₦airaland Forum

eyeview:
I would have advised that a call be put urgently across to Wike to storm here with his own security details to stop this rigging that is about to take place here but then again it occured to me that wike may be their target. To shoot him in the midst of a mayhem

To shoot Wike in d midst of a mayhem!Chei wahala dey naija with this kind of comment.

TheSuperNerd:
Rohr scouts Anichebe again


https://images.supersport.com/2016/12/Anichebe.action.80.jpg



Victor Anichebe’s fine form in front of goal might see him make a return to the Nigeria fold almost five years after his last cap.

The former Everton star secured a move to
Sunderland after being released by West Brom at the end of lasts season and seems to have found his range again.

Three goals in four games for the Black Cats have seen him catch the attention of Super Eagles gaffer Gernot Rohr who incidentally is in England to see Nigeria’s contingent in the country.

Anichebe has had a torrid time the last three
seasons due to injuries and loss of form but has
found some form working with his former
manager at Everton David Moyes.

He has formed a fantastic partnership with
Jermaine Defoe in the Sunderland attack and will be looked upon to help steer the team out of the relegations spots.

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr who is presently in England is likely to hand the Lagos-born striker a call up to the national if his form continues into the new year.


The 28-year-old has played 11 times for Nigeria
scoring a single goal. He was also part of the
silver-winning Beijing 2008 Olympics football
squad.


Source: http://mobi.supersport.com/football/super-eagles/news/161210/Rohr_scouts_Anichebe_again

Good to be recalled and let see what he can do,may be he w be d answered to our striking issue that made Rohr to use Nacho as false 9 against Algeria.

TheSuperNerd:
Nwankwo "Papillo" Kanu.......

Some of the big ogas in the house have answered you. Would have loved to hear Elder Icon4s' view shaa before I talk but your question don tey so make I drop my own, no matter how little.

We all know Kanu is Nigeria's most decorated and most successful footballer of all time. He even sits behind Eto'o in the all-time list of Africa's most decorated footballers.


But we speak on what made him so invaluable and so special. What made Kanu "King"
..................................

Kanu did not score a lot of goals in the Green and White of the Super Eagles BUT MOST-TIMES, WHENEVER HE DID SCORE, IT WAS ALWAYS MAGICAL AND "EARTH-SHAKING".


@Atlanta 96, Kanu's goals in the semifinals against Reigning World Champions at the time, Brazil sent ripples through out Africa and the rest of the world. His goals that day have gone on to be one of the top 5 greatest moments in our football history.

@Afcon 2004 in Tunisia, Kanu's ingenious assist from deep in midfield to John Utaka "the attacker" brought about the downfall of an eternal enemy in the indomitable lions of Cameroun.

Prior to that game The Super Eagles have NEVER BEATEN CAMEROUN IN AN AFCON MATCH THAT REALLY MATTERED.

We had beaten Cameroun only once before 2004 in Afcon meetings but that came in the game for third-place at the Senegal '92 Afcon.

We had suffered heartbreaks against Cameroun en-route to the trophy in 1984, 1988 and 2000.

Cameroun became known as our bogey-men of the Afcon but on that day in 2004, something grand happened.

The Ever magical Genius of Okocha brought us level from that beautifully taken free-kick after Eto'o had put Cameroun ahead. First half finished 1-1 and it seemed only a moment of absolute brilliance will win this..... THEN CAME THAT MOMENT

Kanu got the ball from Okocha (I think?), then with his Eagle Vision, which some didn't think he had for a forward, he spotted the positioning of Utaka and the space ahead of him. With that, he sent a sweet long ball into Utaka's path and the rest was history. CAMEROUN FELL THAT DAY AND IT WAS DOWN TO KANU'S GENIUS IN THAT ONE MOMENT THAT WON US THAT GAME. Utaka's finishing did the Job but Kanu's genius from a position that is naturally not his habitat, made that job easy for the finisher.

