₦airaland Forum

goldfish80:
Alot of these players where hired as mechenaries by these schools. Its not unusual to find schools employing the services of "mechey" to prosecute Inter school tournaments.
Corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigeria. 99% of games masters in primary schools outsource for mechenaries at that level.

If forced, I can name a popular ex youth international who played as mecheneary for various secondary schools more then 6 -7 years after he wrote WAEC.

Oh hired as mercenaries well i don't know of that but i remember that after Kodak U 17 WC most of these players came to represent their state at Kwara 85.

Also principal cup was in vogue then to discover young talents and also YSFON was in place to catch them young.

I hope u know Olapade Adenekan,an athlete,j can tell u authoritatively that he started representing Nigeria when he was in secondary school, traveling out of d country as a secondary school boy and later representing Nigeria at Olympics and various world championship.

In my secondary school i was part of school football team and i can tell u no single external player in our team.

My school represented Nigeria at youth handball game in Sweden with no external player.

Honestly u are free to name d ex player that played as mercenary for various schools,that's d reason we call it forum where u can say it out and people w make contributions.

Icon4s:
God bless you my brother. You remember vividly. The 1985 Baby Eagles(former name for golden eaglets) were picked from secondary schools. I used to pass in front of Taiwo Enegua's house when going to school those days. He was still a boy years after playing for the Baby eagle.

Many of those boys didn't really play professional football. A good number attended higher institutions and forgot about football with the sole achievement of winning the first ever U17 WC.

Yea most of them went to United States, Canada on scholarships to further their education, players like Waidi Akanni,Taju Dish,Dehinde Akinlotan,Bawa Abdullahi, Niyi Aderinoku(obodo)now a multi millionaire, Austin IgbinabairoJonathan Akpoborie,Okechuckwu OfojeAndrew Uwe was in OAU playing for Leventis United and 1985 U20.

I remember Jonathan Akpoborie was part of 85 U17 he came to sport festival too,after that he went Boston university in d states on scholarship and moved from Boston after graduation to Germany, d samething Mike Emenalo after graduating from one of d university in USA,he went to Belgium and started pro career.

Honestly then it was football and education,I always give respect to Akpoborie and Emenalo coz is not easy leaving football for education and still come back to that football as a professional at d top level.

Icon4s:
O boy, during our time of primary schools enrollment your left hand must touch your right ear o. Only well nourished big size 6 years olds could do that. I was lucky to do it at 6 but a good number of my class mates were 7 & 8 years olds. That was primary one o. I spent 6 solid years (not the mago mago 5 years they spend now). I finished primary school at 12+ and enrolled in Class one (later became JSS1) at almost 13. Finally na 18 years me finish secondary school and a good number of my class mates were 19, 20. Very few were 17. Only one girl in the whole graduating SS3 was 16.

I recall the 1985 Golden Eaglets were picked from the national Principals cup. Secondary schools ended at Class 5 then. So the boys would have been mostly 17 or 18 and less.

Good old days primary school,not safari aje butter primary school.

Principal Cup produced 1985 Golden Eaglet,one of my area brother Dele Abubakar made d team.I remember Nduka Ugbade made d team direct from st Finbarrs,so sometimes am always wondering why we always tagged our boys as over aged.

It was after Kodak U17 WC in 1985 that Kwara State hosted youth sports festival, most of these players represented their various states,Victor Igbinoba(Bendel)now Edo,Nduka Ugbade(Lagos)Fatal Atere(Lagos)Bella Momoh(Edo)Dele Abubakar(Kwara)

It must be noted that majority of 1987 U17 were products of Kwara sport festival, player like Dimeji Lawal,Bawa Abdullahi, Oladuni Oyekale,Peter Ogaba Christopher Nwosu.

The final of d sport festival was a thriller match between Bendel and Anambra with Victor Igbinoba scoring d goal

Pure secondary school boys then,Nigeria just need to go back to grassroots sports development.

