Ppogbae:


Exactly. Apologies for the pessimism, hopefully we can AT LEAST get a playoff berth. But I'm hoping that Zim or Lesotho spoils SA's party.

We should forget about that playoff, na long thing. We need to win our next four matches at minimum. SA will still drop points that one I’m sure of.

Ppogbae:


It is out of our hands because winning the rest our matches does not guarantee us 1st place. We need Benin and SA to lose (or maybe draw) the rest of their matches in order for us finish with higher points. Those possibilities aren't certain.

You’re correct, even if we win out, SA will still need to draw or lose one.

Ppogbae:
Clinching automatic berth is completely out of our hands. But, we have a good chance to qualify via playoffs if we win the next round of games.

What do you mean an automatic berth is out of our hands? If we win our remaining 6 games there’s a chance to top the group.

We should focus on that alone. Playoffs is a long thing. First you have to win two legs to be the CAF representative. Then you have an inter confederation playoff as well before qualifying for the WC.

Let’s focus on what we have infront of us.

Goke7:


When the SA coach said the draw they had in Nigeria was good for them, the man knows what he was talking about.

Definitely a good result for them. On paper, Nigeria away was their toughest match and they got a point out of it. We need three points when we meet them in Jozi.

Goke7:


I agree with you totally 💯 NFF refused to build on all the successes of yesteryears and we are paying dearly for it now

Nigeria as a whole doesn’t know how to manage and maintain success. That’s why we constantly have to rebuild from scratch. We fail to manage and maintain.

Won the AFCON in 2013 then failed to qualify for the 2015 and 2017 editions.

Similarly, went to the 2023 AFCON final but are stuttering in our WCQ

minfelix:
This our group is just a mumu group, see as Lesotho is struggling against Rwanda, trailing 0-1🤦🏼…see SA and Zim playing 1-1…
I pray lesotho equalize and Zimbabwe wins😜🤪
Kai imagine 9ja was winning all games
By now we for don qualify with 6games to spare with all this mumu result im seeing

Bro that is what I’m saying. There is no reason we should not be at minimum 10 pts. This is a group that we should have wrapped up by the 7th match day so we can now start experimenting with different line-ups and formations.

The one saving grace is that our group has no clear strong team. If results hold, we’ll be 4pts off the top. Far far from ideal but we win the next 3 matches and we’ll be right at the top/near the top.

We have the players, but they have to play like a team.

If you want to sack Finidi, sack him now. We have a full round of AFCONQ for the rest of 2024 so if you want a new coach, get one now before AFCONQ start in September. Next round of CAF WCQ will be in March 2025. That should be at least 6-8 games the new coach would have with the team before next round of WCQ.

Right now we should just hope all our opponent matches end in draws. It will leave us 4pts off the top. In a bad situation but by no means is it finished

BascoVanVeli:
Finidi's only mistake was listening to the hype and dropping Onuachu

Onuachu did nothing in the match against SA

ChrisKels:
Lookman is gonna regret not waiting for England.

England was never coming

Need more urgency in our play

Some of us no sabi talk better analysis.

Bench Moffi and Chuks for who? The same Paul and KC we were complaining about before?

The team is playing better than yesterday but two defensive goofs and we are down. It’s not like Benin has been creating chance after chance. We just defended badly in two instances and got punished for it.

Still enough time to get 2 goals and all three points but we will need to score our 2nd within 5-10 mins of the restart.

CornOak:
Looks like we're gonna concede another goal soon, our defense have been exposed.

You’re correct. We needed to just see the match through to the half.

9JAMac10:
If Nigeria doesn’t win this game. Sack finidi first thing tomorrow morning

On what grounds? The team has played much better than in previous years under Rohr and JP.

Will Finidi enter field and stop Bassey from making that poor clearance.

seborrhic:
Hearing on live radio,it's now 1:1 and that Bassey was at fault

Yea, he didn’t clear the ball well

This is what happens when you play players in their correct positions. We need a 2nd and 3rd goal. Goal differential will be key for this group. Let’s run up the numbers.

Leaving this matchday at 6pts will be good. At worst, we’ll be 2 behind Lesotho if they win tomorrow

Great goal from Onyedika. We’ve been shouting for his inclusion for a reason

Iwobi is much better now that he has two solid midfielders behind him.

Kennedyiheme02:
where you dey watch am

All CAF WCQ are free on Fifa Plus.

Use VPN watch am

https://www.plus.fifa.com/en/?gl=us

Good play from the boys, but should really hit the target from there Osayi

Samunique:
Boniface is not even in the lineup. The dude has to learn to be disciplined, he came for very important matches but was busy granting interviews with every Tom and Jerry blogger, no coach would be happy with that. He has to change bcs I see an attitudinal problem in him.

How do we know it’s an attitude issue that’s he’s not starting and not a fitness issue?

We like to assume when we only have a small picture of what’s happening.

joelsteron:


Good one, but I don't think Iwobi and Dele should play at the same time. ONYEDIKA is fine where he is though.

I think you could actually move Dele to a RF role similar to Lookman on the other wing. Have Iwobi just in front of Yusuf and Onyedika. You get a lot of midfield control that way. Lookman, Dele and the strikers would need to shoot sha

hatakekakashi:
Nwabali's performance went under the radar, he was solid. We now have a reliable goal keeper at last.

I saw it as well. He came off his line well, made saves when needed and was calm on the ball.

His distribution isn’t the best but I’d rather my keeper make saves first and foremost

I thought Ndidi at CB was a better option than when he was in the midfield. It allowed us more progressive passing from the back.

Nice work from Dele. Took the initiative with the goal.

kennysville:
I think the starting 11 should now be the team that played the 2nd half to the end. There was purpose and a bit of seriousness as we took over the midfield from the bafana boys. Kudos to the boys. Gap no far too much. The group is now very open

My brother abeg chop knuckle! You see am.

It’s not that we lack players, but the set up is very crucial.

Iwobi played much better when he was freed of defensive work. Chuks is a natural winger and combined better with the midfield than KC.

We created enough in the 2nd half to have gotten a 2nd goal.

If we approach the Benin match with the same setup and style of play as we did in the 2nd half, we can get all 3pts.

We are not in an ideal position but only 2pts off the top. This is the kind of group where anyone can beat/draw with anyone. Team A beats team B, team B beats team C, team C beats team A etc.

It’s not like we are 6pts off the top like in some other groups.

There was enough from us in the 2nd half to score 1 or 2 in this match.

Benin has to be a must win or we are in real jeopardy

Boniface may not be fully fit but if that, let’s bring on Moffi. Paul moves in slow motion

KC missed lookman on that return pass…KC should come off. His lack of match sharpness is showing

Nice one! Play as a team, keep it up

zhike:

The problem of Nigeria is that they are using more overseas players, while south africa is using local based players

This is not why. Our coaching and set-up just isn’t up to standard. We aren’t calling up the right profile of players and our play isn’t coherent.

Argentina won the WC in 2022 with mostly foreigners even through the Argentinian league is a good league

Our midfield is beyond non-existent. See when Lookman picked up the ball. No one in the hole for him to play 1-2s with.

Joebie:
if we no careful south africa go run with a large margin win today.. the Onuachu strategy no dey work at all. we are lacking bite in attack

Get in Moffi or Boniface. Paul can’t hold ball and bring in other attackers.