what was so special about this goal? Start watching from 1:23... His famous bad first touch nearly let him down again but he quickly rallied and got the ball before it went into touch. I cant see what was so extraordinary about a professional football player scoring this.
First of all, free your mind of bias and watch it again.
goldfish80: Lol..he only shows those skills in friendlies?Till he starts showing those skills in competitive games, I wont take you serious.
What was so special about the Zambian goal again? Any average joe will go past an unrushing keeper. Every man and his dog knows that kelechi is deficient in the skills department these days. His stats for 3 seasons in professional football stands at 0.3 on the average. chew on it
Bros you think that Zambia goal was easy?
A Brown Ideye would have hit the ball straight to the goalie. Take that to the bank.
Joebie: Nigeria: Finidi, Ogunbote, Maikaba, Others Listed for National Team Jobs
Duro Ikhazuagbe
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has invited former Super Eagles winger Finidi George; Enyimba FC of Aba Manager, Gbenga Ogunbote; Akwa United Head Coach, Abdul Maikaba and 54 other Nigerian coaches for interviews into various vacant national team posts.
Kennedy Boboye who is leading Plateau United to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) title is also on the list of invited coaches along with Fidelis Ilechukwu whose MFM FC is second on the topflight log behind the Jos team.
The invited coaches are set to fill vacant positions of Head Coach, Assistant Coach and Goalkeeper Trainer in the U17, U20 and U23 National Teams (men), the U17 and Senior National Teams (women) and the Beach Soccer National Team.
Chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee, Chris Green, said yesterday that the coaches are expected to report at the NFF Secretariat, Abuja on Tuesday, 22nd August 2017, with their original credentials and other relevant certificates/documents.
The list of short-listed candidates was drawn from the pool of applicants who heeded a public notice by the NFF for applications two weeks ago.
The football governing body has advised all the coaches that they would be responsible for their movement to and from Abuja, as well as their upkeep and other personal expenses in the Federal Capital Territory.
Meanwhile, the NFF has appointed Christopher Danjuma as Head Coach of the U-20 Women national team, also known as Falconets.
Danjuma will be assisted by Wemimo Matthew (1st Assistant Coach), Mansur Abdullahi (2nd Assistant Coach) and Abdul-lateef Yusuf (Goalkeeper Trainer).
The quartet is expected in the Federal Capital, Abuja on Wednesday next week to open camp for screening of players for next month's FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Tanzania.
According to fixtures released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), two-time FIFA World Cup silver medallists Falconets will take on Tanzania in Nigeria on the weekend of 15-17 September, with the return leg in Dar es Salaam two weeks later.
The winner over both legs will then confront the winner of the fixture pairing Morocco against Senegal in November, before a final round of qualifying matches in January 2018.
The Falconets have played in every edition of the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup, since it was launched as an U19 tournament in Canada 15 years ago. The team reached the quarter finals in Thailand 2004, Russia 2006 and Chile 2008, before finishing as runners -up at the 2010 finals in Germany and at the 2014 finals in Canada.
The Falconets reached the semi finals in Japan in 2012, but failed to reach the knock -out stage in Papua New Guinea last year.
THE INVITED COACHES
Finidi George, Toyin Ayinla, Auwar Bashar, Maureen Madu, Adanna Nwaneri, Mary Godspower, Kennedy Boboye, Henry Oluwafiropo Abiodun, Fidelis Ilechukwu, Paul Aigbogun, Shola Ibrahim Adewuyi, Ajuma Peter Otache, Hassan Abdullahi Sharif, Jolomi Atoume, Bala Abubakar Mohammed, Ben Ogbe, Bunmi Oluwasonmi Haruna, Godwin Okon, Danladi Nasidi Alala and Abdullahi Maikaba.
Others also listed for interview include, Haruna Ilerika, Peter Ijeh, Nduka Ugbade Manu Garba, Patrick Olalere, Iliya Buba, Abdullahi Tayabo Umar, Randy Waldrum Tama Aondofar, Ernest Teigbanyo, Suleiman Shaibu, Jide Dina, Adams Usman Elshama Yunus Musa, Nathaniel Ogunwale, Emmanuel Akwuegbu, Baruwa Olatunji Abideen, Abdullahi Abubakar, Nkiru Okosieme, Monday Odigie, Evans Ogenyi Kabiru Umar Baleria, Baba Ganaru Mohammed, Bala Nikyu, Etta Egbe, Christian Obi Ewulu Afam Innocent Fancy and Ogunbote Olugbenga Ayodeji.
