₦airaland Forum

Odunayaw:
Can we finally say our midfield woes are now over?

Yes!!
With the tears in my eyes, I can say God bless Eric Chelle!!

Odunayaw:
Onuachu just shat on his ratings with the falling down and leaving the ball during a challenge when he has not heard a whistle in his favor 😑

Not once, not twice. I was wondering what he was feeling like. 😟

minfelix:
after all said and argued….i will still trust Maduka to man the post for super eagles…he is not a bad keeper

He is not bad
We are just pointing out areas we feel he should improve
Even this Nwabali, when he was also acting up, we beat him with sticks here
Na normal thing

lbrichman2:
Yes!!
With the tears in my eyes, I can say God bless Eric Chelle!!

When Papi Rohr led us out against them. My eyes bled for the philistine football on display

ChrisKels:
Onuachu did us dirty. Dude invited the whole pressure. Could not hold the ball, could to press, could not stand on his fit and he only played for 45minutes oo. 😟

also he was one of the players close to the Polish player who would have pressed to close him down before he struck

You cannot put that Polish goal on the outfield players. Look below... and see how far out that Polish defender was. Do you expect us to alter our team shape in that last min and go press him all the way that deep?

I’m sorry but this goal that Okoye conceded, Nwabali would never. Amas Obasogie is would never! pic.twitter.com/fKIGrVerk5

— BOB ♠️ (@BobMfonmma) June 3, 2026

The players did their job covering up passing lanes...and setting up to cut off the next pass.... the polish defender decided to go for glory and let fly from close to the center circle. Luckily and due to Okoye's poor sense of positioning and anticipation, it worked.
Nwabali made routine saves out of similar strikes due to positioning but it was taken for granted.

There was nothing much the outfield players could do about Wisniewski's strike but there was everything Okoye could have done. Poor anticipation and positioning let him down.

semid4lyfe:
Why didn't anyone close up on that polish player to prevent him from taking the shot?

They were all backing away and gave him so much space abi dem no dey score from that kind distance again?

Disappointed .

lbrichman2:
This would have been a simple save, swerving shot or not
He just needed to step to the left
The distance from the kicker was enough to adjust his positioning before the ball landed

Mouth no get bone ooo.

Papi85:
they all know the truth but full of hate for the poor lad

Even if Okoye saves 5 clear cut chances an average Nigerian football fan will never rate him

How on earth do you expect him to save a swerving long ranger when the midfield that was suppose to close the scorer down not to allow him space didn’t do their job?

Papi leave them Agenda must Amended, they had seen food to chop, and they are busy trying to chop belleful

nairalandankrah:
He stood a better chance of making world cup than with the 3 lions

Nah, I don't think so. He had a better chance with England.

Shot beats keeper
Keepers saves shot

As much as this one beat Okoye, it can still be saved by Okoye….i will repeat am again…if okoye had saved that shot, we go praise am enter heaven…
Its save-able abeg, make una no come dey emotionally gaslight people to making us feel bad for blaming Okoye for not saving the shot

curl mid-air or not…una no go remember say e curl mid air if that same type beat Uzoho…
This thread will drag him like grinding pepper starter

Let me agree with those saying Nwabali would have saved the long range shot. But could he have also saved the close range chances and the one-on-one with Lewandowski?

Odunayaw:
When Papi Rohr led us out against them. My eyes bled for the philistine football on display

Bro!!!
E reach to do thanksgiving for church
We now have a strong midfield

opes:
Let me agree with those saying Nwabali would have saved the long range shot. But could he have also saved the close range chances and the one-on-one with Lewandowski?

this is where blaming Nwabali comes in…people should stop feeling bad when a player is held accountable for a blunder made….not everything agenda or h@ting on a player…its simply the obvious we saw…
left for me im confident in Nwabali,Okoye and Arthur manning our post…doesn’t mean they can’t commit blunders or take a wrong foot

Few observations:
- Our midfield woes are over and I say this with tears in my eyes

- Abdullahi Bewene took his opportunity and owned it, I like a rough diamond in the dirt story, a kid playing in the Czech league showed enough to belong to our depth of exciting players...future looks good.

- Zaidu and Onuachu have no business in any project we intend to build.

- Onyedika has been pushed down the pecking order...Nnadi, Yusuf and Tijani are ahead of him now.

- Moffi and Akor are solid backups to Osimhen

- The competition for that GK position just got more intense.

And oh lastly, Chelle is the fucking man and we love him but he still needs to improve his game management especially at closing out a game efficiently, though that last minute goal from Poland was a worldie.

Mujtahida:
Mouth no get bone ooo.

😂😂
Follow the conversation Delaw

lbrichman2:
Two steps to the left and he's saving that, and retiring Nwabali
Now he has made himself a placeholder till Nwabali returns

Lol the ball moved to the right then to the left, nobody's saving that

Subzero047:
Lol the ball moved to the right then to the left, nobody's saving that

Watch the goal again my bro

Are you people seriously asking this?

Okay, watch 1.09 alone... watch the whole video after that too.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ar0EKNaV6E?si=tBrNZsfWWzhTJKnm

opes:
Let me agree with those saying Nwabali would have saved the long range shot. But could he have also saved the close range chances and the one-on-one with Lewandowski?

opes:
Let me agree with those saying Nwabali would have saved the long range shot. But could he have also saved the close range chances and the one-on-one with Lewandowski?

