₦airaland Forum

zuchyblink:
Chad withdraws from AFCON qualifiers. This means Nigeria must beat Egypt to qualify. No hope for best loser

Orkpekyandega:
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I thanked God we didn't score the winner in Nigeria: Egypt ace Salah
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Unlike his teammates, Mohamed Salah did not lament the referee's decision to deny him a one-on-one chance in the dying minutes of the 1-1 Cup of Nations qualifying draw in Nigeria
[img]http://english.ahram.org.eg/Media/News/2016/3/27/2016-635946801295187191-518.jpg[/img]
Egypt's players celebrate a goal during the African Cup of Nations qualification match between Egypt and Nigeria in Kaduna, on March 25, 2016 )AFP(

Mohamed Salah said on Sunday he breathed a sigh of relief when the referee blew the final whistle in the 1-1 draw in Nigeria as he was on his way to one-on-one chance to score because hundreds of home fans were watching the game on the side track around the court.


Shortly after Salah had equalised for Egypt in the first minute of stoppage time in Nations' qualifying draw at Nigeria on Friday, the AS Roma winger appeared en route to stage a memorable comeback in the dying moments when he began to sprint unchallenged from the halfway line towards goal, only for the ref to end the game.


The ref's decision sparked outrage from the Egyptian players, who rushed at the referee to admonish him for what they saw as a bad call.


"I breathed a sigh of relief after the ref blew the final whistle," Salah, 23, told Al-Ahram Daily newspaper.


"I was afraid when I received the ball and was heading directly towards the goal to score what could have been the winner," Salah said.


"Had I been able to score, I wouldn't have been able to tell what exactly the fans' response would be, that's why I thanked God right after the final whistle."


Egypt, now top of Group G on seven points, host second-placed Nigeria for the fourth round of the Cup of Nations group-stage qualifiers at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab Stadium on Tuesday.


There are only two points separating the two teams, as they vie in a group whose winner directly qualifies for next year's Cup of Nations in Gabon.
english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/6/52/197992/-.aspx
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TheGoodJoe:


It is as if we are on the same wavelength. Okay close.

We need Onazi's tenacity to help deal with Salah. Whether it is Amuzie or Echiejile the coaching crew chooses, Onazi is key in neutralizing Salah.

I chose Musa ahead of Moses because I feel Musa offers more goal threat. That was a selection Headache because of the way Victor Moses weaved his way repeatedly through the Egyptian defence.

Iwobi certainly will do even better in the cool whether of Alexandria and the better pitch. I feel his passes is essential to unlock the Egyptian defence.

I am shocked you also dropped Ighalo. I know you as a strong supporter of experience but I think you noticed that we need a more coherent performance than an individual style up front.

Nice list and formation.

CFCman:
FT: South Africa 0-1 Nigeria. Rasheedat Ajibade scored in the 28th minute; it was her 7th goal in four matches!
The Flamingoes win the tie 7-0 on agg and advance to the U-17 WC.

jotey:
owngoalnigeria.com/2016/03/25/u-23-brazil-0-1-u-23-nigeria-full-time-player-ratings/#more-2219





