₦airaland Forum

Mali looked more exciting under Chelle

Philosopher1979:
I'd they don't do wellnin this nations cup the whole team should be disbanded. Ogunmodede of remo stars should be appointed as coach. Also, a psychologist should be hired for the team. The team dies not have any ambition. They are just going through thenmotins. Ndidi should not be captain as he is even on a decline. He is just average.
Generally, the team lacks a winning mentality. No ambition, no seriousness, even poor tactics by the coach. Their attitude is horrible. They should be disbanded. Young okayers should be encorouraged. These our so called superstars only flatter to deceive

I stopped reading at Ogunmodede, you're clearly either trolling or genuinely don't mean well for Nigerian football

CapitalCee:
Guy calm down na you de talk rubbish, riddled with deception and trying pull wool over our eyes.

First Its a lie that Usmans team is in sexond division like most of you falsely claim, and its a lie that he hardly plays. Look at the image of his playing time. Infact he started during the weekend and was sent off, so where did you get that info that he hardly plays?

On several occasions on this thread people have come here to pile on players because they are northerners, this is not the first time. Notably, During the U20, several people came here crying that the reason why we performed badly was because the team is filled with northerners, that when it was mainly southerners that we performed well, amongst many other tribalistic statements made. If you claim nobody criticises players here or on other forums based on being a northerner, then its either you didnt pay attention or you are just being disenginous or just downright a hypocrite. The iwobi, Ndidi etc criticism that you have mentioned, who mentioned their tribes during these critcism? But let a northern player have an off day, na so you go de hear federal chracter, quota system bla bla bla up and down, if you say you dont notice this then you are a big hypocrite. The Zaidu and Musa that you have mentioned, can you swear with your village diety that nobody here criticised them because they are northerners?

My issues with people like you is you want to safely propagate your tribal innuedos, and then deny it, thats cowardice, if you guys want to do, do it with your full chest, no de do corner coner and then deny.

Even just on this AFCON list, a few comments i quickly selected showed the same pattern. When someone was claiming thay Usman replaced Alhassan on the federal character list.

In another image, this person falsely claim that usman plays in Isreali second division, and thwn went ahead to claim he was on the list due to federal character, and questioning the inclusion of Fago, when he was in the same under 20 team with Nnadi whom the same individual has been calling for him to be called up. How ironic! Oh introduce young players? But this Philip Otele is 26, while fago is like 21. Make it make sense to me.

The most ridiculous one is someone calling for Nigeria to be divided, because people were included in the list due to federal charater, and that my own country is a contraption. If you dont recognise this as a tribalistic comment made to talk down on players based on their region and tribe, then i cant help you. Someone was evwn asking, as in "on top this list" that you are making these comments.

So please spare me this your attempt to dribble away from what we are seeing here and decided not to condemn it. Like i said earlier na you de talk absolute rubbi.sh.

Another long epistle of more gaslighting, I like how you're trying so hard to tilt this whole conversation into another Northern players stigmatization agenda while still overlooking (perhaps intentionally) the MAIN ISSUES being addressed here. You're the one with a wicked agenda but I'll not play ball to your ethnic baiting cause it's just going to be a cul-de-sac of pointless arguments and rhetorics that will be another dead end.

Ok lets even agree for the sake of conceding to your stats that Usman Mohammed plays regular minutes at his club, what exactly are his best qualities? I'll assume you know this particular player so well to vouch for him, what are the key attributes and qualities of Usman Mohammed in his club in recent years that makes his call up justified? please tell us a notable growth index per his player development trajectory since his U23 Olympics stint? or are you still mesmerized by his solo goal against Atlético de Madrid years ago in that friendly? Pls tell us one good reason (devoid of your ethnic gaslighting and angling) why Usman deserved to be selected ahead of a Sani Suleiman who is younger, more exciting and has a far promising trajectory? I don't want to mention the baffling selection conundrum of a 31 year old player at the tail-end of his career who is stuck in the lower rungs of Isreal over younger prospects who should be displacing the older players?

The Tochukwu Nnadi you keep bringing up isn't my favorite player and I doubt anybody would have cared or noticed much if he was dropped or not, but at least he's very young - still 22 and playing at a far better league with more learning curves for growth as a player, so your comparison is rather baseless even if it was for ethnic ramblings.

