₦airaland Forum

tbaba1234:
I feel Kayode is a better player but Nwakaeme offers something that we have lacked in recent games.

solonnachi:
The Cameroonian players have been training secretly. But the Super Eagles are training publicly today. We are too accessible to every one. No wonder the result against South Africa.

daveP:
smh@ public show of training. show the level of thinking of those in charge is so lackadaisical. Egypt and Tunisia are good at spying on cases like this.

safarigirl:
no be this match wey Joebie carry come and nobody talk?

The referee ought to be beaten, what nonsense? How do you award two penalties to the home team out of the blue?

Do we even have a body or something that regulates these referees and their shady calls?

Kog45:
I remember u got it right on Awaziem but d guy had a bad day against SA,hope he bounce back and better coz age is on his side and Rohr already rate him than Omeruo meaning in d absence of Balogun,he is a sure starter.

On Alampasu can Rohr take d risk against Cameroon,i always rate Akpeyi ahead of Ezenwa and Alampasu but to be sincere am not comfortable with him likewise Ezenwa but Alampasu to me a risk against Cameroon not that he is not good but d exposure just like it affect Awaziem against SA.

safarigirl:
let him tell is the three big strikers, then we will see which of them is 'startable'....certainly not Aaron Samuel or Nwakaeme

Nigerdeltaboi:
Colin Udoh, KweséESPN Regional Editor 13h

Samuel recall is good news for Super Eagles

Fortune sometimes finds its own unsolicited way of rearranging the pieces on the board, and Nigeria striker Aaron Samuel is the latest benefactor in that regard.
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has moved CSKA Moscow forward Samuel up from the standby list to the main squad, in the wake of Arsenal's Alex Iwobi being forced to withdraw with a leg injury.
Under normal circumstances, losing a first team player would be a weakness, a blow to the squad, especially as they are facing African champions Cameroon in a set of 2018 World Cup qualifiers this coming week.
But these circumstances are not normal, and this small piece of misfortune could well turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Nigerians.
Make no mistake, Iwobi is a fine, tidy, skilled, and cerebral football player. There is a reason he plays for Arsenal, after all. But games between Nigeria and Cameroon have historically not been about finesse.
Intelligence, yes. Nwankwo Kanu's visionary pass to find John Utaka for the winner at Afcon 2006, for example. Skill, perhaps. Here, that sublime Samuel Eto'o finish in Lagos in the 2000 Afcon Final comes to mind.
There are numerous other examples where brilliance, skill, and intelligence have decided the games. But they have, for the most part, happened after brutally physical skirmishes with no quarters asked and none given.
While polished Iwobi would certainly have been an asset, 6ft2in Samuel's style appears better suited to this particular opposition, and in light of what is at stake, this particular set of games.
The CSKA man is big, burly, and quick, and would sooner stop breathing than shy away from a scuffle. Putting himself in harm's way in search of goals comes as second nature, and it's how he got his first of only two goals for Nigeria.
Against Sudan in 2014, he found himself amidst a sea of bodies and instinctively threw out his favoured left peg into the fray to stab home a close range rebound.
He would be the perfect muscle foil or substitute for any of the starting forwards, whether it is Odion Ighalo or Kelechi Iheanacho. It would not be at all inconceivable to see him as a starter.
Samuel is not lacking in the skills department, and can match almost any of the other forwards for speed of foot and thought. But where he takes the edge is in his ability to get into, and come out on top of, a good scrap.
It is a characteristic the Super Eagles missed against South Africa in June, and it is one they will sorely need against the Indomitable Lions on 1 and 4 September.

goldfish80:
A glance at his dashboard tells me he was the highest rated midfielder in the Seria A last week.
I hope he has finally gotten over his injury worries. He possess a well educated left foot.

tbaba1234:
Seen Aaron Samuel recently, He looks far away from his 2014 form. Either way, his physicality could be an asset.

safarigirl:
forget starting, I want to know the 3 big natural forwards to begin with. And they all better be BIG.

Off the top of my head, only Nwakaeme fits the bill for those two qualities....okay, add the recently invited Aaron Samuel

