You guys need to calm down

[airwolex]

Finally, reasonable people.

Azeez can't start. This was a baptism by fire for him, and the lad combusted.
We need to be more persistent on the wings, and we need a "fox in the box" type of CF, or someone that can make himself a better target in a crowded 18 or perimeter. Osaze?
We needed a better transition from midfield to the last third. Chei I missed Mba.
We did well retaining to ball till towards the end of the second half.

Having Yobo on the field against Bosnia scares me, but I feel the tactical deficiencies of our attack won't be as glaring against them. They are by no means a pushover in the back, but try wont park the Revolutionary Guard Tank either.

RB.

Shikena.

What people don't realize is that Iran are the Asian Champions and they defended incredibly well. Their tactics was spot on. Concentrate on Mikel and Moses and there's no creativity in the Nigerian team.

It's also obvious that Emenike doesn't like playing with either Moses or Mikel, the first one's too selfish and the second one too slow...he's not patient enough to wait for things to come to him and ends up looking for the ball all over the place disrupting everything.

If our star players make little adjustments we will play better and that's up to Keshi. All in all not as bad as people make it out to be.

[Riversboy]

Finally, reasonable people.

Azeez can't start. This was a baptism by fire for him, and the lad combusted.
We need to be more persistent on the wings, and we need a "fox in the box" type of CF, or someone that can make himself a better target in a crowded 18 or perimeter. Osaze?
We needed a better transition from midfield to the last third. Chei I missed Mba.
We did well retaining to ball till towards the end of the second half.

Having Yobo on the field against Bosnia scares me, but I feel the tactical deficiencies of our attack won't be as glaring against them. They are by no means a pushover in the back, but try wont park the Revolutionary Guard Tank either.

RB.

Perspective folks.

I disagree. Iran is the only team that will park the bus in the WC. So we are likely not going to face this scenario again unless we run into certain teams (like USA) that is leading us by 1-0 with less than 20 minutes less.

We need to conjure up our spirits and player Bosnia like we played CIV and Mali last year. We have done it before and that means we can do it again.

Bros, Bosnia won't park the bus, but we saw in the Argie match that they can turn the 18 into a forest.

RB.

[wale1974]

Get rid of the long ball nonsense, Long ball is not our style period.

[deanotito]

I'll go ahead and say this as well....based on the bosnia argentina game, argentina is a beatable team too...many ways this group can go

[platinum]

I'll go ahead and say this as well....based on the bosnia argentina game, argentina is a beatable team too...many ways this group can go

I said during that bos/arg game, i cant see either one of them beating us IF we play and counter like we did in the ANC.

I cling onto that hope but look, we are going to be starting Joseph Yobo, that entire dynamic changes things drastically. He can't press like Goddy, he doesnt offer the same speed and athleticism and he is more careless with and without the ball so it'll be tough...

STILL, if i'm safet susic or sabella, i force Nigeria to take the initiative....through all the friendlies up to today, we have not shown we can do it so why attack us and give us the chance to counter and use our speed. I sit back and let Nigeria come at me THEN I play the counterattacking game.

[Catalyst]

Get rid of the long ball nonsense, Long ball is not our style period.

You do understand what you are talking about right, with the perspective of the game you and I just saw.

Obviously watching the game with camera angle that gives us side view most of the time, does not help in this discourse to see why certain plays qere engaged.

The issue is not the play choice rather the other things that should have happened in conjunction with the approach employed, e.g. off the ball movements to force the Iranians to move their bodies and weaken their parked bus' back line.

[Soccerfan00]

People forget that the world cup is highly focused on "concentration", it's about taking advantage of all openings.

These games aren't friendlies or club football where everyone is a bit more relaxed and comfortable with the ball, there is a lot more tension because the stakes are extremely high.

Our players aren't built for a competition like this, we have serious fitness problems. The so called best player on our squad can't even last 60 mins, this is a big problem.

Look at Pirlo for italy controlling england without much running, the world cup is really about intelligence and making use of every opportunity.

Our team is bad, point blank!

[Catalyst]

People forget that the world cup is highly focused on "concentration", it's about taking advantage of all openings.

These games aren't friendlies or club football where everyone is a bit more relaxed and comfortable with the ball, there is a lot more tension because the stakes are extremely high.

