₦airaland Forum

Icon4s:
Una 1-2 Cry o.

No Moses no Chelsea?

joseph1013:
Then our players will continue to have problems with people doubting their ages. It's not the fault of the doubters. It's not the fault of the players (if genuine). It's what the hand of fate has dealt them by them being born to mismanaged Africa.

You can see how MRI scans has helped us and our football, right?

goldfish80:
Speaking on the issue of age falsification and lack of public records. I wll disagree with the summation we don't have public records. We actually do.
Anyone born in a government accredited hospital or health centre is issued with birth certificate. This record is well cataloged in the hospital database that even if you come back after 50years the record can be called up.
I personally had an issue last year which I went through the process and within 30 mins my file was pulled out.

Also any baptised Catholic have his records kept forever. I have seen people who got their baptismal cards reissued when they was about to Wed and their records called up by the catechist within minutes. Some of the records predate the civil war.


The case with age forgery is aided by the lax attitude to verifying data.
If the NFF wanted to verify age and cut cost they should simply have a unit in the state FA's who will verify documents from players coming from their state or better still, for those without a birth certificate, they should be mandated to come to camp with their first school leaving certificate. Its very simple.

goldfish80:
Speaking on the issue of age falsification and lack of public records. I wll disagree with the summation we don't have public records. We actually do.
Anyone born in a government accredited hospital or health centre is issued with birth certificate. This record is well cataloged in the hospital database that even if you come back after 50years the record can be called up.
I personally had an issue last year which I went through the process and within 30 mins my file was pulled out.

Also any baptised Catholic have his records kept forever. I have seen people who got their baptismal cards reissued when they was about to Wed and their records called up by the catechist within minutes. Some of the records predate the civil war.


The case with age forgery is aided by the lax attitude to verifying data.
If the NFF wanted to verify age and cut cost they should simply have a unit in the state FA's who will verify documents from players coming from their state or better still, for those without a birth certificate, they should be mandated to come to camp with their first school leaving certificate. Its very simple.

joseph1013:

1. Paper documents: How long can paper documents last? In Nigeria where we have frequent random fire outbreaks? Where people carelessly store paper files? Cmon... Electronic storage of documents as seen in saner climes, and good corporate management of such records are ways to avoid these preventable hazards.

2. Do you have any idea the number of people from 2000 downwards that were not born in accredited healthcare facilities? A sizeable percentage of people were even midwifed in 'traditional' ways.

3. Catholicism is just one arm of the Church. Not every Nigerian is a Christian. Not every Christian is a Catholic.

Unless we want to sidestep the truth, we all know the average Nigerian is not totally misguided when they doubt the age of our footballers, particularly those that didn't go through the MRI scans. A problem accepted is half-solved.

TheGoodJoe:
MRI helped our football but some like Awaziem, Mikel Agu and Victor Moses did not use that route to stardom. We produced quality young players in the past like Oliseh, Oruma and Finidi without the help of MRI screening.

The fact is that not all players that look older than their ages are overage. Ask Rooney.

komekn:
I did say previously that I had some questions about Iwobi. He has played pretty football at Arsenal with great technical players around him. I wasn't sure how he would cope in a blood, guts and physical warfare type game. That question was answered when we played Senegal. He simply didn't, will he improve its open to debate, will Rohr take a chance on him again in an even more physically contentious blood and guts I'll tempered football game hmmm. With a whole lot more at stake, not my decision but Rohr.

Omeruah is defender and nothing else he is not a RWB however Aina is.

Some of the RWB from Germany and Holland to my superficial eye seem a bit lightweight for a battle against Cameroon.Aino is not a lightweight.

Onyedinma is not a lightweight Aluko is not a lightweight i would play both of them against Cameroon. Iorfa needs to be seen in a competitive friendly he also is not a lightweight.

The match with Cameroon is going to be a battle Ndidi is essential in this regard, so is Mikel, I'm not a big fan of Ogu a bit slow and laboured and not offensively inventive enough. We need other options I also like Shehu he should not be playing in Cyprus.

TheGoodJoe:
MRI helped our football but some like Awaziem, Mikel Agu and Victor Moses did not use that route to stardom. We produced quality young players in the past like Oliseh, Oruma and Finidi without the help of MRI screening.

