Nwabali and That Free Kick - Echoes of Rufai 98

[BAP]

I think we all can agree that Nwabali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

[waka-man]

I think we all can agree that Nwakali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

Nwakali?

[truetalk]

I think we all can agree that Nwakali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

Nwakali?

With BaP, KingLoku, BabaFad & some of our senior Uncles, 'idea is need'.

That FK came in with serious speed. He did very well by getting to it at all.

Of course, it is better to parry balls out, but the biggest culprit in that sequence was Yusuf. Ball watching, flat footed, and let a man zoom past him for a shot at an 'empty' net.

[sabb]

I think we all can agree that Nwakali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

Nwakali?

ẹ fit be auto correct, after all Nwakali dey play free kicks anyway

[Scipio Africanus]

I think we all can agree that Nwakali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

Oga how far? Rufai failed to parry away for only one of the Denmark goals. I understand your criticism, but sometimes when a ball is dipping, swerving and bending, you just can't apply the right touch to get it to go where you want it to go. We just thank Baba that that rebound did not end up in our net! I have seen those happen before. Also hear you on the failure to anticipate rebounds from our team. An age old problem.

[wiseone]

I had no idea that Kelechi Nwakali played in goal for Nigeria in that semi-final against South Africa . He is a remarkably versatile player.

[Enugu II]

BAP


Abeg get the name correct.

I saw this and was wondering when Nwakali became a goalkeeper. Please correct the name... NWABALI with a B.

I think we all can agree that Nwakali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

[BAP]

I think we all can agree that Nwakali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

Oga how far? Rufai failed to parry away for only one of the Denmark goals. I understand your criticism, but sometimes when a ball is dipping, swerving and bending, you just can't apply the right touch to get it to go where you want it to go. We just thank Baba that that rebound did not end up in our net! I have seen those happen before. Also hear you on the failure to anticipate rebounds from our team. An age old problem.

My guy ... Rufai failed to properly parry the 2nd and 4th goals against Denmark .. truth be told he was trying to clutch not parry but net effect was the same.

He did same against Argentina in 94

I do think Nwabali had enough time to parry that shot to the side. I am not saying its easy oh but that's what's required at this level

[BAP]

I think we all can agree that Nwakali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

Nwakali?

With BaP, KingLoku, BabaFad & some of our senior Uncles, 'idea is need'.

That FK came in with serious speed. He did very well by getting to it at all.

Of course, it is better to parry balls out, but the biggest culprit in that sequence was Yusuf. Ball watching, flat footed, and let a man zoom past him for a shot at an 'empty' net.

Wasn't Just Yusuf .. There were three South African players lurking in the vicinity with not a single Nigerian in sight

[greg]

Yes I also mentioned this on the other Nwabali thread. It's one of the "weak spots" that Hugo Broos saw in the previous Eq Guinea game that they deliberately planned to exploit.

[Scipio Africanus]

I think we all can agree that Nwakali is the man . No argument there .

However that almost last minute freekick he parried right into a South Afrcan players path brought back some Painful memories of Rufai against Denmark 98 and his repeated failures to parry away . Thankfully the south african booted it over the bar despite being unchallenged

Not attacking' the guy oh but I pray this is something he doesn't do often

Also, if I may add a good faithed criticism of the defense . Not one Nigeria ran back for the rebound. They were all caught flat footed Just like France 98 . I mean they knew it was going to be a direct strike by the kicker and the possibility of a rebound was real but not one Super eagle was in the vicinity of the rebound when it came

I sincerely pray Peseiro addresses this because it almost cost us the game

Oga how far? Rufai failed to parry away for only one of the Denmark goals. I understand your criticism, but sometimes when a ball is dipping, swerving and bending, you just can't apply the right touch to get it to go where you want it to go. We just thank Baba that that rebound did not end up in our net! I have seen those happen before. Also hear you on the failure to anticipate rebounds from our team. An age old problem.

My guy ... Rufai failed to properly parry the 2nd and 4th goals against Denmark .. truth be told he was trying to clutch not parry but net effect was the same.

He did same against Argentina in 94

I do think Nwabali had enough time to parry that shot to the side. I am not saying its easy oh but that's what's required at this level

Actually you are right, sort of. Rufai parried the ball to the middle several times, but only one of those resulted in a goal. For the 4th goal he did parry it to the side, unfortunately there was a Danish player right there who passed it to another open teammate who scored.

Interestingly the great Schmeichel did the same thing a couple of times in that match, parrying the ball to the middle after stinging shots from Okocha and Ikpeba, unfortunately we didn’t take advantage.

Sometimes all a keeper can do is parry the ball and hope that his defenders are there to blast the ball away or shield it while he collects

[highbury]

Na men. You really sat down thinking about this eh?

[Coach]

The modern balls twist and turn like the Watsonian helixes attached to the rudder during an RAF Jubilee fly past. Yes, the ball should be directed away from danger, but the skill in doing so should not be overlooked.

[mcal]

The modern balls twist and turn like the Watsonian helixes attached to the rudder during an RAF Jubilee fly past. Yes, the ball should be directed away from danger, but the skill in doing so should not be overlooked.

...but where is the danger, when you have all your defenders in front of you.
Defenders on that play did not do their work to impede SA players running in for any rebound.
Just like it will done during regular penalty takes.