₦airaland Forum

Monreal over Alonso is a bizarre choice. Having said that their GK, DEF and MID look outstanding. All in all, not a lot of surprises here, but I am surprised they're left Marcos Alonso out. And to a lesser extent Bellerin and Fabregas as well.

Having said that, look at the players Spain, Germany and France can leave out compared to how we struggle to find 23 half decent players to fill out squad. Puts the Nigeria's Squad in perspective. Spain can afford to leave out Alonso, Fabregas, Bellerin, Morata etc. Let's hope that those airheads at the NFF can see that, as they go on with their ultimatums of semi finals and shis.

I mean, looking at the Brazilian, Spanish, German, French and Belgian teams shows just how far we are behind in terms of quality. Gernot Rohr deserves a compliment not an ultimatum!


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Bolowolowo:
Morata out...no surprise

Thank you!


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LieDetector:
I share your concerns. I feel like breaking bottle on pinnick's head right now

Omo, what other specifics do you need when we already have a confession from an insider?

Listen, soccer is now business - and we're talking about multi trillion dollar business. Hence, it's in FIFA's best interest that certain countries perform well to keep the money coming. And they would do everything within their powers to make that happen. Do you think that FIFA would be happy to see a World Cup final involving Nigeria and Panama? Or Senegal and Iran??

Why do you think that Real Madrid almost always get the easiest draw in the knockout stages Champions League? Do you think that it's merely by luck of the draw? Yea rite! It's a rigged system, bro


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Martz101:
your permutations are funny, yes forlan was part of that squad, columbia in there own part is a good team to and it should not be a surprise they lost 2 - 0.

There might be fixing in football grouping but i wont accept the fact that it is always to favour home team and England, you don't even have specific prove

So if he buys you rice, you'd expect for him to buy tomatoes and onions for you as well?

Like my people dey say, "So if I marry a wife for you, you'd expect me to buy you the bed to sleep on as well"?


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DanielOc:
Nice one from Ahmed Musa..
But my question is, are we going to eat just white rice
Thinking out loud tho....

Like I said, that might be the case but their officials, supporters crew, and other contingents travelling with them are home based. And it only takes ONE infected individual to spread the disease.

Yes, the risk is small but it's still a risk. And that's one risk we really don't have to take, IMHO.


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tbaba1234:
Most of the DRC players are foreign based, aren't they?

The risk is small IMO

Exactly. They probably won't respond to my tweet, but I will keep searching for his phone number.

It's a risk that we don't have to take. Ebola is not a laughing matter. Look at a country like Morocco even decided risk CAF's wrath by withdrawing from hosting AFCON due to the fear of Ebola. But our mugulicious Nigerians would rather expose themselves and the entire country to Ebola just because of the small money they stand to gain.


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Joebie:
If na Trump he go just say nobody goes to Congo, nobody comes in from there.
We can do without the friendly. No point

Of course, they are trash. That's not even an argument. I have never rated England, even during the time of Leo Ferdinand, John Terry, David Beckham etc. Most of their star players are overrated.

Having said that, getting an easy group can only help qualify for the round of 16 and nothing more. And if my memory serves me right, the only time England had failed to qualify for the round of 16 was in 2014, so it has been working.


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realpoacher:
Sorry to badge in on your discussion...

You are defending the indefensible..... To be the best, you have to beat the best... If as you say that England are always rigged into an easy group in the world cup then I will say explicitly that THEY ARE THRASH!!

How can you be rigged into easy groups for donkey years yet you can't win or even qualify from your group

Perennial underachievers

This father and son drama sef. Abeg, mek una hapu okwu. Me too, I have my concerns regarding our goalkeeping dept and was hoping for a last minute invite for either Austin Ejide or Dele Aiyenugba but that ain't gonna happen, so we should let it go.

