₦airaland Forum

Joebie:
We are getting to the finals. That’s for sure and after that (hopefully we win) our focus must be qualifying and doing very well at the WC. Anything short of a QF finish will be shameful. We’ve represented Africa many times not to break that Second Round jinx.

that semi-final no go easy if we meet Cape Verde cos we are gradually meeting more technical teams now, The reason I want SA to do me a favour by beating them.

As for the World Cup, na there my eye gan gan, these generation of exciting players must play at the World Cup by fire by force and do well there.

COOL10:
I'm equally pleased with the team's performance and I've been laughing at my friends who said all sorts of things about Peseiro and the team, before the tournament.


I just felt the need to point out something I felt was being overlooked because our defense right now is one of the reasons people aren't paying much attention to Osimhen's constant misses.


God forbid, that defense starts to leak and Osimhen continues to miss. What happens then? If the coach benches him, people will complain; if the coach leaves him on, people will still complain. This is why he needs to start scoring so that people like me will stop complaining


A lot of people have been criticizing Mane oh. They said his form dropped because he's now playing in Saudi Arabia .
Same thing with Mahrez.

we are in the semi-finals and am personally ok with that. We were never favourites to win this afcon, if we lose in the semi-finals, it will be unfair to crucify this team. Our focus should also be on qualifying for the World Cup. I want to see players like Bassey, Onyeka, Aina and Lukman in the World Cup cos their commitment to the team has been outstanding. I've always had issues with players in the Eagles not showing commitment in the way they play but these players have blown me away with their strong sense of patriotism and I will never forget them.

Those criticising Mane should go and sit down, that guy has given his all and is an African hero. Only Cameroon and Egypt in very recent times has won the Afcon back to back. Afcon no be your mate. Mikel likened Afcon to UEFA champions league and I now see what he meant.

daveP:
Whoever is in the media crew of this squad better be ready to drop a miniseries of what's going on backstage. I believe Finidi is very influential on these players as assistant coach because many of them were not born or were kids when he was a top global baller that year. They can't form or be stubborn to such figure.

Simon is has 2 MOTM currently if I'm not mistaken.

very true, may likely make team of the tournament

Mujtahida:
I don laugh tire

this one nko

Nigeria’s defense is stronger than the following
1. Wall of Jericho
2. Great Wall of china
3. The mighty walls of Constantinople
4. The great Berlin Wall

The total number of shots on target against Nigeria not up to 7 since the tournament began 😨😨

daveP:
Seriously. The Achilles of Osimhen na that offside and e dey pain me. I also wished Simon scored that solo effort.

omo that goal for sweet, all these complaints we dey see for this thread for vanish

Joebie:
Angola coach said he knew SE’s weaknesses. He still lost but he did know something. We need to stop wasting chances. Good tactical sides will hit target (shots on target) regardless of our defensive formation.

The coach said his attackers were not at their best today, he's giving fatigue as an excuse for his players but we know say na our defensive set up frustrate am and im boys.

Mujtahida:
He said that the reason why he likes to score first is because he noticed that our team doesn't do well when we are hit first.

He should work on this after the tournament cos it's not everytime we will score first

But we replied immediately after E-Guniea scored nah in our first game,

BascoVanVeli:
Masuaku scored that same goal vs Chelsea


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgVSziYIyxk?si=5EXRhJRcAKuwMRPN

That's why Amokachi as a commentator is saying that the premier league has contributed so much to world football

charlesemeka85:
they wan kill Guinea 🤣🤣🤣

DRC has character, whoever they face btw mail & civ will be a cracker of a match

omo see freekick, beautiful by DRC

am happy to see Guinea out, how dare you beat the Eagles 2-nil

COOL10:
Reply to first paragraph: I never said Salah would have scored 4 or 5 goals by now if he wasn't injured. I simply asked if you thought Salah wouldn't have scored up to three goals by now. There's a difference 😄


Reply to second paragraph: Osimhen is the current APOTY. It is expected that more eyes will be on him than others. With great power comes great responsibility.


Reply to third paragraph: Nothing concerns me with Senegal; this is a Super Eagles thread, but be honest with yourself, despite how hard Mane worked for the team and even got some assists, will you say he had a good tournament for a player of his calibre? That's my point.

I have said earlier that it's football and it happens, that the team has progressed, I think we should cut him some slack, it's obvious he was exhausted from the last game. He even scored today and was disallowed, he had a shot on target in the first half. I think he has tried, perhaps dealing with the huge weight of expectations. The team is in the semis and am impressed with the players including oshimen, I must be honest like you said, I never give this team a chance but with where they are am well pleased with oshimen and the boys.

N:B that senegal team has peaked and it's expected for decline to set in, Let's not forget Senegal and Mane has been knocking the door for some years before they won the last afcon, it will be unfair for anyone to criticise Mane

Starboytwo:
Long may you live.

Infact I'm more surprised Zaidu always manage to find himself in good positions in opponents box. Plus the guy carry engine for chest, before you know he don run go cover for back.

