₦airaland Forum

TheSuperNerd:
Bia Chief Icon4s and oga Sir Kog45.... Wetin na??

Pesin go just dey lost for all these archaic talks.... Haba...

Make una try me again....

https://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhoef48HWM1qdtfdbo1_500.gif


Anyone else who no wan speak "English"?? Own up now!

I surrender !!!!

Na TheGoodJoe ask me question about Ivory Coast '84 and Maroc '88 na.

You need to cork the gun for him too.

TheSuperNerd:
I have seen enough!!!! Wetin I dey talk before??

People still think Gabby Jesus is the competition or problem??

That man pep guardiola is the main issue... That is Nacho's wall and competition at Man City... Pep doesn't rate Nacho. Simple!!!

If after seeing his virtuoso performances against Southampton, stoke city and even bournemouth (just to mention some) where linked up play beautifully and still covered grounds all in line with the so called pep system, All pep sees is a "goalscorer".... That man is a hypocrite and a myopic manager. Must every good thing be non-african??

Chaiiiii.... God pls Save Nacho from Pep.... Better to be a rashford under mourinho than to be a nacho under Pep.... Yep... I am that pissed... I have seen the handwriting on the wall a long time ago but have tried to look on the bright side...... Now that bright side is quickly fading...

The bolded is my point.

terzurum5:
Guardiola Omit Iheanacho, Mentions Sane,Sterling & Gabriel Jesus As Future Man City Stars

https://owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/image-22.jpg

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola sensationally omitted Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho from the names he mentioned as the future of the team ahead of their clash against West Ham.


Despite insisting that Iheanacho is part of his long term plans, he failed to mention the 20 year old, when analysing the future prospects he has in his team.


Iheanacho who has missed out on the match day squad of Manchester City in their last two games appears to have lost his spot in the team to new signing Gabriel Jesus.” These three ( Sane, Sterling and Gabriel Jesus) will be the future in the next three or four years, I’m pretty sure of that”, he said when asked about the young potentials he has in his team.

http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/02/01/guardiola-omit-iheanacho-mentions-sane-sterling-gabriel-jesus-as-future-man-city-stars/

Iheanacho IMHO is a victim of "the African player mentality" factor.

Most European coaches dnt believe much in African players. It has nothing to do with racism.

African players, with the exception of a few, have not really measured up to expectations in terms of their growth, development and finished performance. They hardly get to the expected pinnacle of their careers.

These young players are investments to their clubs. If I buy a play for $20M, I expect him to give me a $20M or more performance and then I may finally sell him for $80M. This is what the economists call Return On Investment (ROI).

Brazil can boast of players that have reached several pinnacles in world football. Looking at it from that angle, a player like Gabriel Jesus has a higher (ROI) than Iheanacho. Don't think because there is no sign-on fee on Iheanacho and so there is no Initial investment. His weekly wages is also an investment.

Now, ROI is not just all about the resale price on the player but also the performance of the player going forward. We should also know that every coach has his own philosophy that affects the type of players he likes, the style of play of the players as well as nationality of players.

Not as if I am in support of this philosophy, (there is no way I would support a thing like that being an African) I am just saying it out from the angle I see it. It is based on my close observation over years of close watch. If Iheanacho was English, Brazilian, Spaniard or French Pep would have mostly likely expected more on his future.

So if Pep does not see Iheanacho as a future Mancity star, it does not mean Iheanacho does not have a future at Mancity. What it implies to me is that Pep is not seeing Iheanacho as among the young players that will emerge as Super stars in the City colors.

Personally, as an Arsenal fan, I am an admirer of Barcelona and the way they play. Pep was one of those coaches I admired so much.
But since he has moved to the EPL I have started seeing another side of Pep. He is no longer that great coach I used to admire. There is nothing TheGoodJoe can say to convince me on this one.

Iheanacho is a talented, hard working and determined player which sets him apart from most under U17 products I have seen I decades.
If he is destined for greatness, Pep or any other coach cannot stop him.

zicky:
why is it better than being in Enyimba, just want to know

1. La Liga is in Europe while the NPFL is in Africa
2. He would be a Barcelona player rather than being an Enyimba player
3. In future he would be regarded as ex-Barcelona player
4. Enyimba players are paid in naira while Barcelona players are paid in Euros
4. Buhari's Recession would not negatively affect the value of his earnings. In fact he will get richer as the naira continues to lose value.