Bros, you can choose to live in whatever bubble you create for yourself, but the indelible and incontrovertible truth will always be said. There's no gainsaying in calling out the obvious footprints of NFF corruption, and that has continued to destroy the fabric of our football...Chelle from reliable evidence didn't pick most of the players in that list and that's a very dangerous precedence- when a coach can't pick his own team because some higher-ups have to call the shot for reasons best known to them.

I wish all and sundry the best, hope Usman proves me wrong and serves me humble pies.

EEGA:
Pls it's time we start phasing out Ndidi.

He is in his 30's.The efficiency that he is known for is no longer there.

Ndidi wasn't missed in the last AFCON and we went all the way to the the finals.

Not a goal threat from the middle.

Raph,Onyeka and Akin are better options in midfield.

We phased out Ekoong, we can as well do same to Ndidi.

We need more enterprising midfielders, with goal threat in midfield.

Iwobi hardly gets on the score sheet, same with Ndidi.

We can't be starting the 2 together in a 2-man midfield.

Raph and Akin can deputize for Iwobi, while Onyeka starts in a 2-man midfield.

This reduces the over reliance on our forwards for goals in crucial matches.

Ndidi will most likely retire after this AFCON along with Ajayi and Simon Moses. Akin and Onyedika will understudy him at this AFCON and in some prevailing circumstances might even bench him as a confirmation that his clock is winding down.

QueenJazz:
I started writing a response to him but gave up because it begs to question the reasoning of someone who can't see the obvious issues with Usman Muhammad's call up. Thank you for the rebuttal.

The ethnic baiting antics is the only weapon they use to guilt trip you into silence, while our football continues to rot because better judgement and standard of doing things right continues to erode us. If Iheanacho was selected in the final squad, I and millions of other Nigerians would have launched a tirade against the NFF as well, and Iheanacho is even from my hometown in Owerri.

CapitalCee:
J

Usman Mohammed plays for Ironi Tiberias, iwgich is in the Isreali First division. Get your facts right.
I am frim the Southeast but I have seen people here repeatedly talk down on players because they are from the north. I can pull out posts here that are clearly condescending and teibalistic, stop trying to gaslight us to live in denial.

All these nonsense we do in Nigerian politics, we are not supposed to bring it into the National team. We have 28 man team but we are hammering for days about Usman Mohammed as if his presence or absence will matter. In 2004 we came with 23 players, 3 players were sent packing after the first match due to indicsipline, we nearly made the finals. If Osihmen, Chukwueze, Akor, Lookman, Simon , Iwobi and co cant make us win, then we are not ready. Tochukwu Nnadi has never played for the Super Eagles before, I didnt see any backlash, But na Fago and Usman invitation una dick go rise.

Meanwhile the highest goal scorer for Super Eagles in the World Cup is a Northerner Ahmed Musa.

You just wrote a litany of rubbish laced with lots of gaslighting. Nobody is pitching on Usman Muhammed cause he's a Northerner, we are only asking and demanding as sane minded fans the baffling criteria through which he was selected into the final squad. The team he currently plays for in the Israeli league is even at the cusp of battling relegation, and the said player hardly plays! Secondly aren't there Northerners in better form who should have at least been selected? Sani Suleiman for example is doing well and is tipped to be one for the future, he's a Northerner and I can bet there's no Nigerian that will raise a brow or lose sleep if he were selected. Zaidu is a Northerner and he will likely always get a popularity vote of confidence over Bruno Onyemaechi to start all our games, because he's more reliable and sturdy.

Lastly I don't think any player has received more backlash and insults recently from Nigerian fans than Alex Iwobi, even Ndidi sef dey collect, last time I checked all these guys are Igbos. Tolu Arokodare that has been receiving it hot is Yoruba etc...all we want is a merit-based standard of doing things untainted by corruption and shadiness, that's why nothing works in Nigeria in almost all sectors.

Stop the gaslighting bro, our football has been riddled with so much decay lately that every move from the NFF must call for thorough scrutiny, it's obvious certain players were picked by the NFF and not by Chelle, and yes the reasons for those bizarre selections are due to Federal character and not plain merit.

Franktom247:
Who compiled this list
For whatever reason Uzoho,Awaziem in 2025 is a no

Awaziem is playing at a top level in a good league, and he has significantly gotten better...Uzoho is the issue here.

