₦airaland Forum

Goke7:
Morrocans think say Nwabali dey do juju

So something happened yesterday before the penalty shootout…
Nwabali dropped something near the goalpost, but a Moroccan steward took it away.😲😳
Did anyone else notice this?👀🤔
pic.twitter.com/XBFlY31u3r

— Cleverly 💐 (@Cleverlydey4u) January 15, 2026

Na him towel be that na!
My goodness!!

minfelix:
even we sef for 2000 we really acted “suegbish🤣”, how did we just allow Cameroon come steal Afcon in our backyard…we are too nice to other nations in this africa simply becos we love football and we are built mentally to be fair in football matters…..im sure you will see Nigerians blasting ref or feeling petty when ref support us over our opponents on our own soil.

you will hear talks like
“why will ref cheat them na”
“we dont deserve this win, the ref was so bias with us”

na overconfidence kill us for 2000 until Cameroon started scoring in the final match, a game that shouldn't have entered extra time, again raising our game in moments that matter.

TheSuperNerd:
I am afraid for Senegal. Koulibaly out. Mamadou Sarr of Strasbourg had to step in. Unless they go with Seck but Sarr for KK shows Thiaw's mind.

Also, Habib Diallo out. But Lamine Camara is a strong replacement. I hope he steps up big in the final coz the script has been written already.... it is for Morocco.

I would be the happiest if Senegal manages to tear up that script.

Senegal has to stop this nonsense, we don’t know how terrible this is for African football, till a day a ref will kick the ball into the net because the host wants to win.

We should go listen to people in Rabat they say we that watched would not understand all that happened.

The ref with the whistle can make 1/2 bad calls, but making bad calls on one team for 120 minutes consistently is sabotage and the terrible for African football, from Cameroon to Nigeria, it can’t be a coincidence, and I hate when people narrow it to 2 shot on target, this wasn’t like Nigeria vs Algeria, those ones lost but see all their antics still.

You can’t have any rhythm or game confidence when the ref is against you, it’s unfortunate we lost penalties, this would have been one of my best wins.

Alex Iwobi. We cook again next Afcon... Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda. We dey come. Next year no far.

Even Lookman's powerful strike which Bounou saved yesterday was as a result of Iwobi's linesbreaking pass.

Alexaviandreas Iniwobiesta

Goke7:
na overconfidence kill us for 2000 until Cameroon started scoring in the final match, a game that shouldn't have entered extra time, again raising our game in moments that matter.

why we no fit influence ref to manipulate that match na😅 atleast by now we go dey on 4afcon

Our players set out from Fez to Marrakesh to Rabat and finally to Casablanca, where they will play the 3rd place match

Na only them waka come? how many venues in days chai

minfelix:
why we no fit influence ref to manipulate that match na😅 atleast by now we go dey on 4afcon

we be big brother africa We no dey do that kind thing

That's why I laugh when they say na we corrupt pass for this world, see how South Africa use wayo on our head qualify for world cup and how Congo use mercenaries to play us a whole naija be like learner

Lets try and beat Egypt on saturday and take their fifa ranking spot abeg lets move up 3rd

minfelix:
Lets try and beat Egypt on saturday and take their fifa ranking spot abeg lets move up 3rd

I agree we can finish this AFCON without losing a match in regulation time, good for our rankings, so we can be top seed again in the next afcon

SymphonyRad:
Morocco, Senegal and CIV got the best of their dual nationals and see how those players have elevated them to the next level...we are still here struggling to even get a nearly 30 year old Tosin to play for us lmao 🤣😂😂😂

Anyway for the 3rd place game, let's just see all our fringe players against Egypt, let's see more of Nnadi, Usman and Akin in that midfield and Fago, Ejuke and Akor in attack...Ogbu and Awaziem in defence etc, could care less about golden bronze anyways.

We should be targeting a win to increase our upward trajectory in the FIFA rankings.

Think there is a sense in which Raphael Onyedika is getting the short end of the stick for last night.

While he had a very poor match, able to neither impose himself nor get to grips with the intensity of the match, and was rightly pulled, it is important to acknowledge that, up until the semi-final, the Super Eagles had not faced a side as defensively and/or tactically astute as the Moroccans.

Would Ndidi have made a difference? Certainly. Being more tenacious in the tackle and boasting greater anticipation, he would no doubt have fared better and helped Nigeria compete more fiercely. But nothing he faced in the competition was remotely close to the standard the Moroccans brought. So it is not really comparing apples with apples. The same Ndidi was present while our midfield was overrun against DR Congo two months ago. Not his fault personally at all, but the point is that these things are not straightforward to analyse.

Different players have different skill sets. Onyedika is what he is; if, as a coach, you put him into the team in place of a different profile of player, you owe it to him and the team to tweak something else in order to allow him play. Last night, the Super Eagles needed to be even more patient than usual, knowing they were lacking something out of possession. Instead, the opposite was the case.