So with these succinct points of mine I have been able to convince and not to confuse you that being in Barcelona Team B is better than being in Enyimba Team A*

tbaba1234:
Is Ezekiel Bassey move to Barcelona B a good move? Barcelona B is a 3rd tier side o!! Only the truly exceptional make it to the main Barca squad.

Better than being in Enyimba.

Besides, he is still very young and may not necessarily end up playing for Barcelona's A team. Other clubs may come for him as time goes on. That move is just like a stepping stone for him. I see it as a good move.

Some don dey already kneel down ahead in anticipation of his hand shakes. Some of these Men of God have replaced Jesus with themselves.

They will soon start praying "In the name of Suleiman" instead of "in the name of Jesus".

Kog45:
Yes 86 W/C of Diego Maradona,that was d tourney i started to understand d game and opportune to watch d likes of Maradona,Platini,Tigana,Luiz Fernadez,Burruchaga,Valdano,Socrates,Zico,Aldair,Matheus,Rumminegge,Peter Shilton,Badou Zaki,Lakdarh Belloumi,Rabar Mahja,Timoumi and many more ,this world cup really increased my undue love for d game of football.

Yes good old days IICC and Ranger rivalry just like Real Madrid and Barcelona of today,stadium always full anytime d two clubs are playing,d two team form d bedrock of our National team.I knew a lot about IICC and Ranger. coz of my Uncle who was a IICC supporter and a neighbor known as bro Uche who was so passionate about Ranger,as a kid then i love listening to their arguments.

Pls can u also recall d old English Premier league relayed matches TV series known as Big League soccer where w watched d likes of Liverpool,Man U,Arsenal,Nottingham Forest,Aston Villa,Wimbledon,Norwich and players like Remi Moses of Nigeria descent who played for Man U in 80s,Justin Fashanu,John Barnes,Kenny Daglish,Gary Lineker.Also i w never forget 1988 FA cup final involved Liverpool and Wimbledon with our own John Fashanu who had a great match for Wimbledon,which Wimbledon won 1 nil.The match was shown by Feyi Ogundiyele of Old NTA Ibadan.

That was the era when you are feared according to the number of big players in your squad.
Big teams usually showed-up when expected. The under-dogs most usually get the bashing they deserved.
When a relatively small team is to play a team like Argentina, Brazil, Italy or Germany and the likes, you go into the game with a mindset of not to concede too many goals. You'll still be defending when you are 1-0 down . A 1-0 loss to Brazil or Argentina was like a win for some countries then . You see them saluting their fans who would be hailing them after such match.
The only major upset of Espana '82 was Algeria beating Germany 2-1 in a group game.

Those days the individual brilliance of the players in each team usually carried the team through.

I think Cameroun beating Argentina in that Italia '90 opener was a major turning point for teams in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to then only teams from North Africa could manage to rub shoulders with teams from other parts of the world.

As for the English Big league soccer, me I know watch those ones o. I dnt think they were shown live on NTA. We only watched NTA Televised matches. Though I was hearing Nigerian names like George Chidozie, John Fashanu, Chris Amstrong, John Salako and the likes. I recall wishing to have players like John Fashanu and John Salako feature for the Green Eagles then. You know talks like "If say somebody like John Fashanu and Salako play for Nigeria Cameroun for no fit beat us for that match". You know such fantasy. That time if we hear Cameroun our mind go cut.

I recall Euro 84 and 88 were not shown live on NTA but the summarized versions were shown every Saturday night 8:30 to 9pm on all NTA stations. I can't remember much of Euro '84 rather than the continuous mentions of Tigana and Platini but I watched Euro 88 wella - Ruud Gullit, Marco Van bastine, Klinsman, Rudi Voller, Garry Lineker were the stand out performers. My favorite player then was Gullit.

Holland, Germany, USSR, Italy and England were the strongest teams in that Euro '88.

Emmm.....TheSuperNerd no vex. Na talk dey lead to talk.

krattoss:
now that AFCON has entered the semis..

I can now jejely start to dey watch am.

You have missed a lot bro.

TheSuperNerd:
Official – Spanish Giants Barcelona Sign Enyimba Forward Ezekiel Bassey

https://owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/image-138.jpg


Enyimba FC of Aba forward Ezekiel Bassey has
joined Spanish giants Barcelona on a loan deal
until the end of the season, the club has
announced.