I recall celebrations on the streets of lagos that day. I remembered how Obasanjo himself put a call through after such earth-shaking victory and to the rest of Africa, Nigeria were champions-in-waiting because we had just knocked out the best team in Africa and then, defending champions. We ended that Camerounian golden generation. We buried our worst nightmare at the Afcon..... Cameroun. And Kanu again was at the center of that remarkable story.


@Port-harcourt.... 2006 WCQ vs Gabon(?).... I don't know who remembers this game but I will always remember it.

It was a game that I believe (I'm not too sure officially) set the record for the shortest time spent on the pitch to produce a MOTM PERFORMANCE.

Only one man could have achieved such... Yep... His name is KANU.

Nigeria badly needed a win and the Gabonese proved a hard nut to crack. It stayed goalless till late in the minutes of the 80s until MAGIC HAPPENED.

Kanu was brought into the fray with 8mins remaining (added time included I think) and PRODUCED A MASTERCLASS PERFORMANCE THAT BROUGHT DOWN THE WALL OF THE GABONESE. He first worked his way from the right wing and played in a tempting ball which found Julius Aghahowa and it was 1-0 all of a sudden. Tension died away, Nigeria finally had a goal.

Just when you thought it will stay that way, Kanu popped up again but this time he became the goal-scorer himself. What a goal he scored. He placed his shot to the left of the goalkeeper as calmly as you please. 2-0 and final whistle blew a couple of seconds later.


In just 8mins, Kanu came in and brought Nigeria back from a deathly situation. HE NAMED OFFICIAL MAN OF THE MATCH WITH A GOAL AND AN ASSIST IN JUST 8MINS OF FOOTBALL. IT COULD ONLY BE KANU.

He was a master of the assists (always giving assists or second-assists» the pass before the pass that leads to goals).

He was a conjurer of magic on the pitch and a leader who struck fear in the heart of opponents because you never knew when "THE KANU MAGIC" could kick in... Loollll

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

I can go on and on and even make mention of his performance against Chelsea. A video I have watched countless times. A performance which saw him score a hattrick in fifteen mins.

Or is it his heroics for a modest side like Portsmouth which saw him score the vital goals in both the semis and the final itself to help them lift the English F.A. Cup.


In finality, Sir Elder Kog45.... KANU WAS JUST CLASS... WORLD CLASS.... He was really special.... He was indeed King.

Noted

joseph1013:
Kanu assisted a lot of goals and won so many penalties someone like Okocha scored. If it was now, stat softwares would have picked on his chances created, build up to goals started, etc. All these were not available then.

Kanu was a great player.

Noted

goldfish80:
For me Kanu is the best player we have produced. The guy is simply phenomenonial.
Sometimes stats don't tell the full story. For example, stats won't tell you how made the assist before the assist. Stats won't tell you who initiated a move which later snow balled into a goal.

Kanu brings certain skill and composure through which the game flows.
His technical level is out of this world.
Players like Kanu, Berbatov, Pirlo, maybe Totti and lately Ozil are what I would call the endangered specie. Its unfortunate that football managers these days train players as athletes first before footballers. The focus on training these days is on speed, strength, shot. Skill, finness is an after thought, almost like an anormally these days.
Players who play with grace and panache are getting kicked out of the game.

Looking at stats won't tell you how good Kanu is. Watching him play would give any genuine football fan an instant orga$m.

Noted

Mickael2:
during the Olympics, Mikel played more as a second striker, hardly falling back to defend, the stats are there I'd you need it so in such a case you need at least one combative midfielder not necessarily two midfielders who creates from the back, Azubuike is such a player and Ndidi isn't really such and neither is Usman so the presence of Azubuike was vital. back to what you asked if Ndidi was there it would have forced Mikel to come back and join the defence a lot more than he did then thus depriving Sadiq Umar of any meaningful partnership up top and we all know how good Sadiq was against Germany when he had to play up top alone because of the absence of Azubuike. still confused?

