₦airaland Forum

M7even:
The opening games of big teams define their character. Argentina lost its opening game against Saudi Arabia at the last world cup yet went on to win the tournament. Spain lost its opening game in 2010 to Switzerland and still won the tournament. We càn go on and on in history to see this pattern. If there is one side that is capable of adjusting itself and reinventing itself, it's easily the Spanish team with it's given quality.

They are crashing out. Wait and see

I was flailing this world cup some days back saying that we didn't even get to see location and stadium compilations.

Omo, strength does not need noise. The kind of breathtaking stadiums America has is mouth gaping.


Country pass country oo.

EElopa:
Algeria is a good team, and they played well today against this old Argentina team. This Argentina team is an old team; the result in this game was not actually a true reflection of the game.

The Algerian goalkeeper made Messi look great tonight. Messi, to me, is the greatest footballer of all time, but you see, for tonight's game, that Algerian goalkeeper made him look great tonight. If the Algerian goalkeeper had not been just terrible, this game would have been tied going into the last 15 to 20 minutes of the game, and the Algerian would not have overcommitted for that third Messi goal. This is an old Argentine team; they will be exposed in the knockout stages when they jam any of the dark horses or contenders in this World Cup.

All my Algerian friends I was watching the game with in a bar here in Houston are all ready to lynch Zidane. They were aware that he was the weakest member of their team, and their fears were confirmed with his atrocious display tonight.

Algeria needs to get over the loss quickly and realize that Argentina did not outplay them today. The Algerian team I saw today was not in any shape or form inferior to the Argentine team that defeated them 3-0. In '94 Bulgaria lost 3-0 against Nigeria, but they came back and made it all the way to the semifinals.

If you take out the horrible goalkeeping, I liked what I saw from the Algerians today, and this team can easily beat Jordan and get at least a draw against Austria.

I'm waiting for them at the airport in Algiers to welcome them back home

M7even:
If they played 9 out of 10 times , Spain will win. That one time Spain wouldn't win is what we call luck. Will u dare stick your neck out tomorrow for Cape Verde to get a draw again, now that the Spanish side recognizes their opponent better? I bet you'd almost not.

You can only play the opponent that is in front of you. Spain no sabi play ball. All that sleek and endless passing is not football jare

elyte89:
Nff don’t have a choice Dan to renew his contract…they have failed in all ramifications and the only bargaining chips Dey have to calm the Nigerian loving football fans nerve is to extend his contract .They dare not add to their woes of not qualifying for the World Cup


If dem try rubbish with Eric chelle ,nobody in nff will survive the heat

Nigeria is a country of no consequences. Nothing will happen other than crying on social media

Goke7:
Omo na my cortois dem stretch like this?

Egypt why na 😂 1-0

If na Okoye now we go wan crucify am. We need to encourage that guy. I feel he has it in him. He just needs encouragement

Goke7:
Our fine boy football Dey tire person! So tey Rwanda and Zimbabwe go Dey drag World Cup qualifiers with us people we suppose Dey wipe oraimo cord 5-0, 6-0

Really painful.

Amedino99:
Six coaches since this world cup qualifiers started.

Ruthless. More opportunities for my client.

realpoacher:
If you don't have it, you simply do not have it.

Tough mentality is not what in train into a player.

Did anybody put it inside Osimehen and Bassey?

This thing boils down to individuals,.. you should allow it to come to you naturally. It should possess and engulf you.

I saw a slight spark of it in Akors' play against Portugal, actually Akor has had abit of it since he came on against lesoto but it's been off and On, unlike Osimehen and Bassey who wears it like Constant k.... As in na follow come,...


It even shows in the way they walk, talk and do things outside football.

Sadly a quality missing in majority of our players.

It can be instilled. You'd see an ordinary guy. He'd go for army recruit. By the time they drill him, he'd come out with that rugged mentality.

But in relation to our players, I get your point and I agree with you. All the players need not have it like Osimhen but at least have some ruggedness.

I hate seeing fear in the eyes of our players.

What our players lack is heart and grit. Look at Cape Verde. Sometimes it's not skills. It's determination.

Only Bassey and Osimhen have this spirit in our team.

