₦airaland Forum

safarigirl:
na you be the coach wey go drop am before World Cup abi?

If you like don't watch World Cup when he goes to Russia.

Hahahahaha

enomakos:
you are right

Thanks.

MetalJigsaw:
The thought if Mikel being our only tested and trusted AM makes me pity Rohr and his team when/ if the dude gets visited by an injury. We need another AM Rohr!!

Iwobi, Etebo and Iheanacho can also play that position.

enomakos:
femi opabunmi was never a flop,he hads challenges

Yeah his sight.

Kog45:
My man pls go and check archives.very well Dosu was never a third keeper at Julius Berger.He remain one of the best keeper to come out of Julius Berger.As at 1996 he was a super regular deputised by Victor Gbenebechie.

But I thought you said he was not in the local league then? I think his performance at Atlanta gained him that promotion.

Trudy12:
Eguavon had no business in that team, even when oparaku was replaced, the coach still drafted mutiu adepoju to the RB. eguavon only played the 3rd group game against Paraguay after we had qualified

Yes Eguavoen was a fire brigade call up due to eratic performance of Mobi. He, Eguavoen, was the immediate predecessor at RB to Mobi and so was recalled. We started the qualifiers with Eguavoen and ended it with Mobi.

You really have pristine memory of that selection. I can't even recall Mutiu was once drafted as RB when Mobi ran into problems.

The first problem that team had was not participating in the 1998 AFCON. The first competitive game they played that year I think was against Yugoslavia and that was less than 3 weeks to the WC. Many of those players were not thoroughly assessed.

We hope to see more of you here.

Wilfred Agbonavbare had serious weight issues.
The coaches were more comfortable with him as back up.

enomakos:
You are right about willy "the cat" opara ,he was a solid goalkeeper and what never given much chance with the super eagles, maybe because he plays his football in southafrica then

Wilfred deserve to be first choice at Tunisia 94 but Mr Clemens choose peter rufai instead

Abiodun "shagari" baruwa was the third choice at Atlanta 96

Football in SA was still at its rejuvenation stages then so also was their league. Not until Orlando Pirates won the CAF champions league in 1996 or so before people started taking them serious.

Willy Opara played U20 in 1987 but the progression to the senior team was made difficult for him firstly due to his poor outing in that U20 tourney.
Secondly he had better goalies like Peter Rufai, Alloy Agu, Willy Agbonivbare to contend with. Later Ike Shorunmu, Abiodun Baruwa and Emma Babayaro emerged and were also good goalies.
The third factor was his playing in the SA league which u and I know was just recovering from a long ban of SA participation in international tourneys due to apartheid.

goldfish80:
Our attack is overrated. Remove Ighalo and the much maligned Nwakaeme, the rest of our attackers and midfield combined cannot boast of 5 goals between them this season.
I hope the chicken don't come home to roast come June next year.

The beauty of this team is we do not rely on our strikers for goals.

Moses, Iwobi and Mikel do the damage. I am glad Rohr experimented a false 9 formation against Argentina and that worked perfectly.

chidi1:
I posted this elsewhere. But since I am looking for a response, I copied and pasted it here....

I may sound a little biased. However, I am an avid supporter of Imoh Ezekiel. In my earlier post, I voiced my concern when I taught he was going to be excluded from the Olympic team by Siasia, after a convincing display during a friendly with Brazil. Ofcourse, he undoubtedly became our most creative playmaker at the Olympics. I watched with dismay as he was overlooked during the world cup qualifiers. Hence, this promoted the creation of this topic.

Guys, I would love your honest opinion on this. What do you think of Victor Moses and Imoh Ezekiel combination on the wings during the world cup. You may rewatch his highlight during the Olympics on YouTube to refresh your memory. I know our attack is one of the best parts of our national team, but my plan is to make it more potent (as to be honest, our defence is very worrisome currently). I sincerely believe that if enough interest is voiced, it may draw the NFF to look more closely at that option. We may start out by trying him out in a friendly match (ideally paired with Moses).