Good analysis and well explained

TheSuperNerd:
Oga Elder Kog45.... I no even see Thompson Usiyen for ya list... He had 15goals in 24games for the then Green Eagles... Guy was a super striker back then.

On the issue of Kanu...... Make the big ogas chook mouth first before I talk. **takes backseat..... Places bag on it to reserve it and returns to labs**

Yes Usiyen Nigeria best striker with goal ratio.Am waiting for your input.

TheGoodJoe:
There are things stats can not explain. Stats can not explain the delicate touch if Kanu Nwankwo and how he commands the ball to obey him during play. Stats can not explain Kanu dropping deep and motivating his team.

Or the way Kanu turned games around with his brilliant talent. Somethings needs watching to understand.

Watch some of Kanu's highlights on YouTube and you will see that such talents are hard to find.

Noted

BascoVanVeli:
Azubuike has finesse in his game, he even dribbles too much sometimes.

ok but not better than Ndidi.

CC:thegoodjoe
Icon4
. Supernerd
. basconvanveli
. tbaba
goldfish
. Joseph1013
pls I had an argument with a friend on why Kanu Nwankwo was one of d best striker to have come out of Nigeria that w always be on my S/E xi but my friend disagreed that cannot w never make his S/E xi,citing his reasons like 87 appearances wit 12 goal,5 Afcon,3 W/C without a goal.

He said i should do my research and i did thorough research on d past and present S/E attacking players with Rasheed Yekini 58 app/37 goals,Segun Odegbami 46 app/23goals,Yakubu Aiyegbeni 57/21 goals,Obafemi Martins 41 app/18,Samson siasia 51 app/16 goals,Aghaowa 32 app/14 goals,Daniel Amokachie 44 app/13 goals,Ahmed Musa 60 app/11 goals,Osase Odewengie app 63/10 goals,Amuneke 27 app/9 goals,Victor Moses 27 app/9 goals,Emenike 37 app/9 goals,Victor Ikpeba 31 app/7 goals,Ideye 27 app/6 goals,Finidi 62 app/6 goals,Agali 12 app/5 goals,Babaginda 36 app/5 goals.

After this,i told him Kanu has more assists than any Nigeria player which he disagreed,citing Amokachie, Siasia and Finidi as d best in assists in super eagle history.

I told him look this guy won Africa footballer of d year twice,he said Ikpeba won it also,is Ikpeba rated than Okocha or Amokachie when w talk of super eagles.

Pls house what really make Kanu so special that he was so valuable to super eagle during his playing career coz i respect his talent than any other Nigeria striker.

tbaba1234:
He would have done a better job plus, he could have replaced Usman Muhammad as well. He does it every week at club level and in the Europa cup. He has the highest number of successful interceptions and tackles in the Europa cup this season.

Plus he could have played CB instead of sincere seth.

The last olympics had no benefit for the super eagles because we used players that were not yet at the level to play for the senior team.

Honestly i used to under rate Ndidi due to his displayed against Zambia though as a RB in that match but recently am more convinced that d boy is good and Onazi should brace up.

If he makes d last Olympic team,though his club w not release him,he would have be a plus to Mikel coz the guy is very intelligent and read d game very well.There is difference between him and Azubuike.When w talk of DM,Azubuike can be classified as a brawl DM without finesse but Ndidi got d class.

Mickael2:
As at then, do you think that Ndidi would have done a better job than Azubuike as our primary destroyer? Do you think that Ndidi could have covered totally for Mikel's defensive inabilities?

If I get u right with Mikel in d starting line up,player like Ndidi w find it difficult as DM coz of Mikel defensive inabilities.

Pls i w want u to explain more on what u mean by Mikel defensive inabilities.

tbaba1234:
5th division?? 3rd Tier??

It appears owngoalnigeria is just trying to help some people's careers.

