₦airaland Forum

Kai thank you!

Mujtahida:
Do you remember that after we won Argentina he kept reminding us that Messi didn't play?

Since I’ve been predicting scores on SuperBru, I’m still yet to get an exact outcome, but my wife will should this #COLJAP game end as it stands now.

I think this is not a matter of our best XI. It’s a matter of fielding the players who are ready to die together on the pitch.

komekn:
The belief these guys have is phenomenonal.

It will take close to a miracle for us to beat them. They have beaten the best in competitive matches.

They are tall and physical with lots of stamina and prepared to work, work and keep working them no deh tire.

We will need to use all our subs to match thier stamina and our players with pace will have to go ALL OUT.

It would have been better if the players and coach remained silent after that loss. Keep us in the dark only to return to reply fans on the pitch. I’m tired of updates from camp. I just wanna see an upgrade on the pitch.

AIG07:
A news coming from camp claims that Mikel has been spending extra time doing some personal training.

The boys are not happy with their recent performances and are willing to turn things around. Starting with their next match against Iceland. I hope we are lucky this time around.

How do u solve a problem like resolute, physical, passionate, mentally strong, and united Iceland? This game will be action from start to finish. It will be a tougher test than Croatia.

A coach who says we are playing against one of the best midfielders is one who is poisoning the team to respect big name players. I’m only insinuating this from his post match excuses. It’s a very wrong mentality to approach a game. Hence, I agree with u on this.

Mujtahida:
We were busy here fighting the negativity of our own resident pessimists but we failed to detect the more serious negativity of Rohr. Excuses are the favorite sport of losers and weaklings.

We are average. FACT. but does that mean we should get run over? No. And other less fancied teams have proven to us that a WC team should fight. It's the WC for God sakes. Serve up something!!

You said self believe is paramount. Bro, you just re-echoed the first of the seven hermetic principles which is mentality. Once the mental frame work is wrong, it's just a matter of time before everything collapses. If it is right, it's just a matter of time for everything to pull through.
I repeat:Rohr has poisoned the mind of the team.

Mujtahida , remember my response to that your European football question. Does the red bolded look familiar?

SerVik:
There be ice dragons here. By aron gunnarsson.


I hope our World Cup opponents aren’t reading this, because I’m gonna tell you exactly what has made our tiny country so successful.

But first, I need to explain a little bit about Iceland. Because I’ve noticed that now, whenever I meet people, they’ll say, “Oh, you’re from Iceland? That’s so cool. Northern Lights! Yeah, man!”

After the Euros put our country in the spotlight, it seemed like everybody started going to Reykjavik on vacation.

But I’m not from the vacation part of Iceland.

I’m from the north of Iceland.

If you try to find my town on old maps, it just says: There Be Ice Dragons Here.

My hometown is a place called Akureyri, with about 18,000 people. There wasn’t really much else to do there except play sports, so I began playing football. Of course, I dreamed of becoming a pro. But there were two problems.

First, I could only play in the summer. You see, in the winter, the pitches were covered with … come on, everybody say it together! You guessed it: ice and snow. And I’m not talking about the kind of winters you have in England, where a few centimeters of snow cause panic. I’m talking about proper winters. Several meters of snow. Minus 10 °. Four or five hours of sunlight a day.

Have you seen Game of Thrones? Well, then you get the idea.

So in winter, I played handball instead. But that didn’t solve my second football problem. You see, when the snow finally melted, I didn’t play on grass. That kind of luxury was reserved only for the senior players.

So I had to play on gravel.

Seriously.

Safe to say, it wasn’t ideal. One day I came home with this horrific gash on my leg, and my mother was shocked. Of course, all I had done was to go into a sliding tackle, but you’d think I had been fighting a bear!

The team I started playing for was called Thór, named after the god of thunder. (I’m not making this up — you can ask my mother.) And I wanted to be a footballer so badly. I was doing these sprints, I was hitting the gym … basically, I was working like a madman. But I also knew the odds were stacked against me. I kept asking myself questions, and I didn’t like the answers.

Aron, how many professional footballers have come from Akureyri?

Not many.

And how good can you possibly get by playing only in summer on a gravel pitch?

