₦airaland Forum

The likes of Obasi, Nsofor, Odemwingie, Utaka, will play from the flanks. Kanu will most likely play as an attacking midfielder or supporting striker. Only Martins and Yakubu will play as strikers. You cant really blame Lagerback, there's a dearth of creative players in the midfield hence, the conversion of strikers to midfielders. He's working with what is available.

The NPL's website is still under construction but over the next couple of days, it will be working properly.

How is it 7 strikers in the Super eagles. The only out and out strikers in that team are Yakubu and Martins. Kanu plays more as a midfielder. Osaze, Obasi, Nsofor, Utaka, though they can play as strikers, their primary role is not basically striking.
Besides, the best form of defence is attack. That we are under dogs doesnt mean we should play a defensive and unattractive style of football. If we sit back and play a defensive style of play against the Argies, we'll definitely get hurt.
Also, one of the reasons Amodu was axed was because of the defensive and cautious style of play he adopted. He was getting the results but in an ugly way. There's a plethora of defensive minded midfielders in the Eagles. Isnt it right to balance it with a number of attackers?

the site is still under construction. I noticed it too. At least they are making progress. Sooner than later, I guess it'll be rectified.

No surprise. He(Walcott) was dropped for Lennon who in my opinion is a better player.
Bent, however, would have been a better option than taking Heskey but his exclusion doesnt come as a surprise

You people should please free Lagerback. Claudio Ranieri inherited a near relegation team from Luciano Spalleti and he transformed them to a team that challenged for the league and cup in Italy. Roma even went 25 games unbeaten. They took the title chase down the wire where they were runners up, only 2 points seperated them from Inter. They were also runners up in the Cup.
Was Amodu sacked because of the players he selected or because of what he could make out of these players? It is what you can make of the players you have that makes you a good or terrible gaffer.
Let Lagerback go to the worldcup and if the Super eagles dont perform, then he can be rightly criticised.

NPL's website is running now. www.npl.com.ng

dominique, i used to follow Insurance when they were in the NPL but now that they are in the National Division 1, i follow them on pages of Complete Sports

^^^ yes, Nadal won in straight sets but Belluci broke his serve four times. Besides, Nadal is number 2 and Belluci is not in the top 10.
Anyway, Federer will extend his 12-0 over Soderling. There's nothing stopping Federer!

When did friendly games become do or die and besides is Guatemala a team? If we had played Guatemala, you will complain that we are not playing better teams.

Nadal yesterday beat Thomasz Belluci 6-2 7-5 6-4
Djokovic defeated Robby Ginepri 6-4 2-6 6-1 6-2
Jurgen Melzer defeated compatriot, Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6 4-6 6-1 6-4
Nicolas Almagro beat his fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-4
The quarter final pairing
Roger Federer vs Robin Soderling
Thomas Berdych vs Mikhail Youzhny
Rafael Nadal vs Nicolas Almagro
Novak Djokovic vs Jurgen Melzer
Serena Williams also made it to the quarter finals after beating Shahar Peer 6-2 6-2. She will now face Sam Stosur in the quarter final.

@ blood_shed
Its like you were in the stadium when Nigeria played Paraguay or you have the video somewhere. I think you were awe struck by Ogbeche's over head kick. You remember it so clearly. I was still quite little when i watched it.
The thing with Anichebe is that you really dont know what to expect. He had not proven himself enough. Taking him would have been a gamble

^^^ anyways, Ogbeche's over head kick didnt score. I think the keeper tipped it over. Anichebe has been in Everton for 4 seasons but how many games has he played within these period? Has he broken into the Everton first team? Age doesnt really matter, Pele like Ogbeche was 17 when he made his worldcup debut. Before the Saudi game, who reckoned with Anichebe in the Eagles attack? He tried against Saudi but if he hadnt beaten that defender and taken that shot, this thread wont be up. My point is that people clamouring for Anichebe's inclusion are doing so because of they saw in the 1st half of the Saudi game. Is that enough to earn him a place at the mundial? Anichebe had not really proven himself enough to have made it to SA

u can use Amodu

^^^ Anichebe at the Olympics, c'mon men. Nsofor, Odemwingie, Obasi and Kaita were the stars at the olympics. Anichebe played 3 or 4 games, most were as a sub and he scored a goal.
Prior to the Saudi game, Anichebe didnt have these much fans. He played well in that game but we have better options

Chei, Akwa United away. The best we can get out of that match is a draw because an away win and moreso against Akwa United is impossible. I'm scared of this Akwa team. You know they invented match fixing in Nigeria. Hope we wont see another Akwa 13.

