₦airaland Forum

TheSuperNerd:
Chaaaiiii.... Chriskels oooooo.... Loooollll... But Chris my dad is right. You don't have Moroccan citizenship. You talked them up but you no get their Citizenship abeg. First you are a Senegalese by permanent adaptation, then you married an Ivorian and was bestowed with their Citizenship as you did them a favor donating your handsome genes to their nation and you are a Nigerian only by birth. Three Citizenships you have and two which you regard most have fallen thine hands while the citizenship you most abhor has become the king of the afcon dance so far... Lol

Bia Chris.... No blame my papa for your losses oooo.

Go cry in peace...

No mind that guy. Sebi I don promise am say when I meet him in person the first thing I will give to him is a knock on his head

TheSuperNerd:
I remember the discussion. And no, unlike some, I didn't think you were overrating Morocco. It was me who even confessed to rating Morocco as my favorite African Team after The Super Eagles. I just love their solidity and quality. In Mazraoui and Hakimi they have fullbacks that will serve them quality wing football from a defensive and offensive standpoint, for a decade or more.... Such quality I tell you.

I have always followed En-Nesyri but I hardly talk about other non-Nigerian players on this thread like that. I do that occasionally or unless in discussions.

The lad is very good. Standing at 1.88m and has a sharp eye and quick feet... That is my kind of dream young striker... But I rate Osimhen above the lad. Osimhen has this "complete young super striker aura" about him. And Osimhen uses both feet well too and is a beast in the air. What's more, Osimhen like a young drogba will help out defensively by pressing the opposition ceaselessly. He puts his body about excellently and does that better than En-Nesyri. I have watched both extensively and intensively and I can tell you authoritatively that Osimhen edges.

No mind Chris. E wan go claim Morocco glory.

Shifting nationalities upandan. He doesn't want to be on any losing side. Chriskels sebi I have told you that Las Las na France you go dey look for to support for this AFCON.

You better quit all these your shifting tactics and support Nigeria whole heatedly.

ChrisKels:
U were here when I was raving about him this past season, they(Icon4s especially) said I was over rating Morocco. I have been following the boy because of Omeruo. Did u see his record breaking hattrick in the laliga? I tell u bro, En Nesryi is good. Both foot are working and he is a very big threat in the air, his positioning is KPOM also

You and your diversionary tactics. Show me where I said you were over rating Morocco.

So because your over rated Senegal and Ivory Coast have disappointed, you now want to apply your diversionary tactics.

If you like make you blame Icon4s for the defeat of Ivory Coast and Senegal u here?

jihday:
Chei how the mighty have fallen,i see people saying we overating our team by predicting a semifinal berth, SMH. let me remind you all that we made semis of all AFCON played from 2000-2010 except 2008 so saying we'll make semifinal isn't overrating our boys, it's supposed to be the minimum sef.

Infact, since after the 1982 AFCON we have made the semifinals in all the AFCONs we have participated in except that 2008 AFCON.

andrew444:
You see question you run

When last did a North African team won the afcon ?

Before Cameroon there was Ivory Coast and naija

Bro, u are a new commer as far as the AFCON is concerned.

Just watch quietly and observe.

damagnificentusb:
someone here once said he is better Alex Iwobi chaiiiiiiiiii

To some here every player is better than Nigerian players

andrew444:
because Nigeria players don't need such mediocre league to progress to the next level


Sir be truthful for once and stop being bias

Even basco Laff ,sad but the truth

Say npfl na better league ?

Calm down, read my question again and answer.

How is the Exodus of the NPFL's best legs good News for the NPFL?

BascoVanVeli:
I told u when the chip get put on the table France will fold. Just like they have been doing for years if it wasn't the US it was going to be somebody else.

They would have had an easier passage if they faced any other team but USA

andrew444:
Wetin consign me and last 10

Inside the last 10 Nigeria dey among and the so called francophone west Africa dey among

Abi I lie ?

