₦airaland Forum

terzurum5:

Amen.
https://serving.thisdaylive.com/0BEF99D6-ACF5-4E2C-9779-8FA02BA3FCD4/assets/Amir-Angwe.jpg
*Amir Angwe

The death of this young player brought back the memories of how late Samuel Okwaraji slumped and died before home crowd. Angwe, 29, a striker with Julius Berger in 1995 also collapsed just with one minute before the end of an African Cup Winners’ Cup semi final match with Maxaquene of Mozambique at the Onikan Stadium in Lagos.
After he slumped, Angwe waved off playmates saying he would be fine but doctors at the stadium were unable to revive him. Doctors also confirmed Angwe to have died of a heart attack.
www.thisdaylive.com/articles/slump-and-die-the-tragedy-continues-/102938

Amir Angwe and Moses Akuhwa Kpakor and I are from the same Local Government Area.

Yeah Moses Kpakor, another Algiers '90 revelation. He was captain of BCC lions of Gboko.

Bros bt that pix u have there is definitely nt Amir Angwe. Amir no b onyinbo na.

forgiveness:
OK, What proof do you also have to show that the NFF confirmed that Rufai was shying away from National duties?

We all know that all players must rise and fall and Rufai is not an exception. Fine, he was not there in 1994 but he was still the best we had at that moment and he did saved us in the penalty shoot out against the same Ivory Coast. However, you should also remember he had sight issue at that time hence he was very bad at aerial ball.

Abeg, I no wan remember those friendlies. Seadorf wa kill us
we were thrashed so badly. Baruwa na basket. In fact, I already lost hope before the world Cup.

Baruwa , Omo Alhaja.
The guy jst dey excort ball enter net.Na inside rain we watch that match. All my friends left and went home at 3-0. Na me tell them the 5-1 final scores

casket:
Oga Icon4s is always on point ...I really have a good and vivid memory..

I started watching football in year 1994 though but would need tabs of Memorex to remember the country that hosted 1994 AFCON

Tunisia hosted.

terzurum5:

Amir Angwe and Daniel Amokachi, all from the same state right? I had not started watching football then, who carry my eyes see T V then? Funny enough.

Oga you na baba.

Never knew Amir Angwe was from Benue.
I will never forget how Amir Angwe scored a hart-trick in our 7-1 thrashing of Burkina Faso enroute qualification for Senegal '92 AFCON. May his soul RIP.

We all started watching football at different times. 2 or 3 decades from now u too will b discussing Iheanacho, Ighalo, & co to d future young generation.

lexyman:
Icon and forgiveness u ve been great here , you brought about some good old memories .....but It was in saudi 85 at the kingfaad stadium that Peter Rufai shone like a million star after saving some penalty shoot out against U.S.S.R. I think he wasn't part of the team that played in 1984 nations cup . The saudi 85 was the under 21 World Cup , presently the under 20 world cup .how come Rufai was part of the nations cup in 1984?

Oga, na wa for u o. U jst dey mix every thing up. I understand cos these are event of abt 3 decades ago. Firstly forgiveness was right abt Rufai featuring at AFCON '84 which was hosted by Ivory Coast. Rufai was nt part of the 1985 U20. The 1985 U20/21 was hosted by USSR and nt Saudi Arabia. The tourney Saudi Arabia hosted was Saudi '89 U21. The penalty shoot-out was against the USSR as u rightly stated but d player in goal for d penalties was Emeka Amadi ( d goalkeeper trainer with d Amuneke's 2015 Eaglets). Seems u too belong to d old school.

forgiveness:
Your are right about Wole Odegbami.
Prior to 90 Nations Cup, Peter Rufai was outstanding in 84 Nations Cup, he saved 3 out of 5 penalties against Ivory Coast but Onigbinde dropped him in the finals. What happened?

Westerhor can lie for..... he even lied that Etim Essin was a car dealer. Of course, he lied that Rufai refused invitation. If Rufai were at the goal post he would have saved us. What happened when he came back in 1994? You know now?

What proof do u have that Westerhof lied abt Rufai's refusal to honour unvitations. The then NFA officials confirmed that Peter Rufai was shying away from national team call up. Aloy Agu was in goal again at Senegal 1992. A cheap goal he conceded in that 3rd place play-off ended his national team career.Remember how he, Aloy Agu, crawled like a Lizard on the floor in other to punch a goal bound ball which finally became a goal? Peter Rufai hu had been sidelined was call up for the 1994 WC qualifiers. Nobody was saying Peter Rufai was nt better than Aloy Agu. The case may b similar to what we have now where Enyeama has dumped Nigeria and we had to field Carl Ikeme. We know Enyeama is better bt Carl is the one hu is available.

