₦airaland Forum

Curtisaxel7:
Did you watch the friendly against Zimbabwe? Balogun was an absolute beast in that game, I remember an occasion when he was isolated in defence and marked by two Zimbabwean attackers but he somehow managed to not only beat them but still make a meaningful forward pass at the end of it to trigger a rapturous applause from the fans.



Omeruo and Ekong in such a situation will panic and kick the ball into the sidelines. That is the quality Balogun brings to the table. The Madagascar game was an off day for him, it happens even to the best players. You can't judge a player's quality by the achievements or mistakes of a single game.

TheGoodJoe:
The point is time. Amunike was in the group of death and what played out was expected before the whistle was blown in the tournament.

It will take time to turn mediocres like Tanzania to compete in such unfavourable group. Rohr on the other hand had a plethora of quality players but chose to set up in a mediocre way.

I am okay with losing while teaching the team to play in an offensive brand but I find it ridiculous playing conservative for results because in the end, the team is not growing. Our best chance to get a good grade coach who understands the possessive philosophy and can impact that knowledge lies with Amunike. Someone who has trained and worked with some of the masters.

If you still want conservative footie, good for you. As for me, the philosophy comes first and with time, the result. Rohr does not have the philosophy.

daveP:
Talk like this is disgusting. Mikel over Etebo. Current Mikel?

What are you even saying.

Etebo has been the most reliable SE player this Afcon. Chai

Curtisaxel7:
Wrong. I have always screamed and shouted for Mikel to be played at CM. Even when I saw the match list I criticized Rohr for his inflexibility.

So it's not a hindsight thing. It was clear since the first game of this tourney that Etebo is never a creator and it was costing us heavily as the team was finding it extremely difficult moving the ball from defence to attack. We all know this, it's not hidden knowledge.

forgiveness:
I will have to agree with you on this.

forgiveness:
The only game I remembered Shehu did well was the match he won man of the match. The rest na wack.

I agree Shehu and Awaziem play the same way though Awaziem has an edge with his good passes but they are still in the same category. Both are not good enough for the RB position.

forgiveness:
Even after we equalised and Awaziem got a yellow card, Rohr should have changed him. Na common sense na.

forgiveness:
Rohr should have changed the formation to 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 if he read the match and wanted to destabilise the Algerians plot.

forgiveness:
Exactly! But I would had brought in Aina for Awaziem first to see if he could had helped free Chukwueze and gotten him pace to ran at the defenders before switching to that formation peradventure it didn't work.

The problem was, Rohr didn't have plan B.

Curtisaxel7:
Balogun should've started that game ahead of that Ekong. Ekong and Omeruo are horrible ball passers, they are only good for tackles and nothing else. Balogun brings that finesse and flair to the defence and in a game where Rohr intended to use his usual strategy of long passes from the CB's to the forwards, Balogun should've been the natural choice. I wonder how a coach can condemn a his best defender to the bench because of a single howler. That was just stupid of Rohr.

Curtisaxel7:
Mikel should've started that game ahead of Etebo.

Etebo is just a combative box to box hard tackling midfielder. No finesse, no passing abilities, no game control abilities, nothing. Service to our forwards was virtually non existent, courtesy of a dead midfield. Sadly, Mikel who should've been at the heart of the midfield was played out of position a couple of times and then condemned to the bench.

Rohr needs to learn, you don't win a game with tackles alone.

BascoVanVeli:
Stop changing my words I said you don't like the player nothing was mentioned about hate. Nobody asked you to make a call for anybody. Someone else made the call and you were acting like the person was crazy.

Shehu has had more good games than bad. In fact I can't name a bad game he has had apart from maybe the Argentina friendly. All you people said "Shehu never goes forward but Awaziem played basically the same way and you are like what a great player so disciplined.

cheapgoals:
Playing at the highest level of National team football is every professional football player’s dream, a status which the African Cup of Nations and other Continental competitions have, just right behind the FIFA World Cup.

For every player born or eligible for an African team, playing at the AFCON is an achievement of the sort. Since the inaugural edition of the competition which saw three teams participate in it, the competition has grown in leaps and bounds with the number of participating teams rising.

In 2019, the competition for the first time sees a record number of 24 teams participating and as expected three new countries have registered their names on the attendance sheet for the biggest football fiesta in Africa.