Imoh Ezekiel is not having the best of form. I don't think Rohr has any plans for him.

Trudy12:
mobi oparaku eventually made it to france 98 and started the first game against spain

Yeah, Eguavoen was recalled but i think Bora gave Oparaku another chance.

Kog45:
Apart from Chile 87 which was U20 tourney,Willy Opara wasn't given chance in eagles even when he was at top form in South Africa league with Orlando Pirates.Prior to France 98 he deserved the spot ahead of Rufai after Ike injury.

Wilfred Agbonavbare was a solid keeper with Rayo Vallecano in Spanish LA liga, pls forget the Agbonibasket stuff.He deserved the number one spot than Rufai prior to Afcon and US 94.

Pls i thought Baruwa was the third keeper to Atlanta 96,i can't recall vivdly but I know Dosu was the first choice and Emma second choice.

With Peter Rufai, Alloy Agu, Shorunmu, and Agbonivbare in the system then Willy Okpara stood little chance. Besides he had weight issues.

Let me also add Baruwa and Emma Babayaro

Kog45:
Oga icon4s pls do not justify Ezenwa invitation, it was pure injustice for a second keeper in domestic league making national team and Dosu Joseph was never a bench warmer talkless of third keeper as at 93-96 in any club sides in Nigeria.

Ezenwa has been in the national team for a while. He was worked with a good number of coaches and was first choice at Ifeanyi Uba until of late.
He was the first choice goalie for the NPFL All stars that played in Spain not too long ago. Last season.

Should you question why Ezenwa, a second choice at Ifeanyi Ubah, is in the SE? Why not question why he is second choice to Uche Okafor at Ifeanyi Uba. Or who is current first choice?

As for Dosu he was a third choice goalie at Julius Berger (not even plateau united) prior to Atlanta.

Lazyerudite:
Mehn, Dosu was poor, really poor during the Olympics o. People need to watch the whole match and not highlights. Very poor positioning and ball handling. Lucky we had a good attack and luck was on our side

That Brazil game was Dosu's worst outing in that tournament.

What will you then say of Dida of Brazil

chrisooblog:
yes shorunmu's injury came at the worst possible time but going back to Rufai was the easiest and laziest option. Rufai had been out of the team for about 3 years plus and his career was winding down.

Rufai was out of the team but was still active with Depotivo La Coruna.

Ike Shorunmu was at his prime and so automatically became first choice while Abiodun Baruwa of 3SC was second choice.

Ike maned goal for most of the qualifiers but sustained injury weeks leading to the mundial.

Abiodun Baruwa was stepped up but the Yugoslav game exposed him. As I earlier highlighted, all the other available goalies were not up to the mark and we have a legend of the game that was still active at Deportivo. This was just about 2weeks to deadline of submission of final list. No time to start scouting or experimenting another goalie and Rufai was called back.

TheGoodJoe:
I doubt Dosu Joseph was a better choice than Emmanuel Babayaro. It was just another case of bias. It was more of our offensive exploits that saved us, not Goalkeeping heroics. Heck, Dosu chopped five goals in two matches in the semi final and final. However, Dida swallowed four against us.

You doubt?
Bias?

You will always have your doubts in some of these selections because you think selections are as straight as X=2. So 2+X=4.

junnyjake:
Yeah, true that. Even my mother back then knew everyone in the starting 11.

You need to see how silent the streets were whenever we playing, mirth/sadness afterwards.

We've been disappointed over and over again hence our decline in passion.

Ordinary Golden Eaglets will be playing and the nation will sit still.

You need to see the thunderous jubilations when Nigeria beat Brazil in 1996. Never seen anything like it since then. An Olympic game match o. Not even the World Cup

junnyjake:
So you would be more comfortable with a GK who is not only 2nd choice, but hardly play games for his club side. And wait for it, has a weakness obvious enough for oppositions to explore and punish us?