Rufai's best tourney was Maroc '88, beaten in that final from a spot kick by Emmanuel Kunde of Cameroun.

By 1994 Peter Rufai was already becoming a shadow of his old self. His reflexes had become poor as he was always beaten from close range.

Recall the 94 AFCON semi-final 2-2 draw against Ivory Coast? Recall both goals for CIV was scored by one player: Mitchelle Basole. Recall he really exploited this Rufai's weakness to score d 2goals.
Again in the final against Zambia Elijah Litana hu scored Zambia's only goal scored from a close range header following a corner kick.

By 1998 the coach then was going to get rid of Rufai bt a pre-World cup friendly against Holland terminated Abiodun Baruwa, the then first choice goalie's, WC dreams. Holland won 5-1! And Baruwa was virtually escorting the balls into d net. I can't forget that rainy night in my neighbourhood.
Rufai was called back to d squad bt had a disastrous tournament.

I quite agree that prio to d emergence of Enyeama, Rufai was our greatest. His Maroc '88 heroics got into his head and he started avoiding national team call ups.

forgiveness:
Bros, Aloy Agu was the reason we were thrashed in Algiers 90. Rufai was obviously better than him but Westerhof wanted to bring his brother inlaw. He wanted to do the same in 1994 after losing twice with his in law but Nigerians went against his wish and Rufai was restored. The rest is history.

Segun Odegbami resigned from the National team in 1982 while Wole Odegbami never played for the National team. So, how can they be dropped?

Made a mistake abt Segun Odegbami. Infact he retired after we failed to defend our AFCON title which was held in Ghana in 1982. This also followed d disappointment of nt qualifying for the 1982 WC.

However, Wole Odegbami featured at the 1988 AFCON. So westerhorf dropped him from his team ahead of Algiers '90.

Talking abt Aloy Agu's performance. In case u have forhgotten let me remind u of the results of our matches.

Algeria 5-1 Nigeria.
Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
Nigeria 1-0 Ivory Coast
Semis: Zambia 0-2 Nigeria
Final: Algeria 1-0 Nigeria.
We only conceded against Algeria.
If u recall the first game we were 1-0 down at half time. In an attempt to equalize we let our back open and Raba Maja did the havoc. Aloy Agu went on a three match stretch without conceding until d final when he could nt stop Medaj Jamel's 1st half super strike. I dnt know how Aloy Agu is Westerhof's inlaw. Peter Rufai refused to honour national team's invitation and Aloy Agu was next in line. Kst like what Enyeama is forming to Nigeria today.

tbaba1234:
Elahor's left foot , great player.. Westerhof took a risk in that tournament. Fortunately, it paid off.

Yeah, he dropped Peter Rufai for little fancied Aloy Agu(the 1983 U20 goalie). He also dropped d mecurial Henry Nwosu for a Thompson Oliha ( a product of the 1987 Flying Eagles). He dropped the likes of Shegun and Wole Odegbami, Bright Omokaro (10-10), Ndubuisi Okosieme etc. He also brought in Daniel Amokachi, Amin Angwe, Friday Elahor, Friday Ekpo. He however, retained Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini and Austine Eguavoen. It was a squad mixed with experience and inexperience. Yekini, Elahor, Amokachi and Aloy Agu where stand out performers in that tourney.

Hmmm Algiers '90, I will never forget, Menaj Jamel and Raba Maja both of Algeria. Those guys were ballers.

safarigirl:
There are talks Kelechi will be joining the City's UCL squad to replace an injured Nasri

Bony is injured for now and Pelle has expressly stated City will not be looking to buy another striker in the January transfer window, couple that with the fact that City have rejected loan moves from West Ham, Bournemouth and Sunderland and Kelechi may just get that playing time.

Good News. Bt i hope it will nt be another 3-5mins playing time thing.

tbaba1234:
Nwakali and Chukwueze to join Arsenal... Good news.. Hope they can break in.

Goodnews. They are going straight to d academies. I am really happy for Chukwueze. A player with so much potential bt went a bit flat as d U17 tourney got to d final stages. Kelechi Nwankali will fit into d Arsenal system as he is a very good passer of the ball, a highly creative player and has a very high work rate.

tbaba1234:
I remember Friday Ekpo very well. My football memory starts from Algiers/Italia 90. You are a chairman. Lol..

Well, you try sha. I will never forget what Raba Maja did to us in that 5-1 opening game lose at Algiers '90. Aloy Agu was in goal. I wept!

That tourney saw d dawning of a new era.Friday Elastic Elahor, Amin Angwe(RIP), Daniel Amokachi, Rashidi Yekini, Thompson Oliha, Ben Iroha all featured prominently.

tbaba1234:
He was not a starter in the Super Eagles in 93/94. A certain Thompson Oliha started over okocha.

