₦airaland Forum

joseph1013:
You're missing the point. As long as your country cannot get it right in the keeping of records, you will have to make do with other methods of ascertaining the ages of your footballers like MRI scans.

There is something called precedence. If people from a particular country are known for being drug peddlers, it only makes sense to put extra measures before allowing citizens from that place to enter your country. It's just common sense. Nothing personal. Your anger is misdirected.

Speaking on the issue of age falsification and lack of public records. I wll disagree with the summation we don't have public records. We actually do.
Anyone born in a government accredited hospital or health centre is issued with birth certificate. This record is well cataloged in the hospital database that even if you come back after 50years the record can be called up.
I personally had an issue last year which I went through the process and within 30 mins my file was pulled out.

Also any baptised Catholic have his records kept forever. I have seen people who got their baptismal cards reissued when they was about to Wed and their records called up by the catechist within minutes. Some of the records predate the civil war.


The case with age forgery is aided by the lax attitude to verifying data.
If the NFF wanted to verify age and cut cost they should simply have a unit in the state FA's who will verify documents from players coming from their state or better still, for those without a birth certificate, they should be mandated to come to camp with their first school leaving certificate. Its very simple.

jotey:
Rohr On Alert As German-
Nigerian Left Back Target
Torunarigha Shines For Hertha
Berlin

The search by the coach of the Super Eagles
of Nigeria Gernot Rohr for options at left full
back might be coming to an end following the
giant leap made by German-Nigerian left back
Jordan Torunarigha.
Presently Rohr has been unsuccessful in his
search for a credible back up for first choice
and second vice captain Elderson Echiejile, as
Kingsley Madu has failed to provide the kind of
challenge the manager wants for the Sporting
Gijon man.
Torunarigha has been on the manager’s watch
list for a while, and last night the German-
Nigerian full back made his first team bow by
playing for 27 minutes in their 1-3 loss to
Hoffeinheim in the Bundesliga.
He was introduced for Vedad Ibisevic and
despite coming on with his team under
pressure, the 19 year old who is proud of his
Nigerian heritage, as he has the country’s flag
on the header of his instagram account gave a
good impression of himself.
Although he has represented England at youth
level he qualifies to play for Nigeria through his
dad Ojokojo Torunarigha who played for Nigeria
League side Shooting Stars years ago.http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/04/01/rohr-on-alert-as-german-nigerian-left-back-target-torunarigha-shines-for-hertha-berlin/

He looks a good physical specimen. I will be on look out for him. Growing up in a family with strong football background usually is a huge advantage to youngsters.

komekn:
The worst culprits for that business model are the Portuguese. They have hostels for thier African boys tied too stupendous buy out clauses.

Prior to the outlawed TPI you would also have a huge TPI against your name as well.

Then to add insult to Injury and petrol to fire you will barely get €1000 if you are lucky. These are teams in the Portuguese first division it's almost a kind of slavery.

I had some association with Sporting Braga in 2015 before thier Sporting Director Augustitno left. I met another Nigerian in thier camp maybe Chidi was his name. My eye open eeee no fit close, they thought because my player was black that we had just come off the boat and were desperate for a few thousand euro, what an insult.


I also know an English league club that is setting up an arrangement in Guinea Bissau with the same model in mind. As you probably know getting Portuguese citizenship coming from Guinea Bissau is well not complicated too put it lightly.

The bolded had me on the floor

I think Cape Verde is another country with such passport heaven to Portugal

komekn:
The worst culprits for that business model are the Portuguese. They have hostels for thier African boys tied too stupendous buy out clauses.

Prior to the outlawed TPI you would also have a huge TPI against your name as well.

Then to add insult to Injury and petrol to fire you will barely get €1000 if you are lucky. These are trams in the Portuguese first division it's almost a kind of slavery.

I had some association with Sporting Braga in 2015 before thier Sporting Director Augustitno left. I met another Nigerian in thier camp maybe Chidi was his name. My eye open eeee no fit close.

You're referring to Chidi Osuchukwu he's a left footed play maker.
I know the living conditions these players are subjected to is nothing to write home about.
I know about a player who doesn't earn up to £500 a month in Portugal. Most times these players forget about football and device other means of survival.

Professional player cannot be subjected to stay in a hostel and pocket €500 per month. Most of these North African teams pay these players good salaries. Take for instance the case of Ogochukwu Obiakor when he signed for Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia from Gabros, he was given a flat, a car and was paid good allowance.

This is exactly the reason why professional players in Nigeria prefer to move to North Africa than Europe. Most people may not realise this but Julius Aghahowa was living a nightmare in Ukraine at the time.

tbaba1234:
Again, you are missing the point.