My brother i wonder o

TheSuperNerd:
See ehn... If those Super Grannies show up here ehn... Chaaiiii.... I go just carry this face when they start their own..... **I go just dey flash my smile of absolute Ignorance**

https://www.rophydoes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/iloveyou.gif

Yes is a forum that belongs to everybody irrespective of age.

TheSuperNerd:
Easy?? See this Oga ooo....

You first drop "info" wey intimidate pesin then u come dey call us wonderful... Which levels naa....?

Abeg... **walks out thinking why dem no born me for 1930**

That's d truth my guy.I need to come out when tbaba said he watched both d old and d new eagles.

TheSuperNerd:
1984? Whaaaatttt?? Chaaaaaaiiiiiiii...... My indomie generation tag just got super cemented!!!

Abeg ooo Oga Icon4s... Come carry your man into your experience halls and quarters ooo... Ojibijibijibijibijibi.... Kaaiiiii

In the midst of...... gosh!!!! See them!!!! And many of them dey for ghostmode while people like us dey for driving seat for here?? Kaaaiiiii... I don suffer..... Chaaiiiii...

https://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/04/Kentucky-Notre.gif

Easy my guy,respect to u guys for being wonderful here

tbaba1234:
I read your post and you used appearance and goals stats which does not tell the full story and is a fairly shallow assessment.

I watched both players from the beginning of their careers so my view is based on what i saw from both of them.

Honestly u ve not answer my question.What criteria do u used that make TJ more consistent than Musa!simple and i w keep quiet coz am here to learn and to be more knowledgeable.

Mind u have been watching Eagles since 1984 Afcon coached by Onigbinde and captained by late Stephen Keshi.

tbaba1234:
I do not know when goals became the criteria for wingers especially in a Super Eagles teams that had so many potential scorers. You also failed to include that Musa played as a striker several times for CSKA and his stats are not that much better the Tijani. Tijani was purely a winger.

I can not remember a bad game for Tijani, point blank but I can remember several that Musa was frustrating.

Tijani was not always a starter in a star-studded Super Eagles team.

Musa will struggle to get into that team on his best day, he is even struggling to start nowadays with Simon Moses, what if he was dealing with Finidi.

To grade consistency, we need average performance rankings and more detailed statistics. Finidi George was not a scorer either but he created far more goals.

Would you say, Musa is more consistent because he scored more than Finidi?

Pls read my view critically,am not using goals to judge.My question is simple,pls what make Tijani more consistent than Musa?Prove it and i w keep quiet.

Pls do the average ranking and statistics of d two player and paste it,then let see may be i w agree with u than ordinary comment.

Pls enough of saying d new eagles w find it difficult to break into old generation squad.I had d opportunity of watching d old and d new eagles,so i know what am saying,our young lads deserves little respect.

tbaba1234:
Consistency..

Babaginda consistent than Musa?I disagreed and i have my facts to disagree.

Tijani career spanned for 10 years in d eagles with 36 appearance and 5 goals

Musa is in 7th years with 61 appearances and 11 goals,this shows Tijani was not even regular,then where is d consistency.

Tijani club career appearance 249 with 76 goals,won league once with Ajax,KNVB cup twice and Turkish cup once

Musa club career so far,appearance 213 with 64 goals,won league thrice with cska Moscow,one Russian cup and two Russian super cup.

Icon4s:
Now, that is where the problem lies.

You understand this potential danger but those guys in the Glass house careless. The flimsy excuse as usual would be 'no money'.

U pointed out the fact that our lack of participation at the 96 and 98 AFCON affected the team at France '98. That I would not totally agree. Why didn't that affect us against a star studded Spanish team and Bulgaria in the first and second games? The third game we lost to Paraguay bc we were already through and so fielded a second string team. Paraguay desperately needed to win and they got it.

Only the coach and players know what happened on that day. Even Brazil our supposed quarter final opponent were already gearing up to face us. Ronaldo De Lima was already talking tough about us.