I don't know how rugged determination can be instilled in our players.

This lack of fierceness robbed us of the Afcon final against CIV

Robbed us of WC qualification against DR Congo.

Robbed us of the semi against Morocco.

Warrior mentality. Even mediocres become stalwarts with that kind of mentality.

Told my client that SA will sack broos before the end of the first round. Little did I know that the gods meant that Tunisia will sack lamouche after their first match drubbing by Sweden.

Let me get to work.

NasirIbnLaAhad:
We keep saying these things and people start getting overly sensitive. Morocco are running things now in football. Countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Benin and Togo to name a few are investing serious money into the development of their age grade teams. Thank God for Eric Chelle. Nigeria would have fallen off the face of the earth. He is grooming a new set of talents that can prosecute for the SE for the next 6-8 years at the very least. Can we trust the likes of Eguavoen, Finidi or people like Peseiro to not just identify these talents but, give them a chance and also unlock their full potential the way Chelle has?

We had robust age grade framework from 2007 - 2015 which produced Iheanacho, Awoniyi, Ndidi, Uzoho, Osimhen, Chukwueze.

What happened?

chrisooblog:
Hmm D'Law I watched the first 45 minutes Brazil's match last night I begin tackle myself say no be delulu make me predict them to win WC?

There was a sequence during the game where Igor Thiago missed a chance to score with a header and immediately the cameraman panned to Kaka, Roberto Carlos, and Ronaldo seated in the stands. Poignant reflection of how the standards have fallen in Brazil.

As much as Morocco rattled Brazil I felt the Samba Boys could have nicked it with better finishing no thanks to Raphina and Igor.

The Moroccans with a better forward at the level of Osimhen would have won yesterday.

Loved how compact their defense was but men the way their midfield stringed passes especially when Buoaddi came on was a joy to watch.

We have to wait to see how Brazil will play after now. Remember Argentina lost their first match in 2022.

Morocco don go leave us for back. We are still talking pedigree but we have forgotten that pedigree without sustenance becomes mere history.

We find it so hard to plan and follow through with it. This singular trait is responsible for our poor performance. We have talent but we depend too much on luck.

Nigeria is that intelligent student who refuses to study. He just believes his intelligence will make him pass exams.

But Success is not given a la carte. You have to go after it with vigor and intensity.

Damioduso1:
Ghana Black Stars players call for Nigerian support as they vibe to Davido's song in their team bus ahead of their World Cup opener. 👌

I support them to come back home

Goke7:
😂 na to Dey watch Haiti vs curaçao, Nauru vs Solomon island

As how na!

There's hope for my client then

elyte89:
They have refused to stand up after dt humiliating defeat 😎

Maybe I can get you Brazil now that they have become a mid team 😏😏

9JAMac10:
Brazil's aura has been shattered beyond repair after the humiliating loss to Germany In 2014

Seven dagger to the heart. Even if the man survives, e no go tey he go kpai

Kog45:
Are you talking about Jersey number 10 or real maestro

For me 10=maestro

Since Mikel retired see the players who have worn our jersey number 10:

Aribo

Dele Bashiru

We don't have a midfield conductor.

And we desperately need one. Iwobi is good but he is not a maestro.

We should not be playing without a proper midfield conductor.

I remember watching a clip of Eguavoen where he said that a good team must have a good spine.

This means we must have a good goalkeeper, two good CBs, a good DM and a good maestro and the head of the snake,a good attacker. It is around this structure that the rest of the team should be built.

I started watching football during USA 94. As a child of the 80's I was already conscious of Brazil being a superpower in football. When I seriously started following football, I fell in love with Romario, Ronaldo de Lima, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho but somehow I never supported Brazil and I still don't support Brazil.

It however hurts me that Brazil has now become like any other football team. Morocco is Brazil and Brazil is Morocco.

A sad spectacle for football. Chai

Morocco has improved and that is good but Brazil has become mediocre. It really has nothing to do with Morocco. Brazil no longer strikes fear in the heart of their opponents. See how Morocco was knocking the ball around with the Brazilian players rooted in between like training cones.

Kai Germany,Una do this one. That 7-1 defeat in 2014 before their home crowd in Rio spiritually decapitated Brazil.

mostob:
Roberto Carlos and R9 would be fuming on the stand.

