Iwobi Poised To Equal Okocha In Key Premier League Stat On Final Day Of Season




Arsenal star Alex Iwobi is poised to equal his uncle's career-high eleven Premier League assists if he steps out onto The John Smith's Stadium in West Yorkshire against Huddersfield Town on Sunday afternoon.
Okocha racked up eleven assists during his four-year stay with Bolton Wanderers, currently one more than his nephew, Iwobi who made his Premier League debut less than three years ago against Swansea City.

It is noteworthy to mention that half of Iwobi's assists made, five in total, came in the 2017-2018 season, a proof that he has added an extra dimension to his game this term.

The Hale End Academy product is Nigeria's top man in terms of assists this season, ahead of Super Eagles teammates Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Victor Moses with three each.

Arsenal hero Nwankwo Kanu is in the history books as the Nigerian player with the most assists in the English topflight, 29, and placed first ahead of ex-Everton striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni (26) and Newcastle legend Shola Ameobi (20).



Nigerians With Most Assists In Premier League
1) Kanu - 29
2) Yakubu - 26
3) Shola Ameobu - 20
4) Victor Moses - 18
5) Victor Anichebe - 13
Celestine Babayaro - 13
Peter Odemwingie - 13
8. Jay Jay Okocha - 11
9) Efan Ekoku - 10
Alex Iwobi - 10
John Obi Mikel - 10


**Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Source: http://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=27708


Russia 2018 WC Countdown: 32 days 18 hours 4 mins to go

If u know u know onyekuru name is not on the 35 man list he lack match fitness

Adeshina Gata, another member of the under 20 team graduated from the same Kwara Poly in 2014... Maybe he graduated at 15 years.

isan:
If u know u know onyekuru name is not on the 35 man list he lack match fitness

Ghen ghen,heartbreak for some peeps here if d news comes out to be valid

tbaba1234:
Adeshina Gata, another member of the under 20 team graduated from the same Kwara Poly in 2014... Maybe he graduated at 15 years.

forget it...that guy should be 26 years by now...
you can't tell me he starts playing in the npfl at the age of 15... he has been in npfl for about 3 seasons now

isan:
If u know u know onyekuru name is not on the 35 man list he lack match fitness

guy abeg release the list...all this piecemeal info I nor like am

edi287:

I despise the mofo. Finidi should've been given this job. I'm tired of this nonsense. 2018 and this issue of age cheating isn't at its minimum.

what do you expect from a coach who got the job through connections...
he was never qualified for the role...
to many Nigeria cadet team coaches the cadet team role is an avenue to market players...and make cool cash...

I just went through the Facebook account of the guy and I just dy SMH... Shame on the coach..and bigger shame on Pinnick who allowed this nonsense...

Humility017:

forget it...that guy should be 26 years by now...
you can't tell me he starts playing in the npfl at the age of 15... he has been in npfl for about 3 seasons now

If we start analyzing each player, we will just disband the team. It is that bad.

Another member of the under 20 team..

Olisema Ekene graduated from DELSU in 2014..

Even those people know he can not make itbut they blinded by love

elyte89:



Ghen ghen,heartbreak for some peeps here if d news comes out to be valid

tbaba1234:


If we start analyzing each player, we will just disband the team. It is that bad.

I tell you big bro...
I was surprised to read oga icon4 defend this obvious act of cheat...

it is so painful...I have never openly talked out about issues like this before ...
pinnick and his team goafed big time the appointment of Paul agbogun as coach of the under 20.... amuneke would have been better.....
many npfl coaches are not good for the national team....

tbaba1234:
Another member of the under 20 team..

Olisema Ekene graduated from DELSU in 2014..

Lol...probably the coach was more concerned taking in graduates than being concerned with their ages....

I fear for what will happen to our football when rohr leaves....

for now our hope lies on the fact that majority of the current super eagles players are below 25 years of age...and mainly born abroad...and others groomed in nigeria passed through the MRI test...

we can as well pray manu garba peogress well with the under 17 team... we can get some lads from there into the super eagles 4-6 years from now while we keep harnessing foreign born players...

for this team...I am still dumbfounded

Humility017:

I tell you big bro...
I was surprised to read oga icon4 defend this obvious act of cheat...

it is so painful...I have never openly talked out about issues like this before ...
pinnick and his team goafed big time the appointment of Paul agbogun as coach of the under 20.... amuneke would have been better.....
many npfl coaches are not good for the national team....