Joebie:
FOR EXAMPLE, If Osaze dey play for Belgium and he score 10. Onyekuru score 10. I will go with Onyekuru. My point is the older players have to show they still have something special the younger players CANNOT give

I understand u wella am just trying to buttress your point.

elyte89:
Its a lie o,baba,his twin brother is hale and hearty google d story,its d pure truth,it almost bursted taiye taiwo den in france

I knw him very well(taiye taiwo),we lived in d same area when he use to hawk pepper in d neighborhood
My elder brother who is 35years old now,was abt starting his secondary skool when taiye taiwo was in ss2,Taiye taiwo attended imetropolitan skool(mentro high,okota Lagos state),for those who live in okota will knw dis skool very well,so popular.u can confirm

Same Ramon azeez dt capped his set during d u-17 lived in ikotun b4,he has 2kids b4 d u-17 tournament, those who knw him very well can testify to dis also
Now back to iheanacho,anybody dt knows him very well,or grew up tgeda with him,can only convince me dt hes real age is not 27,but if u re following d FIFA WEBSITE, to debunk my claims,den u re on your own,dts ur opinion,my verdict still stands,if u like kill ursef but I will say d obvious act


IHEANACHO is not below 27years(real age)

I based my comment on interviewed that he lost his twin bro at birth and I watched him in local league when he was young.

Are u saying Taiwo is above 40 years?my man i disagreed.

Joebie:
Osaz etc will need to show they can still perform at a high level. They need to move to bigger leagues and still perform to make a strong case especially considering that we have younger emerging players now. As much as we want to build a young team, we cannot afford to ignore performing experience. Experience alone is not enough.

Jobie wetin u dey talk gan self which bigger league again they should forget it this WC is not for Osaze,Martins,Ik Uche,naso we confused Keshi soo tey player like Uchebo made d team.

TheGoodJoe:
Taiwo's twin was even a sister. Just leave him. He is just advertising ignorance.

Thank u coz I read an interview where it was stated that he lost his twin bro at birth

safarigirl:
thank you for this. I just kept off Ola Aina's case because if we dey look face, Ola looks older than Kelechi

I don't want to come in coz I realised we always exaggerate our players age and is not something good for our image.

If I cannot say anything on Iheanacho age but i can say much of his mate at U17 Taiwo Awoniyi,he is like a son to me meaning he is a very small boy,that's d more reason anytime people complain about his development,I just laughed,still a very young boy.

elyte89:
Safari girl,don't b deceive by all that,kelechi will never b less dan 27years, I knw u re going to defend him based on d fact dt u re a die super eagle fan

Kelechi head alone is 14years,we Neva add him stomach,thighs age o ,JOKES apart,d guy is not a kid,infact for him to play at dt level with his real age(27),I give him thumbs up

Unlike Tate taiwo wey dey celebrate 23 for France,wyle his twin brother was celebrating 33years old ,here in Nigeria

elyte89 are u serious or joking coz u are full of comedy sometimes

elyte89:
Safari girl,don't b deceive by all that,kelechi will never b less dan 27years, I knw u re going to defend him based on d fact dt u re a die super eagle fan

Kelechi head alone is 14years,we Neva add him stomach,thighs age o ,JOKES apart,d guy is not a kid,infact for him to play at dt level with his real age(27),I give him thumbs up

Unlike Tate taiwo wey dey celebrate 23 for France,wyle his twin brother was celebrating 33years old ,here in Nigeria

Taiye Taiwo twin brother? his twin brother die at birth abi is another Taiye Taiwo u are talking about.

Icon4s:
I guess the comment was supposed to be addressed to Michael2 and not me. Cos he was the one calling for those pensioners to come back and play for us.

The only striker I have clamored for here is Tammy Abraham and of course we are getting more convinced by the weeks of his exceptional abilities.


And Please don't use Yekini's achievement at the World Cup as a yardstick for current strikers because we know Yekini had 2 bad World Cup outings: both the 1994 & 1998.

Your points are noted though.