We are not in a haste to rush Enyeama back, we want to see him play and assess him, so why should Ezenwa gain his assessment with the SE.

Your first paragraph highlights why I said goalkeeper selection is not as straight as outfield players selection. You may bring that 1st choice Ifeanyi Uba keeper to the Super Eagles and he flops big time.

Dosu Joseph was a third choice keeper for Plateau United when he represented Nigeria at the 1996 Olympics.

BTW Rohr has not ruled out Enyeama's return.

chrisooblog:
yes thanks for the correction Willy okpara. How can he fail to impress when he wasn't given a chance to keep in goal for the senior national team. Apart from youth team level do you remember any time he was given a chance with the super eagles which he messed up?

By the way Rufai was in goal when the Netherlands thrashed us 5-1 in that pre-world cup qualifier

Yeah I recall Rufai was in goal but the whole team was poor that day. And I think he made a couple of saves that people were welcoming him back.

As for Willy, he was far down in the pecking order. Even a goalie like Emmanuel Babayaro was ahead of him. Willy Opara, Willy Agbonivbare and David Ngodigha were in the bad books of Nigerians due to their poor outings at the under aged competitions. They were not trusted. We took underaged competitions then very seriously cos those were the only means to participate in the WC. Angus Ikechi, Emeka Amadi and Lemmy Isa that did well at their respective age grade competitions just fizzled out.

The whole problem started when Ike was ruled out due to injury.

junnyjake:
Ya, He's pretty decent for Chippa.

My experience tells me that club performance can sometimes be a contrast from national team performance.

junnyjake:
Really funny game that was.

Seems funny today but we almost broke our TV screens in anger that day.
Nigerian fans of today are not near as passionate as the fans of those days.

junnyjake:
I've seen him in 2 LaLiga games and he was impressive. Made a couple of saves, no errors at all.


Every GK has a weakness, his might playing against a striker that presses a lot.

Ezenwa himself is not playing games, he's a 2nd choice keeper, we hardly access his consistency, the only difference is that we were forced to play him due to injuries.

Have you watched Akpeyi at Chippa United?

junnyjake:
Lol, when he tried dribble that striker and got dispossessed in the process. hahahaha!

The second error was after Mubi Oparaku did one useless bicycle kick at the edge of the 18yards box and some how the ball got to Baruwa who now passed the ball to an on Rushing Yugoslav player and that resulted in the 3rd goal. Mubi also lost his place to Eguavoen due to that school boy bicycle kick.
Bora said the World Cup is not for boys but for men after dropping Mubi for Eguavoen.

M7even:
Remember the golden generation of the Ivorian team. Compare them with that of the Egyptian golden generation. You will agree with me that the Ivorian side were always a title contender for the AFCON trophy. Pundits would have easily rated their arrays of stars to crush any African side. But there was a challenge for this Elephant side. It was obviously their GOALKEEPING. They were weak without any doubt. While the Egyptian team possessed core home based team, which was equally adept in every field. Not until there was a ripe maturity from the Ivorian goalkeeper, Barry if recall in the penalty shoot out before he was able to help the Ivorian side win the nations cup, at this point the golden generation of the Ivorian side had lost a core of its key players with the absence of drogba and others. But yet they were able to win the nations cup, with a more matured GK. Who saved and scored during PK. Shaky Barry really turning this around at that point made me value experience. I stick with Enyeama. Even as an understudy to the younger GK. Another thing is having a team is capable in every aspect and not leaving a loop hole to be exploited. We can say we have the team, but the GK is still much a worry that we need to resolve to have a Balanced side like the golden Egyptian team, whose GK continues to dominate affairs for the team. Even when he came back from retirement.

Thank you for pointing this out.

I love your example. It shows you are great follower of the round leather game in Africa.