When last did a North African team won the afcon ?

Oga, Google is your friend.

andrew444:
Lol

So you want them to stay on that mediocre league for the rest of their career like rabiu Ali ?

It's good news npfl players are being bought rather than going for trials in Poland 2nd division and co and end up being rejected

Junior lokosa should thank God he got an escape with that Tunisia club

Some times please read and digest before you comment.

The fellow i quoted said "it is good news for the NPFL".

Now answer the question. How is the Exodus of the best legs in the NPFL good news for the NPFL.

andrew444:
Who won the last 2 afcon ?

Is it North African teams or francophone teams ?

I need your answers

When last did North African teams won the afcon ?

Francophone West Africa I said. Cameroon is not part of it.

Who won the last 10 AFCONs?

tbaba1234:
Bafana Bafana is a terrible side.. How did we not trash these guys??

I would rather say the Namibian team is unexpectedly so good. How did Namibian football get to this stage?

darkelf:
In fact, Football is really full of surprises

Oga, nothing like surprises. This is the AFCON. The teams with the highest number of stars don't often win. Besides, like I said before there are perennial over achievers and perennial under achievers.

I will never put my money on those Francophone west African teams to win the AFCON. Their players are only good for European competitons. But when it comes to the AFCON or World Cup they start chasing shadows.

BascoVanVeli:
Oga Icon4s shey u don see ur France? Don't mess with the US in this women's game ooo

No, US are the best team in Women's football but France had a good chance because of home advantage.

darkelf:
Me, I no even rate them before. Na senegal I rate even above Nigeria but with their display yesterday, I'm not so sure again. Seems they don't play as a team

Now, this is the African Cup of Nations. We know who the perennial over achievers and under achievers.

You think people that rated Cameroon higher than Senegal to win it are mad?

chrisooblog:
the ivorians no doubt have quality but I still think they're Limited in the midfield area just like their Senegalese counterpart

The same midfield wey some francophone pipo here no let us hear word about.

andrew444:
This is good news for npfl

even odey has signed 5 year deal for genk

small time we go see odey for epl or laliga

Hope una know say na from genk ndidi use come epl

bascovanvelli where are you?

Is it really good news that the NPFL is losing its best legs?

Team Senegal, how market?

.

Yet another junk write up.

I don't know how and why it is difficult understanding how teams qualification is calculated for these 24 team tournaments

TheSuperNerd:
Finally, the one I looked forward to seeing the most.... *teary eyed*

Papa! Daddy mi! Still the no.1 Arch Guardian of the halls of Experience in this mighty house... I greet you Dad...

I am lost for much words... It's good to be home. **Sobs on his shoulder**

Hey son!
You got us worried!

Hope our messages were well delivered by those we sent to you?

The analysis of this team during a competition like the AFCON is not complete without your input.

Good job on your Nigeria vs Guinea analysis. And hope we will have you around for the rest of the AFCON.

TheSuperNerd:
Super Eagles Review so far + Bonus Titbit

- Iwobi may have struggled to settle into a good rhythm in the Guinea game but he remains our best bet in the #10 role. And mehn like Tbaba1234 already pointed out... He hit some fine strikes today that brought out two awesome saves from Kone in the Guinea goal. That lays to to rest the saying that "Iwobi cannot shoot." Even Chelsea felt his shooting wrath in the Uefa UEL Final.

- Mikel as DLP/CM remains one of the masterstrokes we haven't executed yet at the Afcon. Perhaps Rohr hasn't seen the need for it yet ..... But I feel that time may yet come. But Mikel as our #10... Please never again especially not in his last tournament for us.

- In Moses Simon and Samuel Kalu we have wingers who give us options tactically and organisationally as both offer so much defensively and offensively too.
Chukwueze and Onyekuru are inverted wingers/Wing forwards needed only to stretch defences further and put them on the back foot intensely.
Their usage will depend on our tactical set-ups and approaches at any point in time as we progress.