One thing I like about Uzoho despite all his short comings is his leadership skills. Unlike the clowns like Akpeyi and Ezenwa, I like the way Uzoho controls his backline. He reminds me of our high school goalkeeper, we called him Baby Mo Nso. Omg, this dude is a very quiet guy but he becomes a totally different person once he gets into the pitch. He would push you to play beyond your capabilities because you'd be scared to let him down by letting somebody score. As a matter of fact, even after I became the team captain, I still deferred to him ... I used to tell him that he's the captain on the "back end".

I saw some of those qualities in Uzoho, so we might be just fine. He definitely lacks the experience to play at this level but he can make that up by composure and "fakery"


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TheSuperNerd:
@first bolded... Aiyenugba would have? . Thanks goodness we saw a good case of "would have" actually become "did happen" in the person of lesser evil and best option, Rufai play out in 98 and we got busted. Lol... Football cannot be run on assumptions most times.

@second and last bolded.... Berra Chief... Just what I was waiting for.

Did Diego Forlan play in 2014? I don't think so but I stand corrected, if I am wrong. As regards to why England didn't make it out of the group stages, it's because they underachieved as always. And in addition, they had an ageing team at that World Cup.

And by the way, if Uruguay were that good, why did Colombia trashed them 2-0 in the round of 16? There's NO doubt in my mind that Nigeria, even with Keshi as the coach, would've beaten Colombia if they were our opponents.


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Martz101:
oga that Uruguay team had forlan, suarez and cavani, if that group was not tough, why didn't England make it out of the group.

if that group is not tough, show me another tough group in that worldcup

Pinnick is a fulltime mugu, OK. First of all, how many of their players would be flying in from overseas? And even if ALL their players would be flying in from overseas, what about the officials, supporters club, and other contingents that would come with them .... would they all be flying in from abroad as well?? Remember, it only takes ONE infected individual to infect others!

This is how these people put our country at risk. I bet you that some people would be making money from this game, that's why they'd insist that it goes ahead.


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Joebie:
Pinnick has already posited the game will go on regardless because most of their players would be flying in from abroad and they would still take the necessary precautions anyway. That your message don fall for deaf ears be that.

Everyone thinks Germany is going to win this World Cup, but I beg to differ.

Having looked at their team list, Germany is not the team they were four years ago though they are obviously still a great team. They probably have an equal chance to Belgium, who are possibly the most talented team but are perennial underachievers. France is in a similar boat, loads of talents but lacking big game winners in their team. My money's on Argentina and Leo Messi to finally break through, but Brazil and Spain have to be co-favorites based on everything we know at this point.

And you can bookmark this post


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Honestly, Uruguay are not that good. They have never been that good. Ghana totally outplayed and technically defeated them in 2014 (if not for Luis Suarez's blatant cheating), even with Diego Forlan in the team. Hence, England were expected to beat Uruguay even with Suarez and Cavani, so I don't see that as a tough group at all.

I have never rated Uruguay. That's why I would expect Egypt to top that group A in Russia. That group is a walkover, IMHO.


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Martz101:
why did you skip Uruguay, they were in the semi final in the previous worldcup.

LOL. I have seen better .... their mates are rocking private jets and they are here rocking rolls royce


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Same thing. The idea was for England to qualify alongside Italy. Nobody expected Costa Rica to overperform.


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Martz101:
what about 2014 England group?

LOL. You sabi now, the guy tends to do something - on thing - in every game that would make you scratch your head and scream what was he thinking

Go back and rewatch all his games. But he's definitely a very good goalkeeper ... I give him that.


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Icon4s:
How was he very eccentric?

My brother, help me ask them. Anyway, I have twitted my mind to them. Here's the message I sent them on twitter:

His Majesty‏ @TalmudicSage · 8m8 minutes ago

@PinnickAmaju Mister Chairman,I am surprised that @thenff still plans to go ahead with @NGSuperEagles friendly game against DR Congo, despite the outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease! What would it take for you all to cancel the game to avoid endangering the lives of our players?