Honestly i don't want to have any discussion on Martins,Osaze,Ik Uche with Michael2 coz ve already told him point blank that i no dey just like your speechless comment.

junnyjake:
I know this might sound really harsh, but it's close to the reality.


Ikeme might never play football again.

I understand your view but we just need to give Ikeme little respect.Kanu came out solid from heart surgery, Abidal d same thing, so u cannot say,if he make it and if he doesn't make WC fine but his name w never be forgotten for putting Nigeria on a good mark for our WC qualification.

Good for people to keep on mentioning his name,meaning they are with him in spirit and is good for his health, picking his mobile gadget and see great comments from fans still considering him for WC selection we have a great impact on his health.

Wolves still see him as number 1 despite d challenges, so is a plus for him if Nigerian fans are still see him as part of d team.

Rohr still see him as part of d team and still believe that Ikeme w make it,mind u this is how Rohr rate his keepers 1.Ikeme,2.Enyeama, 3.Akpeyi, 4.Ezenwa, 5.Alampasu, recent Ajiboye and now Uzoho.

Icon4s:
Speechless.

Pls icon4s let us be realistic and be honest.am always follow your statement that says'only a player better than d one we have should be given opportunity'

Now my question do we have any striker better than Ighalo and Iheanacho presently,if we have no issue but i don't see any one better than what we have presently.

How many goals are we expecting from our striker in d WC coz in any WC good and solid strikers always have 3,4,5,6,7 goals and sometimes highest goal scorer 5, 6 or 7 goals,so why unnecessary pressure even Yekini had one WC goal despite having two WC appearance.

Pls these so call strikers we keep on hamnering on are they topping d goal chart in their various club or league coz am even fed up with the way we are clamouring for these untested players at d expense of players like Ighalo and Iheanacho.

Boss pls do not forget Ogbeche,Uchebo,Ameobi,2014 not too far and still fresh how some players find themselves in d team and couldn't do anything extra ordinary,funny enough good ones were even dropped for them.

What we need now is a balance team where any of our forward can score and thank God our WC qualifying matches can attest to it.I don't think we can pinpoint to any player as responsible for our qualifications.We have 11 goals shared by six players meaning our formation don't rely much on our top 9.

Remember our qualification to US 94,it was Yekini,2002 WC qualification it was Victor Agali and Kanu Nwankwo d two scored four goals apiece.

We need to stop all these noise on striker coz i don't see any one of them giving us 3 to 4 goals in WC,so let us plan with what we have but if we see any special one fine but from d names being peddling here we should forget it.

Mickael2:
No No No, Ighalo cannot do what Emenike was doing then. Do you think Ighalo could have created that Bosnia goal? For one he doesn't have the pace to even do something like that, he is not the type of striker that can go out in the wing thus allowing another unsighted player free reign in the 18yard box which was what Emenike brought to the party then.


Then let's take a cursory look at all the to strikers in the world right now-Suarez, Benzema, Lewandowski, Kane etc etc. All these guys have one thing in common, their ability to also drift away from the box and giving the two CBs a false sense of security allowing their other attacking teammates to score. If Kane does not drift from the middle Alli won't score two goals in a season, same for Suarez and Messi, Benzema/Ronaldo, Lewandowski/Muller(you can see here that Ancellotti disrupted that Lewandowski/Muller, sack letter). This is what worked for us at the last world cup, Emenike drifted away from the box and created a goal for Osaze, he drifted into the middle and created a goal for Musa, this is the type of striker we need as out starter not some kwatankwa striker like Ighalo, which is why I really hope and pray and wish that Iheanacho will check his development because in the present crop of guys he is the only one that can remotely do that. Tammy Abraham cannot do it and so I do not expect him to be a hit for any National Team he plays for.