I want a quality league and right now, it simply is not there. That is why talented players fail to progress in quality.

Nigerians abroad are not more talented than Nigerians at home. They just have a better foundation and the opportunities to get better. The Nigerian League does not offer that opportunity. At least, not at the moment.

For every Etebo, there are tens of others who wasted away because the league did not give them the tools to reach that next level. We have seen so many one hit wonders.

Unless, we realize that the quality of the league is not up to scratch, then we will put goal records in proper perspectives.

Agreed the NPFL have its problems but it doesn't mean it cannot produce good players.
Did you say for every Etebo there are about 9 others who couldn't hit the heights?

I can as well say, for every Ross Barkely there's a Chucks Aneke. For every Delle Alli, there's a Dickson Etuhu. For every Alaba, there's an Owomoyela. For every Ebuehi, there's a Razak Omozusi.
Football is subjective to personal opinion and the lens you wish to view things from.

As much as not all promising players from home hit the heights, it must be said not all foreign born players hit the height as well. That is why it is a game. Nothing is predictable.

tbaba1234:
Why are top clubs outside Nigeria looking outside the NPFL for talents? We see academy players signing for big teams but NPFL players sign for clubs in Finland and the likes?

What is responsible for the recent poor performances in Africa even with a better organized league? Why are we still having the mandatory home win phenomenon? Are top young talents trying to go abroad before even playing in the league?

Until we lift our league to a high standard where top clubs can sign talents from the league and be sure of their quality, we will still have to depend on foreign based talents for our national team. That is just a fact.

Nigerian born anywhere are Nigerians and should be given opportunities as long as the ability is there.

I've tried answering this question but you keep repeating them over and over again.
For goodness sake, where do you think NPFL clubs sign players from? Do they import players from Mars? Is it not the same academies and youth clubs which supplies players to the various national cadet teams and European clubs that serves as conveyor belt to the NPFL clubs?

For starters, Abia warriors had an open screening before the start of this season and about 400 players from various academies spread out through the length and breath of the country showed up.
3sc did the same, players in their hundreds showed up.
Rangers couldn't even contain the crowd that showed up when they threw their camp open for screening into their feeder team.

European clubs are run by capitalists. They want to invest $1 and earn $1M. The reason these guys go for academy players from Africa, especially Nigeria is because they get away with paying these desperate youngsters stipends not salaries. These youngsters are payed between $500-800 a month. They cannot offer professional players such contracts. I know some NPFL player who came back and continued playing in the local league because they actually earn more playing at home.
If it were up to you, we shouldn't even think of having a league. We should wait for Nigerians in diaspora to produce babies who will come play for the super eagles because there is a dearth of talents who could be nurtured at home. That's a very shallow blue print to follow.
Even the much celebrated Etebor, was absued on this thread when Siasia played him ahead of some established stars against Egypt. Anyone in doubt should check the first 5 pages of this thread and see for themselves. Today the same rejected Etebo has become one of our better players in the Super Eagles. If Siasia didn't give him that chance, Rohr would roll into town and watch for Etebor to give him a good first impression. Hmm

Did Warri Wolves win the champions league? How mange Etebo could emerge from such a team that went on relegation?

TheSuperNerd:
True.... in the longest of runs, the future of our football lies at home.

I am even afraid England may someday go as far as making these youngsters (when they are still preteens or early teens) sign binding documents with the "you must turn out for England" line inserted thus blocking us from coming for them or may just decide not to take in much Blacks into their academies anymore.

But shaa oooo.... there will always be exceptions to whatever rules or policies they may cook up as these English clubs also wanna own the next big talents in football..... but we can't just rely on the policy of recruiting foreign-borns/breds of Nigerian blood majorly.



We need to also make our home grown talents discovery systems stronger and more structured.


But for now, let us capture these ones while we can.... besides... football is business and if England decides not to recruit blacks of Nigerian heritage or African heritage anymore, it will haunt them because they will surely miss out on several of the next hottest names in football for the coming generations.

Anything is possible with the English. If they can sign to opt out of the European Union, they can sign anything or introduce any policy to protect themselves. Blacklisting black or foreign born players from getting into their academies could be in the offing.
Imagine the senerio in Qatar 2022, when we win the world cup with about 7- 8 English born players and England crashed out in the second round. The outrage and people loosing their jobs will force a look into the policy of accommodating foreign born players into their academies.
They might even petition FifA to force countries who benefit from their academy to pay ridiculous developmental fees for training their players. A policy I actually subscribe to.