Anything Zaidu do apart from defend na bonus to me.

football can be crazy you know, the zaidu we dey abuse today can just go and score in the semi-final, I wonder what we will all say by then.

Na so we dey abuse Garbal Lawal those days until e go score against the Almighty Spain for France 98. Na so we dey abuse Ahmed Musa till he started scoring beautiful goals in the world cup, abeg make we chill small, this life no balance

which yeye match be this, dem just dey dash them penalties wey we no see for our own game

COOL10:
Lol, those are not excuses. Excuses would be me blaming badluck for Osimhen's inefficacy in front of goal.


Besides, Osimhen and Salah don't share similar fates. Osimhen didn't get injured in just his second match.


If he did and we ended up failing to move past the round of 16 just like Egypt, we would have all blamed Osimhen's injury for the quick exit, just like the Egyptians are currently blaming Salah's injury for theirs.

You're making assumptions, there is no guarantee that if Egypt had remained in this competition, Salah would have scored 4 or 5 goals by now, everything na probability.

That is why Oshimen is not the only player that can score in the team if he's firing blanks, then let others take responsibility which is what we have seen in the last two games, Simon almost scored what would have been one of the best goals in the second half so wetin we dey talk sef.

Senegal are home, why are we not blaming their strikers

M7even:
Exactly. If we stick to this tactics in our next game, we will definitely play penalties. Individually, some players are beginning to fatigue or burn out.

I believe this coach has a plan B He has also said if he's looking for goals then we will see the likes of Iheancho come in. I have always asked that if Oshimen is not scoring what's our plan b and the coach has answered with games against Cameroon and Angola. The goal against Angola today was a slight change in tactic cos that was a different type of goal we have seen from the Eagles so far. If you observe again we are becoming a bit deadly with set pieces, that's a massive improvement.

The coach just like to score first and lock up shop and throw away the key. Am sure if he concedes first he will respond differently. I observe he's trying to stick with a winning team rather than chopping up changes here and there.

charlesemeka85:
and he added more defensively to his game

that's why it's difficult for any Eagles coach to drop Simon, his defensive abilities is a big plus, I saw him break off threats from Angola today

COOL10:
If I remember correctly, Salah got injured in the first half of Egypt's second match. He scored a penalty in the first match against Mozambique. You cannot judge him negatively, because he didn't even have enough minutes to be as impactful as one would expect, still he tried.


Do you seriously think that if Salah was fit, he wouldn't have scored up to three goals by now? Come on!!! 🤷🏾‍♂️😄


Like I said earlier, I'm not doubting Osimhen's passion or work rate. I'm just disappointed at the extremely poor quality of his finishing.

Oh seriously? we can make excuses for Salah but not Oshimen abi

charlesemeka85:
Who else noticed that Moses Simon is no more selfish and don’t dribble aimlessly anymore?

I believe say finidi don sir am down talk to am

He was very good today and against Cameroon 🇨🇲

Dude has improved, almost scored a beautiful goal in the second half after skipping past two players. He has won two awards man of the match so far including today's match. These are the things we should be talking more about sef

charlesemeka85:
in my opinion super eagles is the best team tactics wise in this afcon

I believe Jpes made out time to research more on the ability of our players and found out the best tactics to bring out their best

If u follow Lookman in Atalanta u will notice that in a two man striking tactics he is very potent. The way jpes hv set up his team especially in attack is deceptive. From the beginning you will think lookman is operation as a winger but in the actual sense him and osimhen is deployed as a two man attacking force while Simon is more of crossing and delivering of passes in the final 3rd to the attacking duo

Iwobi plays as a deep lying player maker who is expected to keep the flow of the game as well as to play it simple while Onyeka is the destroyer who runs around to harass the opponent’s midfield as well as serve as a pressing machine

Zaidu’s major responsibility in this team isn’t moving forward but to defend his position. Him going forward is a plus and much isn’t expected from him via crosses while Aina is the one with more freedom to attack because he is more assured and confident on the ball than zaidu

Oil dey your head, many Africans gave this match to Angola because of their deadly attack, Mabululu, and co, apart from the initial scare, they were nowhere to be seen, the coach even vex replace all their best players. That says a lot about the performance of our boys. Of course, they will tire out na, when dem no be wood.

COOL10:
He has been a very good and passionate hard worker for the team, all tournament, and I appreciate that, but he's also been a very very poor finisher, for a striker of his calibre. The truth has to be said.

I just hope he scores in the Semi Final because at this rate, I doubt he's even going to make the lineup for the team of the tournament.

sometimes things don't go well for big players in a tournament, what will you say about Mo Salah after all the exploits this season for Liverpool? Before he got injured, what was his impact?

That's football for you. Meanwhile, if Nigeria wins Afcon no matter what Oshimen will be remembered as one of our stand-out players for us. His positioning to distract a defender for Lookman's goal was highly commended by the Supersports studio analysts.