Probably not very good.

But I chose to ignore the facts. And then came the game-changer. You see, years ago, the Icelandic Football Association invested heavily in these indoor halls with artificial grass. Suddenly every kid in Iceland could play football all year.

Do you realize how big a deal that was for us? All year!

Of course, I immediately moved into my local hall. I made it my living room. They often had to kick me out at night. But there was still this mental block. What I mean by that is, nobody really believed you could win anything as a footballer from Iceland. In fact, this one time, a player on our national team told me a story about how he told his club coach that he dreamed of playing in the Euros.

“That’s a nice thought,” the coach said. “It’s just a shame you’re from Iceland.”

Pretty depressing, right?

Personally I didn’t let that bother me, but I did know I had to leave Iceland to evolve as a player. So when I got the chance to join AZ Alkmaar, in Holland, I took it. I was 17 years old. And man, it was tough. The football was on another level. In my first training session, I got nutmegged four times. I was so embarrassed that I considered jumping on the first flight back to Iceland.

https://cdn.theplayerstribune.com/uploads/d07bf7f8-180504sr_arongunnarsson_p1453_0135.jpg?width=1000

But the hardest part was leaving my family. I spent the first two months holed up in a hotel, calling my mother, crying, saying I didn’t really want to do this. Thankfully, my family encouraged me to keep going, and deep down I was still hell-bent on making it.

I guess all my tears paid off, because 18 months later I got the call for the Iceland senior squad. They were playing a friendly against Belarus in Malta, and I had to get on a flight immediately in order to make it in time. Only I didn’t have a car. During my first year in Holland, I had been riding a bicycle everywhere because I couldn’t afford anything else.

So you know what my mother did? She bought me a scooter.

A red scooter. It looked more like a motorcycle really, which I thought was kind of badass. I actually grew quite attached to it. So when they called me up to the national team, I strapped on my backpack, put on my bike helmet and drove to the train station, where I got the express train to the airport.

Thanks for that one, mum �

So I go off and live my dream, playing for Iceland, and it’s incredible. I fly back to Holland, and I’m still in the clouds. I’m buzzing. I’m a big time footballer now, right? Well, I walk outside the train station to fetch my scooter from the rack where I had parked it … and what do I see?

In the very spot where my scooter was supposed to be, there’s nothing but a single tire with a chain wrapped around it.

Someone had stolen my damn scooter while I was off playing Belarus.

My mother just laughed about it, but I’m telling you, I was genuinely upset! That robbery really brought me down to earth quickly.

A few years later, I was part of the group that qualified for the 2011 under-21 Euros in Denmark. That was a big deal, because Iceland had never done that. By the time we entered qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, many of us guys from the under-21 team had become part of the senior side.

Of course, even with all that young talent, we were never supposed to make the World Cup.

People always used to say, “Iceland? Bah, there’s not many world-class players in Iceland.”

But, actually, with 330,000 people living there … we don’t have many players full-stop.

So we had to be clever about the way we played. And that’s where our former coach, Lars Lagerbäck, came in.

When you look at Lars, he doesn’t appear to be a prolific coach. He’s very understated. But, man, he knows what he’s doing. When he arrived in 2011 he began holding these meetings about how we defended. They were long, and honestly, extremely boring. Just so, so boring. But Lars kept going on about it. Positioning. Corners. Throw-ins … none of the fun stuff. In training, we’d play attack vs. defense, just so that we could work on our defensive shape.

Because of that collective spirit, we made the playoffs, and faced Croatia. And when we got a 0–0 draw at home… honestly, I thought we had a chance. Then in Croatia, when they went 1–0 up but got a man sent off, we just needed one goal. One goal. We were so close…

But we never made it.

Croatia won 2–0.

Afterwards our locker room was like a graveyard. Not just because we hadn’t won, but because we hadn’t played well. But then somebody says, “Well… Let’s just go to the Euros then!”

I still don’t know who said it, but I remember thinking, He’s right. Screw this. Let’s just move on to the next one.

So that’s what we did. We started working even harder. And in that qualifying campaign for Euro 2016, we just got better and better. Our fans were a huge part of it, too. When we played Holland at home in October, I remember we went up 1—0, and the stadium fell quiet for a bit … and then …

BOOM, BOOM, HÚH!