TheSuperNerd:
Father Reveals – Wolves Coach Punishing Iorfa Jnr For Meeting With Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr


https://owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/image-101.jpg



The father of Wolverhampton Anglo-Nigerian defender Dominic Iorfa insists his son is being punished for opting to represent Nigeria instead of England where he was born.


Iorfa jnr has played for England at various youth levels, and even trained with the senior team when they were short in defence ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifiers tie against San Marino.


Rated as one of the best defensive prospects in the English youth ranks, his father Dominic Iorfa senior who played for Nigeria at senior level says his son's decision to pledge his international future to Nigeria cost him his place at Wolverhampton Wanderers.


”I have decided that my son will play for Nigeria and he met with Gernot Rohr when the coach came to see Carl Ikeme, and coach of Wolves Paul Lambert is unhappy over the fact that he has opted for Nigeria ahead of England.


”That is the reason why he is no longer a regular at the club, but that won’t make him neither will I change my mind about my son representing Nigeria at senior level, no going back once he turns 23″, Iorfa told Owngoalnigeria.com.


* Osas Mahawi



Source: http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/03/30/father-reveals-wolves-coach-punishing-iorfa-jnr-for-meeting-with-eagles-coach-gernot-rohr/

This is expected. Am not surprised. I foresee England putting up a tight policy on player recruitment into English academies targeted to disadvantage African born youngsters.
Laurent Blanc made a racial biased comment about African/Arabian born players recruitment into French soccer academies. He made the comment on the back of African born players (especially Algerians) opting to represent their country of origin.

That is why this policy of recruiting foreign born players may not be sustainable on the long run, because we are subject to other countries policies affecting us directly. We are not in control of our own fate. The future of our football is at home. Period

tbaba1234:
The decision to continue monitoring is often based on a good first impression not the decision to sign. Odey has drawn attention to himself by his goals.

Rohr's visit is part of monitoring him. He will also have CHAN to continuing impressing. His chance will come if he keeps it up.

Rohr shouldn't be looking at first impressions anymore. This guy is the most inform Nigerian striker this calendar year and you're talking about first impressions? First impressions come into play if you're scouting an amateur player or an unknown element. Stephen Odeh is neither an amateur nor unknown. He's at the level where he deserves to be invited an the coach take a look at him close up,that is why a lot of us were clamouring for his inclusion to the London party.
If you say we should be looking at CHAN, the question is why dont you invite him to boost his confidence ahead of CHAN? Inviting him over for these friendlies is another way of preparing for CHAN.

tbaba1234:
Rohr mentioned that he had received reports from the indigenous coaches who have been tasked to monitor the local scene. He is coming with the specific agenda to look at players shortlisted by the local coaches.

Sometimes, in the professional game, you have only one shot to impress. If an Arsenal scout for instance comes to watch a game in Nigeria and a player fails to impress, he will not be considered even if he just had a bad game. If a club is monitoring a player for two years,

1. He caught the eye with a first good impression.
2. A decision was then made to keep close tabs on him.

However, this is not the case here. Rohr already has reviews of the player and wants to have a closer look.

You don't sign a player because he just had a good first impression. He could be having a field day against a weak opposition. Why players should be watched over a long period is to evaluate the player comprehensively,his character, mentality and reaction to certain situations.
You may want to watch a player to see his reaction when his team goes a goal down or even 2 goals down. Does he drop his head? Does he stand on his feet and fight on? Other variables like punctuality to training, social life and family orientation are looked at and evaluated.

We are way past first impressions with Odeh.

tbaba1234:
Agents offer their players to clubs all the time. Hopefully, Genk gives him a trial and he takes it..

Rohr will be in Lagos soon so hopefully he takes his chance to impress... CHAN is another important platform for him to impress.. His chance will come.

This comment doesn't sit well with me. You don't scout a football player and judge such a player with just one game. Saying Rohr will be around to watch an Mfm game and run the rule on Odeh is not standard practice to scout a player anywhere in the world. Will Rohr scout a player and judge him with one game if he was in charge of the German national team?
To truly scout in the real sense of scouting, a player should be watched at least within a time frame of 3 months with over 15 games of data to compute. Some clubs go as far as scouting a player over a 2 year period but with national team football 3-4 months is enough.
It takes hardwork, dedication and perseverance to scout a player. Most times the players scouted is not even aware he's been assessed.

If Rohr is coming just to watch a game which features Odeh to run the rule as you call it, is nothing but cosmetics.

I understand Odeh is being offered to Genk. 13 goals in 12 games in a tough terrain like ours is not a joke. By my calculation, he's the most inform Nigerian player alive this calendar year.
I stand to be corrected.