U-23 BRAZIL 0-1 U-23 NIGERIA:
FULL TIME PLAYER RATINGS
owngoaladmin March 25, 2016 Nigeria
← BRAZIL 0-1 NIGERIA: HALF TIME
RATINGS
EL-RUFAI THROW GATE OPEN FOR NIGERIA VS
EGYPT TIE →
OwnGoal Nigeria
Upto date Sport News on Nigeria Football
≡
4
The Nigeria U-23 team secured a shock 0-1 win
over their Brazilian counterpart in a friendly game
played yesterday in Victoria,Marcelo Brigi
owngoalnigeria.com correspondent in Brazil gives
his ratings of the Nigeria players who did the
nation proud.
Emmanuel Daniel: A class act in goal clearly
Nigeria’s best goalkepper outside the Super
Eagles,made save after save, got injured and had to
come off but did enough for his deputy to
complete the job….9/10
Musa Mohammed: A full back who is full of
running and showed strength in physical duels but
his tackling needs work,guilty of giving away
dangerous freekicks at the edge of Nigeria’s box
however his last ditch tackle bailed Nigeria from
Brazil leveling things up in the first half….6.5/10
Ndifreke Effiong: Had a first half to forget as his
side of defence was a through fare for the
Brazilians but he never stopped working hard and
improved in the second half with help from Stanley
Dimgba….5/10
Keigo Erimuya: Hard in tackle and solid with the
ball at his feet but didn’t show enough
understanding with Segun Oduduwa as they were
both guilty of letting the Brazilians slip behind in
the first half, showed good turn of pace….5/10
Segun Oduduwa: Not so good in tackles and aerial
balls but showed impeccable reading of the game,
made timely intervention and was by far the brain
of the Nigeria back four….6.5/10
Ovbokha Agboyi: Did nothing spectacular in the
first half even until he was substituted, a below par
showing as he was clearly missing in the middle
when Brazil run ragged our defence that he is
suppose to provide cover for….4/10
Sadiq Popoola: Pint sized, lively and bustling in
the middle his well placed effort cannon off the bar
for Ubong Ekpai to score Nigeria’s lone goal and
as respected sport pundit Eseoghene Edafe said he
looks like a Mathieu Valubuena clone….7/10
Ubong Ekpai: Took his goal well with a header
after from a rebound but didn’t do enough
defensively to help out Musa Mohammed but still
showed flashes of his enormous potential….7/10
Awoniyi Taiwo: A game to forget for the on loan
Liverpool man,link up play wasn’t at it best,
struggle to get on the ball and was easily bullied
into letting go of possession can obviously do
better….4.5/10
Stanley Dimgba: Went missing in the first half but
put in a tireless shift in the second half, energetic
and full of running, He cover lot of grounds for the
team….7/10
Imoh Ezekiel: Pacy,strong and daring, won a
penalty that wasn’t given obviously the liveliest of
Nigeria forwards, what a game he had playing as
the lone man upfront when Brazil was searching
for an equaliser and Nigeria were defending, surely
a top talent….8/10
Substitutes:
Yusuf Mohammed: One would have thought he
won’t have much to do but that wasn’t the case
was called into action shortly after coming on and
his brilliant tip over the bar from a freekick from
Brazil means Nigeria is well stock in that area
going into the Olympics….7/10
Nathan Oduwa: Nice touches but never really
settled down,love to be on the ball but didn’t quite
got to see much of it still showed why he is highly
rated by Tottenham Hotspurs….5/10
Godswil Ekpolo: Came on for Musa Mohammed
and clearly oozed class with his runs and smart
move, improved the team to a large extent the
Barcelona teen brought calm to the
defence….5.5/10
Theophilus Solomon: A cameo to
remember,confident on the ball with nice
touches,played Osimhen in with a neat pass and
on the strength of his display deserves another
look….5.5/10
Junior Ajayi: One thing you can’t take away from
the Sfaxien man is that he is always lurking and
willing to pounce, did very well with his hold up
play and defending from the opponent’s
half….5.5/10
Victor Osimhen: A bull with precision,the best
among the substitutes twice came close to
doubling Nigeria’s tally, if there was any doubt
about his talent, this performance will surely kill
it….7/10

Badosqi:
Abeg is salah the new messi ni abi neymar? The same echiejile that played 90mins against psg last weekend for monaco, monaco defeated psg 0-2 away. He played player like Dimaria, cavani, Ibra. Temme shey ur salah better pass dimaria ni.

Echiejile was only on the bench becos he came late to camp not becos awaziem is better than him. We must start Echiejile when we meet Egypt at Alexandria. The same echiejile that coped well against dimaria will cope well against ur "super almighty" Salah.

TheGoodJoe:

Just like I told you before. Their things I do not need to watch a full game to judge on. Before Nacho's games at City, you argued that he will not meet our expectations. I told you I Trust Pellegrini's judgment and it did not fail. You now agree he is a good player.

I have made my statement repeatedly. If he is good enough for Porto, he is good enough for the Super Eagles.

So, I do not need to watch a full Awaziem game to trust in his ability. Just as I did not need to wait for Iheanacho to perform for City before judging him.

Unless you believe a player benching for Boyata at Celtics is better than a player doing well at FC Porto.

Daninya11:
The first leg is over and it's in the past now, please let us not make it our burden..

We should be asking ourselves how we are going to proffer solution or contribute positively to the team with criticism (it does not connote negativity)..

What should Siasia do right??

His tactical approach??

Which players should prosecute the match?? Etc

I am optimistic that we can get a win if we get our acts right..

There are no mistakes in life but lessons..

We should learn from our lessons and get a win next Tuesday..