EEGA:
There’s More To Cameroon Than Just Brute Strength
completesportsnigeria.com Aug 28, 2017 11:16 AM
The focus as the key Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers approach seems to be all on Cameroon’s physical attributes.
Pretty much every Nigerian football expert who has spoken or written about the double header between the Super Eagles and the Indomitable Lions has highlighted Cameroon’s power and the need for Nigeria to match them physically.
But there is more to these current Lions than just their bulging muscles and ‘jam body’ football’. There’s a whole lot more.
Of course, the Cameroonians are physical specimens to behold, bulging biceps peeking out of their too tight shirts and their intimidating six-packs straining against the tops.
But, beyond their raw strength, these Cameroonians can play. Dem sabi football.
They were not even remotely the favourites to win the last Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon but they defied the odds, in spite of a squad shorn of almost all their big-name stars, to win the continent’s biggest football trophy.
And they did not rely on their much-vaunted physicality alone.
The Lions AFCON team played vibrant, sometimes exhilarating football. They were quick, incisive, skilful, clinical. They had power, but it was not one of their chief attributes.
They had a coach, the Belgian Hugo Broos, who trusted in youth and kept faith with the 21-year-old Fabrice Ondoa in goal along with several young players in key positions.
They had searing pace down the flanks, especially in Christian Bassogog, the left-footed right winger who was voted Player of the Tournament.
They had guile and aerial threat in attack in Vincent Aboubakar, who is extremely comfortable on the ball for one so big, and captain Benjamin Moukandjo.
They also had composure and penetration in midfield in Sebastian Siani and Arnaud Djoum.
Cameroon still have all these players – and Broos, of course – as well as all these qualities.
So, the Super Eagles should be concerned about much more than the Lions’ power.
How does Gernot Rohr deal with Bassogog’s electric pace? Can Elderson Echiejile stop the speedstar? Who will mark Aboubakar without giving away silly fouls in dangerous positions? Do Rohr and his men know if Cameroun are dangerous at set-pieces?
How do the Eagles win the midfield battle? Should Rohr go with the combination of Mikel Obi and Ogenyi Onazi that offers experience and power but little else? Or should Oghenekaro Etebo be included for his direct running and eye for goal that can unsettle the Lions? What about Wilfred Ndidi and his calm approach?
These are some of the things we should be worried about, other than just Cameroon’s raw power. ‘Power for power’ is not always the answer, even if we insist that Cameroon are all about brute strength (they are not).
Not too many years ago, we all watched in awe as a Barcelona team made up mostly of magical gnomes ran rings around giants. Lionel Messi, Andrea Iniesta and Xavi standing on each other would probably not be taller than Rio Ferdinand alone, but it was Messi who scored a header against Rio and another giant centre-back Nemanja Vidic in the 2009 Champions League final.
Messi did not need to outjump them or outmuscle them – he could not anyway. All he needed was the perfect delivery and to be clever in his movement to find space.
That Barca side that won almost everything on offer between 2008 and 2012, and again between 2013 and 2015, showed that a team should most of the time play to its own strengths.
The top scorer in the Nigeria Professional Football League is a wee fella up against Iroko tree-like defenders week in, week out but their superior power hasn’t stopped the MFM FC striker from scoring 17 goals. Mfon Udoh scored 23 in the same league in one season. He is not exactly a hulk too.
By all means scout the opposition to know their strengths, but counter them by pitting your best attributes against theirs.
If the Super Eagles’ best players are Victor Moses with his speed and dribbling skills, Kelechi Iheanacho with his clever movement and clinical finishing, and Moses Simon with his darting runs, then they should all start against Cameroon.
We should not all be caught up in the ‘brute strength’ talk because Cameroon are much more than that.
A team of lightweights with skills, guile, organisation and confidence will anyway be a match for a team of giants who only rely on their power to bully the opposition.
Didn’t David defeat Goliath? David certainly didn’t have to have Terry Crews’ chest to win that battle.

Nigerdeltaboi:
moses simon, balogun, nwakeme and ogu are already in the country and expected to join up latter tonight or tomorrow morning.
source : their social media accounts

I don't see kelechi playing as a central forward, Rohr inviting three big natural central forwards gives a clue.

Petrobros:
Yes expectations are not always met but more so are Preferences.

'Expectations' begets objectivity while reverse is the case for 'preference'.

Petrobros:
'Expectation' is more of the reality on ground.

For eg You may love Alampasu for what ever reason and then you 'prefer' him in goal but the reality is Akpeyi is first choice and so he is 'expected' to be in goal.

Sentiments most times beclouds 'preference'. I go with 'expectation' rather than 'preference'.

ProfOrlando:
update, Ola Aina is in abuja, I just saw he and his dad now at the airport.

Kog45:
Jobie u always make it simple and accurate not some people who always show brotherhood love here by turning this thread to a war zone.

Petrobros:
Firstly, Alampasu is not our first choice goalie. So he is not expected to start.

Secondly, Ndidi. He is a sure starter.

Ighalo not likely to start, Iheanacho is our first choice striker.

I like where you placed Etebo. In the absence of Iwobi, Etobo moves to the Left. I see an Ndidi- Onazi midfield pairing.

Mickael2:
I think we totally agree on this. last season Moses Simon didn't really light up the Europa league but just like you and Icon4s said, there are a lot more that will be considered first.

all that aside, I really want to understand why Moses Simon still plays as a winger for us. he literally played the whole season as the SS probably because Samuel Kalu benched him, why then is he a starter for the SE when we have tons of players who can play that position well enough?

Petrobros:
You cannot be talking about federal character in the national team setting.

Let the best get the nod. Of they are from a particular section of a country so be it.

Petrobros:
My friend, it is not someone like me that you can deceive with all these your comments. I know virtually everyone here.

Please try avoid making statements here that can spark off ethnic combats. You have no moral justification to make that kind of comment on Rohr and the NFF.

No section of the country will feel happy when such allegations are put forward against them.

Even if you feel aggrieved that your section of the country is not getting a fair share there are better ways of going about it and just know also that all sections of the country cannot have equal represent in the national team.