₦airaland Forum

Okeke break outs are causing France trouble. They cant attack down that flank.

Norway score and enter 2nd spot. As it stands, Nigeria qualify.

We're playing well. Almost scored from the corner. Not respecting France at all.

First corner to Nigeria after Okeke breaks out of defence with a pass to Ordega.

Kick off and France launch an attack to set the tone. Looks like we playing 5-3-2 on average.

Chidinma Okeke saying prayer like our Imam. She's looking fearless.

3 of our players on yellow, so they miss next match if they get a yellow. As if we go play next match...

Nigerian national anthem. We also wearing our lucky jersey. Today will be good!

French anthem going on and they look like they want to fight.

BascoVanVeli:
Starting XI

I dont know which player is Ajayi? Except if Amarachi Okoronkwo has changed name.

Welcome to Nigeria matchday...
Team news> Only one change from the last game. Uchendu is benched for the hardworking Halimatu Ayinde. Coach wants to pack midfield like olden days sardine. France make 4 changes, with one in each part of the field. Both sides retain their goalies.

PDPGuy:
And SA are the first team to be officially eliminated from the World Cup

They leave with 1 goal and 0 points.

Spain and China both trying hard to keep it as a draw. Spain should score 2 goals to make things interesting for China.

PDPGuy:
Well said.

A 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 formation would suit the team right. Any attempt to try to out-possess the French would be fatal (football-wise of course).

We need not change our formation just because we want a draw. We were compact enough against Korea and frustrated their attacks a lot of the time. If we do the same against France, we will be OK. Same formation for me, but Ajibade has to come in for Okobi. Or Ajibade comes in and Okobi drafted to replace Uchendu.

semid4lyfe:
Best approach in my opinion. There's no way we're gonna boss the midfield and control possession.

The players don't play close enough to each other, press high enough and their marking is poor as they leave pockets of spaces for opposing players to run into.

Containment should be our first priority with counter attacks being used with Ordega and Oshaola serving as the outlets.

If we can be defensively solid, we can get a draw or a shock victory.

Amen
Though I don't think France is as powerful as we make them look.
I'm a bit concerned that the same person in charge of VAR when we played Norway is in charge tomorrow. I don't expect any favours.

BascoVanVeli:
Nigeria press conference


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B3BdekMmK8

Coach wants to set up for a draw. I pity him.

KevinDein:
I hate rooting for the big dogs but I'm all for USA trashing chile today. I believe chile are our direct rivals for the 4 best third place teams so basically the more the damage to their goal difference the better for us.

Already 3-0 down, thats a -5 goals difference for them, so they need to beat Thailand silly to match us. I think Thailand might beat Chile actually.
Our direct rival is Scotland.

BascoVanVeli:
The french coach said u shouldn't expect 5 or 6 changes for tomorrow night's game. So they will put a relatively strong team out.

Modified: she added that there won't be 4 or 5 either

Quite funny press conference. First she said she wont make much changes, then she said 5 to 6 players, then she said maybe wholesome changes.
Towards the end, she said there will be fewer than 4 changes. I expect her to make 2 or 3 changes, maybe rest her forwards. I think we will have a chance, and maybe shake their confidence a bit. We just need to keep it tight and stay at 1 goal down at worst. A draw will be automatic qualification.

After almost all 2nd round matches, I think our chances are high to go through. As long as we dont lose to France by more than 1 goal, we will almost certainly qualify on 3 points and -2 goals difference.

The four teams likely to go through are> Spain/China, Australia/Brazil, Nigeria, and winner of Cameroon/NewZealand or Scotland/Argentina.

Of those teams listed,the ones most threatening to Nigeria are Scotland/Argentina and Cameroon/Newzealand. If one or two of those matches are drawn, then we qualify. If there's a win in one or 2 of the matches, then we need it to be low scoring, maximum 1-0.

Cameroon really being cheated by this Australian ref. Unbelievable bias that even TV replays are showing fouls upon fouls going unpunished. Luckily, Cameroon is still in the game 1-1 at half time.

BascoVanVeli:
But that goal was offsides

Yes. The referee was not knowledgeable. Most of the refs are not capable.

Brazil totally collapse. Now Australia have 3 points and are ahead of 9ja on goals difference. Blawdy Brazilian bottlers.

Australia already 1-0 down. Good result for Nigeria.

BascoVanVeli:
We should aim for number 1

Lol. We've never beaten a team by more than 2 goals at the world cup. Not sure a Swedish coach will be the one to start that.

PDPGuy:
#s 2,3, and 4 are the most likely scenarios. TBH, I don’t see Korea beating Norway, going by their inept displays so far.

I'm expecting us to play really well, but maybe lose to France by one goal. Then we need to wait till all matches are played to see if we go through. Already, we can start predicting from today's matches. If Brazil beat Australia by more than 2 goals, then our chances improve.

How Nigeria can qualify for next round:
1. Beat France by 4 goals or more and we could top the group.
2. Beat France by 1 goal or so and we finish 2nd if South Korea beat or draw Norway.
3. Draw against France and we finish oh 4 points. 90% chance of qualifying as 3rd best team. We could also finish 2nd if we draw France and Korea beat Norway.
4. Lose to France by reasonable margin, 1 goal or 2 goals, and we finish with 3 points and -3 goals difference. That might mean we are out of the tournament. It is expected that around 5 teams will finish 3rd with 3 points.
5. Lose to France by 1 goal, and Korea beat Norway by 4 goals, then we finish 2nd.

Best chance of qualifying: Play France with sense, we can lose but must not lose by more than 1 goal. If we make it to next round, we face Germany.

elyte89:
D best we can get from dt game is a draw!

France isn't as good as people make them actually. If we remain solid we can beat them.

France wins. Good results for us.

As it stands, if Korea beat Norway, we may finish 2nd. Otherwise, we only need a draw against France to qualify. Surely its not too much to ask.

South Africaesque penalty awarded to France.

1-1 after a bizarre own goal. That girl probably thought she was on the other side.

France 1-0 up. This is good for us. I dont think Korea can score against Norway though. We are in a tough group and doing OK so far.

BascoVanVeli:
I don't know but the way she drives forward coupled with her passing ability could make her a good candidate. Plus she has shown she can adapt to new positions so why not?

I think Okobi has been the weakest link so far but there is seemingly nobody to push her.

Before the tournament started, I stated that Okobi has been a weak link in the team. If we can draft Ajibade to her position, we wont recognise this team again.

Dedetwo:
If I am in the position of power or as head coach, young ladies such Peace Efih, Florence Ijamilusi, Charity Ucheibe, Grace Igoamulu, Ugo Emenayo, Tessey Biahwo, Opeyami Sunday, Gloria Ogbonna, Joy Bokiri , Okeke and, of course, Nnadozie should be the backbone of this team.

This team will lose every match.
A blend of experience and youth blood is what made us win today. Look at Ohale and Onome in the heart of the defence. Even mummy Rita in the midfield was bossing the game from there.

Dedetwo:
She has just become the headache of the team's coaches.

Well, for me, a lot of those young players will effectively replace most underperforming oldies. Joy Bokiri could replace Chikwelu as early as next year. Okeke's place is cemented. The coach identified her pre AWCON but she picked up injury. Any player over 30 in the falcons now can effectively say goodbye after this tournament.