I turn around. What was that? It was like the sound of a thunder strike.

BOOM, BOOM, HÚH!

Shivers run down my spine.

BOOM, BOOM, HÚH!

You see, that was the first time our fans did the famous Viking Clap. We may only play in front of 10,000 people, but when they do that clap … man, it feels like 100,000.

That night, I looked at some of the Holland players, and I thought, Whoa … They must be feeling that.

At the end of qualifying, we needed a point at home against Kazakhstan to become the smallest nation to ever reach the Euros. That match was a struggle. I even managed to get sent off. But when we dug out that 0–0 draw…. We went ballistic. I sprinted out on the pitch with my jacket on. We did the Viking Clap so loudly that the whole of Iceland must have heard it. And when we went to a square in Reykjavik later that night, we saw tens of thousands of people waiting for us.

That’s when you realize that you’ve really made your country proud, you know?

Of course, qualifying was one thing. The tournament itself? Who knows? Many people thought we would be lucky just not to be embarrassed.

It’s funny, because I can recall the exact moment when I realized that we had something special. It was after a training session just before the tournament, when Eidur Gudjohnsen came up to me.

He said, “You know, Aron … I really wouldn’t want to play against us.”

I said, “What do you mean?”

He said, “Well, there’s no space. I wanted to play these passes, and I wanted to create chances … But I just couldn’t.”

And that’s when the penny dropped for me. Because if you didn’t know, Eidur is football royalty. He’s played for Pep Guardiola at Barcelona — he’s played with Ronaldinho and Messi. Basically, if Eidur says you have a great defense, you really do have a great defense.

We started off against Portugal. And everyone was talking about what Cristiano Ronaldo would do to us. “How many will he get? Two goals? A hat-trick?”

So when we ground out a 1–1 draw … well, the Portuguese weren’t happy.

Of course, we celebrated. Then I saw that Ronaldo had criticized us for having a “small-country mentality”.

And I thought, “Hang on, we’ve never been at this stage before. You have done it plenty of times. We’re Iceland. Of course we’re gonna be proud!”

We could only draw against Hungary next, so we needed a point against Austria in the final group game. They needed to win. As usual, we defended well. It was 1–1 on 90 minutes…. They’re putting pressure on us…. We clear a corner, we launch a counter-attack…. And we score!

Arnór Traustason! 94th minute! Iceland goes through to the knockout stage!

Unbelievable….

I guess you may have seen the clip of the commentator on Icelandic TV going berserk when we score. It went viral, and no wonder. I mean, the guy genuinely lost it. He was screaming and crying, losing his voice.

But the thing is, everyone in Iceland was feeling like that. It wasn’t just the players and the fans — it was people back home too. We were all going berserk.

As we celebrated on the pitch, I went looking for the drummer in the Iceland fan group. I knew him, so I gave him a hint … He told everyone to be quiet … and then we did our most famous rendition of the Viking Clap. We had never done it like that before, with both the fans and the players together.

It was just pure, spontaneous joy.

BOOM, BOOM, HÚH!

https://cdn.theplayerstribune.com/uploads/4e891484-ttwire_ap_494137560080.jpg?width=1440

[b]We were so relaxed ahead of the Round of 16 game against England. We had reached our goal — everything else was a bonus. We actually had extra motivation, because everyone in Iceland loves the Premier League — they show every single game on TV. Literally. So now we had this great chance to beat our heroes. And just in case anyone wasn’t fully up for it, Eidur made a speech.

He said, “Is everyone full? Do we want any more? Are we still hungry?”

You can imagine the roar of the response.

It was the opposite for England, I think. I almost felt sorry for them. They were under so much pressure, and you could definitely tell. They were making simple mistakes, getting the basics wrong…. They knew the trouble they would be in if they lost to Iceland.

Everyone spoke about how bad England were, but watch the game again. Look at how organized we are. We run. We shut down space. We cover for each other. What Eidur had said after that training session was spot on: We really are horrible to play against.[/b]

When the game was over, I sprinted toward our fans so quickly that I forgot to shake hands with the England players. So if you guys are reading this … sorry!