Icon4s:
TheGoodJoe, have you seen any of Awaziem's games. Full live match, nt youtube highlights.

TheGoodJoe:
I will take Awaziem over Ambrose if he will play close to what he played today. That was atrocious and no form of discipline in Ambrose game. A so called experience defender.

I doubt for one second Awaziem can put up such a horror show.

TheGoodJoe:

We can not judge Salah with Mourinho's Chelsea when Lukaku, De Bruyne and Mata lost their place.

“For now, we have benefited. We knew the superb characteristics of the player, but we did not expect him to have such an impact on Italian football.”

“Perhaps only Messi is faster than him with the ball at one’s feet.”

-Vincenzo Montella

I repeat. Salah is up there with the best when it comes to attacking from the right.

TheGoodJoe:
What is the use of all the experience if it leads to Ambrose being one of the most reckless center backs in the history of the game. A young Boyata from Manchester City reserves keeps the experienced Ambrose on the bench.

Let Ambrose got to Porto and let us see if he will see shirt over Awaziem.

zuchyblink:
Amuzie is good and i prefer him to echiejile

chrisooblog:
Am a bit surprised by your assertion the echiejele I know strictly stays in defense barely overlaps Salah might trouble him but you can be damn sure he won't be caught out of position. I have watched him play in the lb role over the years and I haven't seen many instances of him being to blame for any goals we conceded

TheBiafran:
after watching today's match between the mediocre vultures and the egyptian pharos, my joy was not complete as i was expecting a 5 0 thrashing of the zoo team however, i have strong hope that they wont qualify for AFCON so am happy........ not too happy that they got a 1 all draw at home, in KADUNA
who saw that celebration of the egyptian keeper? it was epic!!!!!!!!1
now bubu will know for sure that he is badluck to the zoo in all aspect of the word
bubu is a disaster
bubu is an accident going somewhere to happen
my goodness me
now let the show begin
let the show begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TheGoodJoe:

Come on guys. Salah is one of the best wing attackers in the game today. He is someone who has clips with similar mazy run goals to Messi.

It seems you guys did not know what we were up against with Salah coming in from right. You will be mistaken if you expected a left back of ours to give Salah a quiet game. It does not happen in Europe against top backs.

Amuzie was a nuisance and stopped Salah from having a free day. Anything more than that is almost impossible and expecting more from Echiejile is far from the truth.

BascoVanVeli:
U must have an issue with Echiejile, he didn't even play and u saying we dodged a bullet. I tell u what, we dodged a bullet and jumped right into a bomb.

TheGoodJoe:

My biggest fear for this game was Echiejile. I never doubted that Salah would tear him to shreds. We dodged a bullet there. I believe that was a brilliant move by the coaches because the Egyptians spent time analyzing each of our players and they had enough ammunition for Echiejile.

AIG07:
Make I bring out my calculator. PERMUTATION AND COMBINATION as usual!

Our boys gave the egyptians a good fight but de laid down their weapons and slept off in the latter stage of d encounter.

The most heart breaking moment is seeing them equalize in d final min of d game.

Can't wait for the return leg in Alexandria. Onazi will be back then and musa can be drop to the bench for moses.

But our chances to qualifier as one of the best loosers is slim considering the fact that only 2teams out of 13groups will make it as d best loosers.

Let just hope we do d Impossible

TheGoodJoe:

I agree with you on all fronts. I missed that equalizer, so I can not say much about it. However, Coach Siasia should develop a more approach to the game. He was absolutely careless in his changes.

confun:
Just weak...they made me weak....

BascoVanVeli:
That is disgusting that they didn't obey the unwriten rule of the game. To me this has turned into war our players should be super motivated to defeat them in their own country.

BascoVanVeli:
Our leftback's name isn't Stanley it is Salah's toy. He made up a little ground in the 2nd half but his inexperience cost us at the end.

TheGoodJoe:
My gen went off just before the equalizer. What happened? Coach Siasia should learn to respect his opponents. His three changes were attacking changes. Aminu, Moses and Iwobi. He did not think of bringing in another defensive to secure the win


Iwobi's change was okay to secure him but we should have gone 4-5-1 and brought in a defensive midfielder instead of Aminu.

olapluto:
Siasia should let Amao handle the U23. I think Siasia is Super Eagles coach. He is the best we have going forward.

robosky02:
its now 5PM Nigerian time cos of the hot weather