What happened to Brazil?
Since that 7-1 loss against Germany, they have been ordinary

The Germans castrated them. Brazil was demystified. It will take a long time for them to recover

Odunayaw:
Just a moment of brilliance and we'd have clipped this Morocco. We had a solid defence in that match

Only Bassey was enough. The Moroccans fell in love with him.

minfelix:
With the way Morocco is playing, and knocking Brazil hard and getting a goal…make una no vex oo…this guys look like world cup contenders oo…
This morocco team is full time upgrade of the last year’s worldcup…If Morocco is playing Brazil like this, it means so many smaller teams in their group or in their pathway will suffer oo.
Morocco is cr@zily a solid team meeehnn🔥🔥🔥

Our players need warrior mentality. We too dey panic

Spainever:
You better support lol 🤣 Morocco . They are not here to joke . Goal for Morocco. I know Morocco, Ivory coast and Senegal will do well . South Africa and Tunisia waste of slots

All the African countries must come home after first round.

But the Schrödinger African countries must come home and still go to the second round. 😏😏

TheSuperNerd:
Leo Odunayinho .... Charlesizio Casemiro... Mujtahida Leonidas... All naturalised Brazillians in the house... are you getting hyped as My Brazil preps to take on My Maroc (na wa for my dilemma) tonight...

Sensacional 🤌🏼🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/Ew3ZFXzVsp

— Leopoldina 🇧🇷 (@LeopoldinaDom) June 13, 2026

Morocco hmmmm. Them strong ooo.

Meliforme:
Nwabali is a fantastic goalkeeper and I have upheld him on this thread. Nwabali is very good, but the reality is that Nwabali has conceded even cheaper goals, and it is shocking how he was not called out for it.

I really do not think positioning is his problem.
The goals he conceded made it look like he has a problem with positioning.
You should also consider the quality of players he faced and i am also certain that you won't blame the opposition goalkeeper and even Nwabali if they were the ones that conceded those kind of goals

The area he needs to work on is his anticipation
And it is a quality that can be worked on. He is already an elite goalkeeper

It is anticipation that makes Nwabali position himself better than Okoye.

JohnBullMySon:
Ngl the name Balogun is so on-brand for a striker.

Ball of Ogun

Omo look at the mid stadium Canada used for their opening match. It looks like a stadium from the 90s.

Hosting the world cup in three countries is a no no for me.

Piss one place make e foam.

Meliforme:
Maduka Okoye is very good with the ball at his feet.
His ball distribution is the best that I have seen of any Super Eagles goalkeeper in recent times.

It was his long ball to Akor that led to the development of the first goal.
He read the situation very well and connected Akor with a sweet long pass, and bam! a goal situation.

His major flaw is positioning. This is where Nwabali is better than Okoye. Have you not noticed that for long shots, Nwabali rarely dives cos he's most of the time already well positioned.

AndSunGorilla:
Reality is in this age, when it comes to rape, it is guilty until proven innocent.

That principle applies across all criminal offences even murder. But I understand you in terms of the social pressures that can be exerted on a person accused of rape.

AndSunGorilla:
The U17 of 1987 made me fall in love with football. No light but I remember following my older cousins to watch the final against Russia which we outplayed Russia but unfortunately lost via penalties. Lemy Isah, Tony Emedofu, Philip Osondu, Nduka Ugbade, Dimeji Lawal still come to my mind. Then the daylight robbery of 88 afcon, 89 Daman miracle amd eventual heartbreak to Luis Figo's U21, 1989 u17 penalty loss to Saudi (Victor ikpeba, Godwin Opara etc), 1992 afcon SF loss to Ghana until 1993 when Kanu, Oruma, Babayaro gave me joy as a Nigerian fan and then 94 etc.

You are one of the ancestors we have here. Take your flowers

chrisooblog:
This World Cup sef.

A player being denied entry? C'mon!

Not a WC historian but has this ever happened?

This pandora box they are opening with all this entry denials.

What stops a player in future tournaments being denied entry by their host country because they don't like his politics?

It's a dangerous trend. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? This is unacceptable.