We need more of your contributions here.

jihday:
ha Ejide ke? are we that desperate? so in our 20 team league we can't find a decent keeper? sounds like hiring a mercenary because after the world cup he may go off the radar again or just retire finally.

It is in the news. Hahaha

jihday:
I'm still surprised at the confidence people have at the rookie keeper after just 45min of football and he wasn't really tested. though the other alternatives have not really covered their selves in glory, but we shouldn't just conclude that Uzoho is definitely the best of the rest. I remember Abiodun Baruwa had lots of supporters prior to the 98 world cup, people already believed he'll be our number one, but it took just one game to expose his flaws and off he went, not sure he ever played for SE again. people clamouring for him should just calm down and let's see him in high profile games especially the game against Lewandoski and gang.

That is the trend. It is the untested player that is often concluded to be the best here.

chrisooblog:
I disagree sir rufai wasn't the only good option we had then. Godwin okpara was doing well for Orlando pirates but he wasn't given a chance to prove himself. I'm also sure there were other good talented home based keepers

William Okpara you mean.

William never impressed in the national colours.
He was not even in the national team radar at that time. You remember his outing at the 1987 WYC?

The other keeper was Wilfred Agbonivbare. This one too, we know his nick name to be Agbonibasket those days. That guy na basket. May his soul RIP

Ike Shoromu was out injured and it was time for Abiodun Baruwa to show the stuff he was made of after missing out on the 1996 Olympics party due to age discrepancy. But he made some calamitous errors especially against Yugoslavia. And we got whipped 3-0 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. We followed that game with a 5-1 thumping by the Netherlands.

The coaching crew led by Bora Milutinovic found no local league keeper capable for stepping into those gloves and rather preferred to recall Rufai.

Mujtahida:
Your analysis is deep but the thing is ezenwa doesn't give us much to hold on to.

That is why we need Enyeama and not Uzoho.

Rohr is hopeful Enyeama will rescind his decision so why should we write Enyeama off already?

BascoVanVeli:
I see u are trying to drag this ur "not there yet" philosophy into our keeping department

Hahaha.

Time will tell.

TheGoodJoe:
How the heck did we send a keeper based on his yesteryears performances and expect his experience will save us? That was ridiculous. Your still playing that card. Did I watch him in his better playing days? That was not the issue. Was he suitable and ready than the loads of young keepers we had? People played the herculean card of the World Cup and we got embarrassed.

We had to screen and select the best after injuries knocked out Baruwa and Ike. Are you telling me there were no other choices in all the leagues in Nigeria and overseas than a knocked up Peter Rufai. Based on experience.

I guess you know better than Bora Milutinovic then.

safarigirl:
ehn, that's why we are saying they should play him in more friendlies now. Against Argentina he showed that he was good in the air, not once did the fumble with any cross, there was no scramble for any loose balls, nothing of that sort.

So, there are glimpses that he is probably better with it and the fact that he has 8 clean sheets in 11 games also shows he is probably good with crosses because many must have come at him in those games he kept clean sheets.

Let Uzoho start against Poland in March, we will get to see more by then, but don't throw him away because he hasn't been playing for 10 years. De Gea and Courtois haven't been playing as many years as so many older goalies, but they are great at their jobs already

I am not throwing him away. I am not just convinced. That's all.

TheGoodJoe:
Ezenwa's weakness is a clear one. Maybe that is why he has not been a regular, even in his local club. It is big. It is stupid for an opposing coach not to exploit Ezenwa's weakness. Uzoho on the other hand is good in the air. That makes him a better candidate, unless you have seen a weakness.

I am not even asking for Uzoho to get a free pass. I want Alampasu and Ajiboye also unfairly screened and the very best among our quality keepers to go. Not some bias selection based on experience.

How many of Uzoho's games have you watched to conclude he is better in the air? Is it because of his height? Peter Rufai even despite his height struggled with Aerial duels.