-Solace Chukwu

Goke7:
we be big brother africa We no dey do that kind thing

That's why I laugh when they say na we corrupt pass for this world, see how South Africa use wayo on our head qualify for world cup and how Congo use mercenaries to play us a whole naija be like learner

omo this one here strong oo, while super eagles were sleeping southy were busy plotting
SA vs Nig (in front of SA home crowd)
SA vs Ben (in front of SA home crowd
SA vs Rwa (in fromt of SA home crowd)
SA vs Zim (in front of SA home crowd)
SA vs Les (in front of SA home crowd
Les vs SA (in front of SA hole crowd)
Zim vs SA (in front of SA home crowd)

omo doz people really see us as moomoo oo🤣🤣

minfelix:
omo this one here strong oo, while super eagles were sleeping southy were busy plotting
SA vs Nig (in front of SA home crowd)
SA vs Ben (in front of SA home crowd
SA vs Rwa (in fromt of SA home crowd)
SA vs Zim (in front of SA home crowd)
SA vs Les (in front of SA home crowd
Les vs SA (in front of SA hole crowd)
Zim vs SA (in front of SA home crowd)

omo doz people really see us as moomoo oo🤣🤣

they come carry una go potato farm pitch on top

minfelix:
why we no fit influence ref to manipulate that match na😅 atleast by now we go dey on 4afcon

You wan rob Cameroon under issa hayatou their own? 😂

Goke7:
I agree we can finish this AFCON without losing a match in regulation time, good for our rankings, so we can be top seed again in the next afcon

yes bro we need to b top seeded…this Eric Chelle will beat anything below him in any qualifying series we play…he is not even relenting in scouting for more talent and recruiting fresh legs….its really working for him

Goke7:
we be big brother africa We no dey do that kind thing

That's why I laugh when they say na we corrupt pass for this world, see how South Africa use wayo on our head qualify for world cup and how Congo use mercenaries to play us a whole naija be like learner

If motsepe likes he can do all he can to rob bafana bafana won't win a single AFCON under him unlike their ladies With those his opolo frog eyes.

para mode😂
Ghanaian ref loses his account after thousands of report on his instagram handle

Even if we had Messi we were not winning that yesterday match with ref rigged against us, many people need to understand this..

Na only that penalty and we were unlucky.

BankyGee:
The Grade A Petkovic wey Éric Chelle beat for quarterfinals nko?

The man has done very well jare, the way we've been playing made us get carried away and thought we'd breeze through Morocco, but this is a team that beat Spain, Portugal and Belgium at the World Cup.

We didn't sit back, we played ball, but our passes to the attack were cut, plus the officiating was so bad that most of our buildup play were interrupted by stupid foul calls.

This same Morocco, hot from their World Cup run were eliminated in the Round of 16 by South Africa and they didn't sack their coach, they've been building for over 3 years. If them like make them sack Chelle, that will be the most stupid thing the NFF will ever do.

Against DRC we folded, against Morocco, in front of 65k+ fans, lasers, hostility and bad officiating, we didn't fold. It had to be decided by PKs, we weren't poor at all, the results just didn't favour us, and Chukwueze didn't help matters, but we move.

Ehen I don de look for you since.

Abeg where we go de after we win Egypt on Saturday?

TheSuperNerd:
Carney Chukwuemeka
Faustino Anjorin
Lesley Ugochukwu

They are all 3/3 midfielders (Technical, tactically progressive and also importantly, Physically built & aggressive).

My only issue is if we can recruit them or if they will honor our interest.

Despite us having the most foreign born players due to migration we've still been fighting it hard to convince some key targets to join recently, even Lesley with no chance of playing for France is still doing shakara for us. Ghana really did well to convince semenyo cause if he held on I think he will have joined england for the world cup this year, if it was us thar had him maybe he would have kept on stalling

minfelix:
para mode😂
Ghanaian ref loses his account after thousands of report on his instagram handle

I just pity Senegal on Sunday. Mane will shout very well

Goke7:
Make Kenya and Tanzania strategise how to win as hosts o, if one of them no win dem be suegbe

Black Africans aren't sore losers like these Arab folks. See how CIV won fairly two years ago.

Don't know if it is inferiority complex but sub-sharan Africans treat these Arabs a lot fairer than they treat us.

Kilishihunter:
You wan rob Cameroon under issa hayatou their own? 😂

naija sef dey forbid to be CAF President? if we win 3 AFCons in a row that one not too much na

The dice have been cast.
We may end up meeting the Moroccans once again in the semi-finals or finals.
We still have some scores to settle with the proud Zambians.
JM and NFF must know that only the best of the best should be picked for the forthcoming AWCON.
We need capable replacement for Nnadozie our goalkeeper.

Meritocracy over Mediocrity.

Mission XI is Possible.