Injured or fit, does Anichebe really deserve to be in SA? Other than a 1st half cameo against Saudi, what else? We made this mistake in 2002 when Barthlomew Ogbeche was selected based on his performance against Paraguay and notably a bicycle kick that came off the post. We really dont know what to expect with Anichebe, he could turn up or otherwise and given his antecedent in Nigeria's colours, there's a high probability that he wont perform in SA.
Ike Uche's exclusion is what I dont agree with. Injured or fit that guy is always dangerous. He could dropped either Etuhu or Ayila for Ike Uche.

I said in one em threads that this is Amodu's team but doesnt mean they'll produce the same result.

Another Spaniard, Almagro is through!

Nadal through!

@blood shed
the deadline for submission of the team list is tomorrow, 1st of June so he can not wait to pick the squad after a friendly game coming up on the 6th of June. He knows why he selected these boys. He assessed them in training, which you didnt see, he assessed their performance in the last 2 games and made his selection. I was disappointed when I saw Etuhu, Shittu, Yobo, John Utaka and Ayila but he is the coach, he knows why. Another thing I'm sure of is that there was no NFF inteference so he selected them based on his set standard. Let's see how they perform at the mundial before we judge Lagerback.

As from tomorrow, the website of the Nigerian Premier League will be up and running. www.npl.com.ng. You can also check the Nigerian Football Federation website: www.nigeriaff.com
Better still contact the Lagos State Football Association or visit the National Stadium, Surulere. You'll meet people that'll be of help.

C'mon men, its just 2 games. You cant tell how good a coach is from just 2 games. Friendly games for that matter. Do you think they'll play like this in the w/c.
Look at Ranieri for instance. He inherited the same team from Spalleti. He led them to runners up both in the league and cup. Same thing goes for Van gaal. If the team flops in SA then we can rightfully behead Lagerback but criticising him after 2 friendly games is not fair.

Is it automatic qualification for the top 3 teams in the national division one? I know Insurance will be playing in the NPL next season. Is the Akwa utd game, away? I know we'll beat OUK at home.

dominique:
they're totally differeent competitions. CAF champions league is top notch . CAF confederations cup is rated lower. caf cup winners cup or super cup is between winners of thr champs league and confeds cup. hope you get it now?

CAF Cup Winners Cup and CAF Super Cup are different competitions. CAF Cup Winners Cup and CAF Cup were merged to become the CAF Confederations Cup in 2004. CAF Cup was for teams that were runners up in their respective leagues. CAF Cup Winners Cup, as the name implies, was for teams that won their respective FA Cups. Enyimba is currently representing Nigeria in it. CAF Super Cup is between the winner of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup. TP Mazembe are the current CAF Super Cup Champions. They defeated Stade Malien 2-0 to win it.

Djokovic has beaten Robby Ginepri 6-4 2-6 6-1 6-2

I dont understand what Etuhu is doing in that team. He should have been dropped for one of the home based.

CAF Cup, CAF Cup Winners Cup and CAF Confederations Cup are still the same competition, just a change of name. Its just like UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League. They just rebranded the competition.
Back to Naija league. No away wins. Niger Tornadoes did manage to pick a point away which wouldnt have been if Zamfara had converted a late penalty.

Thank God he picked Kanu. Amodu wouldnt have picked a different team

just saw the link. Ik Uche and Apam, very sad. I hope Etuhu Shittu and Yobo would make part of the 5 more to be dropped

So we cant have Kanu and Kaita at the same time. Why is he taking Etuhu and Yobo?

source, pls