Our players aren't built for a competition like this, we have serious fitness problems. The so called best player on our squad can't even last 60 mins, this is a big problem.

Look at Pirlo for italy controlling england without much running, the world cup is really about intelligence and making use of every opportunity.

Our team is bad, point blank!

You do know that the match was played at an altitude of ~934 meters (3,064.3 feet) above sea level, right?

Just saying......just want to put that into the discussion for consideration.

PS. They arrived in Curitiba on June 15 from Campinas where altitude is 2,247 feet (685 m) above see level. Slight difference though, but must be noted. Our match against Bosnia is in Cuiaba (~ 188 meters above see level).

[nellcarter]

- and also, are we really drilling on set-pieces??? What a waste!

That set piece one killed me.

Why allow Musa and Azeez take, not 1 or 2 or 3, but multiple horrible set pieces after another, and not stop them from getting close to it any longer? I was like, is this a joke? These guys cannot take corner kicks any longer?

The mentality of national character is what is really killing Nigeria. Pleasing NFF chairman, pleasing your assistant coach(Amokachi), et al. Well, as they say you live and learn..

[Jimi]

Naija peeps! Suckers for punishment! Some of the analysis herein is overdosed with hope..Naijas will always find a silver lining. The squad selection was FATAL and most of y'all KNOW this.

[sarkin doya]

Moses also had a poor game. The last 2 or 3 games I've seen him it seems he
hangs on to the ball too long in his dribbles. He reminds me of Robben a
few years ago ... he used to dribble till he lost the ball.

This WC, Robben is a machine. In the game against spain, he seemed to have
matured, nicely balancing dribbles with other fine aspects of the game
making him a very dangerous player.

I hope Moses will be in the same position in a year or two!

[Riversboy]

Sarkin, Moses is quite rusty.

RB.

[Nostradamus]

Finally, reasonable people.

Azeez can't start. This was a baptism by fire for him, and the lad combusted.
We need to be more persistent on the wings, and we need a "fox in the box" type of CF, or someone that can make himself a better target in a crowded 18 or perimeter. Osaze?
We needed a better transition from midfield to the last third. Chei I missed Mba.
We did well retaining to ball till towards the end of the second half.

Having Yobo on the field against Bosnia scares me, but I feel the tactical deficiencies of our attack won't be as glaring against them. They are by no means a pushover in the back, but try wont park the Revolutionary Guard Tank either.

RB.

Why do u clowns keep faulting Azeez and not the dumb coach who played him as an attacking midfielder ?

Azeez is not an AM, he was played out of position by a dumb and daft, clueless coach.

[Riversboy]

Finally, reasonable people.

Azeez can't start. This was a baptism by fire for him, and the lad combusted.
We need to be more persistent on the wings, and we need a "fox in the box" type of CF, or someone that can make himself a better target in a crowded 18 or perimeter. Osaze?
We needed a better transition from midfield to the last third. Chei I missed Mba.
We did well retaining to ball till towards the end of the second half.

Having Yobo on the field against Bosnia scares me, but I feel the tactical deficiencies of our attack won't be as glaring against them. They are by no means a pushover in the back, but try wont park the Revolutionary Guard Tank either.

RB.

Why do u clowns keep faulting Azeez and not the dumb coach who played him as an attacking midfielder ?

Azeez is not an AM, he was played out of position by a dumb and daft, clueless coach.

Who is a clown here? Watch your keyboard, son.

RB.

[metalalloy]

STILL, if i'm safet susic or sabella, i force Nigeria to take the initiative....through all the friendlies up to today, we have not shown we can do it so why attack us and give us the chance to counter and use our speed. I sit back and let Nigeria come at me THEN I play the counterattacking game.

Kpom. That is exactly what they will do.

[Cristao II]

I agree - defensive performance was good. Offense needs some work but we didnt do too badly.

[zoro]

Keshi will need to talk to Emenike. You can't keep demanding for the ball all the time just because you are the striker and then get angry when you don't receive the perfect pass - it kills the flow of the team and rush the midfielders into making hasty decisions.