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Joebie:
wetin be send off? buhari no fit skype them? We always like to make everything a ceremony. e remain to declare national holiday to send off the team to Russia.

LOL. Ike Shorunmi was a pretty good goalkeeper but also very eccentric.


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Icon4s:
Throw back video:

Ike Vs Argentina 2002 WC.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2cGCpdjjf4

Actually, that England group in 2002 was comparatively a very easy group. The goal was for England to qualify behind Argentina. FIFA knew that the Nigerian team was in disarray and nothing much was expected from them. The 2002 Sweden World Cup wasn't one to scare nobody. Zlatan was young and inexperienced. Freddie Ljungberg was a little above average player. Henrik Larsson - average. ON paper, who do they really have exactly to challenge England?


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wayodude:
England lmost always? Lol They either do or they dont! 2002 World Cup: England Argentina Sweden and Nigeria was easy? 2014 world cup: England Italy Uruguay Costa Rica was easy? Wonderful!

The host nation in theory should always have an easier group than they perhaps may have had because they are placed in pot A alongside most of the favourites.

Yes bro, that was definitely my biggest weakness back in the day

But things are much better now ... Praise God!


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kennysville:
Exactly why i said we thank God for your life.... haba... I trust u now
Old things have passed away, behold, all things are become new

Exactly. And we don't even need this friendly match, IMHO. The boys just concluded a very long season, we should give them a couple of weeks to recuperate then the team should camp in London (or somewhere in Europe); play all our friendly games in Europe and proceed to Russia from there.

All this idea of playing a game in Nigeria so they'd get a proper "send off" doesn't make a lot of sense to me. After all, in 2014 we went to Brazil directly from the United States.


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Joebie:
We for just arrange neighboring Cameroon again instead

Steal what show

This is disgusting


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I still can't understand what the NFF is waiting for before they decide to cancel this DR Congo friendly. These mugus are unnecessarily exposing our players and even the fans to danger.

How much are they getting paid for us to play this game


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MetalJigsaw:
Nigeria Vs DR Congo Friendly: Ebola Death Toll Rises In DRC
May 18, 2018 1:31 pm

Ahead of the Super Eagles of Nigeria’s international friendly against Democratic Republic of Congo on May 28, report has it that more people have died from the deadly Ebola virus that broke out in the central African country.

According to latest report by AFP news agency, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that the new Ebola toll has risen to 45 cases with 14 confirmed and 25 dead.

DR Congo will be coming to Nigeria with 11 players from their local league named in their squad announced on Thursday.

The friendly is part of the Eagles’ preparations towards the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick has assured that there is no cause for alarm and the friendly will go ahead despite concerns.

The dreaded Ebola virus spread to Nigeria from Liberia in 2014 through a visiting Liberian.

However, it was quickly contained before it did extensive damage.

Meanwhile, WHO is to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the risk of Ebola spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

And according to BBC, a panel will decide on Friday whether to declare a “public health emergency of international concern” , which would trigger a larger response.
Cases emerged in a rural area with one now confirmed in the city of Mbandaka.

The city of about one million people is a transport hub on the River Congo, prompting fears that the virus could now spread further, threatening the capital Kinshasa and surrounding countries.

Commenting on the Ebola issue, WHO deputy director-general for emergency response Peter Salama told BBC the spread to Mbandaka meant there was the potential for an “explosive increase” in cases.

“This is a major development in the outbreak,” he told the BBC. “We have urban Ebola, which is a very different animal from rural Ebola. The potential for an explosive increase in cases is now there.”

Salama said Mbandaka’s location on the River Congo raised the prospect of Ebola spreading to Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, as well as downstream to Kinshasa, which has a population of 10 million.

