₦airaland Forum

Who tops the group if the game between England vs Belgium ends in a draw?
GD same and goals scored same, would it go down to fair play?

It's a pity we will be seeing more of scorelines like this with the new expansion.

Mujtahida:
Never said they were infallible. Said that they are less prone to being sentimental.

It was a close shave last night for them. Although, I think that last minute goal was a destiny changing goal.
In most cases, when a team suffers and get that goal which snatches victory from the jaws of defeat, such a team usually go far.
I call it destiny changing goal.

elyte89:
A sane striker in such a position won't pass


Besides, those clamouring for him to pass to iheanacho,want d latter name to be registered with a goal in dis competition,maybe to spite ighalo ,

Let him wait for his turn,he will score too

You're one hell of a smart guy. Too smart.
I have a feeling you graduated top of your class.
Wisdom dey worry you

Rossikki:
When and where did FIFA ban drums? Do you have a link, or they sent you here to lie?

It is not by shouting. You can see for yourself the Samba drums were banned even at the maracana at the 2014 world cup

https://uk.reuters.com/article/soccer-world-brazil-samba-idUKL4N0JK3P820131205

Even English fans weren't allowed to bring their drums to the stadium

Fans rejoice as Fifa ban England band from World Cup 2014 stadiums in Brazil ...

https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/354322/Fans-rejoice-as-Fifa-ban-England-band-from-World-Cup-2014-stadiums-in-Brazil/amp

Your supporters club should device other ways to cheer their team because in no distant future, even CAF will ban those drums, then you will be left to play your band in your village.

The supporters club should evolve and think of better ways to cheer the team since FIFA have placed a ban on drums over the past 8yrs or so.
A synchronized form of cheering the team like the Vikings clap should be explored.

tbaba1234:
They are low on confidence, it seems

They are lucky to still be in the tie. That Rudiger shove was a clear pen. Nothing difference with the Ebuehi incident, difference is that the Sweed was through on goal.

opes:
sir, is FIFA considering head to head or goal difference? just want to know if a draw againt Argentina will be enough irrespective of what happen between iceland and croatia. tnx

In the world cup, who finishes above who will be decided by goal difference, not their head-to-head record.

If that is not conclusive then the greatest number of goals scored will decide.

Germany are ponderous.
Timo Werner has a lot to do to prove himself at this level, looks bang average. How they miss a Lewandowski type, even a Giroud to knit together their fiddly wingers like Drax/Reus/Brandt.

Mujtahida, do you still think the Germans are infallible?

Wow! Germans are going home! Hurray!

do4luv14:
Hmm even den dem no dey try, dey shud rep Africa instead of trying so hard to be arab

They need to do something different. Initially I thought it was an Arabian DNA thing, but some of the best players the world have seen, are of north African origin. Why they haven't been able to challenge the world is quite a mystery.

do4luv14:
3 of Africa five rp are all out, and are all north who boost of the best league
Hmmmmmm

The only North African team who would have done very well at the world stage was the Abu Terika Egyptian golden generation.
They played up to the finals of the confederations cup and frankly would have done well if they had managed to qualify for the 2006 world cup.

Wow! That turned out to be a photo finish. Lovely hit by KY Son, What a player! Shame he could leave football in the coming year for a mandatory 21 months of national service to Korea.

KY Son is the perfect example of a striker who is mobile,quick and motivated. The guy have been using his mobility to actually cause problems.
Hopefully some of our analysts here are watching this one closely.

somehow:
The handball was not his doing, very unintentional. His eyes were away.

For the PK, inexperience showed and the wrong foot too. I think he's better off as RWB while moses mount the LWB.
Seems Idowu is afraid of going forward.

Lots of penalties have been flying around in this world cup. I'm guessing FIFA's major sponsors pushed FIFA to make rules which will encourage more goals.
Another day, it could have been 2 pens against Ebuehi.

tbaba1234:
Should be an entertaining game.. Korea also play free flowing football.

You're right. Korea have been surprisingly good in this game.

Closely monitoring this Mexico Korea game. Hoping to be spoilt once more with the free flowing football of Mexico.

It's been raining goals in this game. Pure heaven for neutrals.

Truidstar:
Oga goldfish na ighalo now? Last year it was Akpeyi you were defending vehemently until he was exposed as a jittery bag of nerves. Ighalo is not it. I have been saying this since last year. He holds up play, yes, but for who? Himself? He should sit on the bench and watch others perform. He has not scored for us since Cameroon, na striker be that?

For me, he was only poor against Zambia, a game he missed 2 sitters. In subsequent games, I can't fault him for his endeavor or missed chances because he didn't have any.
As a matter of fact, after Zambia, the next game he played was Poland (which the team played poverty football) then Serbia where the team looked better when he came on. Then came England where he created the chance which Iwobi profited from after that, Czech and Croatia.
Now, if you look at these aforementioned games, Ngr created nothing, which was reflective on stats which read mostly zero shots on target.
Infact until the 2nd half of the Iceland game, Ngr haven't created any worthy chance of note in football this year. I stand to be corrected.
You can't berate a striker for not creating chances for himself.
This is why I call this witch hunt against Ighalo a mass hysteria effect, which have taken a life of its own.

MetalJigsaw:
And in actual sense, three at the back is more balanced because the back three are strictly for defensive duties. They are basically CBs.