Madagascar, Burundi and Mauritania join thirty-nine others who have featured at the AFCON having qualified for the first time in their histories, however, with the 24-team format more teams are expected to debut at the competition in subsequent edition but until then, here are the teams that have never played at the AFCON


Central African Republic

https://i2.wp.com/www.nationallightngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Seychelles-national-team.jpg?resize=560%2C416&ssl=1

Ranking: 112
Nickname: Les Fauves
Head coach : Vacant
Captain : Joeffery Kondogbia
Home Ground: Barthélémy Boganda Stadium

Chad

https://i1.wp.com/cheapgoals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/b7b52d529ef22943bef3b4d671deb071.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1

Ranking: 174
Nickname: Les Sao
Head Coach: Moudou Kouta
Captain : Ezechiel N’Douassel
Home Ground: Stade National


Comoros

https://i1.wp.com/cheapgoals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/images-11-2.jpeg?w=599&ssl=1

Ranking: 148
Nickname: Les Coelacantes
Head Coach: Amir Abdou
Captain: Nadjim Abdou
Home Ground: Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh


Djibouti

https://img.fifa.com/image/upload/t_l4/sgvqxixvbj8akbkq7w94.jpg

Ranking: 195
Nickname: Shoremen of The Red Sea
Head Coach: Julien Mette
Captain: Ahmed Daher
Home Ground: Stade du Ville

Eritrea

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/8019/production/_86139723_eritreans.jpg

Ranking: 202
Nickname: Red Sea Camels
Head coach: Alemseged Efrem
Captain: Henok Goitom
Home Ground: Cicero Stadium

Eswatini

https://www.cafonline.com/portals/0/LinkDev.ImagesGallery/1033/d055de22-1a72-416f-9037-75e82b0796e1.jpg

Ranking: 141
Nickname: King shield
Head coach : Kosta papic
Captain : Siyanbonga Mduli
Home Ground : Somhlolo National Stadium

Gambia

https://i0.wp.com/cheapgoals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/images-28-2.jpeg?w=756&ssl=1

Ranking: 161
Nickname: The Scorpion
Head coach: Tom Saintfiet
Captain: Pa Modou Jagne
Home Ground : Independence Stadium


Lesotho

https://i2.wp.com/cheapgoals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/images-29-1.jpeg?w=678&ssl=1

Ranking: 145
Nickname: Likuena (Crocodile)
Head coach: Moses Maliehe
Captain : Samuel Setono Kh’etsekile
Home Ground: Setsoto Stadium


São Tomé and Príncipe

https://statics.sportskeeda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/tome-1420475536.jpg

Ranking:. 185
Nickname: The Falcons and True Parrots
Head coach: Gustave Clément Nyoumba
Captain: Luis Leal
Home Ground: Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho


Seychelles

https://i2.wp.com/www.nationallightngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Seychelles-national-team.jpg?resize=560%2C416&ssl=1

Ranking: 194
Nickname: Pirates
Head coach: Gavin Jeanne
Captain : Jone jaubert
Home Ground: Stade Linité


Somalia

https://i0.wp.com/cheapgoals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/images-31-1.jpeg?w=640&ssl=1

Ranking: 202
Nickname: Ocean Stars
Head coach: Bashir Hayford
Captain: Hassan Ali Roble “Babay
Home Ground: Mogadishu National Stadium


South Sudan

https://i1.wp.com/cheapgoals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/images-12-2.jpeg?w=480&ssl=1

Ranking: 168
Nickname: Bright Stars
Head Coach: Ramsey Sebit (Caretaker)
Captain : Jumma Genaro
Home Ground: Juba National Stadium


Source:https://cheapgoals.com/the-teams-that-have-never-played-at-the-afcon/

Clementoke:
DECLARATION OF WAR

In a bid to defeat Rohr's men, the Algerian Government has ordered military planes to fly about 1,400 fans to Egypt to drum up support for the Desert foxes. The plan is for them to leave after the match with the Super Eagles but they might stay back for the Final (should the fennecs triumph in the semifinal clash).

From Goal.com

nairalandankrah:
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Algeria 7 wins
Draws 3
Nigeria 9 wins
Last meetings - AFCON

22 Mar 1980: Nigeria 3-0 Algeria
10 Mar 1982: Nigeria 1-2 Algeria
11 Mar 1984: Nigeria 0-0 Algeria
23 Mar 1988: Nigeria 1-1 Algeria
02 Mar 1990: Algeria 5-1 Nigeria
16 Mar 1990: Algeria 1-0 Nigeria
21 Jan 2002: Algeria 0-1 Nigeria
30 Jan 2010: Nigeria 1-0 Algeria

ChrisKels:
Remember the day I told u guys I was humbled by Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze? Damne just stumbled on this pic, 2016, back of stadium Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU).

holllandis:
Why does Nigeria have to be the away team ?