“This puts a whole different lens on this outbreak and gives us increased urgency to move very quickly into Mbandaka to stop this new first sign of transmission,” he said.


https://www.completesportsnigeria.com/nigeria-vs-dr-congo-friendly-ebola-death-toll-rises-in-drc/

Yes but, still, the draws are not as random as they would have you believe. Ask yourself this question: why is it that the host nation almost always gets the easiest group? Even South Africa has a very easy group although they still failed to qualify. Secondly, why does England almost always get one of the easiest groups? Luck of the draw?

Yea right! The whole thing is rigged. It's a rigged system.


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Joebie:
On the last bolded, what can u say about draws now? Only the host country is assured of a group, usually Group A. All the top seeded teams are drawn into groups. No wonder he was disgraced out of office. There will always be corruption in every society, but measures must be taken from within to check the excesses. As we try to make it better, the corrupt ones will always try to get smarter.

No worries, bros. I have repented. I am totally celibate now .... no more fornication or adultery.


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Taliban:
Apostle Must hear !!! Blood of Zechariah!!!!!!!!!

Nna, that was bifor bifor not now. I don't live that kinda life any more


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kennysville:
yeepa! You wen i dey think say u be saint. Well sha we thank God for ur life.

Lessons learnt: Trust no one! Hahahahahahaha
na joke Oh!

And here's the ultimate insider himself, Michel Platini, revealing his they rig the draws to favor certain countries/teams. When I tell y'all that the UCL draws are always rigged in favor of Real Madrid, most of yall thought that I was just crying wolf. Oya, hear it from the horse's mouth directly:

"A little trickery" was employed for the 1998 World Cup draw to ensure France and Brazil did not meet until the final, disgraced former Uefa president Michel Platini has claimed.

The French hosted and won their first World Cup 20 years ago, beating Brazil 3-0 in the final in Paris.

Former France captain Platini was on the tournament's organising committee.

"When we organised the schedule, we did a little trickery," he told radio station France Bleu Sport. 

"France-Brazil in the final, it was the dream of everyone.

"If we finished first in the group and Brazil finished first, we could not meet before the final."

He laughed as he went on: "We did not spend six years organising the World Cup to not do some little shenanigans. Do you think other World Cup hosts did not?"

Brazil and France were the top teams in the Fifa rankings heading into the tournament and were among the eight top-seeded teams.

Two days before the draw took take place, world governing body Fifa announced that holders Brazil would be allocated to Group A while France were in Group C.

Read more here ....
Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44170578


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safarigirl:
don't worry, your point was noted without the elaboration

Sorry, I didn't complete my thoughts before the crappy thing sent.


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safarigirl:
or there's something the guy is trying to make up for

Nne, anytime you see a popular guy like Alexo Iwobi dating a not too attractive babe, you gotta consider one thing: there's something the babe is good at. Been there done that, so homeboy is speaking from experience here

I remember dating this Chinese doll back in the day. If you look at her from the outside, you'd question why a dude like me would be going put with such babe. Girlfriend was 21 years old but looks 12! So why did I date her for over 3 year? Oh boy, babe is something else ... behind closed doors. Just her sweet moans alone would send you to Nirvana land! And when she jumps on top of you ...dang, you'd better sign your last will and testament because you'll loose total control

And we can also chat about the Senegalese dame I dated back in college. In her case, she wasn't exactly unattractive but she was as dark as a coal tar; hence guys tend to steer away from her. And me sef, even though I like dark skinned babes, my initial plan was to hit it and quit it (hit & run). But for where ... once I took the first dip, I kept going back. I used to call her tsunami, if you know what I mean
In addition, she gives the best BJ ever ... the best ever! And she swallows too, which is a big plus in my book.


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safarigirl:
it concerns me that the best he can do is another white woman that looks plastic.

Why can't these men at least go for women that still look like human beings and not science experiments?

See his team mates like Leon Balogun, Bryan Idowu and Troost-Ekong, they are all dating white women, but their babes look like your everyday white girls. Their cheek bones haven't been enhanced by cosmetic surgery, neither are they walking around with surgically-enhanced duck lips. I know he's in England and as far as pretty white women go, that area is sorely lacking, but come on!......