Few observations about this squad

Solid midfield ✔️
The gradual but purposeful integration of new players, seems the rebuilding process has begun ✔️
Still several head-scratching player/political selections, but what is a Nigerian team without its drama?
No Maduka
No Rafiu
Glad to see Ryan Alebiosu and Igoh Ogbu, we're stacked in defence and the likes of Benjamin Frederick (new star boy), Emmanuel Uchenna, Franklin Tebo etc aren't even in the team

Squad list don finally drop

NIGERIA SQUAD FOR 35TH AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS MOROCCO 2025

Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Francis Uzoho (Omonia FC, Cyprus)

Defenders: Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC, France); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Igoh Ogbu (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic); Ryan Alebiosu (Blackburn Rovers, England)

Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium); Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (SS Lazio, Italy); Ebenezer Akinsanmiro (Pisa SC, Italy); Usman Muhammed (Ironi Tiberias, Israel); Tochukwu Nnadi (SV Zulte Waregem, Belgium)

Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Chidera Ejuke (Sevilla FC, Spain); Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain); Paul Onuachu (Trabzonspor AS, Turkey); Salim Fago Lawal (NK Istra 1961, Croatia); Cyriel Dessers (Panathinaikos FC, Greece);

Major question marks would be:

How the Usman Muhammed make the final squad?

How did Salim Fago make the final squad over Rafiu Durosinmi?

Why was Maduka Okoye actually dropped

How is Cyriel Dessers in the final squad?.

Amedino99:
We really are going to watch the world cup as spectators for the second time in a row.

Even more painful when you see the easy groups most of the CAF teams were seeded in (with the exception of Ghana and maybe CIV), this could easily have been a world cup for Osimhen to feast on cause the groups reserved for the remaining playoff teams look easy...this one really pain me and I hope the players are having their moments of sober reflection also watching or seeing the world cup draws without Nigeria, a real shame.

Watching that world cup draw be like when your babe wey give man better doggy, just painful and annoying.

But as long as Ghana go collect back to back beating and return to Accra after game 3, e no too bad like that.

Chukwueze, you almost got me but I'm not getting swayed...if you like score back 2 back hattricks, una no go scam me anymore until una use this world cup vex and passion take win AFCON as a consolation.

Samueltemi337:
He will cook at AFCON

Lol e be like say false hopes no dey ever tire una, we've been through this path already one time too many with this same players when they seem to "discover" form at their respective clubs few weeks to a major tournament or qualifier, get our hopes high and dandy and then disappoint again when it comes to tournaments...and then we all shrink back to reality check and blame this and that for our football misfortunes. I'm just done with this generation of players, they have flattered to deceive so many times that I'm tired of getting scammed. Left for me, I'll rather we try again with a new core of players led by Osimhen, Benjamin Fredrick and Bassey and maybe Aina, it's better to expect less with new players and not get disappointed, at least new players will give us something different and refreshing.

The only reason I'll even watch us at this AFCON is to see if we can discover new exciting prospects from the core of new players who will be making their debuts.

After all my gragra and anger from the world cup gbese towards the Super Eagles including swearing I won't bother myself watching any SE games again to save my mental health, see me today already anxiously waiting for AFCON to start already, abeg make Chelle do quick and drop the expanded squad list jare

Samueltemi337:
Mtcheew

I second this, not even a hattrick of goals will ever impress me with these players anymore.

BascoVanVeli:
Samu with the delicious assist

But when he plays in the national team he will dance atilogwu, abeg...

Samueltemi337:
Which creative young midfielder do we have to try?

If you want creativity, then maybe convert Chukwueze, Sani Suleiman or Lookman to permanent CAMs.. football is dynamics and all about trying players in new positions etc.

Samueltemi337:
Sanusi is decent
Na midfield be the koko

We dey talk this midfield like say we no get other younger options to try, we already have some established young midfielders in various clubs across Europe and two of them are even playing champions league football but our dumb football administration keep recycling the same old and tiring legs by playing a 2 man midfield of Iwobi (who isn't a midfielder in my opinion but a RW) and Ndidi (who is past his best days)...David Moses, Onyedika, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Akinsamiro, Gibson Yah etc are all young and promising midfielders all playing at their best levels, what's holding the NFF and Chelle from calling up these boys?

