₦airaland Forum

solonnachi:
Should we be happy or sad?

Famocious:
I think Jude Ighalo still remains our undisputed no 9 for now. I hope coach Rohr will give Nwakaeme some minutes of action in the second half against the Chipolopolos on Saturday. We need to see how much competition he can give Ighalo.

Icon4s:
The thing is each time Zambia manages to produce a descent youth team over time it culminates into a descent senior national team.

In 1988, Zambia produced an Olympic team that got to the quarter finals of the Seoul Olympics. Those players were progressed to the senior team and they finished 3rd at the 1990 AFCON. That Zambian team also got to the semis at the 1992 AFCON. However in 1993, tragedy struck during qualifiers for the 1994 AFCON and most of that golden generation of Zambian players perished in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Gabon. They managed to raise a team that faced Nigeria at the 1994 AFCON final. But they never really progressed from their. That era ended.

In 2007, Zambia produced a team that reached the 2nd round of the U20 WC. They lost to a Nigerian side that had Brown Ideye, Ezekiel Bala, Elderson Echiejile, Efe Ambrose, Adefemi Olubayo, Chukwuma Akabueze, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, , and co. They progressed that their U20 team. They lost to Nigeria via penalties in the quarter finals of the 2010 AFCON and then won the AFCON in 2012 by beating CIV via penalties.

In 2017 they have raised a team that reached the quarter final of the U20 WC and again they have progressed a good number. But if you look at the previous trends it took them at least 2years before they started making any statements on the continents. It simply means that it would be too early to expect those boys to achieve same fits as their predecessors. Maybe from 2019 or 2021 AFCON.
You may say football is no mathematics but I will tell you that : 1, you cannot cheat nature. You also saw how our young Super Eagles fell to SA.
2, In football, some how, history has a way of repeating itself. Just like their predecessors, it cannot happen for them from this year 2017. They should look forwards from 2019.

So for them to hope they can beat Nigeria with those boys on Saturday, I shake my head.

junnyjake:
Yes sir! We appreciate you as one of the experienced ones in the present set-up. We cannot play down the part you've played in our journey so far.

And since things have turned out to be this way, we want to let you know that we are very comfortable with you taking as much time as you need to recover from this injury.

Don't feel the need to rush back, we want your healing to be absolute and even if it comes after we've qualified, we won't fault you in anyway.

Thanks! Coming from all concerned fans.

lakesidepapa:
@joebie, Thanks my brother... I hardly come on NL nowdays, I found myself in another country(Germany) and I can't enjoy my time anymore... busy routine.. I only have a little time to come here and read comments from you guys..

@joseph, Thegoodjoe icon4s Tbaba1234, mickeal, safarigirl, Thesupernerd (this guy is a machine ), goldfish, bascovaline, dov4luv, davep, AIG , joebie et.al you guys are great, you have being doing a good job for keeping this thread healthier and alive, great contributions so far. I salute u all...!!!

God grace the team will make it to Russia and put smile on our face.. Amen!!!

junnyjake:
One thing that separates TEAMS from teams is having a quality bench - One as good as the ones already on the pitch.


I would use recent examples to buttress my point.

Our game against France in the 2014 world cup - Many would say we lost due to Onazi's injury. That's partly true, we weren't really threatening offensively.

Then there came Greizmann from the bench and their attack was energized and before you knew it, we were 2 goals down. Then I had to ask myself, who was the difference maker we had on the bench that would come on to unsettle the French defence. If you watched that game your answer would definitely agree with me that we had no one.

We've had Osaze coming off the bench to give us that boost, too bad he started the game, same with Victor Moses.


Germany Vs Algeria in the same competition - Germany were unable to break the deadlock within the 90 mins period, and had to go for extra time and don't forget Schurle came off the bench to inspire Germany to victory.


Same thing played out in the finals, sane Schurle combined with Gotze to score the goal that made them the world champions. They both came off the bench.


I'm happy we're blessed with depth in our present team and the coach can always deploy one or two people to cause damages to the opposition.

Is Rorh really that coach that's courageous enough to pull out a rabbit from the hat when things seems not to be going our way? I'm not convinced yet. That's the hard truth.


I respect Rorh and how much he's achieved so far but the truth has to be told.

Clementoke:
Too early for that

freshest4live:
Thank God.

Nigerdeltaboi:
abi na ezenwata night bus victor moses follow from abuja .

tbaba1234:
Victor Osimhen impresses Wolfsburg coach

The long wait for Victor osimhen to make his debut this season is over. Wolfsburg played at home against Mainz and Osimhen came in the 84th minute for Divock Origi.

The coach of Wolfsburg, Martin Schmidt, decided to feature Osimhen in the match because of his dedication and abilities in training. Schmidt espoused Osimhen’s skills in Wolfsburger Allgemeine, ” it was a decision for Victor. He trained very well and scored the most goals. He is the most effective runner and i wanted to reward him.”

It appears that Schmidt is now a fan of Osimhen. The 18 year old Nigerian is still learning the ropes but Osimhen has been able to break the pecking order in Mario Gomez’s absence. Landry Dimata who is contending for the position did not make it to the bench against Mainz.

It is still unknown, if Osimhen will play in Wolfsburg’s next match against Bayer Leverkusen. Because the injured Mario Gomez could make his comeback in the match.

If Osimhen is injury free and continues to work hard with dedication, he will definitely see his dreams come to fruition in the Bundesliga.

http://www.bundesligavibes.com/victor-osimhen-impresses-wolfsburg-coach/

freshest4live:
Yes Oh, e remain Akpeyi to injure.

do4luv14:
ah sight am too , oya come inside make we welcome you ,

Clementoke:
Lol.
Echiejile......Hear the word of Nigerians ; Thou shall not recover till after Zambia's match Amen

Guys, is that a wicked prayer? Lol

Icon4s:
They will fine us again after Saturday's game.

safarigirl:
oga, as these guys no wan welcome you because (f) no dey your moniker, make I do the honours

You are welcome to our wonderful thread and our family, we hope you can contribute to this thread as time goes on. Welcome once again, collect one bottle of Udeme from Joebie

Icon4s:
They will just be calling names. Untested players for that matter.

komekn:
From my perspective Echiejile is the WEAKEST LINK.

Without a bona-fide left back a makeshift Aina will be better than Echiejile.

If we all can see it, then definitely the Zambians can. That gap needs to be plugged.

First choice striker is Ighalo no contest for now.

The legendary Mikel put in a first class performances against Cameroon considering that he was not really match fit. That's simply amazing. However, he may not last the 90 minutes, I would then replace him with Iwobi who is the next best thing to a playmaker we have in the mold of Mikel.

I would like to see another striker come in, not sure who is most, in-form. Because at the moment KC is not firing on all cylinders and his confidence is not on a high.

Kog45:
Hmmmm Jobie, you are on point,meaning any injury to Balogun we are in soup.

How i wish Rohr read this beautiful analysis.

krattoss:
can't really blame him shaaa..maybe nff might be owing him again..

But he shouldn't forget that no player is bigger than the team. .

Am really glad the way rohr is man managing the players...No rift so far..
Kudos to the German shepherd

do4luv14:
Is VICMO not coming for dis game

solonnachi:
FIFA has sanctioned Nigeria 30,000 US dollars for crowd invasion into the pitch in the Uyo during the match against the Cameroon team.