Icon4s did not defend any act of cheating. He was simply after proofs and objectivity, rather than general statements and aspersions without concrete evidence

But with what has been exposed now, there is no way it can be defended or supported

I always laugh whenever Icon4s makes those clumsy statements "Amunike shouldnt have graduated those U17 players directly to U20 ", " the U20 tourney is made for the professional players"

Now look at the professional players.

Youth football shouldn't be result oriented rather we should focus on using it to unearth gems that will in time take over from the already super Eagles.

Amongst the Amunike guys, we know how many of them that have signed for European teams and making positive progression.

Let see if any of these grandfathers in the name of professional players can leave the shores of Nigerian, let alone Africa, to sign for any team.

Bring players with the right ages, professional or not, as long as he has the talent, augment it with few professionals who also are of the right age, then, we are good to go. They must not all be professionals else u fill the team with useless over aged stars.

I wish the young lads( nazifi and co) amongst them the best anyways.

From 2010 down, most people who schooled in towns and few in the cities finished second school at the age of 17and18. Imagine that man left sec school at the age of 17 in 2006, and it's been 12years since he left sec school, that guy should be at least 29 or 30 now.

Who else knew this and never cared to bring it up here?


There is a new format for the African qualifiers for the World U17 championships which will effectively act to dilute West African domination and increase the chances of qualification for countries like Uganda and Kenya. Under the new format, mini tournament among the various CAF regions will be staged with the regional champions securing passage to the African Youth Championship, which will serve as the final stage of qualifiers for the World Youth Championship.
There will be 6 regional mini-tourneys, and only the champions of each region are certain to join the host nation, Tanzania for the Africa U17 championship (there will be an 8th team, but not sure how it will be selected). Ghana will enjoy the advantage of hosting the West African mini-tourney that will have Nigeria and Cote D'Ivoire, among others (there is a 2d West Africa zone, which has Mali and Senegal, among others), of which only ONE team is likely to qualify.

Here is Ghana U20 list. Most of the players come from the academies, but here, Aigbogun is giving us the Alalade, eneji and Ekenes of this world ;


HAMIDU ABDUL FATAWU - Vision FC
UMAR BASIT ABDUL RAMAN - New Edubiase United
MOHAMMED KUDUS - Right To Dream Academy
MENSAH GIDEON - Right To Dream Academy
SADIQ IBRAHAM - Right To Dream Academy
MAXWELL ARTHUR - Dreams FC
ADJETEY DANIEL ADRIAN - Amidaus Professionals
BABAWO SALIW - Dynamo Brest
NURUDEEN ABDUL MANAF - KAS Eupen
ARTHUR JUDE EKOW - Liberty Professionals
IBRAHIM DANLAD - Asante Kotoko SC
KUMAH EMMANUEL - Tudu Mighty Jets
RICHARD DANSO - WAFA SC
KONDA ISSAHAKU - Wa All Stars
SULLEY IBRAHIM - Rising Stars
DAYEGBE PROSPER AHIABU - WAFA SC
HUDU ABDUL HALIK - Hammarby IF
TANKO IBRAHIM - Red Star Belgrade




I trust our Academy and NNL players more than those NPFL players.

I knew this... But there is a thread for the U-17s already. That is why I never brought it here.

ChrisKels:
Who else knew this and never cared to bring it up here?


There is a new format for the African qualifiers for the World U17 championships which will effectively act to dilute West African domination and increase the chances of qualification for countries like Uganda and Kenya. Under the new format, mini tournament among the various CAF regions will be staged with the regional champions securing passage to the African Youth Championship, which will serve as the final stage of qualifiers for the World Youth Championship.
There will be 6 regional mini-tourneys, and only the champions of each region are certain to join the host nation, Tanzania for the Africa U17 championship (there will be an 8th team, but not sure how it will be selected). Ghana will enjoy the advantage of hosting the West African mini-tourney that will have Nigeria and Cote D'Ivoire, among others (there is a 2d West Africa zone, which has Mali and Senegal, among others), of which only ONE team is likely to qualify.