Only African team i can see myself supporting will be Cabo Verde, and then if they don't go far I'll support other smaller teams like Haiti, Curacao etc...I know these teams won't go far, but I always love an underdog/Cinderella story of small nations making their debuts in big tournaments.

owobokiri:
They are not mediocre players. That tag is way too ruthless..
Iwobi is not mediocre. Ndidi is not mediocre. Bassey plays to his best. Ditto Nwabali. They are not mediocre. They just don't have the drive to play to their potentials while playing for Nigeria.
Can you say that the Congolese players have more individual qualities than the Eagles? I don't think so. But the Congolese showed up because they were hungry and wanted it more.
That desire pushed them to their limits..

They are mediocre and no amount of sugar coating the truth can change that, I don't even care what leagues or clubs they play in/for, but you if fail to qualify for 2 world cups back to back with the latest one being the easiest path of qualification a tournament can ever offer (9 slots for Africa), and then you go on to barely survive a group that has teams like Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Rwanda and Benin Republic with FIFA and CAF even giving you enough lifelines to qualify (deducting points from South Africa, using small mathematical ojoro to give Burkina Faso's playoff spot to you) and yet you Bleep it all up at the most crucial point by playing with no heart or passion...then you're a mediocre team full of average yet overhyped players. It's time Nigerians start telling themselves the truth, this present generation of players excluding Osimhen and newly discovered Benjamin Fredrick should easily rank as our worst ever in Nigerian football history. I miss when we had fighters like Yekini, JJ Okocha, Adepoju, Oliseh, Enyeama, Mikel Obi, Osaze, Onazi, Victor Moses, Emenike, Ideye Brown, Oboabona, Egwueke etc...those men qualified to world cups when qualifying was far harder for African teams.

What we have now are overpampered babies and TikTok dancers

Honestly this world cup still dey pain me especially when I see tiny nations like Curacao, Haiti, Scotland etc celebrating their first ever world cup qualification on my X timeline...when I remember how Nigeria botched the easiest qualification process ever with this expanded format, I immediately get depressed and overheated with rage...and the fact that so many Nigerians seem to have moved on so easily even baffles me the more. We're back to making funny skits and talking about other things- the gnawing insecurity in the country has even created a perfect distraction. Nigeria has broken, failed and betrayed me so many times that I question why am still even patriotic at all?

Meanwhile the real culprits who are behind our football misfortunes who should be resigning by now are still staying put, no accountability, no Federal government interventions to probe the alleged mismanagement of funds by the NFF, the likes of Eguavoen with his record of mediocrity are still there...when FIFA dropped the list of all the countries that have already qualified, it seemed almost painfully surreal not to see a whole Nigeria on that list...it's really painful sha I won't lie, I don't know how you guys move on fast from this, but una dey try...on to AFCON I guess...

yemyke001:
Tunisia has improved

We play them at the AFCON sef, they're in our group.

Me I've stopped investing my emotions on this set of players, the world cup hurt unsurprisingly took me less than 24 hours to recover from. Right now, while much needed changes starting from compulsory resignations must be enforced on the NFF starting from that waste of space Eguavoen, the Super Eagles team itself now has to be drastically changed, only players like Osimhen, Benjamin Fredrick (who should be made the poster boy of the new generation), Nwabali (still a good GK despite his unbearable antics but needs massive competition now), Maduka, Aina, Felix Agu (need to see more of him at the AFCON), Bassey (he and Benjamin have a perfect partnership), and then for other full-backs: players like Bruno and Sanusi can be kept around till we find better replacements hopefully soonest; which makes me hope we still get a chance to make Michael Kayode consider Nigeria, along with Ahanor.

Players that MUST BE RETIRED OUTRIGHTLY

William Troost Ekong (bye, you've served well but football has left you),
Simon Moses ( same with Ekong, should have been phased out 5-6 years ago),
Semilore Ajayi ( a player who has always blown hot and cold, decent on his best days but very uneventful on his normal days),
Wilfred Ndidi (done and dusted, he's just not it anymore...that moment when he kicked air when a simple tap in was all but needed from that Lookman's pass to make it 2-0 against DRC was the highlight of it all, any other player would have scored that easily and the dynamics of that game would have been different today).

Players who should be phased out

Osayi-Samuel- just a boring and uneventful player, decent sometimes but a largely forgettable player.