NIGERIAN FOOTBALL NEVER RECOVERED FROM THAT DEFEAT.

Yes it affect us,beating Spain does not mean anything,it do happened in football.Nigeria participation in afcon 96 and 98 plus Atlanta 96 w have be a masterstroke for us at France 98,meaning team of US 94,afcon 96,afcon 98,Atlanta 96 going to France 98.Mehn what a class they would have be for d world to handle.

TheSuperNerd:
Yeah... Yeah... I understand. Exactly why you're not so excited about the rising generation's chances of making global impact.

The France '98 heartbreak is still fresh in your memory. I didn't watch France 98 live, I only read about it and got to watch videos and whole clips of it later.

I did tell you in my last response that indeed even the AFCON winning side of 2013 cannot be compared to or stand the Eagles AFCON squads of 2004 and 2006. Yet, the 2013 side did what those squads didn't... "Conquer Africa"

Our new rising generation is still emerging. I'm not among those trying to compare our present squad with the squads of 1994, 1996 (Atlanta), 1998 (France), 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006.

I'm only saying this present squad can go on and outdo the squads of 2000-2006. The 2013 Squad already did.

And they can also go on to match or even surpass the Glorious Squads of '94, '96 and '98.

I know you've seen it all Sir Icon4s and know what you're talking about. You have every right to be skeptical about our rising crop because of that France 98 super heartbreak.....

But I also know what I'm talking about. You gotta try fix that heart of yours again and believe with me...

You na arch-guardian of the halls of experience... Me na one of the little guardians of the indomie generation (NOTE: I no follow talk that thing about Okwaraji ooo... Loolll)

Truth is we have a looooooooonnnnnnngggg way to go before our current Eagles can match the class of the 2004 and 2006 Squads and take it up to or beyond the class of the '94, '96 and '98 squads.

BOTTOMLINE IS: I see the great and limitless potentials in this team just like you saw with the France '98 team which ended up failing woefully.... BUUUTTTTT A different story is about to be scripted... A story far removed from failure and away from the path of the France '98 squad

I have a dream.....

Kudos for your good comment,forget IDOMIE GENERATION TAG,u guys are wonderful here,despite our experience am always happy opening this thread,not only i watch football,i played it small(school football)with player like ex polish international Emma Olisadebe,ex eagles seyi olofinjana,Dayo Ajoge and local star like Niyi Ogunlana,yomi Sanchez,yemi Akinyanju.

So football analyzing cannot be based on age or experience perse but on how knowledgeable in reading d games without sentiments and i can say on this thread have seen guys given us wonderful comments irrespective of their experiences.

Truly d new super eagles is emerging under Rohr with wonderful world cup qualifying campaign so far that has eclipsed any eagles in history based on two matches ratio so far which w hope it w be sustained,though comparing d team with any eagles in history is uncalled for but must be praised for going on faster rate,beating Zambia and Algeria was not an easy task for those who understand d game.

Sir ICON4 may be exercising fear of what happened to France 98 team due to his expectations,forgetting that the team missed two Afcon due to political indifference of late Sani Abacha.

A good football pundits then trace our bad performance to Afcon 96 missed and Atlanta 96 gold,forgetting it was an age tourney.The fussion of afcon 96 squad and Atlanta 96 should have eclipsed d 94 team in France 98.Some of us see it then there w be problem and it shows coz d euphoria of US94 and Atlanta 96 was d only ego of France 98 squad.

Likely the same thing is going to happen coz we ve missed afcon 2015 and going to miss 2017 and it's going to affect d team if proper plan is not in place,missing d afcon w affect d discovery of new players coz only friendly sometimes does not determine d strength of a player e.g.Ogbeche,Sodje

The technical dept of NFF and Rohr should work together and make sure what happened in France 98 does not repeat itself,hopefully w qualified.

