Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

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Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by deanotito »

1994: 7th youngest (25.7 years)

1998: N/A (but we were probably not one of the youngest given the continuity from 94 to 98)

2002: N/A (but I'll be willing to bet we were the youngest given what Onigbinde did)

2010: 5th youngest (25.9 years)

2014: 2nd youngest (25.8 years)

2018: TBD, but using the qualifiers, we're the youngest team qualified at 24.9 years

This essentially means we're constantly in rebuilding mode, and though we usually get praised about the relative age, its actually a pretty bad thing to be consistently one of the youngest teams IMO. We never really mature our teams, and we're always tearing them down to rebuild.

Hopefully, this time its different
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by deanotito »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by deanotito »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
Yes, but if we were doing it right, we would be doing it in cycles. You would go from 24 to 26/27 to 29 and back to 26/27 ....constantly sitting at 24/25 means you're always tearing down. 1998 was the only time we did it right, it seems...We had a good shot of continuing in 2002, but the powers decided to flex muscle and disband the team.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

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Youngest team with many retiring or finished by 30 odd.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by metalalloy »

deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
Yes, but if we were doing it right, we would be doing it in cycles. You would go from 24 to 26/27 to 29 and back to 26/27 ....constantly sitting at 24/25 means you're always tearing down. 1998 was the only time we did it right, it seems...We had a good shot of continuing in 2002, but the powers decided to flex muscle and disband the team.
Nigeria average age for the pas 3 world cups

2010: 25.78
2014: 25.26
2018: 24.9 (qualifiers)


Germany (the next youngest team) average age for the past 3 wc

2010: 24.96
2014: 25.78
2018: 25.7 (qualifiers)

Is Germany cheating also since their average age progression is roughly about the same as ours and they are constantly sitting at 24/25 yrs old? FYI the oldest teams in the 2018 qualifiers are Panama (29.4 years) Iceland (29.0), and Costa Rica (29.0). What do those three teams have in common? a limited pool of players to choose from. Age cheating is NOT the primary reason why we have young teams in the world cup. It is lack of continuity in our coaching, a large turnover due to a larger pool of players to select from, and relative success in youth tourneys and their rushed progression to the senior ranks.


http://www.thefifaworldcups.com/teams/TEAMS.html
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=201 ... 21426.html

Older Not Always Better at FIFA World Cup
https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data- ... -world-cup
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by deanotito »

metalalloy wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
Yes, but if we were doing it right, we would be doing it in cycles. You would go from 24 to 26/27 to 29 and back to 26/27 ....constantly sitting at 24/25 means you're always tearing down. 1998 was the only time we did it right, it seems...We had a good shot of continuing in 2002, but the powers decided to flex muscle and disband the team.
Nigeria average age for the pas 3 world cups

2010: 25.78
2014: 25.26
2018: 24.9 (qualifiers)


Germany (the next youngest team) average age for the past 3 wc

2010: 24.96
2014: 25.78
2018: 25.7 (qualifiers)

Is Germany cheating also since their average age progression is roughly about the same as ours and they are constantly sitting at 24/25 yrs old? FYI the oldest teams in the 2018 qualifiers are Panama (29.4 years) Iceland (29.0), and Costa Rica (29.0). What do those three teams have in common? a limited pool of players to choose from. Age cheating is NOT the primary reason why we have young teams in the world cup. It is lack of continuity in our coaching, a large turnover due to a larger pool of players to select from, and relative success in youth tourneys and their rushed progression to the senior ranks.


http://www.thefifaworldcups.com/teams/TEAMS.html
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=201 ... 21426.html

Older Not Always Better at FIFA World Cup
https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data- ... -world-cup
Your stats are off, but if you look closely, you see a growth on the average age of the German team (can’t find 2006 Data)

Germany 2014: 26.3
Germany 2010: 25

Also, I tried not to make this an age beating thread, and made the simplifying assumption that the ages of the Nigerian players are credible. For the purposes of this discussion, it really doesn’t matter if they are credible or not as age is a corollary for experience/exposure. So our “25” year olds are probably as developed as German 21-22 year olds.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by pajimoh »