Gracealone:
It is a known fact to all that the Nigerian Super Eagles have been drawn against the Algerian national team in the AFCON 2019 Semi-finals. Super Eagles are going to be the away team, this suggests that they would probably be donning the deep green away jersey.

Frankly, I am not the superstitious type, but my observation is that Nigeria has never recorded a good result in these colours. I have shared it jokingly with some friends and they laughed it off.

What is your take?

darkelf:
I am a Bonafide Nigerian and I love the Super Eagles

In the beginning, I had doubts about this team but they are gradually winning me over with their attitude on the field of play

But I know one fact; everybody cannot say positive things about the Super Eagles all the time. We are created different and we think differently.

Hence, it only makes sense to respect the opinions of others no matter how silly they may sound.

Granted, we give each other a hard time here by yabbing and making jokes about our wrong predictions and what nots but this should never degenerate to insults.

Some of us here have a hard time swallowing the opinions of others and cannot make intelligent arguments without insulting the other party. Times without number, I have called out some of these people. While some apologize and retract their statements, others remain adamant and choose not to admit their wrongs.

I want to believe we all possess a level of intelligence to converse on this thread and what differentiates the mature minds from kids is the ability to question opposing arguments with facts and without rude remarks.

I am calling on us especially those of us who are elders to act accordingly:

You don't have to reply every rude remark.

You are not in control of the other persons thoughts and opinions; positive and negative

I also want to believe that you (the agggressor) don't feed the aggressee neither do you clothe or pay his house rent . So the person can oppose you when he wants albeit intelligently.

ccSuperNerd, Chriskels, Icon4s, elyte89, Odunayaw, Earthquake3, Joebie, andrew444, Chrisoblog, safarigirl, Kog45, Mujtahida, Charlesemeka, Komekn, Forgiveness, Jarus, Mikael2, DrLikita, soetanoreoluwa, sontoly and those whose names I cant remember.

Stay blessed and Stay happy y'all

Up Super Eagles, Go for glory

Joebie:
NIGERIA WILL GET TO THE FINALS.

ChrisKels:
Icant believe Iam saying this, but etebo has been my best midfielder and most consistent player in this tournament. Yes I labelled him a Carpenter, buh boy is killing it .

someone should plz find Mikel a super glue on that bench

ChrisKels:
Don't use "may" say "will". He has never been a rb, he is there as a make shift ,yet, killing it but u and ur goons wouldn't give him the credit he deserves .


Dat ogogoro drinker wey dey beat empty chest say him go drive from London through Spain to Morocco, then Egypt to see the afcon live, plz help me tell am say Awaziem says Hi

darkelf:
Rohr just need tactical assistants who can read the game better. Honestly, I was also rooting for his exit but having excellent assistants is a better and more humane strategy. Remember he built this team.

ChrisKels:
Guys plz what time is our match tomorrow? I wan use this morning strategize my tomorrow shift at work plz.

Plz answer ASAP. Tnx

fabyom:
they outplayed us both in 1988 and 2000 AFCON final.

TheSuperNerd:
Afcon TITBITS

The three out of the four times Cameroun beat Nigeria were in the Afcon finals of 1984, 1988 and 2000.

Three times they hurt us when it really mattered. Even the other time they beat us was in a WCQ.

That is why our victory on saturday is more than sweet because we have also hurt them when it matters most. Just like in the 1962 Nkrumah Cup, 2004 Afcon, 2018 WCQs and now this at AFCON 2019. Twice we have rendered them ousted Defending champs.

Can't count Afcon 1992 because it was third place. Can't refer too to WCQs for 1970 because we didn't qualify even though we floored Cameroun.

Beating them when it truly truly matters. That is what I count here.

This is partly why it is the fiercest rivalry and biggest derby in African soccer.


Against South Africa, The Super Eagles must soar even higher. And I trust they will.

komekn:
Aina was always quality just did not get any game time at Chelsea a characteristic of this club and it's young talents.

He had an outstanding season at Hull on loan and then took to Seria A like a fish to water.

Omeruo case is different he is a lot older and a lot more experienced. And has been a journey man player loan to loan all his career.

The different values placed on the players is indicative of how much clubs rate thier individual quality and attributes.