The fact is that not all players that look older than their ages are overage. Ask Rooney.

goldfish80:
That is why I added the caveat in my last paragraph that anyone who cannot provide such verifiable documents should come with their first school leaving certificate.
We all know the age range which a kid is expected to graduate from primary school. You can't claim U17 while your first school leaving certificate says you graduated from primary school in 2005.
Anyone who cannot provide the aforementioned certificates should be disqualified from attending screenings. There are many ways to kill a rat.

joseph1013:
And you saw how people like Oruma, Oliseh, Kanu, Yakubu, etc were made fun of about their ages. I remember the story Allardyce told about Kanu being so tired and the doctor said he could not have been less than 40 at the time he claimed 30 or so. Not good for our image, football and country.

No one is sure of the real age of Awazien and Agu. Time will tell.

One of the ways MRI scans has helped us is that if FIFA shows the world that our players are within the particular age, foreign clubs will have more rest of mind in dealing with them. If enough players in an academy pass the MRI scans, foreign clubs will trust the club more. I don't understand how this is lost on us.

Joebie:
Personally, the only game I've seen Muhammad play for SE was against Tanzania, and he didn't look like he was making his debut one bit.
Musa's case is a case of signing for the wrong club I think. Now he is an obscure league. I wonder why our players don't go to France anymore. The French league is strong, and you get to develop better.

Icon4s:
Sebi Ndidi failed MRI.

Icon4s:
Sebi Ndidi failed MRI.

BascoVanVeli:
I blame the snakes that get their hands on these boys. We need to make laws that protect our players and stop their academies, clubs and agents from asking for crazy money. This turns foriegn clubs off and the player can be left without a club for even years.

Icon4s:
Sebi Ndidi failed MRI.

Kog45:
If Aina can pushed Omeruo to team B with just two days training then who is Shehu Abdullahi and Musa Muhammed to compete with him and who told u there are no issues with Abdullahi and Mohammed as RB,if there are no issues Ndidi w not be forced to play as RB against Zambia and Omeruo against Algeria,though Omeruo started as RB for eagles.

Rohr is an experience coach who have seen what he was looking for in RB in Aina and remember both Aina and Omeruo belonged to Chelsea,Omeruo on loan and Aina in main squad,a good coach w evaluate d situation.

According to reliable source d switching of Aina's allegiance to Nigeria is d top priority of Rohr and NFF coz of his displayed in training.

tbaba1234:
Another goal for Sone Aluko

TheGoodJoe:
You missed the point. I am saying that MRI is it just the reason for our growth in football. It also has to do with talent. I am also pointing out that we have produced young quality players without the MRI.

As for Harry Redknapp (Doubt it was Allardyce), Kanu already had a Heart Condition long before he joined Arsenal. How he expected Kanu after his career at Arsenal to perform like a young Bobo beats my imagination.

The idea of using appearance to pick out the age of players does not add up because of the likes of Pogba and Donnaruma.

Anyone who wants to hinge his belief on that is free. Does not change the fact that looks is not a guarantee.

joseph1013:
Till now, I have not collected my primary school certificate. I don't know how many people on this thread have their primary school certificates, but if my experience is a common one, how can we use that way to kill this rat?

Dedebanky85:
Gosh, Naija analysts amuse me beyond clownery. How would u say Aina pushed Omeruo to team B. Please look at the list again, did we have another CB other then Awaziem? That meant Omeruo had to pair Awaziem so as to get a balanced team on both sides... Rohr may have only read about Aina playing RB on some occasions, but I bet if he picks up a recent game of Aina, it would be of Aina playing RB. Rohr has no time to go watch EPL under23 league games to see Aina play as a CB. As far as I'm concerned, it's naija journalists that classified the teams as A and B. All I saw was Naija vs Naija, with one wearing green and the other white. We should not be in a haste to make assumptions for coaches. Truth is that in as much as we may want to see Aina play RB against CMR, truth is Omeruo would still play the position. Rohr believes in team continuity as most German coaches believe. See the German national team, you can predict their selection for qualifiers.

goldfish80:
Probably you haven't had a cause to go retrieve your school cert. When you do have a cause, nobody will tell you to run back to your primary school headmistress or state education board to retrieve the doc.

As a prerequisite to be in camp, players must be made to come with the afformentioned documents just like they came with their clothings and soccer boots.

Youth football goes hand in hand with education. A player shouldn't be worthy of consideration if he uses lack of education as the reason he cannot provide his school papers. One thing should be clear, because as we play to win football matches at the cadet level, we also showcase the quality our education. Football and education are like twins and rightly so.

