Ok

OkikiOluwa1:
mtchew.
I even thought you ll give indepth info. We can still qualify as best losers. CAF ll choose 3 best losers along side the 12 teams that came 1st & 2nd in their groups. If you add 1 team (host nation) to this, you ll v 16 teams.
So, the surest way of Nigeria's qualification is through best loser.
Last Bullet


A Note To Steven Keshi
________________

Nigeria 3-1 Sudan
________________
A win is fine.
It gave a relief & a hope of qualifying for the next AFCON at least as a best loser.
But...
The same old story has not ended.

* Playing players out of position (e.g Onazi played as a right back against Sudan)
* Not parading the raw talents but fielding less skillful muscular rugby footballers (e.g Gbolahan Salami)
* Lack of dead ball specialists & other tactical deficiency that a team like Nigeria should not have.
#Keshimustchangehisapproach

Very insightful and intelligent post. Anyone who believes Keshi is technically sound does not know anything about football coaching.

Kudos to the Super Eagles. But if anyone imagines that this Nigerian team is strong, such a person has another think coming. First, in all the games that the Sudanese have played in these qualifiers, they have scored only two goals, both of them against Nigeria. They couldn't score against South Africa, nor could they score against Congo. They could only score against Nigeria.

Furthermore, the current Nigerian team has neither a true playmaker nor a freekick specialist. All our set pieces are usually wasted! And yet everyone knows that set pieces are veritable means of getting goals, often offering match-winning opportunities that strong teams can exploit. In the absence of an exceptional dead ball specialist in the mould of a Christopher Ohenhen or a Jay Jay Okocha, Sone Aluko has the potential to do that job for us but apparently Keshi doesn't feel he needs to groom him or any other player for such a role.

As for the idea of using Mikel Obi as an attacking midfielder, I think that must be the joke of the century. For God's sake, Mikel does not play that role at Chelsea! But such is Keshi's obstinacy that he'll never invite the glittering Iheanacho if there's any possibility that the lad might snatch the No 10 jersey from the lumbering Mikel. I know that some may be deceived by Mikel's assist which resulted in Musa's first goal. But let's just consider Mikel's woeful performance in the first half of that game and the generally pathetic and disjointed display our team exhibited today. Any good team would have torn us to shreds today.

I really don't want to dampen our spirits after this once-in-a-blue-moon victory. By all means let's bask in the euphoria, let's savour the victory. But it's a sign of how low we have fallen as a football nation if we now celebrate a hard-fought win over Sudan as though we have just won the World Cup! Perhaps we should even declare a public holiday. But let's remember that our chances of qualifying for next year's Nations Cup remain extremely slim. And in a group comprising Congo, Sudan, South Africa and Nigeria, that's simply not good enough.

Much as I am an enthusiastic supporter of the Super Eagles, I am not excited about this match, nor do I even expect our team to do well. Even if we win, chances are that we will be playing the old, drab, ponderous, and hypertension-inducing style orchestrated by Mikel Obi and lifted straight by Keshi from the books of Ahmodu Shaibu. For those who might not know, it is a brand of football in which it takes our team approximately half an hour to move the ball from our own half of the field to the opponents' goal area.

The most annoying part of this situation is that most people seem oblivious of this retrogessive trend. Many Nigerians have become blinded to the fact that our team has achieved nothing since the serrendipitous AFCON triumph. It puzzles me that any right-thinking person could claim that Keshi is the best coach that Nigeria can afford or even the best indigenous coach in a country of 170 million people! However, with countries like Congo now thrashing us at home, I am glad that the handwriting is already on the wall. By the time we crash out of these qualifying rounds we will realise that a teacher cannot teach what he doesn't know and that it is foolishness to leave the fate of millions of football-loving Nigerians in the hands of an obstinate and reckless egomaniac.

omar22:
I dont know why the NFA took an international game to a stadium thats in the middle of nowhere?

and 30k capacity, is that the best Nigeria could come up with?

Akwa Ibom or Uyo is not a football crazy city and its not central for all the fans to get to..

Nigeria needs a stadium that will create a hostile atmosphere for the opposition, not one that will make our opponent feel like they are playing at home.