Joebie:
We Dey say am for Napoli and heavens will not fall. Even Osimhen knows it’s all about the team.

that's why he will leave Napoli

Joebie:
I’m not implying that. But we’ve seen
Situations when the main striker is replaced and the sub scores. Doesn’t make the latter better. Damn utilize ur bench for a better outcome.

All are assumptions, it's difficult to remove your danger man except he says he cannot continue, ask any coach, na wetin dey cause fight between big players and coaches.

Look at the Angolan captain today, he was shocked to see the coach removing and replacing him

Marjoribanks:
The way this team play for 75 minutes was actually scary.

With a fit Boniface, Awoniyi and Ndidi. We will be unstoppable.

Angola only chance from open play came from a mistake from the midfield.

Haba give JP his due credit!

Iwobi and Onyeka are the backbone of this team. The control, the passes, the tackles and the pressing! Wow!

We are building a very scary team, we must not spoil it with impatient and over-expectation.

Lets go Super Eagles!! Lets go Naijaaa!!

God bless you o. Nobody gave this team a chance including me and they are in the semi finals. The coach and the boys have done well. This is a very strong Afcon, the days our boys play ajebutter football are over, even Bassey wan slap person papa for field today haba, what do we want again. Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt and co will wish they were in our position.

Joebie:
Zaidu when don dey fumble since. Na him dey force himself to start match.

Osimhen suppose don chop bench small though his name is written in most of our goals. Doesn’t mean Moffi, Iheanacho cannot do a thing. Maybe Osimhen needs a little reset.

are you sure the boys on the bench are better? nobody is sure o. Can Iheaancho and Moffi stand those tackles Oshinmen has been getting from defenders in this competition?

orriyomi33:
Who else saw that moment when Nwabali shouted at Iwobi for losing the ball that hit the woodwork.

Nwabali was like "Guy, wetin dey do you"

the same Iwobi caused the goal against E_Guinea, the only one we have conceded. I like his touches but he needs to be talked to

Joebie:
I don’t know what to think. We have been wasting chances from match 1. The bulk stop at the coach’s table because he has a bench. If we are still asking the question bench who for who, then we have a problem.

the coach can't borrow his legs to the boys to score na, see the wasted chance by Zaidu in the first half. It would have ended 2-0 in the first half. The same position Oshimen gave Lukman to score against Cameroon. can we blame the coach for that haba.

We are becoming too critical of the coach, we should criticize the players more for blowing chances, we should have sealed the game more in the early part of the second half when the Angolans were clueless. How good is our bench sef, are we so sure of those boys on the bench? This Afcon rugged o

forgiveness:
We indeed blew dem away but final balls in the box and being prolific in the box hindered us.

However, a win is a win. Nobody go remember your tiki taka. Na who carry cup dem go remember.

Make we dey win like this until the we carry cup. Opari.

na so Greece win Euro cup for 2004, dem just dey win 1-0 dey go. Portugal explain tire, no evidence

Make una cool down with all these complains abeg, this is a quarter final match and you can never roll over any team like that.

if it was 3-0 am sure these complaints would have reduced, haba wetin. una, think those Angola strikers no good? They will surely have their chances in the game but our response is what matters and that's what makes a good team.

This team is good. They are cruising

charlesemeka85:
I think the reason he brings him in is not about scoring but to hold up play and attract fouls


That is defending frm the front tactically

Exactly, that's why Iheanacho or Moffi dey chop bench, even oshimen's play has a defensive tactic too.

That's the coach's up, na you don talk say anybody wey wan see tiki-taka should off his TV, this coach no get time for that show

Joebie:
So na so Awoniyi for Dey chop bench.

Angola had the plan to weaken Osimhen early by inflicting him blows. The ref had a plan to keep the cards down. Angola probably deserved a red today.

Yes, that's why our boys should be given kudos, they played against 12 men today

daveP:
The fact is you guys overrated Mabululu and co. No be when them see space dem go show? Also forgetting that the scoreline is not reflecting how we ran down this defence. Osimhen should have a Hattrick in this game but see how all went.


I noticed the anger of Jpes when he was talking with Musa. Seems he was vexed with Osimhen or Onyeka or something. Cos after the sub he was talking to him. That Onyeka chance, if only he looked up to give return pass wey sweet.

Seeing Nwabali shout at Iwobi for that mistake then explain himself later and apologized is what i love to see. Iwobi is very lucky that this is not Enyeama. Apology for where?😂😂😂😂😂

very true, this game should have ended 3-0, we still have issues converting. For me this team has achieved, if we can solve our attacking issues by making lookman a false 9 may be we could see more goals

minfelix:
i like peseiro but then he should be flexible..his substitution is good but too late and to onesidedly repetitive..
we need an iheanacho instead of an Aribo, we need a moffi instead of an onuachu…he should stop allowing opponents grow into the game in the dying minutes, we can not always be lucky ooo..

with his defensive setup, he may not have confidence in Iheanancho and Moffi tracking back defensively