When you play against a defensive team, you need your brain and not your heart. Emenike has the heart, no doubt at all but he is not the coach - he should allow his teammates to express themselves. This is not a roadside 11 vs 11 football, he knows better than that!

With that said, I am utterly disappointed in Keshi as the coach. Enforcing tactical discipline is his responsibility - and also, are we really drilling on set-pieces??? What a waste!

Thank you Yemi but did you see the players prefield meeting before the second half? With that you will not blame Keshi so much.

[ogiso]

Even if we beat Bosnia, our qualification is not guaranteed. If Iran beat Bosnia and we don't get a point against Argentina, it will go down to goal difference and goals scored.

[ogiso]

Not a bad attribute to have Sir! Perhaps you should try it some day!

..Naijas will always find a silver lining.

[NigerianPrince]

I laugh so hard. It is too early now to criticize each country's performance at the ongoing FIFA World cup tournament in Brazil. Especially our Super Eagles of Nigeria despite Nigeria's goal disallowed by the bias Referee. Why? Only the first game has been played for each country thus far. The remaining 4 countries (Korea Republic, Belgium, Algeria and Russia) will conclude the first round of games in the Group stages of the World Cup later today on this Tuesday, June 17th 2014.

So with all these criticism made over the past several hours on Nigeria's Super Eagles performance against Iran, I just laugh and laugh. It is too early to criticize the team. Iran had a plan to tackle Nigeria physically and they succeed. They played a very rough game. No doubt about it and was lucky to salvage a draw against our Super Eagles of Nigeria. The good thing thus far, is Nigeria didn't lose the game and is still capable of going into the 2nd round, just like I predicted before the tournament began.

Nigeria has a better chance than Ghana and Cameroon to qualify to the round of 16. At least we didn't lose our first game like Ghana and Cameroon did. Did we??? So, what's the worry about??? Each country except the host is still getting used to the Brazil atmosphere, time zone, altitude, etc.

Nigeria will go far in this tournament, like I predicted.

Imagine, Spain (Europe and World Champions) losing to Netherlands by 4 goals, Uruguay (South America Champions) losing to Costa Rica, and then you have the United States defeating Ghana in a thriller. Which will you prefer over all these? Nigeria is still in the driving seat to qualify to the next stage. So glad we didn't lose to Iran despite our goal disallowed by the bias referee. The team that normally starts a bit slow in the tournament, tends to go far in the tournament.

Peace and God bless,
from the one and only,
NigerianPrince...

[Gooner1]

Azeez is a "Hey-you!" on crack and steriods, the Agbim of the midfield, a complete and utter disaster
I said before the game, he needed to step up and he did that except it was in the opposite direction

[Gooner1]

Even if we beat Bosnia, our qualification is not guaranteed. If Iran beat Bosnia and we don't get a point against Argentina, it will go down to goal difference and goals scored.

Trust me, it will be less complicated than that

[eyan]

We didn't do bad? Really? Dude mehn...No need to talk

We didn't....I know we all expected to beat Iran silly, and I do believe this is more of a lost-2-points than a gained-a-point game....but you all are talking as if there was some disaster out there. It wasn't....we held the ball well, defended well, and I still maintain, are a change or 2, away from creating chances.

Its a disaster because all the other teams in our group will get 3 points off Iran, Iran game is supposed to be a gimme...I don't see why people aren't getting this. Even Iran gets it, hence why they are playing everybody in defense, you think they don't know they aren't good enough? I find it funny when you guys think we can actually beat the other two teams and I don't know why. We neither have the team unit nor the individual brilliance to hedge our bets on. We have now lost our starting CD and we know the drop-off in quality from our starters to our bench. The writing is on the wall we are more than likely going home because of this "loss"...

BTW, SE's bloomberg prediction has been spot on so far, expect another draw against Bosnia, and a loss to Argentina while Bosnia beats Iran...then guess who's going home...

Actually it is not.

Bosnia can go ahead and score 40 goals against Iran on match day #3 but if we beat them, it is over for them.

It is worse to beat Iran, and lose to Bosnia. Maybe this tie will give us more focus for the next game. Do not write home to momma yet - the road is far.

I have seen you write in different threads that this game is not important. Is there anything that say we shdnt beat both Iran and Bosnia and even Argentina self? Every game is important.