Now that brings me to the two/three guys I have always been clamouring for. Martins, Ike Uche and Osaze. Now Martins and Uche are two strikers who can drift well, infact sometimes you would be left wondering if they are playing as the winger just like what David Villa used to do, no need telling you his achievements from such play and/or Suarez's achievements too. So me clamouring for Ike Uche or Martins isn't because they bagged some goals recently, I am looking at their style of play, Ighalo is the type of forward we should look for when we are chasing a game, never a starter. There is a reason why the Three Lions will still invite Defoe ahead of Tammy despite our show of interest, they are not stupid, they know Defoe drifts more than Tammy thus providing a whole lot more attacking dimension.


So please, next time I mention Uche or Martins, it is not because they bagged a couple of goals, it is because their style of play will provide a lot more than what we have now.

Cc Joebie, Humility, Icon4s, Kog45 these guys that always attack when they see these names take note

Micho i don tell u,Martins, Ik Uche, Osaze me i no dey.shikena.

do4luv14:
pls remove NACHO from that list, others are good to go

Why do4luv14,u must have your reason,pls tell us.

Icon4s:
Good things are:

1. Ola Aina is young and up and coming
2. We have permanently secured his future with us.

By and large he definitely has a future with the national team. Whether he would displace Echiejile for the Russia starting list or not, time will tell.

Honestly am seeing d team beyond 2018 coz they are extremely young,Qatar 2022 gonna sweet.

[quote author=Icon4s post=61531449]Let me digress a little, @ the bolded no money is missing. The only issue is the contracts were awarded without following due process.

This thing called due processes has always caused a major bottle neck in our Oil and Gas sector. There are certain emergency services that typically need urgent approvals like pipeline leakage repairs, pipeline fire, Stuck pipe severing and fishing during drilling operations and others related to crude oil or products evacuation etc, but our Minister of Petroleum was either on a sick bed or busy travelling from USA to Mongolia. The VP signed a couple of them and the NNPC GMD, Maikanti Baru, gave the go ahead for some others with the consent of the "away" Petroleum Minister.
It is normal and a common practice as the official approval would later be obtained to enable the contractor receive payment. So there is really no issue in this matter.

Ibe Kachukwu goofed big time and this will mark the beginning of his downfalls[quote ]Oga icon4s and Humility017,pls go to political thread,not allowed here coz by d time guys comes in to make contributions u w not like it,though u started it in a mature way to buttress your analysis on corruption.

Icon4s:
Bros some people can throw a club at you for starting Echiejile ahead of Ola Aina o. So please watch your head.

Rohr said Echiejele is still his number one pick for LB barring injury but also said Aina is a player to beat coz of his versatility in both flanks.

Let wait till WC and see what happens, nobody gave Shehu Abdullahi the chance but he grabbed it with good performance especially against Zambia.

All i know good to have options for these positions, it gives us advantage and it is glaring Echiejele is a plus to d team,his experience is still valuable to d team but that doesn't mean is indispensable.

Good to have Echiejele, Abdullahi, Aina,Ebuhei and if possible Nura of Roma,this is what we want,depths in various positions.

TheGoodJoe:
This is a post I made on this topic about a week ago.

Although it may not seem like it at the time, losing can be the best thing that happens to a competitor. I know from personal experience that I always came back much better the year following a loss. Nothing creates that deep drive and determination that manifests itself in your gut like a devastating loss.

......................................................................

The above is an excerpt of an article concerning THE POWER OF DEFEAT. It is nice we qualified for the World Cup and we get to play in a tourney with some of the best teams and players in the World. The question we should ask ourselves is, is Nigeria prepared for the World Cup? The answer is a wholehearted no. Anyone with a little tactical understanding of the game can see a lot of deficiencies in our play.

Rohr has done a nice job so far but if Nigeria must make a huge impact in the coming World Cup in Russia, we must prepare for a crash course. Nothing can prepare us better than the power of defeat. We can not hide behind a veil of small wins or draws.

We were not prepared for France 98 but if we went with less preparation, the humiliation of the defeat to Denmark would have been multiplied.

Our friendlies against Germany, Yugoslavia and the whitewashing of the Dutch team (5-1) sparked the drive in our players and the tactical crew to work hard for the tournament.