Even look at the 2015 U-20 team....

Manu Garba benched our finest in Iheanacho, Yahaya, Success (only brought him in as a sub after the first game), Simon Moses, Alampasu, and even Chidera Ezeh. (Most of whom were tested and confirmed via MRI back in the U-17s).

Those players benched are having it better in terms of progression than the the likes of Sokari, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Joshua Enaholo who started @NewZealand ....All from the NPFL (no MRI test records involved for them before the U-20s level).

I insists that had Manu played our best (who were also among our most genuine U-20s) that day against Germany, we would not have lost out. He just killed that team's potentials with his nonsensical egoistical decisions.


It is sad. Even from the current U-20 team, it is clear that our best U-20 talents are actually from the genuine ones who passed the MRI at U-17 level that are now based abroad...the likes of Samuel Chukwueze, Kingsley Michael, etc....

ChrisKels:
I always laugh whenever Icon4s makes those clumsy statements "Amunike shouldnt have graduated those U17 players directly to U20 ", " the U20 tourney is made for the professional players"

Now look at the professional players.

Youth football shouldn't be result oriented rather we should focus on using it to unearth gems that will in time take over from the already super Eagles.

Amongst the Amunike guys, we know how many of them that have signed for European teams and making positive progression.

Let see if any of these grandfathers in the name of professional players can leave the shores of Nigerian, let alone Africa, to sign for any team.

Bring players with the right ages, professional or not, as long as he has the talent, augment it with few professionals who also are of the right age, then, we are good to go. They must not all be professionals else u fill the team with useless over aged stars.

I wish the young lads( nazifi and co) amongst them the best anyways.

I have no fears for the U-17 team. With MRI on ground, FIFA standards must be met. There is no other way to dribble past that. So we will definitely produce more genuine talents like the Iheanachos, Ndidis, Yahayas, and more.....

But with the U-20s, their international passports is what they need and some supporting documents and they are good to go... That is why cheating at that level is super huge. Sadly MRI cannot function with the U-20s because it only detects the growth and closure of epiphyseal plates for kids(teens) between ages 14/15-18.

The U-20s is just what it is... That is why it is best monitored when we progress the core of our U-17 side (already tested thru MRI) and beef them up with some genuinely young but more experienced professional lads likely from abroad and NOT from the NPFL where cheating reigns as King.

Humility017:

Lol...probably the coach was more concerned taking in graduates than being concerned with their ages....

I fear for what will happen to our football when rohr leaves....

for now our hope lies on the fact that majority of the current super eagles players are below 25 years of age...and mainly born abroad...and others groomed in nigeria passed through the MRI test...

we can as well pray manu garba peogress well with the under 17 team... we can get some lads from there into the super eagles 4-6 years from now while we keep harnessing foreign born players...

for this team...I am still dumbfounded

U-20 AFCON Qualifiers: Flying Eagles Blow Two-Goal Lead In Guinea Bissau
May 12, 2018

Hosts Guinea Bissau rallied back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against Nigeria in the first leg of their U-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying second round tie at the September 24 National Stadium on Saturday, reports Completesportsnigeria.com.

Enyimba winger, Wasiu Alalade, scored both goals for the Flying Eagles in the keenly contested encounter.

Paul Aigbogun’s men took firm control of the game right from the start, forcing their opponents to adopt a defensive approach.
The pressure paid off in the 15th minute when Alalade netted the opener.

Alalade doubled the Flying Eagles’ lead 20 minutes later.

The hosts however rallied back in the second half, first reducing the deficit in the 54th minute and then grabbing the equaliser three minutes after the hour mark.
The return leg will come up next weekend. The overall winner of the contest will proceed to the final round of the qualifiers.
Niger will host the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in 2019.


https://www.completesportsnigeria.com/u-20-afcon-qualifiers-flying-eagles-blow-two-goal-lead-in-guinea-bissau/

Humility017:

those guys you see all have birth certificate....
you see we need use common sense...
you can hardly find a true 18 years old playing in the npfl
any player who claim to be 18-19 and have played in the npfl for close to 2-3 years is a LIAR...
quote me anywhere...
I once attended to a customer who is a footballer in one of Nigeria league clubs... I was surprised his profile on our data base carried a different age... on his international passport...he gave me 3 different birth date... the least being on his international passport...he knows the 3 birth dates well.
a distant relative I know well older than I am still below 20 on his international passport he is a footballer...he sure went for under 17 trials sometime ago....

