₦airaland Forum

Danielnino00:
Half time

Nigeria -40 vs USA-26


This isn't a joke

geonyte:
Chuba akpom scored twice today

mostob:
how is it not a good record? IMO...I think it shows the competitiveness of the league.

safarigirl:
In everything you said (which was very long, to be honest) money is still involved. You want to collect money because NFF members are collecting money. Even the NFF members want money too, no thought for loyalty to country.

Even When a player gets injured under international duty, FIFA still pays. Why didn't loyalty cover for the injury? Why don't the players refuse the money?

How many footballers play for free for their countries?

Loyalty is playing whether they pay you or not. People only care for what they will get from the game these days; even the country football is just a means for some players to be seen by clubs, to stay relevant. Loyalty went into coma when football went bigtime, only a minute few players have it these days.

Everything is a means to make money; if it is not to make money now, it is to make it later. Playing for country is like going to work, without pay, because you want to get experience for a better job.

I don't care for football administrators, it is only the players I am concerned with, but even then, this your gist is like saying " Since politicians are stealing, why can't everybody else steal?" Let us release all the thieves and normalise theft. Both players and NFF, na the same boat all of them dey.

Nobody cares anymore about loyalty. I am not saying don't pay them, but ain't nobody really loyal in the sense they were two decades ago.

It happens.

eazyjakes:
I think his thoughts are that the Super Eagles as a brand diminishes if it continues to make itself a readily available alternative or second choice to foreign bred Nigerians. He wants an improved local system dat will ensure players totally committed to us are the ones who dorn the green jersey. These committed players can be local or foreign based but they will give us their heart at all times without any ulterior/questionable motives!

MetalJigsaw:
Being the second choice demeans the Super Eagles brand
opera.com

Nigeria’s biggest and most positive brand is the senior national football team – most commonly known as the Super Eagles. Therefore, the players, the coaching team, the administrators, the federation, government and indeed all Nigerians, have the stellar duty of protecting this brand.

This is even more so since one of the best news about Nigeria abroad is how good our footballers are in their respective European teams and how good the Eagles have been in international competitions.

We all then have a duty to stop the Eagles from becoming the second choice or the last alternative for players, whose brands have waned at countries where they were born. This is not knocking the concept of mining the diaspora. What I am saying is that we should mine for the best products in terms of the quality of human resources we pool to the team.

Recently in the news, Ademola Lookman and Chuba Akpom confirmed their intentions to switch national allegiance from England to Nigeria. National allegiance switches have been a desired performance metric for the Amaju Pinnick-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). However, how altruistic were these decisions from the players?

In 2018, England’s U-21 manager, Aidy Boothroyd told the Daily Mail , “Every time I see him [Lookman] I have a little joke with him about it. I say: “Why would you want to leave us? But he’s very focused on England – that’s what he tells me. He says he wants to play international football for England.”
In December 2019, Lookman told the Guardian , “I’ve not changed my mind on wanting to represent England but I’m open and it’s good to have different opportunities.”

What changed?

The likely answer is Lookman’s expected stature ascent after winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2017 has not materialised. He found it hard to consistently feature at Everton and his sojourn to RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga has not been a roaring success.
By the time the 2022 World Cup comes kicks off, Lookman will be about 25 years of age with his window of opportunity to show off on football’s biggest stage diminishing. For his managers, it is a wise decision to switch allegiance. But, will it be a wise decision for the Eagles to have him knowing they are just a second choice?
Chuba Akpom, the 24-year-old now plying his trade for PAOK in Greece former Arsenal starlet who burst into the limelight in the 2014/15 EPL season, has seen that the light might be dulling. He is not anywhere near his wunderkind status nearly six years ago when Arsene Wenger introduced him to the world.

There are other examples who have Nigeria in their consciousness as a second choice. The case of Adama Traore, Wolverhampton forward, who declared for Mali and was then called up by Spain is another example. His assessment of his situation according to BBC is, “When the time comes, you will see which team I decide.” Traore then added, “But if Spain come again, I will be in a position to go and train with Spain.” No more mention of Mali!

Protecting the Super Eagles Brand
While the overriding notion to make the Eagles the finest collection of talents that Nigeria boasts of – home and abroad, is in the best interest of everybody, it is unfair that the team becomes the last resort for players, who had earlier been courted by the Eagles but distanced themselves from representing Nigeria and chose to go with national teams of other countries of allegiance.

