Juju or no juju i am glad we won.what those boys put us through in the last 5 minutes can only be imagined.
Siasia is surely a breath of fresh air to nigerian football and am loving it but what was he thinking leaving out
2 over-age players.Ambrose is a good keeper no doubt but lets face it, he is jelly out there right now. Greg Etafia
would have come in handy now.what do you guys think?
On the team generally,they played as a team in the first 2 games but the showboating against the USA was
just too much.good thing we got away with it sha.
Finally I think they should wake up and put their act together cos right now you can bet your last buck that all
the other teams must have heard of the naija goal lottery. way to go Ambrose!

I was so happy to hear samson siasia criticize the boys afta the match. They were just too profligate in front of goal today. What a rush of blood to our keeper's head to have conceeded dat penalty. We must not play against the ivorians like dat

am proud of nigeria, saw the highlights and it was awesome,

Sagamite:

On the Beijing website, Ngr vs USA was listed to be played at 1700hrs and was show in the UK at 10am.

The one against Ivory Coast is listed on the same website at 2100hrs, so that should surely be 2pm?

Yeah its 2pm

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/olympics/football/ . . . . scroll down to bottom of the page

Football(Men)
Our only hope for a medal!!!!
How sad -- 160 million people and still counting

AMIGO112:

Juju or no juju i am glad we won.what those boys put us through in the last 5 minutes can only be imagined.
Siasia is surely a breath of fresh air to nigerian football and am loving it but what was he thinking leaving out
2 over-age players.Ambrose is a good keeper no doubt but lets face it, he is jelly out there right now. Greg Etafia
would have come in handy now.what do you guys think?

those boys wan kill us.dem no know say our blood pressure dey affected with their antics.
siasia for use etafia or an experienced goalkeeper for this olympics.
i dey fear well well for this our keeper o.

TPS360:

am proud of nigeria, saw the highlights and it was awesome,

Omoboy, don't be fooled. Highlights no reflect true facts of the game.

Our players were very very very poor at passing the ball. The USA with only 10 men from the 3rd minute were THE BETTER team.

There was this US player, Holden, that was controlling, marshalling and running the midfield like if his middle name was Redondo. Complete one man show in that midfield.

Okonkwo was useless and hopeless.

Okoronkwo was minus one.

Promise Isaac was the 12th man for USA as he was too willing to give them the ball any time someone passed the ball to him.

Monday James 

Monday James 

Monday James was a clown that was dribbled time and time again with him always ending on the floor as he is quick to go to the floor even when defending on the half way line hence giving the USA players opportunity to tap the ball over him and run across the empty green grass behind him to cross the ball except Adeleye comes to stop them and Kaita falling into centre back. And if Monday does not go stupidly (and too early) down, he has this tendency to think it is smart to block a right footed player from cutting in and switching to his left foot. He prefers to encourage the player (by blocking the left side) to stay on the right and cross with this stronger foot. The worst thing was that he was a slow runner, so he opened the right side for a player to run to but can't catch up . The USA player, Wynne, exploited this.

Obasi, Nsofor, Adeleye and Ajilore were our only saving grace. Kaita was Okay but got tired after having to cover for both useless left and right backs.

Okonkwo is useless.

lidbb2:

those boys wan kill us.them no know say our blood pressure dey affected with their antics.
siasia for use etafia or an experienced goalkeeper for this olympics.
i dey fear well well for this our keeper o.

He tried to invite Enyeama but at the last minute the player's club did not allow him to go, I think the NFA buggled this.

Taye Taiwo that was suppose to play the left was also withheld by his club at the last minute.

The team is 3 man short as Uche Ikechukwu was also not allowed to go by his club.

Sagamite:

He tried to invite Enyeama but at the last minute the player's club did not allow him to go, I think the NFA buggled this.

Taye Taiwo that was suppose to play the left was also withheld by his club at the last minute.

The team is 3 man short as Uche Ikechukwu was also not allowed to go by his club.

because the irresponsible NFF didn't send out invitations at the right time

It is either I watched a totally different match or Nigerians have it in their consiousness that somehow we have a devine right to win a football match.

Those boys obviously made mistakes here and there, but they tried.

Helloooooo!!!!!!! For God's sake we are top of our group

Add to that list the silly selfishness of the players. I was just pissed this morning.  .  .instead of passing the ball to another player in a much better position to score,they were all mostly being selfish. Without proper team work and co-ordination,watch us crash out hard!!

Na wa for Nigeria, With  the amount of chances they've lost in these group stages, it would take a miracle to secure the Gold medal, they need to reduce their selfish tendencies  because there is victory in teamwork

SELFISHNESS reigns supreme in this team

From Okoronkwo to Ogbuke to Anichebe down to Nsofor
I don't know if they are competing to outdo the other

I was disappointed in Osaze yesterday and totally at that.