Exactly. The formation suits this present team better than a 442 or any of it's variant (4141,433 etc)because we simply don't have the play makers and natural, touch line wingers for those formations.
Also, Mike looked at home playing in his favorite position. It was like a home coming. Watching him strut his stuff at AM the other day, was like watching an octopus on skate board .
A sight of demented beauty.

By the way, the chance people talk about which Ighalo "wasted" wasn't exactly Ighalo's fault but Iwobi's.

First of all, the pass broke the Iceland defence line and a defender with Ighalo were in hot pursuit. Watching from the screen it appeared Ighalo should have attempted a back heel, however, in such situation a back heel is too high a risk because if it doesn't come off, the chance will be lost forever. I mean an experienced defender could easily read the back heel and nullify the attempt, making the striker look silly.
Attempting a backheel in such a situation is what you do when playing with your friends behind the street when nothing is at stake.

In my opinion and speaking from the perspective of someone who played as a striker, Ighalo did the right thing by holding the ball up and creating the chance for an arriving teammate who in this case Iwobi.

Iwobi should have passed the ball to Musa who was free on the left but instead elected to shoot. If the shot came off, would have been a great goal, but it didn't and the chance went begging.

Kog45:
I saw Ighalo rating and even watched the match again and it was like some watched different match on this thread.

It's a mass hysteria effect. The Ighalo bashing is agenda driven. You have to be an independent thinker to figure this out.

Certitude:
If you had said Moses or Mikel or even shehu, I accept. But Ighalo? That guy is past it.

How? In 6 minutes of play, he created 2 chances. Statistically, how many did Kelechi create for all the much celebrated running and movement? You guessed it zero! (Although corner kicks and free kicks will be picked up by the computer as chance created of which I'm not talking about this, but chance created from open play).
Stop aiding this mass hysterical effect. If Ighalo scored to put Nigeria through against Argentina, everybody will celebrate. So chill

fabyom:
I don't know what Ighalo did to you guys go and watch the match again. You guys are so biased. He fought for that ball got it wanted to pass to Musa but a defender arrived, he then passed to Iwobi who made a mess of that chance. You guys are not blaming Iwobi but busy blaming the creator of the chance. Astonishing!!

The Ighalo bashing is not borne out of reality. Just a herd mentality. It's a classic case of mass hysteria effect. It has become very monotonous and frankly too boring.

eterisan:
Vrsaljko and Rebic will not play against Iceland

In news that's unlikely to please the
Argentina squad or their supporters, Croatia coach, Zlatko Dalic, has announced that now qualification for the World Cup Round of 16 has been secured, he will make significant changes to the starting lineup to face Iceland.
Croatia lead Group D with two wins in two matches after beating Nigeria (2-0) and Argentina (3-0).
"There will be changes in the eleven," Dalic confirmed.
Forgiveness "Those who have yellow cards (Rakitic, Rebic, Mandzukic and Vrsaljko) will not play.
"I would like to be the first in the group, but we have to take care of ourselves."
Brozovic is also suspended for the final group game.

Source:http://www.marca.com/en/world-cup/2018/06/22/5b2d57a346163fa63b8b45af.html


See Croatia, what is the meaning of this now. Let me call FIFA

The Croatian coach Dalic is one smart cookie. I over heard the commentator before Cro vs Arg say that the Croats played Nigeria in the 2nd half like they were conserving energy for the Argentina game.
After 90mins against Arg, it turned out he was spot on.
I see him taking over a decent club in the near future just like Niko Kovac did after managing Croatia at the last world cup. He's Bayern Munich's manager now.

Mujtahida:
Those of them who don't relate with football will collect the joy that way. Somehow everybody gets to share in the joy

What will then happen if Nigeria win the world cup? That is apart from the man at the top declaring a 1month public holiday.

eterisan:
and Mikel belike.... Baba are you sure.... Common let's have fun tonight... We just won.

Mike likes them caucasians. Don't he?

Mujtahida:
Yeah I am. This is the deep reason why people cursed super eagles after the Croatian defeat - the SE denied them this maddening opportunity for joy. Many women go take in tonight. Shit is about to go down

They better not. Nigeria don full.

charlesemeka85:
oga mistakes are bound to happen. the best and world class defenders do commit worst blunders than that of ebuehi. as it stands now he is the most assured player for that position. also i believe joel obi will do well in that position too if tested

I know mistakes are bound to happen that is why I suggested he cut it off. This VAR thing no dey show mercy at all. Gone are the days you can get away with carelessness.

Mujtahida:
Wrong. Very wrong. They are professionals. Google it.

I didnt bother to check before posting earlier, but I heard their coach's day job is dentistry and they have about 4 medical doctors in their team.

eterisan:
Rohr is very brave... Let's give it to him... Looking at the team from the qualifiers... No Echiejile no onazi no shehu no iwobi no Simon.... Ezenwa..... He's not afraid to change... Just that he takes too long to.... Typical old man..... After mourihno and okocha criticized him for playing Mikel too far forward... He had to change.....

The Mourinho criticism got to him. I saw his measured reply to Mourinho and thought to myself that he will re assess Mike's position.
I also think, he reads alot and follows trends to feel the pulse of fans and some journalists. I say this because not so long after some of us here suggested the 352 formation, he tried it out in the Argentina friendly.
Not even when some told us that playing 3 at the back was like standing a table on 3 legs. Lol