Bassey will spend more time with the B team of
the Catalan side, but he is expected to train
intermittently with the first team before the end
of his loan with the Catalans.

His progress with the B team will determine if he will be promoted to the main team of the team, and subsequently signing on a permanent basis in the summer

Source: http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/01/31/official-spanish-giants-barcelona-sign-enyimba-forward-ezekiel-bassey/

I saw this news somewhere also yesterday. He is 20 years of age. Another young player to watch.

Kog45:
TheGoodjoe don karate me many times on this thread,am always ready for his karate,though not easy.

Yea as a boy i watched 84 AFCON coz one of my uncle love football a lot and was IICC supporter.I will never forget a day IICC lost African cup to Zamalek in 1984,my uncle was crying like a baby,this was a match that led to retirement of Segun Odegbami after Governor Oladayo Popoola disbanded d team.

My uncle introduced me to d game at a very tender age.My first real experience was 1982 W/C which i cannot remember very well but still remember Brazil vs Italy match coz it was highly rated match then,Italy won d match to d surprised of all coz Brazil boost of Zico who was rated as d best player in d world.

Hmmm Espana '82.

I recall when the qualifiers were on in 1981. I watched a little of the 2nd leg semi final clash against Guinea where Henry Nwosu scored the only goal. I also watched little of the 2nd leg of the Algeria clash where a Nigerian player scored an own-goal.

I also remember little of that Brazil vs Italy game in that WC. But I never really had interest in watching football then.

I can't recall anything about the IICC vs Zamalek game. My parents were Enugu Rangers fans. I don't think they followed that game. I only watched what they wanted to watch .

The first WC that I really watched and still have very good memory of was Mexico '86 (also known as Maradona '86). Black and white pictures though . Still black and white in my memory

tbaba1234:
He was part of Manu's 2013 under 17 team... He is 18 from Aspire academy.

Thanks. I recall him now.

TheSuperNerd:
Bia Chief..... You know am naa.... A member of the Golden Eaglets class of 2013 (Alamps, Nacho etc).

Well, he's 18 currently and will be 19 by october.




#IHearTheVoiceOfExperienceLurking

Ok, that small goalie that time. Think I recall him now.

I would advice he focuses on his club career for now. Its so bad that we are out of the U20 Qualifiers. That would have been a good testing/grooming ground for him. Well, 2019 AAG and Tokyo 2020 qualifiers are not too far away again. AAG qualifiers starts next year 2018.

I expect to see a lot of our current talented teens and 20 years olds in that squad

That last child is just managing to hang on to his life.

tglobal:
Actually Cameroun will still be playing qualifiers as hosts. They are in Group B alongside Morocco, Malawi, Comoros/Mauritius. The idea is to ensure that host teams have the same opportunities as others in "tuning" their teams even though they aleady have automatic qualification. Add to that the possibility that they will play in FIFA confederations cup in June, if they win the AFCON

That singular fact that they have already qualified would affect their level of seriousness in the qualifiers. Talking about playing in Confederations, they have not even won the AFCON yet.

That aside, remember Nigeria's case in 2014 when we took part in the 2014 WC playing up to the second round, but we played against Congo PR in our first 2015 AFCON qualifiers game, in that same 2014 and we lost at home. That is why I say what matters most is the form of both teams at that time when the double header would be played.

Goke7:
Cameroon has only reaped the benefit of participating in a tournament which has brought some form of cohesion into the team. If Nigeria was in this present afcon, our team would have improved just like Cameroon.

The match is in August so it will be down to match fitness and form of players for both national teams. But let's remember, its the cameroon keeper that has been saving their asses, in their third group match against Gabon, if not the ball hitting the bar and the keeper's save from the rebound, Cameroon would have exited this tournament at the first stage.

Now till August is still a long time. Players form and fitness at that time is what matters most. Besides, there are AFCON qualifiers in June and Cameroun will not be part of it as they are hosts.

TheGoodJoe:

Thanks for the deep insightful post. Very educative, eye-opening and interesting. Shows how long we have come and I hope the Labour of our heroes shall never be in Vain.

Thanks.

Its a pleasure.

That my post took me back memory lane. So many of the parents I watched that 1984 AFCON finals with are now late. My Dad inclusive.