I hope the NFF works hard to secure some grade A Friendlies against teams we know we would find hard to beat. Even if we take a huge defeat from these games, it will give us the right drive and determination to make an impact in the World Cup in Russia.

Good points but do we need grade A match to prepare d team.

I remember US 94 squad lost all the friendly matches but had good performance at WC and funny enough those friendly matches are not really grade A.

Rohr should just address the grey areas we are having problems and make sure we see our all our players in action,especially goalkeepers

Ezenwa recent rise tells me we need to give other keepers chance to prove themselves,he just need to give Alampasu, Uzoho,Ajiboye chance to show their stuff.

komekn:
It's already too late. He is now in a position where he has to prove his quality and pedigree.

Memories are very short in football and your only as good as your last game and a season of under achievement does not propel your career to the next level.

I said this donkeys ago. That the true test of your pedigree is not what you can do with top World class players around you. But what you can do without them, how well can you play and impose yourself on the game as a quality striker.


The reality is KC is not an out and out striker he's more of a support striker. I did not watch the match but the reviews abou him are not good.

Leaving Leicester city is not an option at thus point he has to perform football is very unforgiving. If he continues to put in mediocre performances he may find his position in the SE no longer secure.

Good analysis and u are on point coz u spread it out without sentiments.

I was wondering why we keep on deceiving ourselves and not always sayings d truth when it comes to certain players.

I don't think anybody as ever condemned Craig Shakespeare tactics when he demoted Musa from main squad.

With due respect to Nacho, he just need to face d reality and impose himself coz €25m is a big money to average Leicester city.

Despite club performance,Ndidi always getting rated,he did it with Ranieri,and also Shakespeare.

Icon79:
That's likely to happen, but it all depends on Awazien's form - both at his club and at the national team. Rohr believes in him but I think he went down the pecking order after the SA game. However, if he puts up a stellar performance against Algeria and keeps a good form at his club, I think he stands a chance of displacing Ekong because if we could see those mistakes from Troost, then better know that Rohr sees them as well.


O pari

It seems u have passion for Awaziem than Ekong which i see as normal but how do we judge d two players.Do we based our analysis on their appearance for Eagles or club sides.

On national team i w say Ekong is far ahead and there is no need for comparison coz it was glaring,Ekong is having a great partnership with Balogun and for d longtime we are seen d era of Keshi,Okechuckwu, Nwanu, Uche Okafor,Taribo West back in Eagles.

I w not deceive you Awaziem i watched against South Africa w need to work harder to displace Ekong,though he is having good perfirmance in his club just like Ekong.They are at par when we talk of club performance though French league is tougher than Turkish league but sometimes it doesn't count.

I remember Uche Okechuckwu played for Brondby in Denmark and later Fernabache in Turkey but always number one defender to pick even ahead of Taribo who had it so good at Inter Milan.

If i want to rate Ekong on his ball display,i w pick even Omeruo ahead of him but it's not done that way,watching Ekong at Olympics was like mix feeling,he made a pass in one of d matches and told a guy this oyibo guy still has a long way to go but as d tournament progress he improved drastically.

Honestly his rise in d Eagles was a surprised to me coz i don't give him that chance and Eagles really shape him and we must acknowledge d fact that he is having great understanding with Balogun,no coach we tamper with d bond unless something grievous happens.

I understand d way u are looking at it,honestly his footwork on d ball is alarming but he has other assets that's valuable to d team,he mark very well,he has d pace,very strong,,not easy to dispossess of d ball and very good in aerial.

Awaziem still need to bring his club form to national team,very fine player who read d game but still need to improve on that,honestly is a defender in form of John Stones of man city.If he keeps his form very well and replicate it in eagles colour he w be one of d best,just like d way Joseph Yobo started in eagles.

Honestly good to have Balogun, Ekong,Awaziem in present Eagles,hope Omeruo can rediscover his form coz i don't rate Agbo.Also we have to see d likes of Tournarigba, Irofa may be they are ready coz i don't rate them like Aina.

mumemma:
wetin Ekong does u?