Tolu Arokodare- just a very average player who flattered to deceive in Belgium, haven't seen a more unbalanced player who can't hold up play and lacks aerial intelligence and abilities despite his height advantage, Congolese midgets pretty much bullied and out-jumped him all game, thought he was the perfect backup to Osimhen but he just isn't it.

Alhassan Yusuf: This dude is so forgettable that I reckon calling him up is just to fulfill some necessary quota slot for Northerners to be in the team for sake of national belonging, cause his inclusion makes no sense in every footballing logic.


Players who should be on probation depending on how their AFCON performances go:

Alex Iwobi: The less said the better, but this brother was never the second coming of his uncle Jay Jay, it just wasn't to be and it's fine, we might never see another like JJ Okocha ever again. He has one last chance to make a redemption arc for himself this AFCON, play your heart out and win gold for Nigeria, and write youe name in gold Alex.

Chukwueze: A very frustrating player whose international career story can only be summed up in the conjecture of "what ifs?"...maybe he's just better suited as a CAM but we will never know with Chukwueze, AFCON is his last chance.

Ademola Lookman: Something isn't quite right with this brother, granted his stint at Atalanta hasn't quite been favorable lately but he isn't just at his best right now, Ademola on his best days is a world class player, but he needs to get it all together and perhaps use this AFCON to prove he is still THAT GUY...with age no longer on his side in football terms, he has to step up big time and win this AFCON...Nigerians have been patient enough.

Players who still need time to settle

Akor Adams
Uche Christiantus
Chidera

Time to build around:

Benjamin Fredrick (face of the new generation)
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro
Frank Onyeka
Raphael Onyedika
Rafiu Durosimi
Sani Suleiman
Philip Otele
Franklin Uchenna Tebo
Micheal Kayode (if he decides to switch)
Ahanor (if he decides to switch)
David Moses
Odinaka Emmanuel Okoro
Chibuike Nwaiwu
Gibson Yah
Fisayo Dele-Bashiru
Arthur Okonkwo (if he decides for Nigeria)
Ryan Alebiosu
And any other young and exciting Nigerian player out there whether foreign or local born and based.

Osimhen must be made captain and will lead this large core of new generation players from the AFCON where most of them will be integrated as we build towards the next world cup by playing top quality friendly games next year, NFF must schedule those games and make sure our 2026 football calendar is busy, no excuses anymore and we are done with the player bonus rows and drama, all that nonsense should end now.

Lastly Chelle must be retained and supported to win the AFCON...he's still a good coach and the fact that the team even got this far after the rubbish he inherited from Finidi and Peseiro is a testament to that. Depending on the AFCON, he should be given a contract extension and given a freehand to invite his own players and build his team, enough of this disgusting madness of NFF using player agents to force rubbish deadweights on the coach, let all the end going into 2026.

I think this should signal the immediate disbandment of NFF and a larger part of this team, my mind no even dey the AFCON anymore...right now it's ONLY Osimhen I feel the most for, all those efforts to get us to the lifeline wasted by shit, mentally weak, soulless players. And then the daft coach who allowed mostly defenders take crucial spot-kicks, why didn't he sub in Ekong a proven PK taker? It's obvious they even train for PKs at all. Onyedika who has been balling at the Champs league never even got a minute when our midfield was badly struggling.

I think my interest in Nigerian football will take a back seat until we miraculously get a good team again, this country much less it's useless mens national team isn't worth a shred of my time.

Nwabali has a chance to make history for himself, he's a good shot stopper so I'll hope he steps up for these PKs

Lookman is rubbish right now, he needs to be dropped for a while until he gets it together.

Benjamin is finally receiving his baptism of fire as to be expected in a cagey final game.

Emmy450:
regardless of what happens today win or lose, he should remain our couch minimum of three years.
Because it seems the super eagles have an identity and also a direction with him in charge.

Absolutely

Goke7:
This boy na rock of Gibraltar and he seems to know where every of his teammate is on the pitch per second. The boy is either extraordinary or supernatural. In summary na winch 😂

The thing sef shock me cause we've never really produced a defender this exciting...typically we get to see one or two exciting wingers or strikers and defensive mids, but Benjamin just take his own to a whole new level.

Benjamin Federick individual highlights vs Gabon

Omo, we've really unearthed a true gem in this kid...and the future looks promising with the likes of Vince Osuji, Akinsamir, Tebo Uchenna etc already in the picture


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBPTTOPEQfk