₦airaland Forum

Nomyth:
Who were the scorers?

Hope Osimhen's goal scoring record at u17 is not under threat.

I suspect this scoreline ooo. Hope there is no underhand tactics.

That record will soon be broken, especially now that semi-finalist play 2 extra matches - round of 32 and round of 16.

treesun:
Gumi, who has consistently courted public outrage over his sympathy for terrorists, made the remarks during an interview on Trust TV on Friday which SaharaReporters monitored.

Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has again defended bandits terrorising northern Nigeria, claiming they are on “revenge missions” rather than waging unprovoked violence.

Gumi, who has consistently courted public outrage over his sympathy for terrorists, made the remarks during an interview on Trust TV on Friday which SaharaReporters monitored.


The Sheikh argued that the Fulani herdsmen and bandit groups “do not attack people without any cause.”

“The former governor of Bauchi State, (Isa) Yuguda, was able also to go with a government delegation into the bush and they met more than 5000 bandits. They are all complaining — those who have lost their parents, those who have lost their brothers, those from hostility too,” Gumi said.

While admitting that the killings carried out by bandits were “wrong and obnoxious,” the cleric maintained that the attackers were motivated by grievances and vengeance, not sheer brutality.


“Yes, I know they have killed, and it’s wrong to kill anybody innocent. This is absolutely an obnoxious thing to do. We don’t support that. But you see, if you know their psychology, they are on a revenge mission,” he said.

Gumi, who has long advocated amnesty and negotiation for bandits, further claimed that Fulani herdsmen had lived peacefully with other ethnic groups for centuries and are only reacting to injustices they suffered.

“Everybody knows the herdsmen, as well as the Fulani herdsmen. They don’t just attack people. We have been living with them for centuries. They don’t attack people without any cause,” he insisted.

He urged the Tinubu administration to unify and rehabilitate the armed groups instead of launching military offensives against them.

“What I think the government needs to do is to really bring them together in a unison and in a holistic form so that there is peace. They are ready for that, because if you call them for peace, they come,” he said.

The cleric also drew a controversial comparison between bandits and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), accusing the latter of rejecting dialogue and pursuing secession.

“It’s unlike the others like IPOB. The government has been trying to dialogue with them; they still refuse. They are still behind creating a separate state. They are secessionists. Besides being terrorists, they are secessionists. Well, these people (bandits) are not secessionists. They want peace,” Gumi said.


https://saharareporters.com/2025/11/08/bandits-are-revenge-mission-they-listen-not-ipob-wants-leave-nigeria-sheikh-gumi

This is gibberish and pathetic at the same time.
Righteousness extols a nation.
Without justice, evil prevails.

Until Nigeria applies it's laws equally without sentiment, we will always be where we are: where the aggressor is heard and the victim is disdained.

solonnachi:
I can't forget his jump before that 4th goal against Benin. The guy ''long" ehhhh. But sincerely I don't see what Chelle sees in that guy.

Potential.
Una no get eye.

IgOga:
I have said there is Christian genocide in Nigeria. I grow up in ECWA and we see it even when it was never in the news. But bombing Nigeria to "save" the Christian will be worse than the genocide for all Nigerians.

The US can help by doing the following

1. Publish the names of sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria and sanction them. Whether they be individuals, NGOs, groups, or countries

2. Provide intelligence to Nigerian government on the terrorists

3. Provide weapons to Nigerian military

4. Provide training to the Nigerian forces

Since US military is not a charity organisation. Nigeria must offer them something in return. This can include:

1. Military base in Nigeria

2. Mineral deals or other economic corporation

Any Nigerian who says bomb my country is foolish. Bombs don't know who is a Christian or Muslims. The US cannot differentiate a Muslim from a Christian, a terrorist from a normal citizen.

The terrorists are probably out of Nigeria now they are not fools. You don't announce military strategy in advance to destroy a group of terrorist who can easily move between various countries. The border is kind of open

Did you say they should provide equipment?
I doubt the military lacks equipment. Billions has been spent on procurement. Issue is lack of will power and internal sabotage. Give them equipment and it will end up with the terrorist.

semid4lyfe:
Abeg, when squad list go commot? Other countries don dey release their list o.

DR Congo mean business. Three former Belgium youth players don switch to play for them in the WC playoffs. On pape, DR Congo has a better squad than Cameroun and I tip them and Nigeria for the final.

See their full squad for the playoffs

Goalkeepers: Matthieu Epolo (Standard Liege, Belgium), Timothy Fayulu (Noah, Armenia), Lionel Mpasi (Le Havre, France)

Defenders: Rocky Bushiri (Hibernian, Scotland), Gédéon Kalulu (Aris Limassol, Cyprus), Steve Kapuadi (Legia Warsaw, Poland), Joris Kayembe (Racing Genk, Belgium), Arthur Masuaku (Sunderland, England), Chancel Mbemba (Olympique de Marseille, France), Axel Tuanzebe (Burnley, England), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham United, England)

Midfielders: Theo Bongonda (Spartak Moscow, Russia), Michel-Ange Balikwisha (Glasgow Celtic, Scotland), Edo Kayembe (Watford, England), Nathanael Mbuku (Montpellier, France), Samuel Moutoussamy (Atromitos, Greece), Ngal'ayel Mukau (Lille, France), Charles Pickel (Espanyol, Spain), Noah Sadiki (Sunderland, England), Mario Stroeykens (Anderlecht, Belgium)

Forwards: Cedric Bakambu (Real Betis, Spain), Samuel Essende (Augsburg, Germany), Brian Cipenga (Castellón, Spain), Meshack Elia (Alanyaspor, Turkey), Fiston Mayele (Pyramids, Egypt).