My Dad was the only one that bought a TV then in my "Yard".

Our house turned Viewing center

komekn:
Why hasn't Sone Aluko been invited to camp this guy is tried and tested. He's only 27.

Is there any camping presently?

Kog45:
U are on point,well i was opportuned to watch d 1984 final live and i want to state it that Cameroon were full of experience with players like Milla,Thomas Nkono but Nigeria coached by Onigbinde and captained by very young Keshi,d team was full of young players except Muda Lawal who was 32,though Nigeria had a great semi final against Ivory coast that led to penalty shootout,this match gave rise to Peter Rufai,though injured and Patrick Okala was in goal against Cameroon in d final.

The euphoria of semi final victory really affected d team in d final,but i want to state that we lost to a superior Cameroonian side.Truly 1984 gave birth to d golden generation of Cameroon that later shook d world in 1990 by beating Argentina 1 nil in d opening game.

Well maroc 88,prior to d final,Nigeria and Cameroon played goalless draw during group stage and need to meet again in d final,but d final was marred by terrible officiating and a lots need to questioned CAF integrity coz it was obvious Cameroon was designed to lift d trophy coz Nwosu goal was just too good but d referee ruled it offside and also Milla contact with Eboigbe that resulted to d penalty was a cleared diving from Milla.

TheGoodJoe can set his karate boot for you bc of the bolded o

During that '84 AFCON my interest was not in football. In fact disliked football.

TheSuperNerd:
Deportivo La-Coruna Goalkepper Uzoho Targets Super Eagles Call Up

https://owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/image-100.jpg

Fast rising Deportivo La Coruna shot stopper Francis Odinaka Uzoho says he is targeting a call up to the Super Eagles in the nearest future.

Uzoho who recently joined the La-Liga side has
wasted no time in making the step up to the first team from the B team where he was expected to spend most of his time following his signing.

He has trained severally with the first team, and his rise could see him make at least the match day squad before the end of the season in Spain, and the former U-17 shot stopper is also eyeing a call up to the Super Eagles this year.


”Progress is a slow process. I believe in one step at a time so I'm first of all focused on making progress at Deportivo La Coruna, which will could help me realise my dream of playing for Nigeria”, Uzoho told Owngoalnigeria.com.

”Presently there are no much young Nigerian
goalkeepers in Europe, so am hopeful that my
time will come if I do well for Deportivo La
Coruna”.


Source: http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/01/31/deportivo-la-coruna-goalkepper-uzoho-targets-super-eagles-call-up/

Pls how old is he?

AmericanQuarter:
The Department of Petroleum Resources has given approval for re-entry into the Gas Reserve at Umuerum in Ayamelum Council Area.
Governor Willie Obiano revealed this when he attended a function of the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha at St Mary's Parish, Umuerum.

Governor Obiano who noted that Umuerum is blessed with one of the largest Gas Deposit in the Country, recalled how a multi-national Oil Company, Shell had discovered the Mineral resource 40 years ago and capped it because they were after Premium Motor Spirit, PMS.

He said what is delaying the full exploration of the Gas Reserve is ongoing negotiations with a South African Investor who is to take over the project and expressed the hope that when operational, the project will create lots of jobs and wealth opportunities for people of Ayamelum area.

Governor Obiano observed that due to the large expanse of virgin arable land which the Ayamelum possesses, the area holds great prospects for the future of the state which is being repositioned to anchor on Agriculture, assuring that his government will sustain its support to farmers in the area towards the achievement of its agricultural revolution initiative.

The governor called on people of the area to utilize the Continuous Voter Registration exercise which will take place later in the year to ensure that they are eligible to vote, reminding them that support for his administration will guarantee the realization of all the lofty projects ongoing across the state.

http://absradiotv.com/index.php/state/6280-dpr-certifies-re-entry-into-umuerum-gas-reserve

That is an Oil Rig and not an Oil well.

TheGoodJoe:
“But you know, very well, that only the victory in 1984 was clean. The second, in 1998, we were cheated. Roger tricked the referee (Idrissa Saar of Mauritania) into giving him a fake penalty. And the clean goal of Henry Nwosu was disallowed,” I told him.

