₦airaland Forum

Senegal needed an option off the bench to change their attacking dynamics, and the coach brought on a 17 year old maestro Ibrahim Mbaye (remember that name) to play the biggest game of in a tense atmosphere against over 80K fans dominated by hostile Moroccan fans...and Ibrahim Mbaye not only changed the dynamics of the game for his team by creating mazy dangerous runs that stretched the Moroccan defence, he also played a role in the build up that led to Senegal's title winning goal.

Where am I going with this? while nations like Senegal are looking forward to the future and put so much faith and hope on the shoulder of a 17 YEAR OLD KID, Nigeria is still wasting time on deadwood players like Simon Moses who has been in this team since 2015 and has given us zero end product, we're still wasting time with loquacious wann!-be comedians like Chukwueze who opened his big mouth while being recorded in the team bus to "jokingly" lambast other players like Bassey etc for putting in their 100% effort for Nigeria when they haven't gotten any bonus money.. a mentality that reflects the typical psyche of the Nigerian- all money and benefits over pride for country and self...meanwhile you're already a multi-millionaire in Nigerian values and should only play for your national team because it's a privilege and not a right...even though I'm not excusing the abysmal mismanagement of funds and other unacceptable acts of negligence by the useless NFF.

It's reasons like this countries like Senegal, CIV, Morocco etc eill continue to gap us until they leave us far behind, very soon Senegal will catch up to our trophy numbers and even surpass us at this rate, ditto Ivory Coast. Ghana will soon get its acts together while we languish in mediocrity.

See how Senegal beat the Moroccan press in that half...move the ball fast and run at them in quick overloads and transitions, we needed runners against them (Ejuke, Chukwueze even Fago ), Onyedika was a BAD choice to replace Ndidi, he dwelled too much on the ball and back-passed a lot when under pressure.

Senegal definitely watched our tactical mistakes and learned from it, though I feel they will tire out at some point and lose this game and title by 1 nil

9JAMac10:
Sunday Oliseh and Daniel Amokachi are a disgrace to ⚽️ commentators. They are lazy, presumptuous and obviously didn't do no research before any of the games they commentated on. Commentators should rather select on merit, forget ex stars who can't do simple assignment not proper research . Will take oliseh over amokachi though

Walahi I thought Daniel Amokachi did better than Oliseh in his commentary stint 🤣

AndSunGorilla:
Dem fit enter boat reach Spain now abi?

Morocco is close to Spain

Goke7:
Most of them will demand your full squad and regulars as a condition for the friendly match. The Russians we played the other day were not happy not seeing osihmen play so some of these desired friendlies may not give us enough opportunities to try new players like we are thinking maybe as subs during the games may suffice

Yeah, but 3-5 new players shouldn't be an issue for any top team that wants us to face our full strength squad, 80% of the players to prosecute the friendly games would be the same established players with the exclusion of Moses Simon who offers nothing at this point.

I hope NFF will get to work now and renew Eric's contract with a view of extension, and then we also need to be in the shopping window ahead of the upcoming international friendly matches, lots of world cup bound teams in Europe and South America will be looking for top African sides to play as a way to size up African teams in their group, and this Nigerian team especially under Chelle will be a beautiful bride for teams looking to play a top ranked side...it will also provide us the opportunity to see newer players like Philip Otele, Durosinmi, Nnadi, Akinsamiro, David Moses, Nwaiwu etc with the established players already.

Abi how you take see am?
Cc: @TheSuperNerd

Meliforme:
You are the one embarassing yourself.

They created more big chances and had more possession.

What hope is their for the NPFL teams and their CHAN twin if their big brothers from Europe needed to go into penalty shootout to win players from Al Ahly, Zamalek, pyramids. With a sound coach, big brother are supposed to flog these guys.

This was how many of you came after me when i complained about Eguavoen and Finidi.

We are yet to land a Grade A coach.

I think I have to end this discussion

Are you aware that the Egyptian team that dominated Africa for decades and won all those 7 titles for Egypt all played for the same Al Ahly, Zamalek and pyramids including their best legends like Hossam, Aboutrika, Mido etc? Bro you're so uninformed that I feel even embarrassed arguing with you sef, e be like to dey argue with football novice who get more pedigree between Arsenal and Burnley LMFAOOO

I think I have to end this discussion[/quote]Ok you win, NFF will get you your grade A coach soon, maybe Eguavoen will do another comeback since he's the anointed Pep Guardiola of Nigeria 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[quote author=Meliforme post=138174823]You are the one embarassing yourself.