Icon4s:
Moses of October-December 2016.

Moses since 2013 till date.

Icon4s:
Time like 2022 WC?

Russia 2018,we gona shake d world.

Icon4s:
Guys please don't get me wrong.

I am not trying to rubbish the efforts of Rohr and this current team.

I am just making us understand that this team still has a long way to go. They are still not as good as several of the assemblages we've had in the past.

They may just be better than the teams we have presented in the last 3-4 years. If you think or believe they can do the unthinkable at Russia 2018 (if we qualify) well....

Honestly we are on d same point,gives this team time and compare

Icon4s:
Look at that AFCON 2006 Team again and tell me it is not a relatively strong squad compared to what we have had in the last 10years. Forget they finished 3rd.

I don't rate them

Icon4s:
You agree now that they are just emerging. When I said "dey still dey learn" you rolled out names like Mikel, Musa, Moses, Echiejile, Ideye, Omeruo. Are these ones too still emerging?

Don't let us flog issues,d emerging ones are Iheanacho,Iwobi,Ndidi,Simeon Moses,shehu and d likes,presently we,can't rate this guys butMikel,Musa,Moses,Echiejele,Ideye,Omeruo can displace any body in d starting eleven of 2006 afcon coz they are champion of d same tournament.

Icon4s:
I hope you are not classifying Mikel as a DMF in this current crop?

Mikel of thiz crop is the equivalent of Okocha of the 1998 crop.

Onazi is the current DMF.

Leon vs Okechukwu or Taribo.

Moses, we have been arguing since yesterday.

Leon that i watched against Algeria has every potential to break into d team.Taribo even attested to it after d match,though it may be too early to judge but i always based my point on d last match performance of a player.

It has been long seeing a Nigeria defender coming out to fight for every ball,Leon shows he has every potential to be reckoned with as a defender.

Icon4s:
Firstly Enyeama is gone for good.

Lets even not go as far as the France '98 Team. Lets Compare with the 2006 AFCON Team. With the exception of Mikel (who was part of that Team) and Moses, list players of the current crop that could have made the starting 11 of the 2006 AFCON Team.

In case we are struggling to recall members of that team's starting 11:

................Enyeama

Odiah...Yobo...Enakarhire...Taiwo

..................Lawal
.................Okocha

Odemwingie......................Utaka

.............Kanu..........Martins


Other players in that squad:

Mikel Obi
Wilson Oruma
Julius Aghahowa
Christian Obodo
Victor Obinna
Yusuf Ayila
Sani Keita
Obinna Nwanneri
Ayo Makinwa
Paul Obiefule
Austin Ejide
Dele Ayenugba

Note: that was the era when we had a shortage of wingers after the exit of Finidi and Babangida and we converted strikers to wingers.

Honestly i don't want to compare this current squad coz they are just emerging and i still repeat it only US94 squad can be compared to any strong emerging Super Eagles not Afcon 2006.

Icon4s:
You only mentioned Odegbami and Finidi as the only wingers u rate ahead of Moses. So where do you place Amuneke?

Am talking about right sided winger but generally i w rate Amiesemeka and Amuneke ahead of Moses for now

Icon4s:
You only mentioned Odegbami and Finidi as the only wingers u rate ahead of Moses. So where do you place Amuneke?

Am talking about right sided winger

Icon4s:
You rate Moses even ahead of Emmanuel Amuneke?

Babangida was not even a usual starter. As u know the argument is on if any of the current Super Eagles would make the starting 11 of the France '98 Team.

Yes,Mikel,Moses,Leon and if he comes out of retirement Enyeama w give anybody run in d starting eleven of France 98

What is so special about a team that conceded 9 goals in 4 matches,d team that lack potent striker and goalkeeper,anchor by a midfielder who played to himself and d spectators(watch Denmark and see Okocha displayed)The real team that can be compared with any emerging formidable team is US94 squad not France 98.