042 is the code

The answer is 8. Following the progression of the sum added to the answers starting from 10, 12,14. Therefore, 3=8.

tbaba1234:
18 year old Buba Mustapha (Left) from FC hearts academy on trial with Porto.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8AYJiRWsAEKQpr.jpg

I hope he's convicted.

Icon4s:
Wow!

I love this thread!

From this list I would sieve out the following players:
1. Ibrahim Alhassan aka Muazam
2. Ifeanyi Ifeanyi
3. and Etor Daniel

We have seem them and know what they are capable of. Good players but not much expected from them.

4. Obinna Nwobodo we have seen and also believe would be a national asset if he keeps working hard.

The younger ones are where my interest would fall on now. Who ever the next coach of the Flying Eagles would be, these boys deserve a look-in:

5. Nazifi Yahaya: In my opinion next big thing since after Victor Osimhen. He was the leading striker in the ill-fated 2017 U17 team. He jst came back from South Africa where he scored 4 goals in an invitational tourney.

6. Stephen Odey: Hot MFM striker. Already in the CHAN Eagles team. Though not eligible for the next U20 but would still be eligible for the next U23. He should give players like Victor Osimhen, and Orji Okonkwo a run for their money.

7. Elijah Akanni: Never seen him play but my eyes would be on him hence-forth.

8. Otun Fawaz: Seen him a couple of times with the 3SC team. Quite good and comfortable on the ball. Blessed with great skills. I would recommend this guy to the 2019 Flying Eagles coach.

9. Adebayo Waheed: MFM is known for parading youngsters in their squad and this is one of them. Our U20 handlers should be hanging around the MFM team.

10. Alhassan Ibrahim: A younger Alhassan Ibrahim. Never seen him play. But for him to have made the Kano Pillars squad even as a 17yrs old it means he is highly talented. Another player for the next U20 handlers to have a look-in.

CC: Joseph1013, TheGoodJoe, Tbaba1234, safarigirl, TheSuperNerd, Goldfish80, Micahel2, Terzurum5, Chriskel, joebie, Bascovanveli, Humility017, komekn, kog45, forgiveness, jotey.

I will add Bobby Clement(Rangers) , Gabriel Wassa(Rivers Utd) , Charles Mbaoma(Remo stars), Fortune Omoniwari (Rangers) (chidiebere Okoli (Rangers) , Sunday Faleye(3sc), Godwin Obaje(Ifeanyi Uba)

SharpJoe:
Where did I say Yobo grew straight out of the box a defender? Stop lying with my name. I am warning you.

Drag your ears. I said, I did not know Yobo until Nigeria 99 unlike you who knew him before he left Nigerian Shores.

You didn't know him but you spoke with so much authority.
Oh yes, I heard about Joseph Yobo before he left the shores. His elder brother played for Rangers with the like of Njo Njo Allen the Camerounian guy.
Joseph could have signed for Rangers if things worked out differently.
You owe me a bottle of amarula.

SharpJoe:
Where you missing me? I was replying someone who quoted me and posted a comment. Should I gist with you? Alas Yobo number nine in Nigeria 99.

You owe me a bottle of wine for sharing some of these gists not captured by any link on the cyberspace.

SharpJoe:
Maybe you are right but he is registered as a defender by Standard Liège. I doubt they did not know their defenders. Yobo was not much of a regular at Nigeria 99 for me to hold tight on his role.

The FIFA website writing striker is writing Babash and the Wiki listed him as a defender which matches Standard Liege's opinion.

However, I can not debate the issue so much because I did not know much of Yobo. Hence you seem to know much of him, I will accept your point.

Drop this argument already. Be grateful you learnt something new today.

SharpJoe:
Stop dribbling like Maradona on his best days. I said I did not know Yobo until Nigeria 99. I am not arguing whether he played that role. You can not always be correct. It is an honest mistake thinking Yobo was a striker in Nigeria '99. Just as people mistook Hashimu Garba to be Yaro Yaro.

You did not know that Yobo was already a defender in a professional club before Nigeria '99. You can be excused. Do not drown yourself trying to be right in every comment you make.

You speak as if Yobo was a top Pro in 1998, when he was just about 18.
Yobo developed grew into being a defender. He was never a straight out of the box defender like you wrongly assumed.

SharpJoe:
Now that is a joke. I told you repeatedly that I did not know Yobo until Nigeria 99 unlike you that wants to pretend you saw Yobo play nine before he left the Shores of Naija.

Another fantastic highlight of Nigeria '99 was the Cameroon vs Mali game where there was an impressive comeback for the Malians. With Mahammadu Dissa being the Hero of the night but Keita got repeated praise for his midfield mastery.