This is foolishness talking.

If NANS were still the credible and self-respecting students' pressure group I knew it to be, I would have deigned to compose a considered response to this act of political grandstanding. But since that group has, in my view, lost all credibility, I will not dignify its actions with a response. The fact that this agitation concerns a person as contemptible as Wike makes the situation a double whammy. For me, it's a case of two equally reprehensible characters. I have nothing else to say.

Thank you, Mr Pinnick, but there's no need to beat about the bush. I know you are merely trying to be polite to Keshi and I commend you for that. But as every knowledgeable Nigerian knows, Keshi has reached the limit of his technical prowess insofar as football management is concerned. So, while you may wish to give him a soft landing, it is necessary to start consultations on who our next coach will be.

However, I disagree with the idea of hiring a foreign coach. Except you can attract a Mourinho, a Van Gaal or a Hiddink, then forget the idea, otherwise we will conclude that you are merely looking for a way to swell your domicillary account with hard currency. Go for a local coach who is willing to die for that job. Look for someone who is technically gifted, someone who wants to make a name, a workaholic who will scout hidden talents, not some pot-bellied executive who will invite bench-warmers from the Vietnamese league and throw them on the pitch with a strolling Mikel Obi as their captain. Go for an Oliseh or - why not? - a Siasia, a coach who has learnt his lessons and is willing to improve. But whatever you do, avoid an egotistical and vindictive snob who will come with an I-have-arrived mentality, ignoring our best players and selecting midgets as goalkeepers and paralytics as our strikers. I have a lot to say, Mr Pinnick, but a word is enough for the wise.

How did we acquire this custom of having a soldier stand behind political office holders during public speeches or events? I have never seen President Obama or any other western leaders do it? Is it one of the vestiges of military rule?

Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. This arms saga would have been funny if it weren't so tragic. I mean, on the one hand, the awkwardness of it, the sheer sloppiness, is absolutely hilarious. And yet when you consider what this does to our already battered international image, when you ponder on the ineptitude and sleaze that underlie this whole transaction, when you imagine the levity with which our so-called leaders treat public funds, you are forced to wonder why we are so unfortunate.

I agree. Just the same way HIV has nothing to do with AIDS.

Larow:
I'll only ask 1 question to solve this problem. Roberto di mateo has won the champions league 4 a club that has never won it before(Chelsea fc) even when veteran coaches like mourinho and Hidinkks failed to and a coach like wenger has never won the champions league before. Does this now make Di mateo a better coach than wenger? Even the dummest person will answer "No". Abeggi! Put all this keshi's record aside and go for technicality. Siasia might not have won major trophies but he obviously is more technical and sound compared to keshi and this is what nigerian football needs to win games

You obviously have a good brain in that skull of yours. God bless you for this comment.

The following are some of the most violent and barbaric terrorist organisations in the world:

Abu Nidal
Abu Sayyaf
Gama'a-Islamiyya
Hamas
Harakat ul-Mujahidin
Hizballah
al-Qa'ida
Islamic Movement
Jaish--Mohammed
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
Asbatal-Ansar
al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb
Jemaah Islamiya
Lashkar-i-Jhagvi
Ansar al- Islam
Libyan Islamic Fighters
Islamic State
Islamic Jihad Union
Harakat ul-Jihad Islam
al-Shabaab
Kataib Hizballah
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
Jundallah
Army of Islam
Indian Mujahedeen
Jemaah Anshorut Taliban
Abdallah Azzam Brigade
Haqqani Network
Ansaral-Dine
Boko Haram
Ansaru
al-Mulathamum Battalion
Ansar al-Sharia
al-Nusrah Front
Mujahedin Sharia Company of Jerusalem
Khorasan

There are no prizes for guessing what religion these groups have in common.

This is idiocy personified. Iheanacho is too young; Martins is too old. It's only a clueless football federation that can tolerate this level of bias and incompetence in a manager. Quote me: Keshi was just lucky to win the Nations Cup. Other countries know this. That is why South Africa refused to offer him a job. Apparently, the misfits in the NFF are too dull to realise this.

