped them get to the tournament, of course, but obviously I'm so proud to be here as well.
"Hopefully what I've done all season is paying off and we can win the tournament. The boys are buzzing.
"It's massively inspiring. We're going into a massive tournament now with the Under-21s and it would be nice to end it on a blast. The boys are confident.
"We've had a great season. We just want to top off with a win. Some of the lads have played in the Premier League, in top teams, we have an amazing team. Hopefully we can show that. We're all excited and we just have to prove it.''

http://kwese.espn.com/football/england-u21/story/3143272/englands-young-lions-can-handle-the-golden-generation-tag-abraham


.........................
Tammy Abraham is already talking about being part of the golden generation of England players. Seriously, the way people talk up the prospects of some of these players dumping European countries for Nigeria perplexes me.

Is it that we haven't learnt from previous experiences that Nigeria will never be considered if such player is in the ascendancy with top career prospects.

Let's continue making derogatory comments about our home grown players and league while talking up the chances of Nigerians abroad to make babies who will represent us. Let's continue deluding ourselves.

If Tammy dumps England for Nigeria, I will quit my job and become a Thai monk for a year.

do4luv14:
that's y we will continue to fail, once. We saw a promising youngster, we jst discard our old reliable legs, all in the name them don old,

we need those old guards to show the youngsters how its being done, when the going get tougher,

so to my best knowledge, ENYEAMA, MARTINS,IGHALO,IDEYE,AMBROSE, ALUKO, even OSAZE, and some who I can't remember are still needed, to show those young exciting talent of ours how its being done

robosky02:
Naming Nigeria - Flora Shaw and Sexism

It is an unfortunate consequence of our innate sexism as a people that when we hear the name Flora Shaw as the lady who named Nigeria, we see not a person - with a life, with achievements and with faults - rather we see the mistress/ wife to be of Lord Frederick Lugard. Ask any Nigerian and this is probably the only fact they know about Miss Shaw.

Our culture is one where a woman’s legacy is not a factor of her character or her achievements but simply by who her husband is. So when we think of the woman who named our country we cannot think beyond an ordinary mistress whispering ideas to her man in bed because that is her domain of control and of course it the man who carries out the act of the naming because only men can do important things. This could not be further from the truth.

Nigeria was named by Flora Shaw but not as a consequence her relationship with Lord Lugard as most people believe. She wrote an article in the London Times of January 8, 1897 suggesting that the territory around the Niger, which was then controlled by the Royal Niger Company, should be called Nigeria.

At the time she was the colonial editor of the London times in the 1890s. She had a column titled the colony, it appeared weekly. She wrote many articles about the acquisition of territories in Africa in the 1900’s and was considered as an expert on the issue. Her achievement in becoming the colonial editor of the London times was quite extraordinary. The paper was the leading voice at the time and widely regarded as one of the best.


Flora Shaw was unique in the way she wrote particularly about economic matters affecting the African Colonies. To be a serious female journalist in those times in a field dominated by male journalists meant she had to be really good at what she did. It was for these reasons that when proposed the name Nigeria people considered it seriously.

The Royal Niger Company was instrumental in bringing the British Protectorate to the area we now know as Nigeria. Flora by virtue of her job knew on a personal basis all the major players involved in the extending of the British Empire to this region and she came to think of herself as a critical player. Her credibility as writer and economic/political commentator was without question. There have been some suggestions that by virtue of her feminine charms she was able to develop relationships with empire builders like Lord Lugard and Dr Joseph Chamberlain that afforded her in-depth knowledge which she used to write her articles. Her letters would suggest that she was no leech though as she also advised them on a range of issues given her knowledge of the area.

Now this is not to say that Miss Shaw was perfect. Many of her ideologies as represented in her articles were imperialist, she was a firm crusader for the British Empire. She saw Africans as inferior, uncivilised beings compared to the British. She believed colonialism was a benevolent construct of the empire, spreading good wherever it went and incapable of evil. She also put forward as a trial name Goldiesia, named after the head of the Royal Niger Company, Goldie. In the manner which Rhodesia was named after Dr Cecil Rhodes.

The main reason I even decided to find out this much about Flora Shaw and rid myself of complicity in the accusations of the first paragraph is because I wondered, if she was just an irrelevant mistress then why didn’t our founding fathers attempt to change the name at our independence? The answer is they did. The name Nigeria Songhai was considered, a tribute to the famous ancient Songhai Empire in Western Sudan. The name Nigeria was practical for a myriad of reasons but in the end most agreed that the argument put forward by Flora Shaw was good enough to retain the name. The river Niger, the great river of Africa, with its over 20 tributaries and channels touched the lives of Nigerians one way or another thus we all feel connected by it.

cc: lalasticlala, mynd44
http://www.romancemeetslife.com/2013/04/naming-nigeria-flora-shaw-and-sexism.html