Additionally, Chukwueze's skills, trickery, and Vision also mean he could potentially grow into an alternate role as AM/SS apart from his main role as RW/RWF.


- Ighalo wasted two big chances today... Yes! But he still remains a genuine threat upfront as he keeps defences honest. But Osimhen could yet prove an Upgrade even now if, and only if, he gets his chance against Madagascar and takes it with both hands and feet.


- Onuachu is a fine player but his best will only come when he plays with a player like Kalu on the wings and Aina from the left both whipping in fine crosses at intervals into the box.
His monstrous height could still prove a weapon in setpiece situations going forward now that Kalu has marked his return and also with Moses Simon's crossing form, from setpieces.


- Omeruo and Balogun should continue their CB pairing going forward. The oyibo wall was really good but The Black&White (Naija-oyibo) Wall looks even better. Ekong should rightly deputise for them now.


- Awaziem keeps growing into that player that will someday command our Super Eagles defence on his own. Very adaptable player. Very mobile. Very composed for a player so young. Very confident and solid. Can't wait to watch him marshal our U-23 defence at the U-23 Afcon and subsequently at the 2020 Olympics. That plus this Afcon exposure coupled with his continued club career progress will hopefully bring a world class defensive beast out of him to the benefit of our Super Eagles in the long run.



- Ola Aina have shown strong mentality coming back from that WC miss last year. His time at Torino has instilled more confidence in the lad and made hin realise he can be just as good as he has been touted to be potential-wise.


- Ndidi is on his way to being UNDISPUTABLY the best DM in Africa BUT HE NEEDS TO KEEP IMPROVING HIS PASSING GAME, NEEDS TO KEEP UPPING HIS ABILITY TO READ PLAYS AND CONTRIBUTE TO MORE INTRICATE BALL DISTRIBUTION. Nail these aspects down to a fine extent added to the aspects he already does so excellently and he will soon become the most dreaded and most valuable DM on the Planet.
He is still U-23 afterall.

- Musa remains our best from the LW. Ighalo just have to be more clinical so as to complement Musa's work down that flank. Musa could easily have had two assists if Ighalo was sharper today.


- Akpeyi is well shielded by the defence and that has added to help keep him settled in and composed. He did have one "Akpeyi" moment again as he did in the first game and I hope he doesn't repeat this as the next "Akpeyi moment" could prove costly.... But I hope it doesn't anyway.
Just eradicate the nerves Akpeyi... Be a man!!!


- We have a rich bench. A f**king rich bench.

Except in the GK Dept, we are covered in all areas. Even if we don't use fullbacks, we have Kalu and Simon Moses who can fill in superbly as wingbacks on the right and left respectively in a 3-5-2/3-4-3/3-4-1-2.

In attack, Iggy's covers are Onuachu and a hungry Osimhen.

In midfield, Ogu is yet to see action. Mikel is also backup now depending on the tactical maneuvers.

In defence, Ekong covers for the new wall of Naija-Oyibo. Awaziem also fills in as cover at CB if Aina is moved back to RB if Collins gets back to full fitness and reclaims his LB spot (would be tough as Aina wanna make LB his own at least at this Afcon alone). Reports say Collins have like a week to be back to top gear. It is Shehu who may not play again depending on how far we go in EGYPT.

On the wings, Musa is first choice and in his stead we could have Simon Moses or Henry Onyekuru. On the right, we could have Kalu or Simon or the electrifying and exciting presence of Chukwueze.

Boy!! We do have a rich bench... And a deep pool.








BONUS TITBIT:

Our first goal at this Afcon created by Aina's intelligent backheel pass graced by Ighalo's sumptuous finish BEARS SOME RESEMBLANCE to the Backheel pass of OKOCHA to Ben Iroha at Tunisia 94 vs CIV.

Both incidents took place in North Africa and in 94, we lifted the Afcon title. De ja Vu? I don't know.... Just pointing it out.