They created more big chances and had more possession.

What hope is their for the NPFL teams and their CHAN twin if their big brothers from Europe needed to go into penalty shootout to win players from Al Ahly, Zamalek, pyramids. With a sound coach, big brother are supposed to flog these guys.

This was how many of you came after me when i complained about Eguavoen and Finidi.

We are yet to land a Grade A coach.

LMFAOOO

Meliforme:
Egypt had more possession of the ball and created more big chances.

Eric Chelle did not fully utilise the quality at his call.

Egypt had only ONE shot on target vs our 5 on target. Since you're impressed by ball possession that leads to nothing, we also had more possession against a whole Morocco (host team) but they had 5 shots on twrget against our 1.. so I ask again..so which superiority did the coach show? or you just don't understand how match stats work? Bros no dey embarrass yourself like this...

ThunderFireAgba:
He will be the oldest player in the department during the next World Cup by 2030.

Fortunately Goalkeepers have the most longevity, they get better with age. Arthur Okonkwo will be a perfect understudy for Nwabali.

Meliforme:
The Moroccan coach.
The Egyptian coach.

With the quality in our hands and with a sound coach, we should be the best in Africa.

Egyptian coach showed which superiority? Abi you dey troll?

forgiveness:
I thoug1ht the next one is just next year? Who will replace him?

Make we no dey deceive ourselves for here ooo.

Igoh Ogbu should be replacing Ajayi long-term based on what is expected, but Ajayi has to win something for Nigeria, the Bobo don try abeg...chance to finally win gold as his retirement package could happen in Afcon 2027/28.

Hopefully Chelle builds on this cause we are finally solid in defence and goal keeping, Arthur Okonkwo will join soon as #2 to Nwabali and Benjamin will miss his defensive best friend (Bassey), Ajayi is in his best prime and will provide effective leadership till he retires with a gold trophy in AFCON 27/28 insha Allah.

The foundation already looks good, the only few tweaks needed will be for Chelle to inject new prospects (as he promised) like Durosinmi who will be the next big #9 for us to understudy Osimhen and build a partnership with Akor (who is learning a lot from Osimhen already). We need them as reliable strikers who can hold it down when Osimhen is injured etc

Lastly the North curse seems to be broken under Chelle, we beat every North African team in this tournament except Morocco (arguably the best and most complete team in Africa at the moment) we didn't lose to them in regulation time, it took PKs with all the dodgy officiatings and Chukwueze's gaffe for them to beat us.

I make bold to say that right now, no African team can talk to us on the pitch except for Morocco, Senegal and maybe Ivory Coast.

At least we broke the penalty curse with this win, that's the biggest win for me 😭😂😂😂

Nwabali is a PK MVP, if only our players weren't so shit at penalties we would be at the world cup final playoffs and a AFCON final as bonus...

AndSunGorilla:
Awaziem isn't old.

Well he isn't highly rated by Chelle, that much is obvious.

Joebie:
That Nwaiwu guy is better than Awaziem

Chelle said he will start integrating new and fresh talents into his team after this tournament, so that might signal the retirement or phasing out of the likes of Ajayi, Simon and Awaziem (all of whom have served well but are overdue for replacement)

TheSuperNerd:
This is nonsense you are typing Charles. Benjamin Frederick is also a starter. I dont know what you are getting at but you better be more explicit and stop beating lazily around the point u are hiding.

The assured Starters in Super Eagles Defence are Aina, Benjamin, Bassey and Bruno.

This Benjamin disrespect will not fly here. You speak of mistakes as if the lad has not faced tough opposition already. And if he does makes a mistake, he wont be buried, he will learn and kick on.

Infact it is almost like you will be the first person to bury him when he makes a mistake coz he has not made any and you are already sounding like Benjamin was not our best defender pre-Afcon.