I recall with shame when Ramon Azzez was asked to read the FIFA fair play rules from a piece of paper as a duty of being captain. The young man struggled to read four sentences. It was a huge national disgrace if you ask me. It shows the young man is sparsely educated. It wasn't a good advertisement for Nigeria irrespective of the fact that it was a football tournament and not an inter school debate.

goldfish80:
Probably you haven't had a cause to go retrieve your school cert. When you do have a cause, nobody will tell you to run back to your primary school headmistress or state education board to retrieve the doc.

As a prerequisite to be in camp, players must be made to come with the afformentioned documents just like they came with their clothings and soccer boots.

Youth football goes hand in hand with education. A player shouldn't be worthy of consideration if he uses lack of education as the reason he cannot provide his school papers. One thing should be clear, because as we play to win football matches at the cadet level, we also showcase the quality our education. Football and education are like twins and rightly so.

I recall with shame when Ramon Azzez was asked to read the FIFA fair play rules from a piece of paper as a duty of being captain. The young man struggled to read four sentences. It was a huge national disgrace if you ask me. It shows the young man is sparsely educated. It wasn't a good advertisement for Nigeria irrespective of the fact that it was a football tournament and not an inter school debate.

joseph1013:
Youre the one missing the point. Our football has a better future with MRI than without it. It's visible to the blind.

I just laughed at your rationale for the comments to Kanu's situation. So the medical personnel who gave the report about Kanu did not know of Kanu's history? Well done!

I have explained Pogba and Donnaruma's situations to you many times. I wonder why you want me repeating myself. People are correct to see their looks and wonder, but the mere realization that they are French and Italian citizens will put their minds at rest. You simply don't want to understand why people react that way?

If someone sees Ifeanyi Ifeanyi with his age of 21 declaration, and doubts him, I will not defend him. It's possible he is an age cheat. He failed the U17 MRI. He was drafted to the U20 where there is no age test. So I have absolutely no reason to defend him. Or let me ask you, how will you defend him?

If you doubt Rooney, you can ask for his records and it will be shown you. There is no argument about it.

That is why I said you are missing the point and you went all out to elaborate that you are missing the point.

I will not go all out to defend Ifeanyi Ifeanyi but I will also not go out to condemn him because like Donnaruma, looks could deceive.

joseph1013:
Interestingly, the few people I know who went to collect their primary school certificates went many years later after finishing tertiary education. You know what they did? They were told to fill a form with details like date of birth, year of resumption, year of graduation, etc. The school then typed the details given into a template.

How do you trust that kind of certificate as a good measure of the age of a person? Abeg, we know how things are run in this country. What records do we keep?

Icon4s:
Azubuike IMO is one of our least celebrated youngsters.

A midfield engine.

I was surprised he still remained in that league even after an excellent Olympic outing.

joseph1013:
Youre the one missing the point. Our football has a better future with MRI than without it. It's visible to the blind.

I just laughed at your rationale for the comments to Kanu's situation. So the medical personnel who gave the report about Kanu did not know of Kanu's history? Well done!

I have explained Pogba and Donnaruma's situations to you many times. I wonder why you want me repeating myself. People are correct to see their looks and wonder, but the mere realization that they are French and Italian citizens will put their minds at rest. You simply don't want to understand why people react that way?

If someone sees Ifeanyi Ifeanyi with his age of 21 declaration, and doubts him, I will not defend him. It's possible he is an age cheat. He failed the U17 MRI. He was drafted to the U20 where there is no age test. So I have absolutely no reason to defend him. Or let me ask you, how will you defend him?

If you doubt Rooney, you can ask for his records and it will be shown you. There is no argument about it.

TheGoodJoe:

I do not think we should hinge on judging footballers' intelligence based on their understanding of grammar. A good example is Musa Yahaya who was an absolute genius on the field but could not speak English. Football is a way out of those in abject poverty. So I agree with the school cert point but I think we should not hinge on it. For now, I will still support the MRI as the U17 Criteria. We should protect it.

goldfish80:
I believe the world have gone way past the level where illiterates (sorry to use the word) go on to have a successful careers. If Musa Yahaya cannot read, how does he manage to sign contracts? Abi he doesn't read what he signs?
We must structure our football round education. That's just the way to go.

goldfish80:
What they were issued was not first school leaving certificate. First school leaving certificate come directly from the state education board.
Date of birth and some other data you mentioned is not captured in the first school leaving certificate.

TheGoodJoe:
That is why I said you are missing the point and you went all out to elaborate that you are missing the point.

I will not go all out to defend Ifeanyi Ifeanyi but I will also not go out to condemn him because like Donnaruma, looks could deceive.