And, then … well, I know this may sound weird, because I’m this Icelander with all these tattoos and a beard and all that. But as we celebrated, I wanted to cry. Honestly. When we did the Viking Clap with our fans, shivers ran down my spine.

I must admit that it took us a while to come back down to earth after that tournament. But we managed to do it. You see, at our next team meeting, Heimir Hallgrímsson shook us back to life. He had been the joint first coach with Lars during the Euros, but now that Lars had left for the job in Norway, he was in charge.

His message was simple.

We had never made a World Cup in our nation’s history.

So … Why can’t we do it?

https://cdn.theplayerstribune.com/uploads/f6dab7d9-180504sr_arongunnarsson_p1453_0169.jpg?width=1000

I mean, we could have said, “We’re tiny Iceland. Nobody expects us to qualify. We won’t put any extra pressure on ourselves.”

But there was no way that was happening. That’s just not us.

In fact, at the Euros, we had already sent people to scout our World Cup qualifying opponents. That tells you something about our mindset. We wanted more.

Some of us players are nearing the end now. We’re in our late 20s and early 30s, and we know we’ll have to give way for younger players soon. That’s why it’s so important that we pass on the values that have made us successful. [b]I mean, we could go to Russia and try to play like Barcelona. But what would be the point? We’d just be a bad copy. We’d definitely be a worse team.

That’s not what Iceland is about. It never has been.

In a way, I see our style as a symbol of Iceland. Just look at some of our players — I mean, maybe we’re not the most technical. Maybe we’re not the prettiest to look at. But would you want to fight us? I don’t think so.

We’re united. We’re tough. We fear nothing.

And that’s the lesson I want to pass on to our young players in Russia. I want them to realize that if you work hard, and if you have guys who are willing to stick together, anything is possible in football. Anything.[/b] CC: mujtahida


Aron Gunnarsson
ICELAND

Exactly. I could hardly even think of us creating a half chance after going down with the 2nd goal, besides KC’s cross that met a well marked Musa. so u can’t use that word squander.

Oasis007:


I wanted to ask the same Bruh. Creating one or two half chances and you expect the Striker to score??

I was even wondering if we did create any Chance at all whether a goal begging chance or half chance.

Which did we squander?

AIG07:
Our boys tried. We were not just lucky in the final third. We need a clinical forward line. We didn't create more but the few we had we squandered.

My final take is that we are not utilizing our players fully.

Yes I saw that, but Etebo was still advancing. The Ref could have always brought the play back and awarded a free kick.

AIG07:
Did you see how Etebo won that free kick and kept complaining till the ref answered by giving the Croats a yellow.

Even at 2-0 up the Croats were still searching

Watching it again.. iheanacho looking good

AIG07:
A little touch
A little fall
TThat was how Moses ended and wasted most of our attack moves. Must he always fall.

Our coach get too much respect for big name players. Read his lips

England deserve to win

Lol

If e happen like that na to sack am na before the Argentina game. Na the highest level of incompetence be that.

Oasis007:


God forbids....... if Rohr proves stubbornness - plays the same Lineup, Formation, Setting against Iceland and we lost...... the moment he returns to the Country, his Case gonna be like........?!

Exactly that’s what I meant by box to box for Etebo

forgiveness:
I agree but I don't see Etebo seating on the bench after emerging as our best player in the last match.

I will remove either Ogu or Simy to accomodate Etebo.

That 3-4-3/3-5-2 na very good option too

Oasis007:
Bruh..... what Rohr did against Croats can be likened to what Mourinho did against Sevilla in the UCL. Sometimes a Tactician shouldn't play his Tactics to nullify your Opponents, rather play to your Team's Strength.

I swear it's never lost for the Eagles. I had to re-watch the Combo of Mikel and Onazi at the 2014 World Cup with Babatunde as a No. 10, and what comes to my Head is; Ndidi and Iwobi are a bit better than Onazi and Babatunde of 2014.

Pair Mikel with Ndidi, let Mikel plays as a deep-lying Playmaker cos he gets eyes for long, decisive and accurate passes. He can shield the Ball, cool the tempo and coordinate the Defence.