Nigeria mata tire me...the followers are as corrupt as their leaders...

We are here. We know what the average 16-20 year old person in Nigeria looks like using common sense. Me, I don't usually talk about about about this age issue cos it's like hitting one's head against a wall.

tbaba1234:


And he is playing under 20

And when they win the tournament by out muscling other true age grade players they eventually fall by the way side and our football is the worse for it.

tbaba1234:


I remember an acquaintance (23/24 at the time) who dropped out school to play football in Malaysia. He took off 6/7 years off and claimed to be 17.

It is a real problem.. Immediately, the scorer was posted by icon4s... I did not know whether to rejoice or be sad because the man is already at his peak now

We rejoice when they win tournaments with the grandfathers and ancestors. Tomorrow while the European guys they defeated will be balling, these ones will be suffering from rusted bones.

Why are we enjoying Mikel today? Since 2003 the guy has risen through the ranks because his age was the true age. Na we go suffer. Like Humility017 said we would keep begging foreign borns when real football needs arises.

ChrisKels:
I always laugh whenever Icon4s makes those clumsy statements "Amunike shouldnt have graduated those U17 players directly to U20 ", " the U20 tourney is made for the professional players"

Now look at the professional players.

Youth football shouldn't be result oriented rather we should focus on using it to unearth gems that will in time take over from the already super Eagles.

Amongst the Amunike guys, we know how many of them that have signed for European teams and making positive progression.

Let see if any of these grandfathers in the name of professional players can leave the shores of Nigerian, let alone Africa, to sign for any team.

Bring players with the right ages, professional or not, as long as he has the talent, augment it with few professionals who also are of the right age, then, we are good to go. They must not all be professionals else u fill the team with useless over aged stars.

I wish the young lads( nazifi and co) amongst them the best anyways.

Wait ooo, is it a matter of opinion that u-20 players should be professionals or policy. Cos I thought it's about fishing for young players with talent and prospects who come within the age group, professional or not.

ChrisKels:
I always laugh whenever Icon4s makes those clumsy statements "Amunike shouldnt have graduated those U17 players directly to U20 ", " the U20 tourney is made for the professional players"

Now look at the professional players.

Youth football shouldn't be result oriented rather we should focus on using it to unearth gems that will in time take over from the already super Eagles.

Amongst the Amunike guys, we know how many of them that have signed for European teams and making positive progression.

Let see if any of these grandfathers in the name of professional players can leave the shores of Nigerian, let alone Africa, to sign for any team.

Bring players with the right ages, professional or not, as long as he has the talent, augment it with few professionals who also are of the right age, then, we are good to go. They must not all be professionals else u fill the team with useless over aged stars.

I wish the young lads( nazifi and co) amongst them the best anyways.

Na...that Amuneke's U20 were not gonna go any where. It is now some of those his boys are ready for U20 and not back then.

What I was against was the shutting out of other players and relying almost solely on his U17 winning side who were even the youngest team at the U17 tourney. Most of them were 16-17 years olds during the U20 qualifiers. Some of you will say age doesn't count but it does. I still reiterate that U20 is not for academy players but for young professionals. For example , Players like Orji Okonkwo, Samuel Chukwueze, Kingsley Michael are no more academy players like back then. They have signed professional contract and Michael and Okonkwo played like 2 seasons. Now they are ready for the U20 challenge . Look at the England U20 winning squad you will understand what I am talking about.

That said, a 2-2 draw away to a fellow West African side is not that bad a result. West African sides are always know to pose a strong opposition at this age grade level.

We expect the boys to finish the job here.

With the inclusion of the foreign based players the team can only get better.

lol.. Nigeria and age group issues.. Make I no talk before I will be called bad belle again

Icon4s:


Na...that Amuneke's U20 were not gonna go any where. It is now some of those his boys are ready for U20 and not back then.