Harvard Business Review talks about balancing “brand exposure with brand protection”, a notion that the Eagles are missing at the moment because there is no visible mission statement and only a sketchy vision of ensuring as many Nigerians in the diaspora as possible play for the country. In achieving this vision, the team’s managers and the NFF must not be distracted from what makes the brand what it is – absolutely Nigerian.

NFF president, Amaju Pinnick told Punch, “If the truth be told, most players from the western climes are better exposed and are highly trained than what we can get here. The equipment they are exposed to is another factor too.” I agree with this notion but insist we can develop our infrastructure and league system so we can improve our own locally bred players or at least accept players based in the diaspora who a willing to make Nigeria their first choice.

Selfish interest over patriotism?

It is hard to find examples of the players that have naturalised, for whom the Eagles have been the first choice. Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi are the most high-profile names that come to mind, and we know that if England had called them up before Nigeria, they will most likely have represented the Three Lions. No player of note has rejected England, Germany, or Belgium to represent Nigeria.

That is why a 27-year-old Victor Moses will retire from the Super Eagles when he is still at his peak, after just six years of service to the country. No one retires from a love interest or what they are passionate about when they are still needed. The truth is that he achieved his mission of joining the team. He got a bigger profile by going to the World Cup and that ultimately increased his market value.

There are questions we can ask. Will Cyriel Dessers ever be called up by the Belgium? Will Leon Balogun ever have played for Germany? Why has the England set-up overlooked both Ademola Lookman and Ovie Ejaria, even though they are known very well to the selectors?

The answers to these questions paint the real picture. Administrators of the Super Eagles will do well to pay more close attention to the dynamics of choosing players as a strategy to make the team stronger by being more selective.
The Super Eagles should be nobody’s second choice!

TheSuperNerd:
Is it what the Nike release say officially or are you just going by what you think it should be. Me I'm yet to confirm which of them is the home and away kits but from the 2018 WC edition kits... The bright one was the home kit while the darker was the away. For this 2020, time will tell which is which.

And well, white must not always be the away kit, Dad. Change is constant.

somehow:
I appreciate you all for the best wishes.

May good things not be found wanting in each and everyone's homes.

Wawese.

tbaba1234:
Kelechi Nwakali has been loaned to SD Ejea in the Spanish third tier.

Subzero047:

Kbs468:
Congratulations Nigeria!

tbaba1234:
Dude, Terem Moffi.. We have talked about him a number of times here

Kbs468:
No fake but true oooooo

Arsenal players take to Twitter to give their respects to basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

This is not a usual type of post for JustArsenal but sometimes legends transcend different sports and Kobe Bryant is one such legend.

The 41-year-old LA Lakers legend died today along with five others in a helicopter crash just outside Los Angeles, shocking the sporting world.

Dani Ceballos and Alexandre Lacazette have already taken to Twitter to express their sadness and no doubt more Arsenal players will follow.

Modified:

Also


'Rest easy legend': Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Lewis Hamilton lead the tributes to Kobe Bryant as basketball legend is killed in California helicopter crash

jihday:
name?

TheSuperNerd:
Hahahahahahahahahahaha......... The question is super spot on and then the bolded.... Looooolllll


Let me tell you two "possible" ways out of a few by which they know... One is realistic, one is an "nnkan be" thing.

1. They search "Ghana" in the search buttons regularly or at whatever intervals and they can limit the search to any NL section. They do this policing NL like Accra Voltron, defenders of the Gold Coast!

Their motto: For the Gold coast, we do anything. Even if it means insulting the opposition to their 10th generation.

2. They feel it in their spirits, souls and bodies.... At the mention of Ghana... They flow in like a flood seeking to flush away everything in their path. Looollll



#JustBanter.

MumuCountry:
Nonsense! Intelligent argument about what? Senseless n stvpid argument

jihday:
Victor Moses in Milan, set for medicals

tbaba1234:
No away win

maidaboi:
and Tammy Abraham

do4luv14:
Come hauzz i trust say KOMEKN dey alright,

i don miss the guy wella

come bros Joebie, how UK-warri man nah?

elyte89:
Its eida he assist or not