₦airaland Forum

I don’t blame Bassey on that goal. I think Ndidi could have done better but it was originally Iwobi that got caught in possession

We need to replace Nwabili. One day his errors will cost us

Dannyxy:
benin match was the most important…

Infact this is one of our easiest…

This game won’t be easy, the stakes are higher. The game is not played on paper

Bossoflife25:
Chelle is good! Damn!

He saw our struggle when Gabon changed the formation in the second half.

He saw the importance of Onyeka in that extra time, and that Osimhen felt more comfortable manning the front line alone!

The DRC also saw what Gabon did in the second half and would have been licking their lips on how to dominate our midfield with their physicality and press earlier in the game, only for chelle to go with the formation that gave him the three extra-time goals. lol! I love this!

You get everything completely. Games are won and lost in the midfield. Osimhen can run the channels as a one man striker.

He get am

Tinneh:
Chelle is tactically sound, I'm impressed with how he regularly tweaks his team in respect of the opponent

I came to say this as well. I’ve been asking us to move to a more solid 433 or 4231 approach for a while now. Our midfield gets overrun in the 442.

With Onyeka in the midfield, it will actually allow Ndidi destroy and break up play higher up the pitch for quick counters.

Against Gabon, Ndidi created 2 chances after stepping in to win the ball from his opponent.

I really like this change, especially given the stakes.

Procashtips:
If they can't join during the qualifiers, they should wait till the next qualifiers.

Not like they're coming to win the world cup for us.

Cap tie them early and quickly. Iwobi joined the SE and has over 80 caps for us.

Imagine capping someone like Eze at 19/20 yrs old.

TheSuperNerd:
Minus the 2 nullified games from each and you have your answer.

2017 June 1 friendly vs Togo.
2017 November 10 WCQs vs Algeria.

Also, read about the Ahmed Musa initial 100 caps confusion in September 2021.

Thanks, so 68 for Ndidi and 88 for Iwobi. My general statement still holds, there hasn’t been a striker of that longevity.

TheSuperNerd:
Ndidi does not have 70 caps and Iwobi does not have 90 caps.

Look, the NFF can flunk certain records, but I expect this thread to continue to shine as the standard bearer for "setting the records straight".

How many caps do Ndidi and Iwobi have?

Goke7:
and longevity of strikers

I think this is actually closer to the truth. For example, Ndidi has been in the NT since 2015 and has 70 caps. I don’t think we have any current forward with even up to 30 caps except Osimhen

sweetjohn:
We want to thank Dr Congo for driving Cameroon out. Infact, we have won Dr Congo already. Thank God is not Cameroon because they will likely win us. Cameroon vs Nigeria is a game of champions and they Cameroon won’t approach the match as they did with dr Congo. It will be a different ball game.

I would have preferred Cameroon actually. We have a good record against them recently. We beat them in the 2023 and 2019 AFCONs, there’s familarity. Cameroon is also without Anguissa due to injury. Even all time, I think Nigeria has a better H2H record. It’s just that Cameroon collected 3 AFCONs ontop our head.

DRC is a wild card. They’ll be a tight, well organized team. I believe we’ prevail but it won’t be easy..

Kilishihunter:
Let's just hope injuries are sympathetic to him so he'll have a lasting career going into his 30s, notwithstanding whatever happens on Sunday he can still play two more world cups depending on his conditioning

It’s really only injuries that can hamper his availability. He has the world class ability, barring injury, to compete at the highest levels for another 7-8 years.

Kog45:
Sincerely I don't think Tolu is better than Sadiq and Awoniyi but Sadiq and Awoniyi getting into this team go hard o

Tolu isn't, but it's a case of calling someone up that's new, in form, and can bring something different to the NT. But Tolu and Awo have similar playing styles to Osimhen. It's either one or the other and no way they are benching Osimhen.

Adams can actually complement Osi, similar to Lookman.

Osimhen might break Yekini's goal record by the time AFCON is over...but let's be honest, 37 goals as the highest goal scorer for a nation like Nigeria is quite low. Eto is Cameroon's highest goal scorer with 51. Salah is on 61 goals for Egypt, Drogba had 65 by the time he retired.