ROSSIKE:

Come on man.... What would you have said if we'd lost 3-0? South Africa played a tight game and gave us a few problems. Give them credit too...it's not like we're entitled to beat them ever time we meet.

Is it because I chose to be diplomatic? What if I had said that this is the worst Nigerian team ever to play against South Africa? Did you watch the match? If you did you would agree that it was a hypertension-inducing experience. In my opinion, Keshi has outlived his usefulness as Nigeria's coach. Diminishing returns have set in. His decisions are becoming more and more bizarre. For instance, does it make sense to keep playing Mikel as a creative midfielder when Iheanacho is available? And to keep shutting Ike Uche out of this team -- is that not like cutting off your nose to spite your face? This being Nigeria, I don't expect anybody to ask these questions. May God help us.

Now shambolic, now pathetic, the Super Eagles were absolutely clueless today. If these guys are the best players a country of 170 million people can produce, then perhaps we should forget about playing football.

This is merely a soundbite, just a speech to help the minister make news. Why did he have to wait for an opportunistic conference to declare this? Although I'd support such a ban, I'll only believe it when it happens.

Tell me this is a joke.

mikeansy: When will they target shekau?

Every man in his own time. The end of the wicked is near.

Ahmed Godane, the leader of the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab, has been killed in a U.S. military operation, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Regarded as one of Africa's most brutal terror operatives, Godane, who pledges allegiance to Al-Qaeda and who is said to have links with the leaders of Nigeria's Boko Haram, is suspected of having masterminded the recent Westgate Mall attack in Kenya.

Source: www.edition.cnn.com/2014/09/05/world/africa/somali-militant-killed/index/html?hpt=hp_t1

alobam1:

See them ohhh..For those of you supporting Oyedepo and co for buying private jets.This is for you..The Pope,which is the head of the Catholic church travels on Public transport..Air Italia..The pope is the leader of the world's biggest Christian denomination,Yet he travels on Public transport..Who is much more revered,more known,more busier between the Pope and the local champions we have here..Oyedepo,adeboyo,orisejafor,etc..

God bless you. Don't mind the hypocrites.

cr8v: I have always known that the church is ahead of the world in wisdom. I have always known that one day history will vindicate Bishop Oyedepo and co who in a bid to fulfill their callings have crossed limitations of religion and a poverty mindset to do the unusual. These people travel the world over to preach the Gospel in fulfillment of the prophecy that every nation will hear the Gospel before the end. They realize that there is no more time and everything ,ust he done as fast as possible and jet can ne a leverage. The world doesn't know their itinary but would prefer to criticize. The worst is fellow Christians who joined the debit in the camp of the accuser of the brethren

The idea of owning four private jets so that you can preach the gospel to the poor is pure ostentation and smacks of hypocrisy. Most business executives seldom have the need to maintain such an expensive fleet, although keeping one or two would be understood in some cases. Such splurges are particularly inappropriate among people who claim to represent the One who taught his followers to sell what they have and give the proceeds to the poor.

Beware of covetousness: for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses (Luke 12:15).

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out of it (1 Timothy 6:7).

By the reckoning of the powers that be in Nigeria's football establishment, it seems expedient to sacrifice Maigari so that some favoured people can achieve their political objectives. But I fear that theirs is merely a pyrrhic victory, for they have neither addressed the underlying problem of corruption in Nigerian football nor is it guaranteed that Maigari's successor will experience more stability and longevity of tenure than Maigari did. In the end, it is football that suffers. So, although I am no fan of Maigari, I remain unconvinced that his removal will improve Nigerian football. It is doubtful whether his successor can even replicate, let alone surpass, his modest achievements.

Had this dream early one morning a few days ago: I was decorated with an honorary doctorate by a representive of Oxford University. He hung a medal on my neck and in that dream a professor whom I know from a university in Nigeria came and took a photograph with me and congratulated me. I wore an academic gown and cap. I was very happy and felt proud in the dream. I danced a jig and told myself that the foreign degree that I didn't have has been given to me. I've never been to Oxford. What does it mean?

Sylvarresta: are you trying to confuse or convince me?

I lack the battery power to give you a full reply now. I shall do so at a more auspicious time.