Yes it's expected coz we view football in different ways.

Truly Ekong need to improve on his footwork but i still rate him than Awaziem,though Awaziem is doing well for his club but still yet to convince me in d national team.

Hope he get his chance and show us he is a better CB than Ekong but i don't see rationale behind rating Awaziem ahead of Ekong when d former has not even justified his inclusion in d team.

My man WC no be moimoi o,it require a lot and we need our best.The partnership of Balogun and Ekong is doing well for now,hope they raise their game.

komekn:
I

I was there, I remember Amunike dancing on the ball and making David Platt to eat grass like rabbit.

Good,d match still d best friendly match ever played by eagles till today,though we lost but kudos to our boys.

Napoleon55:
what r we waiting for,fix d date shap shap,wembley showdown part 2

Oh Wembley showdown, that was d match Okocha turned English players to spectator.

Segun Odegbami and John Fashanu made d match possible,it took d intervention of Fashanu before Odegbami had headway.

It was a match I keep on watching coz Jayjay showed class in that match and only goal was scored by David Platt for England.

DaudaAbu:
and he is part of the reason APC is drifring apart

He expects free looting and enhanced constituency peojects

Oh your name is Dauda Abu no wonder

tbaba1234:
Ruben was injured at the start of the season. Pantillimon was loaned from Watford.

Thanks

tbaba1234:
thegoodjoe wil love Pep Mel.

Sorry clarify this,it seems Pantillimon is d first choice this season coz he kept most of d matches.

Icon79:
Yup, Poland would be the easiest of the top seeds.

But on a good day, I think we can beat any one of those 3 team: Russia, Poland, and Portugal.


O pari

O pari master i love your spirit.

Icon4s:
I know a couple of players were invited but I don't think it was up to 100.

Besides as I said before the world has advanced and is now a global village. We see these players weekly and know those that are up to the mark.
No need inviting everybody

Thanks coz I followed d team very well prior to US 94.I remember that player like Nwankwo Kanu,Taribo west,Karibe Ojigwe,Wilson Oruma were in camp,they even played against Sweden in a friendly match but camping hundred players i can't recollect.

Icon4s:
Thank God for the internet of today. Thank God for Digital satellite TV of today. Gone were the days when a coach would assemble hundreds of players in preparation for the world cup just to asses their level of the game.

We see these players on weekly bases, some twice a week. There is no Nigerian player that is a world cup material that we have not seen play so far. So the coaches need not assemble a hundred players to assess them for the world cup.

This will amount to distraction, waste of resources, waste of time and all what that come with it.

The coach should focus more on fixing the departments that need fortification and developing the team's tactics. The team should be involved in numerous friendlies with 1, 2 or 3 new players introduced and tested per game. Consistency and stability are key elements in team building.

Modified:

For instance I would like to see friendlies where Rohr experiments with Mikel at CM and Iwobi at AM and vice versa, we would like to see Rohr play Iheanacho behind Ighalo, I would like to see Aina at RB while Shehu plays DM, play two strikers side-by side like in 4-4-2. Stuffs like that. Switch of formation, switch of players in different role and what of have you. Not spending the whole time selecting from a hundred players.

Pls I want u to make a clarification on this,was there a time Westerhoff opened a camp with 100 players prior to US 94 WC.

ChrisKels:
The way I see that guy, even Ruben will sit when he finally comes back.

U can still doubt that as u did when I told u that his debut was near.

I thought I came out openly to acknowledge u on this,so why last paragraph.

It's normal for me to doubt or u want me to put my hope on a keeper who has not make it to d bench as my WC hopeful.

Good d guy proved me wronged he made d team last weekend which is good for him hope he keep it up.

Icon79:
Are you talking about today or the Ike Uche of 2008 to 2012?


O pari

It's my personal opinion so no need to argue coz d two have nothing to contribute to eagles anymore as a player.