I think SE has had an issue in building teams with longevity. From tournament to tournament, things are always changing.

Honestly, Osimhen can break the African goal-scoring record (79 goals) held by Godfrey Chitalu from Zambia. Between AFCONQ, AFCON, WCQ and WC, games dey.

Spainever:
Players like Umar Sadiq , Awoniyi, Iheanacho and Boniface have 💋 bye bye to super eagles. Nigerians don move on with Adams and Tolu. Even Dressers sef people don forget am

That's the nature of international football to be honest.

You can play over 350+ games during your professional playing career but only 15-20 games for your NT.

I think KC is the only one we should move on from. If the likes of Boniface, Sadiq and Awo reignite their professional careers and find form why shouldn't they get called up? They don't have to start but it's good to have options. Players come in and out of the NT all the time.

The way we take find Benjamin, abeg may we go find three solid, technically sharp, ball carrying, playmaking midfielders

Spainever:
Baba. You are wrong that was a clear penalty,we were lucky o

My guy, I go look am again. That should have been a PK true true

Sugarboyy:
With everything Adams did in this game, he should be Benched? I will prefer Adams plays as a Left forward or Ejuke as a LW instead of Simon

Either is fine. My bigger issue is ensuring we have 3 men in the midfield

Where was this version of the Super Eagles in our matches against Zim, Lesotho and SA?

Had we played like this we’d have qualified a long time ago.

That first half is probably the best I’ve seen Naija play in years.

TheGoodJoe:
It is not by abuse. Unless you believe Osimhen is the finished article, a call for him to keep improving is actually a good thing.

Finito.

Thank you for saying this!

I gbadu Osimhen but there are aspects of his game he can improve.

Imagine we lost this match in ET. People for swear for him for his missed 1v1 right at the end of regular time.

Goke7:
With which players? We just have to manage what we have!

By going to a three man midfield instead of two.

Spainever:
That was a clear penalty . We should be grateful 🥲 to that ref

It’s a soft pen but on the balance of the entire game, we were the better team.

Good win but our midfield will need to improve in the final.

I think we are better off dropping Lookman for Onyeka. Onyedika will need to start since Ndidi is suspended for the final.

Start off more solid and if need be, get more attacking later. My proposed formation:

Osayi
Fredrick
Bassey
Sanusi

Onyeka
Onyedika
Iwobi

Chukwueze
Osimhen
Simon

Danielnino00:
It's the full back position we should worry about now...

I think Aina and Sanusi are solid options.

For me, it’s our midfield. We still lack technically sharp midfielders that can control the tempo of a match

Papi85:
Eric Chelle deserves his flowers abeg. The man is a good tactician

100%.

Imagine if we had him from the start of WCQ, we for don already qualify dey put mind for AFCON

These playoffs, should we make it through, will be very good prep for AFCON.

Gabon and Cameroon or DRC are both opponents we could reasonably expect to see in a quarterfinals should we make it that far

Dannyxy:
We win 4-1

My brother na you oooo

Osimhen is an enigma.

Simple 1v1 he puts wide, but two difficult last angle strikes he bangs them.

May it continue sha

orriyomi33:
OSIMHEN ⚽🔥⚽⚽

The goal he scored is actually harder than the 1v1 he missed. Glad he scored but he knows that 1v1 should have been buried.

ChrisKels:
Ndidi has balled today.

Bro, I will be the first to raise my hand and say he has proved me wrong. He has played out of his mind today.

Mybettingtips:
The CB partnership of Frederick and Bassey is lethal. They marshaled the defensive line perfectly

Nwabali hardly got tested in this match.

Ekong has no business in our set up moving forward.

Once Aina is back, he’ll go back to RB and relieve Osayi

lexyman:
we have a gem in Benjamin Fredrick

BRO!!! Guy na baller!

Omo, I have to give Ndidi his praise. He has marshaled this midfield very well, even after his early yellow card.

I had been weary of him in the past but he has shown his worth