No be by name. Na who wan go, go win.

Sugarboyy:
Troos Ekong scored an own goal today in his club El Kholood 2-3 home lose

Reporting or mocking our star boy?
Owngoal are mistakes resulting from passionate defending.

9JAMac10:
Thank you sir for this information. Are there extra time involved in this playoff series?

According to Wikipedia, extra time and penalty is playable.

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_CAF_second_round[/url]

Starboytwo:
Wow, I watched that Okocha clip...

Damn, baba dey gba balluuu...

See as dem dey comot for road. Damn...

Okocha na baller.

And why did Yekini not score that ball see as I shout 🙆🙆 (something of 1994, na how he dey pain me like mad) I trust Osimhen.

Imagine, Italy got to the finals.
Another person we beat enter semi final...

Oboy, we Bleep up. We miss better opportunity.

Imagine we got to that final, the trickle effect to this day self will be maaaad.

South Africa hosting the world cup in 2010 is the direct result of their improved fortunes till now...

I wonder how people will feel that day Italy beat us.

As a child I became sick for some days. That Baggio goal was very painful. We could have reached the final or carry the cup.

Another near miss that pained me was that Suarez goal-line handball in 2010 and the eventual penalty miss.

semid4lyfe:
Onazi? Apart from AFCON 2013 and the World Cup 2014 run, Onazi was not a mainstay in our team. But I admit he was phenomenal in those competitions. Arguably our most important midfielder in those competitions, and our midfield crumbled when he was substituted against France in the second round.

I know I picked Celestine Babayaro as my Left back but upon reflection I'll go with Taiye Taiwo instead. TT had more caps and tournament appearances than CB, and was more impactful.

CB didn't play many matches for the Super Eagles, and his best performance for Nigeria was at Atlanta 96, and that's technically not the Super Eagles. So I'll replace Celestine Babayaro with Taiye Taiwo in Left back.

We didn't get to see much of Ogenyi Onazi because of Nosa Igiebor who played in a better club. If not for the boldness of Keshi, that trophy wouldn't have been won.

Better players sometimes are overlooked because of where they play.

TheGoodJoe:
They played well in that Afcon. Even Mikel Obi and Ambrose.

If my memory serves right, the French team also injured Ambrose in that game.

Still fresh in my memory. It's the sole reason I'm torn between supporting France as a majority black team and not supporting them for that intentional act.

TheSuperNerd:
I think it should be clear to all by now that Cocony and CapitalCee are just the same. I silently raised eyebrows when I saw them walk into the thread at the same time using Super Eagles Calculations to gain attention. Unlike CAR321, who came in did his thing and pushes no agenda, these 2 clearly have agenda up their sleeves.
Anyway, I dont entertain their agenda for longer than necessary. They stay blocked and dead on arrival.

The names are related. Cocony starts with CapitalCee

89min
Nigeria 1 Canada 4

That year Enyimba bought one or two of the best from some other African club. Show me any Nigerian club that can pay what other African clubs pay?

lovewins:
The problem isn't talent discovery, I'll even argue we have better tools at discovering talent today than we did 20 years ago. What has changed really is the business of football on Nigeria which sadly doesn't favour the Nigerian league.

2 decades ago, the pipeline for talented players from Nigeria to realize their dreams to play in Europe was primarily through the Nigerian league so it makes sense for that to reflect on the quality displayed at the continent as the best we have to offer often featured in the league. Vincent Enyeama, Obonna Nsofor, Christian Obodo, Ozaze Odewinge, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Taiye Taiwo, Echiejile, Brown Ideye are a few examples of players who got scouted from the NPFL.

That sadly isn't the case today as the business model is tilted significantly to academies. The vast majority of talents not go through academies to Europe. In the last decade, Stephen Odey is the only name that comes to mind as someone who moved from the NPFL to Europe's top 10 league. There is no incentive for player agents to leverage the league for their player's visibility anymore. The next cadre of talent who aren't necessarily top but could compete on the continent also have no incentive to stay when they can earn 3-5k US dollars in Tanzania, Iraq, Cyprus etc.

The players you have currently playing in the NPFL are the bottom end of the talent pool. They sadly can't compete with the rest of Africa.

https://scorenigeria.com.ng/super-eagles-when-disappointment-turns-a-blessing-by-segun-odegbami/

The man that played a role in Finidi's emergence is here again. Talking of blessings in disguise without reference to the role he played in putting us where we are today.
As if qualification is sure.