No one tackles better than Ndidi in the Squad, he's young, athletic, fit and can tirelessly cover grounds like Kante. With Iwobi as an AM, he's definitely gonna create something from nothing.

Also we need to play with 2 Strikers - Ighalo for his better and proven Holdup plays and Iheanacho for his decisive off-ball Movements and eyes for Goal.

Tyrone and Moses should play as Wing-backs, with the Trio of Ekong, Balogun and Omeruo as CBs. I didn't include Ogu in the Defence coz I ain't sold he can play the CB effectively in a competitive Game.

3 - 4 - 1 - 2 Formation is all what Rohr needs to bring out the best in the Boys. I hope he listens to ex-internationals, Pundits and Fans who are clamoring for the Formation to be played in the next Game - cos if he fails with the same 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 with Mikel as an AM for the Team - Lord...... he's gonna see the other side of Nigerians.

Ekong’s error looked worse sha. At this point I just want us to play well for once. Is that too much to ask? I would even accept it if we bowed out at the group stage, but I just want to see a good fight from the boys.

oloriooko:
The one thing that will kill many of these English players is over confidence and corkiness
What was Walker thinking throwing his arm like he was in his room

I would rather play Iwobi as an AM. It would help our creativity upfront. Etebo should play b2b

forgiveness:
Simy and Ogu or Joel should start.

Rohr should work out ways to score through set pieces.

Ebuehi should start too.


............................ Uzoho

.............Balogun.........Ekong............ Omeruo.......

....Ebuehi ........... Ndidi.............Ogu........... Brian..

.......................................Etebo ..............

.................Victor............................ Simy.


Or

4-2-1-3

.....….................Uzoho.........

Ebuehi........... Balogun...... Ekong........ Brain......

........................Ndidi............ Ogu......

...................................Etebo..........

.. Victor.................... Simy................... Ahmed......

I’m sorry, the errors Rohr made were
obvious even before the match started. We did not learn anything from our friendlies — that’s the issue at hand.

Oasis007:


Some Monikers really amazed me. I thought they religiously believe in Rohr, trust his Project and ready to stand by him even if he fails at this World Cup.

They preached severally to us not to be fickle-minded, just in case things go south at the Mundial. They tagged Rohr the second coming of Messiah, and the best thing to ever happen to Nigeria Football - post-Westerhof Era though.

Alas! They keep wailing more than bereaved. They keep lamenting, gnashing Teeth, ready to tear down Rohr and his Project. My Point is; why are they preaching what they can't practice?!

Some Monikers are looking up to them cos they are Homies on this Thread, but they've failed those who believed in their loyalty and patriotism.

TheSuperNerd, Michael2, Mujtahida, Tbaba1234, Joseph1013, Komekn, Icon4s, Forgiveness, and some other notable Monikers weren't as well happy with the Result, but didn't discard Rohr, the Project and the Players because of the Match.

They analyzed the Match, where it went wrong, and suggested tactical Solutions to avoid another negative Result in our next Game. They ain't cursing or insulting Rohr or the Coaching Crew, they picked the talking-points, analyzed it, debated it and already move unto the next Match.

Pls Eagulians, enough of wailings. Let's go back to pre-world Period. Let's believe again...... coz in a Game of Football - Nothing is Impossible..

England dey play 3-5-2, Tunisia dey play 4-2-3-1.. and Rohr talk say we couldn’t play 3-5-2 because Croatia dey play 4-2-3-1..

Wasn’t it the same 3-5-2 England started against us? Then he had to switch to match them. Rohr plays to accommodate and neutralize, he doesn’t play to win.

LOVE, LOVE LOVE. You never know people’s story. Learn to love beyond tribe, color, nationality etc

joseph1013:
THE WITCH AND THE SUPER EAGLES
by Leon Balogun

My sister’s best friend’s mom had a best friend, and she was the witch.

She could read auras, or some crazy nonsense like that. I was 19 years old when I was told about her. I was trying to become a professional soccer player in Berlin — I didn’t have time for nonsense. But I had this issue … I was injury prone. Every year I felt like I would take one step forward and two steps back in my career because of the injuries. My sister, who is 13 years older than me and also my best friend, had an idea: The witch. Maybe witch is a bad term. I’m not sure. But she was a little spooky.