The following coaches completed the list of gaffers invited for interview for the national team jobs. They include; Abdullahi Usman Biffo, Adeoye Obaseyi Onigbinde, Zachary Baraje, Morufu Najimu Adeyemi, Queendolyn Akpan, Atu Mamuzo Lucky, Taiwo Omobolanle, Adewale Laloko, Whyte Ogbonna and Usman Yinka Salihu.
kennysville: I see folks talk about power vs skill. Hmmmm. I think we need a blend of both and here is how I look at it. The three main aspects of a team is attack, midfield and the defence. In the attack department, we need both power and skill. We dont want players who get marked out or bullied relying only on skill. It also depends on the formation we are playing. A 4-2-3-1 will mean we have a bull with brains as 9 and foxes as the 3 players behind the lone striker. A 4-4-2 will imply having both a bull and a fox as strikers while we have speedsters with quality delivery on the wings. (Not ahmed musa kind of delivery please!)
In the midfield, we need a super midfielder to run things. one that is skilled in the art of threading killer passes and has absolute concentration at all times paired with an equally gifted but physical holding midfielder. The central defender is definitely power and not skill as they can be muscled off the ball easily if we play skill. It can be costly playing skill in the defence. Power too in the defence can be dangerous but at least all aerial balls are gonna be taken care of.the wing backs need to be a blend of both power and skill to make quality decisions when under pressure.
Therefore in view of up coming match, we shouldnt be too afraid of cameroon. More importantly, we should play our game and blend together as a team regardless of whatever formation is being employed. The objectives of the coaching crew need to have been met in training and executed to perfection on match day. End of story! Question is what is our game plan?
That is what I am talking about. We have the caliber of players to COPE with the physicality. We don't need to go call back Danny Shittu, Taribo West, Dan the Bull Amokachi , Michael Eneramo and Yakubull Ayegbeni to pull off this one.
The players we have can cope.
The coaches just need to get the tactics right. We have players with big game experience in that team we only hope they turn up for the party.
goldfish80: The skillful players you listed there are just 3 in the persons of Victor Moses, Iwobi and Moses Simon out of a possible 24-26 players. Kelechi is not skillful anymore. They have coached it out of him at Man City. Mikel is Mikel, he's an economic player.
When ever you make such comment as "City has coached the skills out of Iheanacho" I just laugh.
Let him go and play with the U17s now and we'll know if City has coached the skills our of him or not.
Some of you guys fail to realize that playing at senior level is a lot more demanding than playing at U17 or U20 levels.
You expect Iheanacho to still dominate defences just the way he did at U17?
Joebie: This is my fear for SE. I know some of us have been saying don't go physical if you want to beat Cameroon, because they would win that war. I agree with that statement to some extent. Let me start from where I disagree.
If you say we should opt for more sleek play, speed blah blah etc. The question I have for you is will we learn all that style of play few days to the game? The truth is we are most likely to play our own game, the game that we have been seeing us play, and of course we should expect some tweaking here are there. Should Rohr decide to come with a whole new approach all together, what is the chance that we can master it few days going into the game? Does our game as it stand have some measure of physicality? Do we have excellent positioning, speed, and sleek passes? It's okay to judge from our best match in recent times -- Algeria match.
Let's get realistic and analyze ourselves based on when we have a full house. And then also talk about the adjustment we need to make, if we must stand a chance to beat Cameroon. Rohr rightly said what I've been saying. Cameroon after playing a considerable number of matches together have a better chance playing as a team than us. I'm not saying we will lose, but I'm saying many things point to their favor. Sleek play, cohesiveness etc are attributes mostly seen in teams that have played more together. Hence, Cameroon stand a higher chance of playing as a team than we do. I'm not expecting likes to this post because this is a Nigerian forum. But I will always say things as it is. Sentiments aside.
Modified A coach can devise ways of beating a team using new tactics which can be mastered during training. But attributes likes sleek play, cohesiveness etc can't be mastered overnight.
It was sleek play and swift passes that we used to overcome Zambia in Ndola. Go watch some of the highlights again.
Go also watch Nigeria Vs Cameroon at the 2004 AFCON quarter final.
Go watch also Nigeria Vs Ivory Coast at the 2013 AFCON quarter finals.
As long as Mikel is in that AM position. I call him the orchestrator. He knows what to do with the ball and the attackers know how to play with him.
The Cameroon game would not be easy. But I am not loosing sleep over it.
TheGoodJoe: But our strength lies with more organized play to toom toom football. The Camerounians are a more physical side than us. We will be deceiving ourselves going into a physical battle with them. Logically the more physical side stands a better chance winning a physical battle.
Are we going into a Rugby game?
What I mean is we have the calibre of players that can COPE with their physicality. we are not going into a physical battle with them.
All this all emphasis on physicality does not hold for me. If we rattle them with our sleek play and crisp touches and passes they may not finish the game with 11 players. Haha haha. Typical of them.
I think I would need a sleek player like Simon in this kind of game, even if it is second half.
Victor Moses is also sleek and strong in addition.
Mikel will definitely cope well if played in AM position.
Onazi as we all know is a kind of player for this occasion. He is a fighter in the midfield.