Deleted

Summary

QueenJazz:
Oh wow, nice to see that we've reclaimed the 5th position.

Although I'm curious which international matches caused Ivory Coast to fall back.

No qualified team outside top 14.
Cape Verde has done enough to merit the rise.

semid4lyfe:
I shared a screenshot to prove you were banned by the anti-spambot. That you still refer to the bot as "supposed self operating bot" suggests that you believe otherwise. Kindly refer to the thread below to hear from the horse's mouth

https://www.nairaland.com/8511650/nairalands-bot-out-control

The bot was programmed by the forum admin/owner and only he knows the words or phrases it flags as inappropriate.



The emboldened below is you falsely accusing the moderator(s) of tribalism, favouritism and being biased in moderating this section. I take that personally because I am the ONLY active Sports section moderator.



Again, the below is you calling the moderator(s) dishonest and shameless.





Everyone is allowed to freely express his/her opinion, and no one is banned for a "wrong" opinion. Also, debates get passionate sometimes, and insults fly in the process. It's all good natured banter, and you shouldn't take it to heart.

I rest my fingers, and will not be responding further to you. Continue to savour the victory and play-off qualification of the Super Eagles, and have a good night sleep.

So why you dey waste time to comot those South Africans wey dey stress us na?

In Africa's world cup qualifier draw, only 3 teams in pot1 failed to qualify directly: Nigeria, Cameroon and Mali. Of these three, only the last failed to make it to playoff.
3 teams from pot2 made it: Ghana, South Africa and Cape Verde.

Most of the teams pot5 and 6 finished bottom loosing almost all the matches while conceeding wheelbarrow full of goals.

FIFA ranking is reflective of powerhouse and indeed contrally to what our ex footballers make us to believe, there are still minnows in African football.

Nigeria should shelve the mindset of no minnows in African football and play to win all games home or away.

solonnachi:
The latest FIFA rankings for Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and DR Congo are Nigeria (39th), Cameroon (53rd), DR Congo (58th), and Gabon (84th). These rankings are from the September 18, 2025 update.
Nigeria: 39th
Cameroon: 53rd
DR Congo: 58th
Gabon: 84th

Nigeria may play Gabon
Cameroon may play DR Congo

Winners play each other to determine who qualifies for intercontinental playoff

With the points earned in this window, it will remain in this order.
So Nigeria will face Gabon.

Lionessza6:
Poor souls
We understand how it feels ....you are hopeless about every damn thing about your own nation and are now trying to project your sense of hopelessness and racial inferiority complex on to us 🤧😪😭. The wicked gods of football did this one .....I blame them for this

It's enough. Congrats on your qualification. Please post no more so we can read meaningful comments.
Go to Twitter: there you'll meet your comrade. Here for niaja football

Lionessza6:
It is indeed a beautiful pitch🙏.

And thanks for your co operation ,you're indeed the Giant of Africa,our hero country , big Brother Africa....the hero in a cape . We love you Naija and we wish you the best going forward

Oh! You're back to say thank you.

You guys should represent Africa well. At the world stage, we will always support any African team.

QueenJazz:
I know our chances of qualifying directly would be higher if we won that game, but don't you guys think it's funny that the two disappointing draws against Zimbabwe somehow ended up keeping our World Cup qualifying dream alive? 😂

Spill milk.

ChrisKels:
Abeg how many teams will qualify from the African version of the playoffs?

1
Two games: semifinal and final

The pitch South Africa played today was so smooth.

Happy we made the playoff but unhappy we helped South Africa qualified.

forgiveness:
I already said yesterday. Our qualification is in our hands. All we needed to do is to score 4 unreplied goals and we did it.

Make DR Congo win so that we can play Gabon then play either Cameron or DR Congo in the final if we scale through by the grace of God.

Upcoming October FIFA ranking will be used and not position on the playoff log.

Dem go drag Nwabali tire by 10pm

Rockyrascal:
Nigeria is praying for South Africa to lose.

South Africa is praying for Nigeria to win.

Both prayers will be answered.

Odunayaw:
You forgot that the points against Zim would not have counted?

Instead of 14 we would have been on 16 now and not need Rwanda to win. Our destiny would have been in our hands.

It's bygone anyway and afterall. South Africa also drew Zimbabwe at home. All the matches we lost or drew contributed equally.

QueenJazz:
Four appearances? Besides 1994, 1998 and 2002, which other appearance did we make before Ghana first qualified in 2006?

1926 that India beat us 99:1 in the final

orriyomi33:
Nigeria 🇳🇬 Vs Benin🇧🇯
Rwanda 🇷🇼 vs South Africa 🇿🇦

This two games will be the most watched games of the world cup qualifier.

Three teams hoping on the failure of the other to have a chance.

I hope the Eagles 🦅 triumph.

Benin doesn't hope on the failure of any team. It's in their hands. If we are in their situation, we wouldn't need calculator.

QueenJazz:
Cameroon can be notorious bottlers sometimes, so this one can go either way. Although to me this Angola side are not looking as impressive as they were in the last AFCON

Cameroon needs just a draw to make playoff. I don't see Angola beating them in Cameroon.