Sums it all, i wonder if those strikers know what made the likes of Torres what they or are Nigerian players not interested in joining those big clubs?even with the  way Obasi is playing to gallery,the likes of Man U n Arsenal will never place their money on him

McKren:

It is either I watched a totally different match or Nigerians have it in their consiousness that somehow we have a devine right to win a football match.

Those boys obviously made mistakes here and there, but they tried.

Helloooooo!!!!!!! For God's sake we are top of our group

They tried?

Please give your match analysis, lets see.

Here are some few more analysis:

http://www.naijawire.com/2008/08/14/nigeria-beat-10-man-usa-team-to-qualify-for-olympic-soccer-qfinals/
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=562503&sec=us&root=us&cc=5739
http://usmen.american-soccer-news.com/?p=58
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=251017&&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines&cc=5739
http://www.nbcolympics.com/whileyouweresleeping/news/newsid=212036.html?_source=rss&=


Quote: But they tried?

This is the type of mentality that is destroying Nigeria that I hate: "That is good enough, we don try!" mentality.

Instead of "This is the best ever done in the world." or at least "This is the best we can do with what we have and can get."

We are one of the top ranked team in the tournament playing a team that is not highly regarded. Worse still they had only ten men from the 3rd minute and 2 of their main first team players are suspended for the match and you are saying "But we tried"? 

We have only street and traffic lights in Abuja. "But we tried".

We win nothing in the last Olympics. "But we tried".

Our education system is in decline. "But we tried".

YES ,THEY TRIED.


they gave a performance worthy of praise.and we know thwy made some mistakes.

please,SAGAMITE, try to live up to ur signature.

i wondered why siasia was inviting enyema, now i know better.
Van is good, but,

Sagamite:


We are one of the top ranked team in the tournament playing a team that is not highly regarded. Worse still they had only ten men from the 3rd minute and 2 of their main first team players are suspended for the match adn you are saying "But we tried"? 

These days, teams down with one man play stronger than 11.

[center]Siasia furious in victory, warns Vanzekin[/center]


Nigeria coach Samson Siasia was furious with his players despite their 2-1 win over the USA on Wednesday which saw them qualify for the knockout stages of the Olympic football tournament as group leaders.
"It is a fact we won the game, but I feel like we lost," Siasia said at the post match conference.

"One of our two goals was lucky and there are still areas where we have to improve. So we have to learn from our mistakes. Hopefully we can get better for the next game."

Goalkeeper Ambrose Vanzekin, with his second costly error in as many games, bore the brunt of the coach's displeasure.

In the next couple of days, we will have to look at how we approach the next game. For now, let's just enjoy the victory



"Our goalkeeper gave away another Christmas present, and it is not even November yet! I have told him that he has to shape up or I will ship him out," Siasia told KickOffNigeria.com later. "At this stage where we are, you can’t give away presents like that. If anybody wants to score a goal against us, they have to work hard for it."

But the former Nantes striker ruled out tossing in reserve goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa.

"Ambrose is my boy and we are going to speak to him about it and make sure he knows exactly what we expect of him. The next match is very crucial and we can’t just put him (Ezenwa) in like tha[/b]t."

Siasia was also unhappy about the overall performance of his wards, "Overall it was not a good game from us. Every aspect of our game has to improve. So far, only the defenders have come to the party.

“The strikers are not scoring as much as they should with the chances we are creating."

Ball hogging was also another area that had the ex Nigeria striker tearing his hair out.

"We have [b]too many ball-hoggers in the team. They need to release the ball quickly, but almost everybody wants to hog the ball. We have talked about this over and over again and at our training session, we work on it. Two touches pass the ball to the next man and run into space.

"But they keep trying to hold on to the ball. We will have to do some more work there."

Despite all the shortcomings, Siasia said he was pleased to get the points in the bag.

"It is better to play badly and get the points, than to play well and lose the game. The important thing is that we won, and we have qualified.

"In the next couple of days, we will have to look at how we approach the next game. For now, let's just enjoy the victory."

Nigeria plays fellow Africans, Ivory Coast next in the quarterfinal on Saturday.

they tell u '' u are not allowed to make mistakes''. but in reality, is it possible?

vanzekin was okay apart from the penalty he foolishly conceded.

ogbuke was also selfish at times.

May millitant kidnapp Ambrose Vanzekin, the boy na idiot

Yes they tried

We played in a group that includes Holland and USA and came out top of the group

For the US match . . . . . . . what you saw is what happens in most 11 vs 10 matches. We controlled the game 80% of the time while the US were defending. You know in a situation like that we are under pressure because we needed a win to go through, US was ok with a draw.