He was flashy and had potential but the end result was often lacking.

Yeah spot on man. The 1994 AFCON team was so stars studded that Okocha and Amuneke were subs. Amuneke's break through was d only game he played in that AFCON which was d final against Zambia. That I think was d only game Okocha played too.

While Amuneke played in all our '94 world cup games, Okocha only played in d 2nd rnd game against Italy. Thompson Oliha (RIP) was the midfield martial then. Okocha took over from him displacing Friday Ekpo, another fine central midfielder. Oliha took over from Henry Nwosu at Algiers '90. Etim Esin was a threat to Henry Nwosu going into Maroc '88 bt indiscipline caused Etim Esin d opportunity.Meanwhile Henry Nwosu debuted in the Espana 82 WC qualifiers against Guinea and scored the only goal as we scaled through on 1-0 aggregate.That game was played in 1981 at d National stadium Surulere, Lagos. Wjat i remember most abt d game was how the 17 yrs old Henry Nwosu was carried shouldera high by d Lagos fans hu invaded d pitch.

BascoVanVeli:
Okocha played for no youth teams in 93 he was already a super eagle.

Ah! Dnt go there. I can read you the team list of The Nigerian squad to the 1993 AYC held in Mauritius. Okocha and Kanu were members of that team o.

Kanu ke? Surprised? Yes Nwankwo Kanu.

Okocha was later in that same year invited to d Super Eagles where he debuted against Algeria and scored from a free kick.

forgiveness:
I hope they play to our expectation. However, don't forget that Raheem Lawal was the joint highest goal scorer and the best Nigerian player at the previous U23 Africa championship and he is a better attacking midfielder than those two players you mentioned and the guy plays regularly for his club in that position.

Bros, comparing Okocha to those lads?

Okocho never won any MVP when he was 17. Neither did he win any tourney bt Azubuike and Nwakali at 18 & 17 respectively have won both MVPs and National team titles and both as captain. U think these 2 lads cannot develop to d level of Okocha. See I watched Okocha play at the 1993 AYC. He wasnt so exceptional.

forgiveness:
I hope they play to our expectation. However, don't forget that Raheem Lawal was the joint highest goal scorer and the best Nigerian player at the previous U23 Africa championship and he is a better attacking midfielder than those two players you mentioned and the guy plays regularly for his club in that position.

Bros, comparing Okocha to those lads?

Raheem Lawal featured for the Super Eagles during Keshi. He wasn't so impressive. Raheem is abt 26-27 yrs old now and must have reached d summit of his career. K. Nwakali and Azubuike are jst starting and have shown so much promises. Our hope lies more on them.

what's ur price pls.

tbaba1234:
I rate iheanacho higher to be honest. That kid is a natural. Etebor is quite impressive with his power and pace but Iheanacho is the most natural finisher Nigeria has produced in a while. Potentially a superstar.

Ok.

BascoVanVeli:
Let me be honest sometimes i don't know who is who in our midfield. Seems like they all do the same duties.

It is no news that the last midfield maestro we had was Austine Okocha.Joel Obi would have been his successor bt ... u know his story.

However, two fantastic central midfielders have jst emerged: Kelechi Nwakali and Azubuike Okechukwu both 17 & 18 yrs olds respectively. These are midfielders that boss oppositions jst like Okocha did during his days. Midfielders that can single handedly influence d course of a game. We are tired of the Mikelish timid kind of midfielders. We can only hope Azubuike and Nwakali progress well and live up to our expectations.

I would like to see them both play d next U20. One of which can b made to play a more forward role (AM) prefarably Nwakali due to his excellent passing skills, dribbling abilitied and good eye for goals.Let him play jst behind Osimhen or Sadiq Umar or hu ever emerges d first choice Centre forward.

tbaba1234:
The Olympic team is as close to the Super Eagles at it comes. I believe that everyone in the Olympic team should stand a chance of breaking into the Super eagles.

I do not see Sokari leading our midfield. I can see Etebor making the step up, for instance.

So between Iheanacho and Etebor hu do u rate higher in that position?

Jst give a simple and honest answer. Dnt be scared of the "Nacho" fans attack.

BascoVanVeli:
Ifeanyi Matthew with the goal.

Good for him. Come to think of it, he is 18 so still eligible for the 2017 U20.
He was very consistent with Elkanemi in d jst concluded season.

I hope he takes this form into the CHAN.

tbaba1234:
Forgiven

I have nothing against him. From what I have seen, he is not good enough. I am not the first person saying it. Some journalists have expressed similar sentiment.

Not good enough for which team? The Olympic team or the Super Eagles?

joseph1013:
I don't agree with you. If we judge him strictly based on what he displayed in the Flying Eagles, Dream Team and Super Eagles, he is not good enough.