I can even tell you that England had only one shot on target in the whole tournament from a header from Luke Chadwick who later joined Manchester United.

Luke Chadwick? That's the ugliest footballer I ever saw. The quartet of Luke Chadwick, Taribo West, Bance and Ian Dowie have something in common.

SharpJoe:
In short, you do not know. You did not know he was already a defender in a professional club in Europe. It is long ago and it is understandable.

He was not a recognised defender for the Flying Eagles. I wasn't watching Standard liege B team in 1998 like you did.

SharpJoe:
Is that Nigeria 99? Keep clutching.

While Yobo’s undoubted talent is admired due to his consistency for both club and country despite playing as a right back and an attacking midfielder in his international career, his elegance made it look like he found even the toughest of tasks easy.
http://m.goal.com/s/en-ng/news/4082/comment/2013/05/24/3996918/whos-the-greatest-yobo-v-keshi

That's an independent article where the writer wrote about Yobo. There are no straws here. Be grateful you learnt something new today.
In another fora you will sound in the know when you say Yobo didn't start out as a defender.

SharpJoe:
What of your striker? Why did they forget that you tried tooth and nail to prove Yobo was one of the strikers in Nigeria 99?

He played as an attacking midfielder, I could be excused to mistake him for a striker or a second striker. Its been 18 years and I could still remember he didn't start as a defender unlike you.

SharpJoe:
But not in Nigeria 99. Yes, I come here to learn everyday.

For all that they share in common there is of course one major difference. While Yobo’s undoubted talent is admired due to his consistency for both club and

country despite playing as a right back and an attacking midfielder in his international career

, his elegance made it look like he found even the toughest of tasks easy.

http://m.goal.com/s/en-ng/news/4082/comment/2013/05/24/3996918/whos-the-greatest-yobo-v-keshi

Like I said, we learn everyday.

SharpJoe:
The truth is that you did not know Yobo was a Standard Liège defender. Now you know. Finito like Finidi.

The truth is that you didn't know Yobo didn't start as a defender. Now you know. We learn everyday.

SharpJoe:
Me said Yobo started as a striker. I never did. I did not even know that. I knew Yobo as a defender in Nigeria 99. Thought he played right back. Did not know Yobo until Nigeria 99.

I used to have the catalogue list of all the players of Nigeria 99. The local ones sold on the roads then.

Yobo did not start his career as a defender. He was converted and further developed to the defender we all knew.hia elder brother was an out and out defender. He played for Rangers at a point. The last I heard about him, he was in Austria or Switzerland I think.

Our friendly with Burkina faso cancelled according to the BBC.

Icon4s:
Yobo did nt play with the senior standard liege team until 2000.

I wanted to point this out. Because in 99 he was just 19. In 98 when he was registered by Standard Liege he should be 18.

SharpJoe:
As I said before, a picture of a game can not give an accurate description of what is going on on the pitch. The link I showed you is the 1997/1998 Standard Liège team list. Yobo was a Standard Liège defender. We would not call a Standard Liège defender to play attack.

That is like taking a screenshot of a midfield and if you do not see Mikel there, you will say he did not play as a midfielder.

I repeat, we would not bring a Standard Liège defender to play attack for us.

We cannot call a standard liege player to play in the attack but we can call Etebor to play as a DM? We can call Chelsea's Dm to play AMf, we can call Chelsea's wing back to play as an out and out winger. Football is dynamic.
Funny enough you stated earlier that Yobo started as a striker at the start of his career.
What makes you think the local coaches still didn't see him as a player who could offer something in an uncoordinated attack we presented in that tourney?

Why didn't the screen shot I posted support your claim Disu stocked up our defence with an extra defender to protect the lead?
Why didn't the picture show we had 5 players at the back?
Is Yobo transparent that he could not be seen in the defence but he was in the defence? Is he a ghost?

SharpJoe:
You first claimed Yobo played as a striker. Now you are trying to find a way to claim that he played in midfield. The truth is that you did not know Yobo was a defender then.

Now you know.

At Standard Liege he was a defender. I believe you watched a lot of Standard liege games to have seen him.
For the Flying Eagles, which I witnessed some of their games live at the stadium. At no point did Yobo play in defence.
Just like a Warri wolves fan would have been surprised seeing Etebor play as a DM against Algeria. Players play different roles for club and country in some cases.

Mickael2:
I thought they said that the Costa Rican's scored in the 82nd minute? If that's so, then by that 92nd minute every single outfield player will be pushing forward to get the winning goal

It was a typo. The snap was taken on the 82' just seconds before Costa Rica were awarded a penalty.