I can never keep up with Iwobi's kind of lifestyle, so, please, I am not interested in him and I can bet you, he could never be interested in me. That one no be talk.

I just dey look am like my brother, I would smack his head if this is the best whitey he could find

See Troost babe now

https://static.pulse.ng/img/incoming/origs8252080/9671854619-w640-h640/William-Troost-Ekong-and-girlfriend.jpg

Can you compare her to whatever Iwobi is following?

You made some good points sha. But you forgot that she did mention something about "support". We can all speculate whether that was financial support or otherwise.

All in all, we can always thread with caution because I have seen way too many guys who dated girls (and often exploited these girls financially and otherwise) where they were a nobody, so to say, only to dump them once they become "somebody". And they would often justify their actions by telling themselves that their former partners were beneath their current status.

To me, that's not fair!

But I do agree with you that a broken relationship is better than a broken marriage.


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dominique:
I also believe that some men do swindle their girlfriends then go ahead to dump them, I don't think this was the case here. If this lady in question had contributed as much as N100 to the building of the house, she would have included it in her write-up. All she contributed was prayers and she was probably earning her own money then. I won't advise any man to end up with that type of person.

I heard of a case of a man neck deep in debt because he was the own carrying all the family expenses. The wife deliberately chose expensive schools for the children but never contributed to their fees and the family upkeep. There was a time the man begged his wife to assist him some cash to pay school fees (N550k for 3 kids), she bluntly refused saying it was his responsibility only to throw an elaborate birthday for herself which cost her nothing less than N2m. The man must have seen traits of self-centeredness in her while dating but he brushed it aside believing she will change but she didn't. It is always better to end a relationship with a person whom you can't cope with their behaviour in marriage than jump into marriage hoping they would change. A failed relationship is always better than a failed marriage.

Someone like Buffon is why the argument of ‘so and so hasn’t won X so can’t be considered a great player’ is so tedious.

About 95% of players who have won a European Cup won’t come close to the impact Buffon has had on the game. And I seriously doubt he goes to bed at night wishing he could swap careers with Tomasz Kuszczak.

Well played Gigi, well played.


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Awesome. The stars definitely seem to be aligning for a great world cup outing for the Super Eagles. We don't have any major injury concerns. I mean, aside from Carl Ikeme, we're in good shape: Balogun, Ebuehi, Joel Obi, and Ndidi are all fit and ready to go.

In addition, our strikers Kelechi, Iwobi, Ighalo; Musa, Moses, and Simeon all seem to be hitting form just in time. I just can't wait for June 15th! Bring on the Croats guys!!!


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TheSuperNerd:
All Rohr's Worries Are Over: Leicester Ace Ndidi Starts Swimming, Gym Work

https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/football_pics/42910Ndidi.jpg


Leicester City star Wilfred Ndidi is pushing himself to be fit even ahead of schedule after he was named in Nigeria's 30-man provisional roster for the World Cup.
The hamstring injury the defensive midfielder suffered against Crystal Palace on April 28 is expected to keep him out of action for six weeks but he has stepped up his recovery programme in the swimming pool and the gym.

The Nigerian Federation and coaching staff are amazed at the way the energetic midfielder is recuperating very fast, that is better than they earlier thought.

''Ndidi is doing very, very well. He is recovering very well, all the worries are over now,'' a top source told allnigeriasoccer.com .

''It is confirmed that he will go to the World Cup. He has not started training on the pitch but he's doing treadmill workouts and swimming exercises.''

Gernot Rohr has identified Ndidi as one of the key players in the Super Eagles squad since he was appointed coach, and handed him starts in all the Super Eagles 2018 World Cup qualifiers apart from the game against Algeria in Uyo.


**Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Source: http://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=27768


Russia 2018 WC Countdown: 28 days 16 hours 41 mins to go