What I was against was the shutting out of other players and relying almost solely on his U17 winning side who were even the youngest team at the U17 tourney. Most of them were 16-17 years olds during the U20 qualifiers. Some of you will say age doesn't count but it does. I still reiterate that U20 is not for academy players but for young professionals. For example , Players like Orji Okonkwo, Samuel Chukwueze, Kingsley Michael are no more academy players like back then. They have signed professional contract and Michael and Okonkwo played like 2 seasons. Now they are ready for the U20 challenge . Look at the England U20 winning squad you will understand what I am talking about.

That said, a 2-2 draw away to a fellow West African side is not that bad a result. West African sides are always know to pose a strong opposition at this age grade level.

We expect the boys to finish the job here.

With the inclusion of the foreign based players the team can only get better.

The team is still loaded with old men... We have already identified a few. At the end of the day, unless a conscious effort is made to clean up the side, we will just be hurting ourselves. A 30 year old playing under 20 will be set for retirement when he is supposed to be hitting his peak.

Many people in our football leadership already know that this side is full of old men, very few care. Like someone said, the Nigerian followership is as corrupt as our political leaders.

TheSuperNerd:
Even look at the 2015 U-20 team....

Manu Garba benched our finest in Iheanacho, Yahaya, Success (only brought him in as a sub after the first game), Simon Moses, Alampasu, and even Chidera Ezeh. (Most of whom were tested and confirmed via MRI back in the U-17s).

Those players benched are having it better in terms of progression than the the likes of Sokari, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Joshua Enaholo who started @NewZealand ....All from the NPFL (no MRI test records involved for them before the U-20s level).

I insists that had Manu played our best (who were also among our most genuine U-20s) that day against Germany, we would not have lost out. He just killed that team's potentials with his nonsensical egoistical decisions.


It is sad. Even from the current U-20 team, it is clear that our best U-20 talents are actually from the genuine ones who passed the MRI at U-17 level that are now based abroad...the likes of Samuel Chukwueze, Kingsley Michael, etc....

Ndidi failed The MRI test but where is he today compared to those that passed the MRI?
Simon never went through the MRI cos he wasn't part of any U17 team. Both players have come out good for the Super Eagles. And I told you Etebo and Ajayi were available for selection but Manu for whatever reasons dropped them. They never went through the MRI but see where they are today. Sokari and Ifeanyi Mathew are not doing badly in their respective clubs.

Success Isaac went through The MRI likewise Musa Mohammed. How are they progressing? Where is Chiderah Ezeh, Akinjide Idowu, Zaharadeen Bello and co? Those players passed the MRI right? Iheanacho is the only player that passed The MRI currently in the Super Eagles.

Now, I am against age cheating. I am not against MRI. But what I am against is depriving other players who were not part of a previous U17 set from representing their fatherland at the U20. The NFF should just fashion put a mean of screening out those perceived to be age cheats.

tbaba1234:


The team is still loaded with old men... We have already identified a few. At the end of the day, unless a conscious effort is made to clean up the side, we will just be hurting ourselves. A 30 year old playing under 20 will be set for retirement when he is supposed to be hitting his peak.

Many people in our football leadership already know that this side is full of old men, very few care. Like someone said, the Nigerian followership is as corrupt as our political leaders.

Any player who falsified his age should be dropped.
Simple and short. And not to condemn and disown the entire team.

TheSuperNerd:
Even look at the 2015 U-20 team....

Manu Garba benched our finest in Iheanacho, Yahaya, Success (only brought him in as a sub after the first game), Simon Moses, Alampasu, and even Chidera Ezeh. (Most of whom were tested and confirmed via MRI back in the U-17s).

Those players benched are having it better in terms of progression than the the likes of Sokari, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Joshua Enaholo who started @NewZealand ....All from the NPFL (no MRI test records involved for them before the U-20s level).

I insists that had Manu played our best (who were also among our most genuine U-20s) that day against Germany, we would not have lost out. He just killed that team's potentials with his nonsensical egoistical decisions.


It is sad. Even from the current U-20 team, it is clear that our best U-20 talents are actually from the genuine ones who passed the MRI at U-17 level that are now based abroad...the likes of Samuel Chukwueze, Kingsley Michael, etc....

Manu Garba is not it. Our first match against Brazil at the u20, we dominated the Brazilians in the middle of the park. The Brazilian coach brought in a holding midfielder Bocelli and the game changed. Manu was looking lost.