Iwobi may not be too physical but he makes up for it with his sleek passes.
Kayode if made to start if Iheanachp does not make it is also quick and sleek player.
We have a strong CB pairing of Eking and Balogun. And Ndidi must sit just on front of the duo.
Echiejile is not a newbie as far as African football is concerned. So I trust him to cope.
I dont know who will play RB but if it is Shehu I am not worried.
TheGoodJoe: Are you saying you do not know where the strength of our team lies in respect of Power or skill?
Cameroun - Power Nigeria - Skill/Speed
We should play to our strength.
I don't know why these guys keep hammering on strength and power.
Nigeria is not also short in strength and power. With the current crop we can match them for strength. Especially with the return of Mikel, Moses and Balogun and a rugged player like Onazi in the CM. But we need to go beyond that and beat them for speed and with skills.
This is not Nigeria's first meeting with Cameroon for heaven's sakes.
TheGoodJoe: Injury Stops Nwakali’s City Trip To US
Injury has forced out Chidiebere Nwakli, Nigeria’s U-20 midfielder, out of Manchester City’s pre season tour of the USA.
The big spending English Premiership side was expected to depart for the USA on Monday but Nwakali has informed that he was out of the party as a result of injury he copped during the team’s pre-season tour of neighbouring Scotland.
“I won’t be travelling with the team on Monday because of my injury but there is nothing much to worry about since I’m being well taken care of, he said.
TheGoodJoe: When it is a quality player who was about to make a debut for Manchester City and for half a season (note, not a whole season, Chidi joined Malaga after that). Such a player being denied a minute of football in a low tier is certainly bias, not short of requirements.
As I pointed out you have no backing. Just arguing.
If you believe his boys theory, then no need spraying the wrong ideology that if a player is good, he will make the cut. A lot of coaches are bias.
'..about to make a debut for Manchester City' when?
TheGoodJoe: Na wa. Are you saying there have never been bias by coaches in the history of football or you chose to feign ignorance to sell your point.
This is coming from the same person who uses the term "His Boys" anyhow.
Hahaha a player confined to the bench for whole season?
There is a lot of difference. A coach can chose to invite only 'his boys' to camp to ensure only 'his boys' get to play. Not when you are already in the squad and for a whole season not getting even a second to play. It simply means he fell way short of requirements.
TheGoodJoe: Tell me the reason why the coach refused to even give Chidi Nwakali a minute in the team despite even being in a lower level of Spanish club football. Please I am waiting.
I said I did not say Kayode will not play because he I black. I highlighted my fear for him (mostly not getting a fair chance) because of the incident with Chidiebere Nwakali.
Please look for another reason why Chidi Nwakali flopped at Girona.
Don't relate it to Kayode. They are not on the same level.
TheGoodJoe: Did I say I did not say that? That is the fear I highlighted were a sentimental selection happened due to his skin color. I am scared that Kayode will get denied a fair run because Machin, the Girona coach might have a preference for white players.
Not that Kayode will not get a chance to play.
So why did you deny in the first instance?
And can you now have a rethink as to why Chidi was confined to the bench during his stay there?
TheGoodJoe: I do not want just a mark but a fair chance to have a brilliant performance at the club. If Kayode has the ability to be a regular and a top player at the club, I do not want Machin to deny him that opportunity. I hope you get my point now.
I hope you know what making a 'mark' in this context means?
Humility017: the dude has not played any football since the start of the season... will rather have Dennis and yinka on that list than to have his name there....moreover he is somehow too selfish to me...
How old is the season that you are already making such conclusion.
In the national team you don't just throw players in at random.
TheGoodJoe: I already expected different treatment but highlighted the fear in my mind. The fear is still there but I am glad he got a chance. Let us hope the young Nigerian gets a fair chance at Girona.
I had no worries that a player in the calibre of Olanrewaju Kayode would not make a mark at Girona.
cyrilgrove: The fitness of our CHAN Eagles is questionable cuz they lost steam too easily while Benin was afraid to play preferring to clutch their 1 goal lead and they are a very good side. So much work to be done by the Eagles handlers before the main tourney
That is how football is.
Benin needed that singular away goal while Nigeria needed to protect their lead.
You should expect Benin to be more aggressive towards the end of the game.
TheGoodJoe: Who said Girona always leave black players on the bench? You are fond of misconceptions.
I highlighted my fear because of Chidebere Nwakali's incident and that was also during the takeover of the club.
Also at that time Chidebere had the challenge, he was the only black player in the whole club. Now they are in a tougher scenario being in the La Liga and off the top of my head, Douglas Luis is another black player in the club. It is not the same scenario.
You said Chidi was confined to the bench because he was black.
Sports › Re: "The Super Eagles Thread: The Road To AFCON 2027, 2028 And 2030 World Cup by Icon4s(m): 8:30pm On Aug 21, 2017