When my sister first pitched me the idea, I sort of rolled my eyes, like, Yeah … I’m sure she’ll know what’s wrong with me.

“No, Leon,” she’d say to me, “She sees things.”

“Fine, fine. Let’s give it a try.”

Let’s meet the witch.

She was a middle-aged Russian woman. She didn’t look like much of a witch, or an oracle for that matter. Her eyes walked up and down me as soon as I entered the room. My eyes darted around. She started to talk to me and my sister. It was about nothing in particular really, but I think she was studying me — my energy. Her first diagnosis was that there was an hole in my aura. I was like, Alright, well, anybody could have guessed that.

She said, “It’s on your right side.”

“The hole in my aura?”

“Yes.”

That’s where I had a scar from a bad right-shoulder injury. She had no idea about it, and she had never seen me with a shirt off … she just, felt it, I guess. Now she had my attention.

Then — and I’ll never forget this — she really blew me away.

“Four or five years ago, you lost a person very close to you, but someone who you didn’t completely know, either.”

I don’t think I said anything. She went on about how all people have someone like this in their lives, whether they know them or not. Someone who, no matter the strength of your connection, you will feel connected to — your soulmate, in a way.

She said, “Is this true, Leon?”

“Yes, my grandma.”

https://cdn.theplayerstribune.com/uploads/649ed230-d8357ae4-328f-45e1-819a-b0db084e9967.jpg?width=1000

I was amazed. I hadn’t thought about my grandma that much since she passed when I was 16 years old. But, this lady was right. My grandma’s death had a huge effect on me, and I had never even met my grandma, who lived in Nigeria. That’s the part that was wild to me. My sister didn’t know anything about my reaction to grandma’s passing. This woman, though, she saw it. She told me I had to heal my soul, my heart, before I could become the player I wanted to be.

After we left, I didn’t completely understand if my experience with her was successful. The most important thing that came out of that day was that it got me thinking about my grandma. When I got home, my mind went straight back to the day my dad told me the news.

Because I had never met her, my dad didn’t tell me right when it happened. He actually waited a few days — that’s how distant my relationship was from her. She only spoke Yoruba. So when we talked on the phone when I was little, my dad would try to translate for us. He had never taken me to Nigeria, for reasons he didn’t make clear to me, and I only ever saw photos of my grandma.

When my dad told me, he pulled me aside in our home. I have this vivid memory of the feeling — like, this terrible, terrible feeling of sadness. I crawled up the stairs, sobbing my eyes out. I cried for an hour. My mom had to come to my room and ask me what was wrong … she couldn’t understand why I was so sad, either.

I think, what I knew at a young age was that my grandma represented a part of my life that I didn’t completely understand. I was mixed race. My mom was a German, my dad Nigerian. I was different than the other kids. And I knew that my grandma, and Nigeria, had a lot do with it.

I now wanted to understand more about that part of my life. And because of a witch, I knew how important that part of me truly was.

My dad used to walk three miles every day before school when he was growing up in Nigeria. I knew this because he never let me forget it. It was one of a handful of stories he would tell me about his childhood. He moved to Germany in 1966, learned the language, got his diploma and met my mother. He was the blueprint for immigrants. He made it sound easy — being a foreigner who looked different — but I knew it wasn’t. Because even though Germany is a progressive country, there is that group of people, especially in sport, who still lurk around waiting to knock you down if you’re different.

I met one of them when I was playing U-16 in Berlin, in 2003. I had given up on my dreams of being Thierry Henry or Ronaldinho, so I was playing at center back. The other team had this huge striker. He was bad news. I played really well, and I kept him in my pocket. We were up 1–0 at halftime, and as I was walking to the locker room, the striker kicked the ball at my head. It missed me by about an inch. Woosh. I turned, and he was yelling at me. He was calling me the n-word, using other racial slurs.

Nobody did anything. There were people all around us, and nobody did anything. After the game, while we were still at the park, I told my dad about him kicking the ball at me.

“Leon, you must always be calm. You’re smarter than they are. You’re better than they are.”