Hmmm....see who is back!
Glad you doing good.

Welcome home son.

TheGoodJoe and Forgiveness please the AFCON has started.

Finally Maroc scores after 88mins

An own goal

Odunayaw:
Against Morocco and Herve Renard infact

And Namibia are not really parking the bus. They are also pushing the Moroccans.

Triniti:
Oboy! Namibians dey ball.

My brother the thing surprise me o. See how they play with so much confidence. This AFCON go tough o.

Kog45:
Football is about tactical acumen of coaches now not players especially when teams don't have Messi or Ronaldo

Coming back to Africa, Eastern and South African federations have done so well in terms of football Development. Yes, in terms of talent they are no where near the West African countries but they have managed to put up pragrams that would help dem optimize their potentials.

I saw a documentary on the Resurgence of Kenyan football this afternoon. And the FA chairman was rolling out a 10yrs road map on how Kenya hopes to make it to the 2026 WC. A program which they started 3 years ago with an U13 program. They are hoping to be at par with Spain and Germany by 2026

Though laughable but I must give them kudos for even putting such a structure in place. But one basic fact he stated was that if they can back up this 2019 AFCON with another appearance in 2021 then are ready to fight for places in Africa.

Football has really improved in East and Southern Africa.

See how Namibia is balling.

Danielnino00:
Meanwhile I've been seeing a lot of "ordinary Burundi" posts all over social media since yesterday...
Its obvious that most people only watch football .they don't follow the game at all..

Forget the other social media.

This is the only place we have real followers of international football.

Starboytwo:
Well i knew we were gonna score in the 2nd half, infact I was waiting for the 2nd goal, but the game was tight, kudos to the "Burundi sides, I heard they were unbeaten in the qualifiers, look at that....

Now coming to the SE, from the back, Akpeyi made a fine stop to a rocket shot and I thought if this guy will stop "shaking" he might come good...I'm not particularly impressed with uzoho, infact I prefer Ezenwa confidence to uzoho imo, I still hold my breath tho when we get attacked but Akpeyi should keep his spot...5

CB, ekong was somehow and I think that razaq guy was a handful but I'd give him 5, omeruo was more stable, let's do 7, Ola Aina no need for long talk, I was HUGELY impressed, 10 for me, ND I've always been on d fence concerning shehu, I could see him fail to control one pass early on but injury didn't let me access him well, let's do a 3 for half days job...

Midfield was my issue, I think there were 2 or 3 times those Burundians broke and I was left looking for our midfielders, "I guess they went to get stuffs or something, Dmf usually go unnoticed cuz I didn't see much of Ndidi, I saw Etebo more tho, and FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONNNNG WHILE in a GWG I totally fail to see the importance of Mikel Obi in the match....y'all know that calming spirit baba ibeji brings forth now, but yesterday that spirit no dey anywhere, its rare when Mikel gets subbed off, but yesterday I was a deserved change and subsequently changed the dynamics of the game...Ndidi-4, etebo -5 ,Mikel -3....

I think henceforth Iwobi should play through the middle, I don't know how our coach would accommodate him, or who to drop ( that's his job, not mine) but from popular opinion iwobi should be our No 10, finito, o pari... Even my babe wey nor sabi ball was like, "hen hen Nigeria is playing well well now" after the introduction of musa, and iwobi in the middle, off course she asked about "Ronaldo In Gwg, before she burst my head with what about that 2nd one Which one, I asked, she said that "short one"....make Barca people catch you shogbo ...

Iwobi nice game, nice one touch, nice turn I'd give him 7, chukwueze, simply a joy to watch...the fact that Naija now has a player that can delete 2 defenders and take it to them is loonng way overdue...still raw, didn't have any attempt, and should try to play with his man, but I still feel sorry for whoever is tasked to mark him, I'd give a 6...