I think the author meant 1988.

cc: Icon4s

What I remember most about that 1984 lose to Cameroun was the popular post-match comments that "Nigeria did all the playing while Cameroun did all the scoring". That was the trash the Nigerian commentators and Nigerian press including our analysts consoled themselves with. The fans also were not left out of that one. Na who "did all the playing" epp? I think I only joined in watching the game after Muda Lawal opened scoring for Nigeria. That shout of 'gooaaalll' all over the neighborhood and the shouts of "Muda Lawallll!!!" here and there. That I think was the only game I managed to watch, and probably even slept off before the game ended cos I only remember when Cameroun equalized how the game take be 3-1 me I no remember

Several years after I understood that going into that game, Nigeria were the overwhelming favorites. I think we underrated the Cameroonians. More so that as we scored first, we thought it was going to be like a stroll in the park.

That was the beginning of the Cameroonian golden generation that won the AFCON again in 1988 and got to the 1990 WC Quarter finals, beating the star studded Argentine team in the opening game of that WC.

As for the Maroc '88 defeat. O that game is still fresh in my memory. I even have a complete 90mins video of it courtesy of youtube. A very drab and cagey game. The semis were more explosive. Recently, I replayed that Henry Nwosu's goal and I was just shouting. Very clean goal. I called a younger pal who was born same year that AFCON was played (so he was seeing it and hearing about that incident for the first time) to analyse it and he shouted 'Day light robbery'.

I also re-played the penalty to him. He questioned why the then NFA and Nigerian government never petitioned CAF and that referee.
So na so e be o.
That was the first AFCON I watched from A-Z. We did not qualify for the 1986 edition.

terzurum5:
Watford accepts Chinese club’s £20m offer for Ighalo

[img]https://1.bp..com/-l4vcTJ9eNDg/WJAljixKeUI/AAAAAAAAC4I/oIafME99CZ4ri5HTTEatF-OwgaS_OBzEwCLcB/s1600/OdionIghalo.jpg[/img]

Super Eagles’ striker, Odion Ighalo, is set to become Nigeria’s latest export to the Chinese Super league if he accepts the offer to join Chngchun Yatai. The club yesterday agreed a £20 million deal with Watford for the striker.


However, according to mirror.co.uk, West Brom could hijack the deal with a last-minute bid – but only if Baggies manager Tony Pulis matches the price agreedwith Chongchun.


Pulis, who sold Saido Berahino to Stoke two weeks ago, pulled out of the running for Ighalo after claiming Watford wanted too much for him, but the Hornets would not be surprised if Albion rejoined the auction at the 11th hour.


Ighalo has gone from top scorer at Vicarage Road, andmagician behind the ‘Iggy chop’ party trick – which left countless defenders on their backsides – to a spare part in danger of missing out on a Premier League squad number.


And Watford head coach, Walter Mazzarri, admitted Ighalo’s departure was imminent last night, saying: “Every morning I ask the club what the situation is, andnegotiations are now at an advanced stage, so it should only be a matter of a couple of days.”


Ighalo was top scorer across all four divisions in the calendar year 2015, when his 30 goals fired the Hornets to promotion and Premier League safety, in all but name, by Christmas.


Even when the goals dried up for him in the second half of last season, Shanghai SIPD made a mind-blowing £37.5m bid for Ighalo last summer – which the player rejected.


His market value plummeted as he finished 2016 with just six goals in all competitions, and Watford’s top brass agree a fresh start is the best solution for all parties.


Another Chinese club, Shanghai Shenhua, were exploring the possibility of pairing Ighalo with Carlos Tevez, the world’s highest-paid player on £600,000-a-week.
But they would not meet Watford’s £27m asking price for a player their rivals SIPD had valued £10m higher only six months ago.


Ighalo appeared to be waving goodbye to travelling fans after the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth 17 days ago and was left out of the squad altogether for the embarrassing FA Cup defeat at Millwall on Sunday.


And after the arrivals of on-loan AC Milan striker M’Baye Niang – whose move is scheduled to become a permanent £14m transfer in the summer – and Mauro Zarate last week, Ighalo was sinking further down the pecking order than a mineshaft.


With £12.6m Isaac Success back in full training and skipper Troy Deeney among the crown jewels, Ighalo was faced with becoming fifth-choice striker. Furthermore, he was in danger of being excluded from Watford’s upgraded 25-man Premier League squad after the transfer window shuts because of the surfeit of foreign players on the books at Vicarage Road.

www.soccernet.com.ng/2017/01/watford-accepts-chinese-clubs-20m-offer.html

There could be a late switch as Westbrom could snatch him on a rest of season loan.