The guy you quoted reflects the typical Nigerian mentality: wait till he makes a mistake or mistakes then use that to nail him to the "shebi i tell you" cross...meanwhile ignoring the fact that a 20 year old made his debut in a mini tournament with all the pressure that came with it and performed exceptionally well at the unity cup, and then went on to debut at the world cup qualifiers/playoffs in very physically demanding conditions and showed he truly belonged.

I wonder what else is there to prove that we have unearthed our elite defence with Bassey/Benjy, and we are winning an AFCON between 2027/28 editions with those colossus in defence.

Meliforme:
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is a first teamer at Pisa and very important to his team.
He left his club just to warm the bench at AFCON.

I pray that the confidence of neglected players won't take a hit.

He should get a full run out tomorrow, hopefully

ChrisKels:
No disrespect to Benji but Nwaiwu is a very strong contender for that position unlike Igoh Ogbu, Awaziem and co.

Not a big fan of Ajayi but he did a good job in this AFCON.

Bassey, Benji, Nwaiwu and Ajayi are my choices for any team list for now.

Ekong also had a good AFCON last time and he retired because he was past it already, Ajayi has been good but its time to give other younger prospects a chance going forward.

TheSuperNerd:
I am just smiling at the prospect of Benjamin Frederick's return to the RCB role in Chelle's 4312/442 diamond. Chisos! It is earth-quaking.

In this setup, this pair would easily morph into possibly the most press resistant CB pair in Africa. We will invite your press and beat through and around u like u dont exist.

You have these two and buildups takes a new dimension from the back as Benjamin can not only intercept danger early but also drive into space and break lines himself.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am already in 2027 Afcon. I can see the first game play out.

This team is in its prime. They will touch the final in 2027 as long as Chelle is retained. By 2027, Chelle would be nearly 2.5yrs in the Super Eagles job. The Soaking will be complete before Afcon 2027.

Defence looks set already, and there are others like Chibuike Nwaiwu whom the Trabzonspor fans are waxing lyrical about from his debut I presume

Trabzonspor'un yeni stopero Chibuike Nwaiwu'nun oynadığı son 4 maçta girdiği aksiyonların tamamı pic.twitter.com/a6ZJBUjlT4

— Emir (@EY61_) January 13, 2026

And there are others like Emmanuel Uchenna, Vince Osuji | CB | 19yo
🇳🇬 Honest Ahanor | CB | 17yo
🇳🇬 Endurance Alade | CB | 20yo
🇳🇬 Benjamin Frederick | RCB | 20yo
🇳🇬 Emmanuel Okereke | RCB | 22yo

All in their prime age to add to our CB depth and assuredly led by a colossus like Bassey.

Question remains, what about our midfield? Are we going to keep depending on Ndidi and Iwobi all the time (both players are our veteran leaders but are in their twilight years as they approach their 30's and won't pack the same mileage as younger players)...I wonder who those younger midfield prospects ready to deputize Iwobi, Ndidi and even Onyeka. Hopefully we get to see more of Nnadi and Akinsanmiro against Egypt on Saturday sha.

Omo the vile comments on Chukwueze's IG page is nauseating, at this point I won't blame most of these guys if they fail to honor anymore future call up's, even some idiots on X don turn him miss to tribalism against Igbos. Nigeria is truly a disgusting mess, football wey dey give us joy some morons don use stupidity kill am.

Maybe we should just allow only players from a particular section of the country fill up all the team selection slots make we rest, I'm done with the whole rubbish.

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.

The fact that we hinged our disappointing performance yesterday on Ndidi's absence makes it even more pathetic, Ndidi though fair play to him for having a solid tournament is already 29 and isn't particularly Sergio Busquets.. same way we folded against DR Congo when Osimhen was taken out...I mean how long will these excuses continue? we had all these players in the finals against Ivory Coast in 2023 yet failed to muster a decent shot on target if memory serves me right.

Why's the Nigerian mentality so poor especially in key moments? this was the same conundrum even when we had our golden generation in the 90's, outplayed a Baggio led Italy in the '94 world cup only to lose it and crash like a stack of wild cards in the dying embers of the game. 17 semi finals and 8 finals and we have just 3 AFCONs to show for it...two back to back world cup misses, I don't even know which is more painful- losing that world cup ticket to a arguably the worst Ghanaian team we ever played in Abuja, or the PK disaster against a DRC team we scored first against and had the better of the half until we collapsed in the second, now this...