Then I told him what the boy said to me. And that, for the first time in my life, was when I saw my dad lose his cool. He had this look on his face. I told him I wanted to go home because Mom said she was making a nice dinner.

“No, we have to fix something.”

https://cdn.theplayerstribune.com/uploads/cfa66c8b-72bf6182-c4ba-4886-86d6-ca82342296f3.jpg?width=1000

So we waited in the parking lot for the boy to come out with his parents. They did. And my dad let them have it.

“Hey, how can you raise your kid like this? Do you know what he said to my boy? We all come here to play football, and you lost, and that’s the game. But your son is 15 — he’s 15! — and he acts like this. I hope that you can one day fill his heart with love, instead of hate.”

Their back-and-forth went on for awhile, and the other parents weren’t very nice. But I will remember what my dad said forever: Love, instead of hate. He was very upset in that moment, but he used empathy over rage. And I began to understand, little by little, how he made being an immigrant look so easy. I think because my dad worked so hard to integrate into society in Germany, it gave me the opportunity to do the opposite and connect with my Nigerian roots.

I never supported the German national team, mostly because I thought they were arrogant and their football was boring to watch. Even in 2006, when Germany hosted and the whole country had World Cup mania — I secretly cheered for them to lose. Because I was a kid, and I was rebellious. And because, even though I felt in my mind that I was just as German as all the other kids, a lot of people didn’t see me like that.

I was always asked, “Where are you from?” Or, “How long have have you been here?”

I would think to myself sometimes, Maybe I was meant to be Nigerian.

Even after I overcame some of the injury issues I had as a teenager and began playing regular minutes in the 2. Bundesliga and Bundesliga, that thing — the part of my soul that I had been told to heal all those years ago — was still missing from my life. In 2014, I was coming to the end of my contract with Fortuna Dusseldorf. I wasn’t sure where I would go next. There was uncertainty in my life, and from time to time I would think of the witch. What did she mean, “heal my soul?”

One night in March, my phone rang. It was a Nigerian number … it was Stephen Keshi, the Nigerian National Team manager. I was sweating as soon as he introduced himself. I wanted him to say the words I had thought about for so long. He spoke for awhile about how he wasn’t totally familiar with me, but he liked how I played.

Then he said it: “I would like to invite you to be a Super Eagle.”

Those words … they meant so much to me. It meant validation for every step of my footballing journey. It meant happiness for my family. Most of all, it meant an opportunity to go to Nigeria.

And that … that was everything to me.

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When I told my dad the news, he was skeptical. “Are you sure it was the coach?” he said.

And he had a point. I don’t want to speak poorly about the people of Nigeria, but there are some that are real scam artists. They spoil our name. I think that was a part of why my dad never took me back there.

“Yes, Dad, it was the coach. I even listened to his voice on YouTube right after to make sure it was him!”

He warned me about some of the things I could encounter in Nigeria. It wasn’t quite the celebratory phone call I had played out in my head, but that was my dad, always preparing me. But he was proud, I could hear that in his voice. I knew, as much as I understood about myself, about my father, I would learn even more on this trip.

My first impression of Nigeria was probably same as that of any person who has lived in Germany his whole life: Man, it’s hot — heat like I’ve never experienced. I flew down with Anthony Ujah, a striker playing for Koln at the time. He helped me prepare for the trip a bit, too. Tips on what to do, how to act, all that stuff. When we stepped off the plane — the craziest thing was that people knew who I was. Some smiled and asked for photos. I couldn’t believe it. Just as I knew that in Germany I would always be seen as black, I assumed that in Nigeria I’d be seen as another white guy on a business trip. But they knew me, they were happy for me. Maybe I was meant to be Nigerian.

We landed in Abuja, the capital city. We were there for a few days before training started. When we drove to practice that first day, I was listening to music, headphones in. “Nobody Knows” by August Alsina was playing. I like that song because, as somebody with a little fame, people sometimes seem to forget that I go through things, too. As I was listening, I saw a boy on a skateboard on the street. He had a disability. He had to sit on the board and use his hands to get around — something you would never see in Germany. And I just started to cry. I think, because I had seen some of the poverty in the city — in this beautiful city, with wonderful people — that it just sort of put things into perspective for me. It made understand how fortunate I was to grow up in one of the world’s greatest countries, to have the family I did. It was a humbling few days, and that boy’s problems made mine seem so inconsequential.

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It was a such an important trip for me, such a great trip. I felt a sense of … healing. I felt like I was connecting with a part of me that had been lost — or better yet, never truly found — a long time ago. I love Nigerian food; I love the culture. Everyone is always playing music, laughing … trying to have the best time. I felt at home. And I understood that I could have two homes.

I want to make both of them proud in Russia at the World Cup. Because Germany gave me this opportunity to have success with Nigeria. It is my footballing heritage. I get that. But when I wear that Super Eagles kit … it feels so good. And when we beat Zambia in October 2017 to punch our ticket to Russia, it felt amazing. I remember the final whistle, our stadium in Uyo erupting. I fell to my knees in tears. John Obi Mikel, our captain, came up to me.

“No, no, you don’t get to cry. You don’t get to cry. We’re going to Russia!”

We’re going to Russia. It still feels surreal to say. I just can’t wait.

I know when we get there and I hear the national anthem, I’ll feel that much closer to my family, to my two homes, to my grandma.

And that, more than anything, is going to make the World Cup incredible.

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Leon Balogun
NIGERIA

Source: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/leon-balogun-nigeria?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=worldcup18&utm_term=Balogun

We need a consortium of Nigerian coaches backed with foreign trainers, should Rohr fail.

A potential world class midfielder will be playing in Stoke this summer. Na wa

edi287:
#baller

Sadiq was originally invited for the Atletico clash. I am certain that all the players that played in the olympics is known to Rohr.

andrew444:
Lol 50 man invisible list wey we go see.

35 man invisible list wey we no see.

na so so guest una dey guest who dey there

Who saw that Mexico pass. Looks like something Iwobi would do as an AM


Goaal

We are all on the same page here.. people go dey argue like say crosses is no longer part of the game.

TheSuperNerd:
I also love wingers who can cross. I actually love the best of both worlds... traditional crossing wingers and inverted wingers. Gives us varieties of attack.

But what you say is true and I have stressed it before. One pass can do quicker damage than a dribble of five players.

The power of a creative pass is so much that it carries raised to the power of 10 what a dribble of opponents will try to achieve.

The problem is even at this stage, Rohr’s starting lineup is very predictable. Mikel will play as AM again. Ighalo and Shehu would start.

TheSuperNerd:
Yes, I know... I saw all those comments and the debate that ensued on my return many pages ago. And I have also mentioned this combo even before my last thread absence before I returned.

Thing is.. I just try comment on issues as they go.

Let’s forget about any player outside the 23 here now.

But as regards Umar, there is a strong chance he was among the pool of 50 players later trimmed down to 35, and then 30.

andrew444:
Fine

But is sadiq umar at the world cup that the guy is mentioning? Nigerians should learn to accept what they have at the moment.

I am not sure the coach has ever dreamt of sadiq umar,but many dreamers here.

Nerdie @lastParagraph, you know I and I believe Mujtahida have been saying this na

TheSuperNerd:
Exactly my good man. Mediocrity it is... And that is what I wanna see booted out in our next game.

As for our midfield... Mikel did his best as AMF and even pressed so high up the final third helping Ighalo in the press. He created a few chances here and there but that is all there was to his game. Mikel was decent and matched Modric for most parts of the game. The battle between both was so fierce.
Ighalo's poor off-the-ball movements also made matters kinda worse upfront when we had the ball. He did make some fine touche and held the ball up well on a few occasions but he flunked with his sad off-the-ball movements. He was no threat up top.


In all, I still want a Mikel stepping back to CM with Iwobi more advanced as AM and Ndidi as DM. Mikel's positional intelligence and discipline gained in his decade of playing DM combined with Ndidi's tactical ruggedness and Iwobi's dare/creativity ahead of both could give us a huge chance going forward. Like I once or twice or even thrice before have said... That combo could be our own Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets.

Mikel as CM playing closer to Ndidi could see him still dictate play from deep. We need to also consider this.