₦airaland Forum

I dey gbadun this game make I no lie

Goke7:
1-1 again your star players are key

VAR has to review it

AAA593:
Nawa o d hate for Nigeria across Africa be here o. Even dat CAF oga hate Nigeria. No way for Nigeria to win dat case no way

The case has not been decided by CAS and FIFA, everything flying around there is fake news that has been debunked, make una dey relax...if we win the case then good, if we don't then good as well, either way make we fix our football mess and avoid banking on technicalities to qualify for future world cups etc

Joebie:
we all watched the last AFCON na. The match could have gone either way. Normally sef SA no suppose dey the convo where Super Eagles dey. The point is that we are performing below our potentials.

I no gree for this one, in the past 10 or so years SA have leveled up and are now at our level if not slightly above (truth hurts), many of us were still stuck in the 90's and early 2000's until reality woke us up. Only part I agree with is us performing below our potentials

CapitalCee:
Leave Flashscore and watch match. Egypt were the better team. When they scored they deserved the lead. If the 11 vs 11 continued they would have won comfortably.

Exactly, I was wondering if the person you quoted watched a different game, cause Egypt were dominating that first half and were creating the better of the chances until the red card happened.

Truidstarr:
You are making a hypothetical not a factual statement. Which precedent are you basing your assumption that we would have collapsed with 10 men down? I am waiting.

OK let me take you down memory lane

AFCON 2022 Nigeria vs Tunisia in the knockout stage

We went one man down in the open half when Iwobi got sent off and literally capitulated, failing to play with any urgency or structure like a team that needed to make or break until the dying minutes when it was too late

Nigeria vs Zimbabwe wasn't too long ago, scored in the 77th or so minute only to concede in the 89th minute? WCQ

Almost lost a lead to a Lesotho team that had nothing to play in our laborious 2-1 win- WCQ

Need I mention more?

Truidstarr:
How do you know we would have collapsed?

Lol, dey play

See how Egypt have stayed disciplined and kept their shape despite going one man down? if that was Nigeria we would have collapsed...mental strength is everything in football.

The real AFCON has finally started, this second round games will be explosive...Egypt vs SA is already delivering the frenzy.

Merry Christmas to you all my brothers, may this season and the New year ahead bring us good tidings 🎄🎄🎄

Mozambique is the only minnow team that has actually impressed me so far, they have been solid

CornOak:
He lost to Egypt last week.

I even forgot that one, to be fair it was a heavily rotated side we used in a friendly match and we largely dominated that game sef, Egypt's second goal was glaringly offside, but no excuses...I'll give you that one for argument sake.

MetalJigsaw:
Stop defending mediocrity. Haven't you seen enough games to see?

Chelle has more win ratios than your previous recent coaches since Rohr, football is a result-oriented game and Chelle is yet to lose a game in regular time (I don't count the DRC game as a loss cause we lost on PK), you and I might not like his coaching style, but stats favor him so far.

I just watched the full game- Chelle is our best coach so far, that first half performance was a thing of beauty, we should have buried that game by 4 goals in the first half but for point blank misses from Osimhen and Chukwueze. We fell off in the second half because of poor game management by the players, but still dominated Tanzania till the final whistle. We have a good team, but some players are occupying space and just wasting it (Zaidu, Osayi and Simon Moses.)

charlesemeka85:
It will be difficult winning this Tunisian team.

We can and will beat them, Tunisia will struggle against a physical side and we have that in the locker.

Tanzania is a very poor team yet we made them look more competitive than necessary, I genuinely feel for Chelle...we're so fucking uninspiring.

charlesemeka85:
The way SA commentator dey hype this their keeper eeh 🤣🤣🤣🤣

SA is one flash in the pan team that will always flatter to deceive when it matters, they were just lucky to have met an unstable Nigerian team in bad administrative and coaching form. There's a reason their team hasn't won anything since '96? they are just not among the traditional elites of African football and this world cup will surely expose how self-service South Africa is

Kilishihunter:

Chelle no be Finidi or Peseiro, he knows how to beat teams like that.

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