Goke7:
naija sef dey forbid to be CAF President? if we 3 AFCons in a row that one not too much na

I don't think that will happen in the near future sha cause they might want to take it to north Africa after motsepe. I just think we should start preparing for the next AFCON and try to be bidding again just like this next one we lost. The good thing is that Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania atm are not powerhouses in Africa and may not give us serious trouble if we meet unlike these last two we played cause even if the referee is backing you the team also has to do well so it won't be a waste. I think we will do better next year

the plan B was to prevent Morocco from scoring? I'm not scapegoating. i've had my fair share of takes here. Chelle's plan A is top notch. But that's where the learning comes. He has improved his game management though.

lbrichman2:
What you saw yesterday was the plan B
Our second half and even extra time was better..
Give that game another 30 mins, Morocco would still not have scored
If it wasn't a knockout game, we would have left with 0:0 against a superior opposition
Hardly a terrible result

But as usual, Nigerians always look for a scapegoat
So yes, continue to scapegoat the team and Coach

I need to c the heat map of usman Mohammed in dis tournament😀😀😀,na him koropon go Dey show for bench

Abeg make dem use my guy against Egypt and akinsanmiro too

Look at the nonsense on Chukwueze’s page. Some silly Nigerians only bark at soft targets. Soon they’ll blame him for the economy too. Cowardly attitude

Watching that mane goal against Egypt again now if it’s our strikers na to find who to pass to. Please we must learn abeg. Big moments matters

2021 it was Okoye
2023 it was Iwobi
2025 Chukwueze

Crazy people always looking for a scapegoat

As a Coach, you always have one job to do.


Find a way to play your game.


In this Match, we did not play our game, infact, we couldn't play our normal free flowing football we were used to, why?

Morocco did not allow us to do that, they had 3 players on us whenever we tried to move the ball to their half, Pass to Osimehn, 3 people on him, pass to Akor, or Lookman or Iwobi, same story, 3 players on them. Towards the end of the match, Iwobi had to drop deep to the defense line to collect the ball and have a little freedom


As a Coach, what should you do? You don't stand for 90 minutes watch your team struggle to play their normal game, NO! ... You look for a way to fix it - think while on your feet and fix it.


Your opponent should not be running riots on you all night and you stand by doing nothing.

Algeria did that nonsense and got punished, Egypt did the same nonsense against Senegal and lost, Nigeria did the same nonsense against Congo and now Against Morocco.

I also see many coaches do this nonsense too but Pep doesn't, Arteta doesn't, Anceloti doesn't


As a Coach, learn try multiple formations, try your players in multiple positions, understand how they fare in uneven grounds so that when push comes to shove, instead of being clueless, you fix it on the field instantaneously.


From the first blast of the whistle, you could see that Morocco had studied your team to the very minute details, they figured that if they close the holes from the midfield down to the final third, your midfielders and attackers will be useless I.E it simply means that once they can cut off supply to midfielders and strikers,... Forget
.. Otilo.

Now as a Coach, what you should have done, seeing that for almost 60 minutes, you had no forward press nor shots on Target,... Then you switch the formation to 4-3-1-2


Remove Akor for Onauchu
Remove Onyedika for Chucks

Take Lookman to the left wing and Chuks to the right wing... Make them stay on the same line with Onyeka which is immediately after the back 4. Their job is to always go take the ball from the defenders and build from the back. Mind you, they are to both join in attack and defense (kind of mass-attack, mass defense just like it is on a 3-5-2 formation).

-------- Onauchu -------- Osimehn

------------------------- Iwobi -----------------


Lookman ---------- Onyeka ----------------- Chucks


Bruno ------- Bassey ---------- Ajayi ----- Osayi


With this setup, the Moroccans will certainly be deceived and run at you


Lookman and chucks are runners of the ball and will widen the field for Iwobi to operate


Onyeka has two oxygen packs glued to his heart and can handle the pressure with chuks and lookman supporting both Bruno and Osayi


The goal is to use both chuks and lookman on the wings and playing deep in our half to spread out the Morocco for Iwobi to play and for Osimehn to Pounce.


But what did Chelle do,... He stood there on the sidelines for 90 minutes watching helplessly like he did against Congo.

He might be a great pre-game tactician but very poor in-game manager..... Something Anceloti is a genius at


Frankly, as a Coach.... Ability to read games and change the tempo to your terms is very very important else you might not go far in becoming great

Subzero0477:
Think there is a sense in which Raphael Onyedika is getting the short end of the stick for last night.

While he had a very poor match, able to neither impose himself nor get to grips with the intensity of the match, and was rightly pulled, it is important to acknowledge that, up until the semi-final, the Super Eagles had not faced a side as defensively and/or tactically astute as the Moroccans.

Would Ndidi have made a difference? Certainly. Being more tenacious in the tackle and boasting greater anticipation, he would no doubt have fared better and helped Nigeria compete more fiercely. But nothing he faced in the competition was remotely close to the standard the Moroccans brought. So it is not really comparing apples with apples. The same Ndidi was present while our midfield was overrun against DR Congo two months ago. Not his fault personally at all, but the point is that these things are not straightforward to analyse.

Different players have different skill sets. Onyedika is what he is; if, as a coach, you put him into the team in place of a different profile of player, you owe it to him and the team to tweak something else in order to allow him play. Last night, the Super Eagles needed to be even more patient than usual, knowing they were lacking something out of possession. Instead, the opposite was the case.

-Solace Chukwu

Chelle had no plan B

He had been tinkering with the team and finally found a working for.ula but alas, he had no plan B

His fault

Meanwhile