Omo kudos to every Nigeria out there, I don't know how we do it, but we have the thickest skins to trauma walahi, it gets to a point you throw your hands up in hopeless resignation and ask when does it all end...

We go again in the next AFCON- fancy track suits and kits, another Naija motivational "fellow Nigerians I no go let you down" rousing anthem etc, beat all the teams in our groups only to lose to Ghana in the quarters (God forbid sha), but omo I'm just tired abeg.

mrwilliams9:
I just dislike how off we look in this big games. We just look like a team that doesn’t belong…

Yup, not sure it's a coaching issue at this point..we just lack the players with the elite mentality like the Senegals etc when it matters the most at the most crucial stage.

It's psychologically gutting to lose out on a world cup final playoff on PKs after demolishing Benin republic and Gabon...

And then this after all that show against Algeria, these boys can't scam me anymore. Hats off to them for trying, but this is it...it's time to rebuild with younger players like we saw Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal etc do at this tournament, Ademola, Osimhen etc aren't winning shit, they are a generation comparable to Belgiums own.

17 semifinals, 8 finals and ONLY 3 AFCONs is a very diabolical return, the type that makes you question if we are truly cursed?
This isn't a coaching issue anymore, even prime Pep Guardiola can't save this bunch.

TheSuperNerd:
Oh, didnt get that news. Good news then but Chelle and the NFF must still have a sit down.

That one concern them, if they can't give Chelle a serious contract then let serious teams that want him go for him...maybe another interim manager like Eguavoen will take over and waste our time all over again.

I'm used to heartbreaks from Nigerian football to care anymore on what NFF choose to do or not.

Oddly enough this PK upset didn't pain me as much as the world cup one...it is what it is, no team has beaten us in regulation time yet.

TheSuperNerd:
I agree wholly. That Moroccan press has done me strong thing. Technical and Progressive CMs or CDMs are no longer enough... you must have Mass, strong center of gravity.... your physical aggression chart must be tops.

There is a way your midfield will look from a physical POV ehn, and when u are pressed, it is them who will be bouncing off you due to not just your press resistance but your physicality to hold or body them off and escape the press to now let your technical quality shine through.

Akinsanmiro gives me hope but he needs to bulk up more. Christantus Uche is just perfect. Chelle have got to bring him back in and begin showing him the ropes of his diamond formation blueprint.
Ndidi and Onyeka have got the experience, the blueprint and are midfield powerhouses physically.

Iwobi is still key from a "Toni Kroos/Pirlo CREATIVE sense" but he still struggles in physical battles.

Onyedika needs to go step up his physical aggression meter. You cant have that body and not know how to use it in physical battles to ward off pressing opponents.
Even Alhassan Yusuf wey dey small is more aggressive than Onyedika and both have similar technical quality. So that is a slap on Onyedika. That physical aggression aspect.



As for Chelle and the rumored Tunisia offer, this depends on the NFF's discussions with Chelle. I want him to stay but it is not up to me or anyone here and if the man feels he wants to upgrade his financial income then he is free to do so. Nigerian football authorities remain parasites so I would be surprised if they succeed in retaining Eric Chelle. It would be the first good thing they do in 2026.

Bros Tunisia have a new coach already, Chelle goes no where...there are two more AFCONS to play for in 2027/28. Chelle will and should get a long term contract at this point, we will win an AFCON tournament under Chelle.

Bassey, I fucking love you man...prime Keshi has reborn in this lad.

Spainever:
Ivory coast for play good game o

Ivory coast sef dey useless for allowing this toothless Egyptian team score 3 goals on them.

Omo my heart can't take it, I'll hit the gym and leave my phone at home when our game starts

TheSuperNerd:
Match Officials for the Semis is here:

Ghanaian Ref for Nigeria vs Morocco... SA Ref for VAR


Modified: He was the VAR Ref for the Morocco v Cameroon Quarters tie.

The SA VAR Ref was referee for Mali vs Senegal, DRC v Benin & Mali v Tunisia.

This has to be a joke right?

TheSuperNerd:
Sani Suleiman is in Germany for the Medicals!

Finally a player who will permanently retire Simon Moses after this AFCON, this is surely the best career trajectory for one of our U20 players