The US strategy was to sit back soak the pressure and hit us on the break, which they did. The fact that we got two goals should be commended.

When we had scored 2, US had nothing else to loose as they were practically out if the result stayed that way hence they decided to throw the kitchen sink at us in the last 10 minutes.

And yes Ambrose Vanzekin should not have come out of his line, but the fact remains that we are top of our group. We need to learn from our mistakes but not to villify our players as if we lost.

USA is nothing compared to Nigeria at this stage.

And I am not the only one that thinks the DTIV played badly or even feel like it was a loss when we actually won.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7560936.stm

We play like that against Argentina (Messi, Mascharano, Riquelme etc) and we are smoked meat with jollof rice.

Japanese use karate and kamikazi play us, we manage block am, dodge them, score with our 4man karate goal

Netherlands wan use Babel bring confusion to our lives, we decode, disarm them, and dismissed them

USA try use Nuclear missle give us heart attack, especially for the last 3 minutes, we carry umbrella, escape, go side dey breath heavily

Na only God go help us make those Ivory Coast people nor use elephant tusk penetrate our goal post, cos those boys eh,

Kalao eh, nor bi kalo-kalo im come play oh! Or to sell Kola!

In any case, in all fairness, reviewing the game, we played well in the first half, We played a patient game, and broke down their defense. We didn't have any problems in first half, until their coach brought in Benny Feilhaber instead of Altidore, and the Benny guy was really wicked, as well as their substitute Charlie Davies. Plus, the fashied their 4 4 1 formation, to send their men up front, and its in second half our boys started getting tired. So by the 80th minute, they were just hanging on. And to make matters worse, the entire crowd were chanting for USA. Pschological wahala don enter.

Our boys didn't have stamina, which the americans had more, but if you ignore the dying minute, and look at the full picture, they played well at the begining, they got what they wanted, and then got tired.

Which brings the question, if we are playing someone else in q-finals, or finals (if God help us smell am), could we play into extra time, if we draw up to 90 minutes?

Its all these last minute performances at the end of halftime and at the end of full time, that really knock us down.

Nobody in America Cared.

The next match is 11am Nigeria time not 2. taa

up Nigeria!!!

That was completely a very bad game. How on earth did they play like that. No skills at all. Very rigid in front of goal. rubbish meeeeeeeeeen!

How can they face CIV and even teams like Argentina and brazil?

Sagamite:

They tried?

Please give your match analysis, lets see.

Here are some few more analysis:

http://www.naijawire.com/2008/08/14/nigeria-beat-10-man-usa-team-to-qualify-for-olympic-soccer-qfinals/
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=562503&sec=us&root=us&cc=5739
http://usmen.american-soccer-news.com/?p=58
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=251017&&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines&cc=5739
http://www.nbcolympics.com/whileyouweresleeping/news/newsid=212036.html?_source=rss&=


Quote: But they tried?

This is the type of mentality that is destroying Nigeria that I hate: "That is good enough, we don try!" mentality.

Instead of "This is the best ever done in the world." or at least "This is the best we can do with what we have and can get."

We are one of the top ranked team in the tournament playing a team that is not highly regarded. Worse still they had only ten men from the 3rd minute and 2 of their main first team players are suspended for the match adn you are saying "But we tried"?

We have only street and traffic lights in Abuja. "But we tried".

We win nothing in the last Olympics. "But we tried".

Our education system is in decline. "But we tried".

u just made my day . . .

Dr Kitaun:

u just made my day . . .

No mind them.

If the Japanese were saying "We don try" instead of striving to be the best, I wonder whether they would be leading in the Electronics world.

If the Germans were saying "We don try" instead of striving to be the best, I wonder whether they would be leading in the Auto-machinery world.

If the Americans were saying "We don try" instead of striving to be the best, I wonder whether they would be leading in the Finance and IT world.

Unfortunately due to our "That is good enough, we don try!" mentality, we are not a leader in anything or have anything in our country that is world-class or industry that is world class.

Actually let me correct myself, their is one area we have a mentality shift of "This is the best ever done in the world." and has led to extensive success: FRAUD.

Because if we try "We don try" in this, that na to rot in jail.

U know the olympic team is not saturated . . . . . there are a lot of games Nigeria is yet to compete for. If we were good enough for any of these games we will not be on Nairaland villifying those who went.

MandingoII:

Nobody in America Cared.

Who cares if they cared.

What are you trying to tell us? We should only care about something if Americans care about it?

What are you trying to tell us? We should only care about something if Americans care about it?

Actually that is the point.

IT DIDN'T EXIST

MandingoII:

Actually that is the point.

IT DIDN'T EXIST

Ah, good luck to you o.

I am a leader, not a follower. I don't let any person or group of people dictate to me what I should be interested in.