TheSuperNerd:
It's a possibilty.....

But apart from Good disciplined nutrition, exercises is key to his kind of body. People underrate the value and wonders of exercises.

EL-hadary is super fit.... At 45, that's remarkable... He would need no walking stick at 80 if he keeps this up. And You too Sir, can be like this... coz I have a hunch that you also wanna look fit and good at anytime.... It's a fantastic goal to pursue but you must be ready for the discipline and sacrifice that goes with it....

Also very importantly a good coach that knows how to manage players nearing retirement

goldfish80:
Did anyone see Hossam El hardary last night? It's unbelievable how good he is at 45yrs old. The man is amazing.
Probably African beat goalie of all time.

Yeah. It takes discipline and dedication.

Also, very importantly, successive coaches have been able to manage him well.

Lazyerudite:
These are just excuses, maybe Salah should have buried the last minute chance he had so we would not have to discuss this issue of qualifies again. They drew with us in Naija and defeated and outplayed us in Egypt. We can come up with all the excuses of this world but I will still maintain we were not good enough

You are judging with just one encounter. That is what I am trying to point against. We need a general assessment. Recall that same Egypt beat Ghana 2-0 in November.

Morocco beat Ivory Coast last night you would now rate Morocco higher than Ivory Coast right?

Lies!!!

Lazyerudite:
If you can't come out of a qualifying group that has Chad, Tanzania and Egypt who by the way were hit by turmoil in their country then how can you be rated as top dog. When that group was first made I am sure a lot of Nigerians were sure of qualification. We are not as good as you are portraying it. The FIFA ranking might not be fair but it gives us an insight to what is on ground.
We did not qualify because we were not good enough, I think the next draws has Libya, south Africa and another country. We have to qualify first then we take it up from there. The second leg of the match against Egypt exposed us seriously and made me calm down. Togo and Zimbabwe with all due respect qualified by defeating teams like Nigeria so we were simply not good enough

I am sure u know Chad's withdrawal dealt a great blow to our qualification. We lost only one game which was against Egypt and you recall how we conceded the equalizer to Egypt in Kaduna. Nigeria were simply unlucky in that qualifiers.

That is why I have not made my judgment based on AFCON and AFCON qualifiers alone. Ok, Algeria and Ivory Coast are out of the quarter finals of the on-going AFCON would you now say they are no longer among the top 8 rated teams in Africa?

terzurum5:
Your view is in line with TheGoodJoe's. That's what am saying in essence.


If you had said anything other than this, you would have invited trouble.

Who in his right senses would want to kick against his invitation for the Senegal friendly when we don't have a trusted RB?

Tarzaa:
Hahahaha! I've never seen him in action so I don't know how he'll combine with the current people.

We need more of your inputs on this forum.

Tarzaa:
His inclussion may be a plus.

I like that word 'may'.

Lazyerudite:
We were simply not good enough, but now I think we are improving

So Guinea-Bissau, Togo and Zimbabwe are better than Nigeria ba? Because they are good enough to play this year's AFCON abi?

Lazyerudite:
Again you have missed my point, you defeated Algeria wan Zambia which is by no means a small feat but don't let us get carried away, we have missed two nations cup consecutively and u still think we are top dog presently, players don't win competitions, teams do. We have players but we are still building a team. Don't get carried away by those victories, we have a tougher opponent in Cameroon who usually have their way with us. As I said I am hoping our progress will continue, even this team on the rise in yet to come back from being a goal or two down. With time they will blend and be formidable, we are even still searching for fullbacks ooo. Me, I will be patient. Top 5? No, can we get there, definitely

We are not there yet. I agree. But being there is a function of where you expect to be.
Going by where we expect to be we are not there yet but going by countries we are competing with along the line to being were we expect to be we are there among the top 5.

Yes, we have missed the last 2 AFCONs, henn but other African nations would not wish to be put in the same group with Nigeria in any competition.

Nigeria missed the last 2 AFCONs but we were never down the ladders in African football. Name your top5 teams now and I would analyze the strength of those teams against Nigeria's. I am not just talking about individual talents but the TEAM as a whole.