IGHALO this guy divided opinion here, some prefer nacho instead, some don't even want to see him at all, but I love him, I knew he would score I just knew cuz at that moment it was high time we score a goal, I even posted it here that a goal is iminent, I saw that ball he refused to trap " I be like haaaa, if we go draw lasan, this thread will heap the blame of Nigerias problem since the amalgamation of 1914 on Jude, but he came good....solid senior man display, even Ronaldo wouldn't score it better...nuff said 7 for me...

Musa- he came and changed the game, chukwueze on one side, then musa on the other side and you say make we nor score, abeg...those crosses though, abeg next match make he reach him destination...7

Onuachu- first real game for the Eagles, baba it's not easy, had a couple of on targets tho, and I think he would come good, not a bad game for him and the service was really not there coupled with the fact that Burundi people did not only park bus but spread mat join do picnic..I'd give him 4

Awaziem- I have heard so much about him on this thread and was really looking forward to see him in action, didn't do too bad for a different position, marked tidily and made a big block late on, let's do 5 for him....

I must add this thread has made me a better supporter of the super Eagle, in my house you'd think Im working for the super eagles because of a the people watching the match I have better information than all of them....this thread has really really upped my game....

We still have kalu, osihmen, Moses, ogu on the bench, abeg we get squad...long live the Super Eagles...only one favour, pls I want to jam south Africa in this Afcon, I want to beat them mercilessly...forget Ghana they are our "junior" sister ( shots purposely fire)....

Balanced analysis. Kudos bro.

It was a good game overall for Nigeria.

There are no more minows in African football. We have all seen what Zimbabwe, Uganda, Burundi and Madagascar can do. This to me this will be one of the most keenly contested AFCONs ever.

Back to our game.
The defense had some shaky moments particularly in the first half. But they grew in confidence as the game progressed. The Ekong-Omeruo CB was just a delight to watch. I am not an Apostle of throwing in too many new players in CB positions. And we have seen how Balogun, Ekong and Omeruo have developed a strong chemistry at the back over the years.

Our Full backs too did well. Aina was a delight to watch, Shehu until his injury also did ok. Awaziem came in to prove why Rohr picked him and not Semi Ajayi.

In the middle Etebor and Ndidi combined well, though Etebor had some few Crazy moments. Mikel didn't particularly have a good game. I have never seen Mikel being this poor in so many years. He didn't do enough to link up play with the attackers.

When I saw Iwobi starting from wings I was like "why crowd your team with natural wingers when u will still play Iwobi from the wings"?. Musa for Mikel's substitution was expected. Musa brought pace and more attacking flair but his final balls were mostly disappointing. Chukwueze had a great game but he needs to learn to play more with his AM and CF. He was often isolated. Iwobi's move to the AM role brought spark to our attack and we dominated play more. Rohr should please keep playing Iwobi in the AM role.

I was particularly disappointed seeing Onuachu in the starting line up. I am still not completely sold on that guy. He struggled with his positioning but the lack of quality balls from the midfield obviously affected him. Ighalo, got the job done. He was at the right place at the right time. And remained calm enough to make the right decision. And eaqully worthy of mention was the sexy pass from Aina. Games like this requires a moment of brilliance to break the ice and that was it.

Akpeyi, in my opinion had one of his best games in the GWG. Though he had one or two lapses, particularly when he dropped a ball in the 18yards box that almost caused an equalizer. And another harmless goal kick he was supposed to guide costing us a corner. He didn't have a great game but he was very much ok.

I particularly liked the intensity with which we played the second half. And I also like the fact that we were able make good passes together.

Rohr please our start 11 should be the team that ended that game. If Shehu recorvers well enough he can start else Awaziem can start at RB. Aina should be maintained in the LB position.

We take it a game at a time.

Bring on Guinea.

Sportilitica:
Why do people hate shehu so much despite the guy putting in a decent shift before he got injured. Not nice at all

To be candid, he is the 2nd most "hated" player in the team, just behind Akpeyi.

I don't know what some people have been tearing their shirts for over Akpeyi's performance tonight.