He may or may not. He has saved one-on-one before and he has also conceded cheap goals but not from the range we saw today.

That Okoye saved those ones doesn't guarantee that he would save another on same situation.

Even Uzoha has saved plenty similar close range.

I judge keeper base on positioning, anticipation, awareness and reflex; not on how many clean sheet. Nwabali>Okoye>Uzoho

Okoye is okay but not good enough to be number 1
You people are just pushing rubbeesh agenda
Mark my words if Okoye was in goal against Morocco in the AFCON semis they would have beaten us in regular time
All these rubbeesh you guys are pushing I don’t understand
Nwabali is still our best and most confident goalie, until Okonkwo improves
Okoye is not better than Nwabali
Okoye saved Zaidu’s error though, Lewandoski should’ve scored that chance.
I think we lose against Portugal, hopefully the boys can prove me wrong
Okay performance from the boys today
We shouldn’t have conceded that late goal, loss of concentration or what? Ball watching or what, gave that Polish player so much time and space on the ball to shoot
Surprised DRC got a decent result against Denmark, same for Algeria against Holland.
Oh well, it’s just friendlies and doesn’t count for much

lbrichman2:
Watch the goal again my bro

I watched it, I thought it was a poor reflexes from the first replay but the second angle behind the post showed that the ball was almost halfway to Okoye before changing direction

Exactly, that was the save Enyeama made in 2002 world cup against England's Paul scholes ...this is where Enyeama is better than Okoye. He could have done better. I feel Okoye will always improve. Look after the Tunisian blunder, he has proven himself greatly in his league. In the game today he made two massive saves . There are little pockets of spaces in terms of improvement for hím to fill. I believe we've made a good choice and it's left to the newly added goalkeeper to make a name for himself

minfelix:
Na save wey Enyeama use retire Ike Shorunmu b that oo….
Okoye is an amazing goalkeeper, but somehow somehow sand dey always pour for him garri🤣🤣…
Even that game against Tunisia at afcon 2021…He made one sweet save like that, but that samd dey always find him garri….
Another thing again i will blame the players around that position to have allowed that polish guy to pick a spot to shoot

Enough of these okoye drama the match just revealed again why we flounder when it matters most. It’s something that we need to fix and that is why matches like this are good. I knew Poland was always going to be a real test for the eagles and Portugal will bring a greater test.

Thanks again to the nff for organising these matches and shame again to the players who refused to show up, they are the ones we should be dragging not okoye. It could have been any other player that dropped the ball, today is okoye and could be another in the next game. Let’s fix the team issue as it’s things like this that cost not qualifying for the World Cup or winning the Afcon.

Onyedika no be am. It's not skill or footballing abilities. He has those qualities but his energy is too tame for our midfield. He is a better footballer than Frank Onyeka but Onyeka has great energy. If Onyeka is on the pitch, you can feel his energy in your pulse. It's as if he drags you with him as he runs up and down the pitch.

Onyedika on the other hand is like cold sugar less pap. He's just bleh. Alhassan and Nnadi will nick his spot

Odunayaw:
This Bewene guy did well. Not great offensively but this one will see out Awaziem coming to that role

Please leave Awaziem out of this.
He is one of the Nigerians shining brightly in the football leagues they play in.

In the French Ligue 1, and according to Fotmob:
Accurate long balls made by any player per 90 has Chidozie Awaziem seating third in the stats ranking.
And he seats first in clearances of the ball made by any player per 90.

The swerve started from frame 2 (I added it here). Okoye's position (as he comes into frame) was exactly the same all through the ball flight to that frame.

So I still stand by it that he only misjudged how farther left it will go. A little more power in his dive or maybe a step before it and he'd have made a save that would be etched to our memory.

Odunayaw:
Imo the first step to the right was to plant his right feet to dive left.

The course changed, yes but he saw it and only misjudged how far to his left it will go.

It's not a goal to beat him up with. This and the Russia game already has settled his quality for me.

Meliforme:
Please leave Awaziem out of this.
He is one of the Nigerians shining brightly in the football leagues they play in.

In the French Ligue 1, and according to Fotmob:
Accurate long balls made by any player per 90 has Chidozie Awaziem seating third in the stats ranking.
And he seats first in clearances of the ball made by any player per 90.

I was talking RB slot. Awaziem should be fighting for CB slots

Hearing the commentator saying Poland were losing 3 games in a row. I hope this draw keeps their manager his job. it would have been harsh inviting us to give him a sack in his county

So Netherlands una lose 1-0 to Algeria o kwa ya? Is this how we gonna run this WC in 2026?

Na wa. Heartbreak experts.

You guys will still respect Onyedika I'm so sure of that

Netherland 1-0 loss to Algeria means morocco moves to 7th place on Fifa ranking…
Portugal 5th - 1763.83
Brazil 6th - 1762.66
Morocco 7th- 1756.94
they are close to breaking our record of best ever african ranked team (5th), just 6.89 points behind Portugal

I actually felt he was okay when he came on. He was fine.

Still remains one of 3 midfield playmaker profiles in the Super Eagles currently.

Subzero047:
You guys will still respect Onyedika I'm so sure of that