Sylvarresta: Says you, and why can't Jonathan nail him? Pls answer the question

Need I say more? The decision to prosecute a suspected criminal such as Tinubu is partly judicial and partly political. I have no doubt that the judicial means do exist for his successful prosecution; surely the evidence can't be lacking. But whether the political will to do so exists is another question entirely. For that, Jonathan is ultimately answerable to God and to his own conscience, if not to the Nigerian people. I should like to add that Tinubu's case is neither unique nor singular in the annals of Nigerian corruption. When I mention Tinubu I am only using that name as a metonymy for the entire corrupt Nigerian political class.

mastengsynergy: Hmmmmmm....... in the name of Fighting for the poor masses. The so-called Progressives are not really Progressives. They are only trading on the ignorance of the poor masses to enrich themselves and their families. These so-called Progressives are so corrupt and stinking. You can imagine Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State awarding a kilometer road for 1billion Naira. His company single-handedly renovated ikirun to Illa-Orangun with several billions of Naira under the supervision of his SA and Director of ORMA. He awarded 17Billion naira 'Opon imo' it tablets to his son Kabiru, his wife Sherifat single-handedly take over all the Projects of RUWESA running into several Billions World Bank Project. Osogbo to Osun/kwara State Boundry awarded to Samuel Adigun of SAMYA construction a company that registered in August 2012 running into several Billions. The Contract was shared into 3 parts with Aregbesola having one section, Tinubu one Section and the 3rd Section for SAMYA, but SAMYA being used to siphon the money. The Adesoji Aderemi Ring road given to Slava-Yeditepe was owned by Turkish and Sade Okoya, Tinubu's Girlfriend. Go and look at the lists of just awarded contracts by RAMP (A World Bank Assisted Project) and scrutinize the contractors and give us the findings. These Leaders are Corrupt and even stinking.
Nemesis will catch up with them one day and am sure Posterity will not forgive them for the Deceits we suffer from them

Spare your breath, my dear friend. No matter how large and conspicuous the truth may be, those who do not wish to recognise it will ignore it.

Sylvarresta: Then let GEJ nail him, if he can.

Jonathan may or may not nail him; but I can assure you that in the court of public opinion he has already been nailed.

Sylvarresta: This PDP are clueless as their pay master, it just show that Jonathan is a toothless bulldog..... Except 4 Tinubu, d rest were in PDP when they were Stealing the money.

So you agree that Tinubu has stolen public funds? Interesting! And what should be done to him, pray? If any sanctions are applied to him will you not accuse the "PDP" of scapegoating him?

Those who claim that the APC is more corrupt than the PDP (and vice versa) are just splitting hairs. It's like trying to decide which between a sewage dump and a latrine has more maggots. In a sane country people like Tinubu, Alamieseigha, Atiku, and other stealers of our collective patrimony would be serving lengthy jail terms. And it is my prayer that their day of reckoning will soon come.

I declare in the name of Jesus Christ that this disease will not spread beyond control; neither will it destroy the destinies of our young people and of our country.

I pray that all the preventive and containment measures put in place by government will prove successful, in Jesus' name.

Even if nobody in the world has ever developed immunity to this virus, I know that miracles still do happen. For that reason, I pray that our immune systems will be divinely strengthened to resist this infection, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

I commit into the hands of God all medical personnel and all caregivers who are involved in the fight against this pestilence, especially nurses, doctors, hospital workers, members of the Red Cross, Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), and other international NGOs whose volunteers risk their lives daily to save others. May their lives be spared in the course of this struggle, and may they and all of us find protection against this virulent disease, in Jesus' blessed name.

Just as a cure was found for small pox, for measles and for numerous other diseases that reaped a yearly harvest of souls, I pray that an affordable and accessible antidote will be found, and found soon, for ebola. I pray that the cure will not be available in the developed world alone, nor shall it be priced beyond the reach of the poor. May it not be termed an "experimental drug" and locked up in the vaults of some designer laboratories in the West only to be brought out when the lives or health of certain privileged people are threatened.

Above all, may the emergence of this disease cause all of us to consider the brevity of human life, to resolve to lead kind and caring lives while we can, and to draw closer to God who is our only security. Amen.