If u judge Odion Ighalo based only on his super eagles performances, u will say he is not good enough.

Did u ever watch Sokari play at Enyimba?
Bring Iheanacho and Iwobi to d super eagles and lets see whether they can make those sleek passes they make at d EPL.

BascoVanVeli:
He is a master of the final ball, he can either pass or score the goal. We don't get to see the full package with the national team but anyone who watched him at Enyimba will tell u that he is no slouch.

Spot on. I am a fan of Enyimba FC. I hardly missed any of Enyimba's games aired live on Super Sports.Sokari is such an efficient AM which earned him the NPFL young player of 2014. He is always so direct and never afraid of taking on defenders.

Peeps dnt know d abilities of these NPFL players cos they see nothing good in our local league. Did anybody watch Ifeanyi Mathew at Elkanemi Warriors this jst concluded season? The boy is doing great things. Learnt he has been impressive at d CHAN camp. The pair of Azubuike Okechukwu and Oghenekaro Etebor kept him out of the U23 team to CAF U23 tourney.

tbaba1234:
I do not see what he has, apart from a powerful shot.

He is tentative on the ball, keeps it longer than he should. Thereby slowing down play. His passes are not exceptional.

The thing is most of u guys have nt forgiven Sokari for putting Iheanacho on the bench at the WYC. Peeps here hu dnt like him will always see nothing good him.

U simply dnt know Kingsley Sokari well.

tbaba1234:
I don't rate sokari.. Iwobi is a big boy, I am sure he will be OK with the physical aspect. For the Olympics, he won't have to worry about African football. Iheanacho can play on either wing of a three-pronged attack as well.

I feel the middle might be a better position for Iwobi. He does not impress me on the wings, as much. Too early to say. Let him play a few more games in that position. I will not be surprised if wenger grooms him for a centre midfield role.

You don't rate Sokari, why?

forgiveness:
I think Abdul Ajagun is also a good number 10 and I think he's ahead of all these players because he plays regularly on that position for his club. He is also on course for the Olympics football game.

I know Abdul Ajagun very well. He was the 2013 Flying Eagles captain.I have also advocated for his inclusion in this Olympic team in times past. He is a fantastic number 10 and also more experienced and more agile than the other contenders.He is also a very good dribbler. He is ripe for a Super Eagles call up also.

tbaba1234:
Musa Muhammad got red carded today. Straight red. Haven't watched the highlights.

Too bad. But that is part of the game as a defender.

Remembering those days of "If you miss the ball dnt miss the leg"!

Petrobros:
I dnt usually comment here often bt let me comment on this. What u said was that "Sadiq Umar has displace Edin Dzeko in the Roma line up". It is different from saying "Umar displaced Dzeko". "Has" in the first statement is a present continuous tense. Meaning that Umar is now the top striker for AS Roma.

U guys are always quick in hyping some of these young players. Mr icon4s is one of the very few pple that are objective in that regards here. Most of those our youth players "are not yet there"
I also love TheGoodJoe' comments bt at times he gets carried away by his love for "Nacho".
Forgiveness and Bascovanveli seemed to have formed an allie in arguments and i respect there pts of view alot too.

U guys are great analysts. I love ur arguments. Peace!

This man.... na wa for u o.

Caspian22:
Overall...

Apart from Mohammed, i have nt seen the other two guys play. So i can't do the comparison.

tbaba1234:
Should Iwobi play 10 for the eagles (not necessarily as a starter) ? He showed his potential in the cup game and his eye for a pass. Perhaps, he should play through the centre instead of the wings.

Dnt b too quick bro. We know y Oliseh capped him was to secure his nationality as a Nigerian. We should talk abt his chances at the Olympic team . For now i dnt think he has that physique to weather through the African defences and even make those passes on our bumpy pitches. Iheanacho, Etebor and Sokari can also play that number 10 position for the U23. Although Etebor can also play from the wing and central midfield. The Olympic team is gonna b very competitive. It is left for Iwobi to prove to the Siasia led crew that he is better than Etebor, Iheanacho and Sokari. He alternatively can b picked as a winger.

forgiveness:
Your comparison was between players groomed in Europe and the players groomed in Nigeria.

You mean Nigerian players that were groomed in Europe and what they have contributed/contributing to d national teams in Europe

1, David_Alaba, Austria
2, Rose Barkley, England
3, Dele Alli, England
4, Dennis Aogo, Germany
5, Patrick Owomoyela, Germany

When I say "the national team" I am sure u know which national team I am talking abt.

forgiveness:
Do you mean players like Ronaldo, Messi, Ozil, Inesta etcetera groomed in Europe are not better than NPFL players?

Last time i checked those players u mentioned are nt Nigerians. Give me a list of Nigerian players groomed in Europe and what they have contributed to d national team.