Maybe this age thing is not as bad as we make out? Maybe we are tainting everyone because its Nigeria.
It would be interesting to know some of the so called age cheats and how many tournaments they played?
Kanu was accused of being a cheat. Even when he was playing, they called him old. Either in Nigeria, we've cracked the age old problem of allowing players to play on even in their 50's while pretending to be in their 30's.
Many are shocked Ogbeche is still playing and I'm he's been accused of age cheating along the line.
Some clearly age cheat, but.........
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by metalalloy »

deanotito wrote:
Your stats are off, but if you look closely, you see a growth on the average age of the German team (can’t find 2006 Data)

Germany 2014: 26.3
Germany 2010: 25

Also, I tried not to make this an age beating thread, and made the simplifying assumption that the ages of the Nigerian players are credible. For the purposes of this discussion, it really doesn’t matter if they are credible or not as age is a corollary for experience/exposure. So our “25” year olds are probably as developed as German 21-22 year olds.
I question the 26.3 figure that you cite for Germany for 2014. The correct figure is under 26. Check out these links:
Of the twelve favored teams, only four of the European squads in Belgium (25.2), Germany (25.9), England (26.0), and the Netherlands (26.0) have an average age under 26.5
http://thebiglead.com/2014/06/03/the-ag ... world-cup/

Also see the chart in the link from the Guardian UK that lists Germany's average age for the 2014 WC as 25.9
https://www.theguardian.com/football/da ... age-height

Finally, if you go on wikipedia and calculate the average age yourself, you will come up with 25.7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA ... ds#Germany

So, the German average age in 2014 was definitely not 26.3, they have, on average, paraded 25 year olds for the past few world cups. Even if we grant to the slight increase in age from 25 to 25.9, how do you explain the reduction in the average age for the 2018 German squad that participated in the qualifiers? Are they rebuilding? why isn't the progression increasing according to the expected pattern you set above in your response to Ayo ( 24 to 26/27 to 29) occurring? Germany is a baseline we all agree most likely isn't cheating, yet their squads are remaining stagnant at a 24-25 average age for their WC squads.

Based off my calculation from the ages listed on wikipedia, the average age for Germany for 2006, was 26.39, if that is accurate, there was a decline from 2006 to 2010.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA ... ds#Germany
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He says that we are currently "brainwashed" into believing that the Premier League is the best competition in the world, and that we are now a long way off dominating the Champions League again.
Gary Neville: Mirror: 12/23/14

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Scholes. UK Guardian 9/6/16
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by metalalloy »

pajimoh wrote:Maybe this age thing is not as bad as we make out? Maybe we are tainting everyone because its Nigeria.
It would be interesting to know some of the so called age cheats and how many tournaments they played?
Kanu was accused of being a cheat. Even when he was playing, they called him old. Either in Nigeria, we've cracked the age old problem of allowing players to play on even in their 50's while pretending to be in their 30's.
Many are shocked Ogbeche is still playing and I'm he's been accused of age cheating along the line.
Some clearly age cheat, but.........
I went to school with Ogbeche. He is most certainly NOT 33. Kudos to him for still being able to compete at the level that he currently is playing.
We have been brainwashed by the Premier League that it's the best in the world. Nonsense. It's the best brand
Roy Keane: ITV 02/25/14

He says that we are currently "brainwashed" into believing that the Premier League is the best competition in the world, and that we are now a long way off dominating the Champions League again.
Gary Neville: Mirror: 12/23/14

I think Spain’s by far the best league.
Scholes. UK Guardian 9/6/16
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Eaglezbeak »

deanotito wrote:1994: 7th youngest (25.7 years)

1998: N/A (but we were probably not one of the youngest given the continuity from 94 to 98)

2002: N/A (but I'll be willing to bet we were the youngest given what Onigbinde did)

2010: 5th youngest (25.9 years)

2014: 2nd youngest (25.8 years)

2018: TBD, but using the qualifiers, we're the youngest team qualified at 24.9 years

This essentially means we're constantly in rebuilding mode, and though we usually get praised about the relative age, its actually a pretty bad thing to be consistently one of the youngest teams IMO. We never really mature our teams, and we're always tearing them down to rebuild.

Hopefully, this time its different
That’s probably because we never keep the same coach at times Nigeria have hired a coach a few months before the tournament and that coach would quit straight after getting knocked out!
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Orion »

The age thing is real and not just down to age cheating. We have a very high turnover because Europe is chewing up most of our promising players. They start off very promising and even make it to the SE in their late teens or early 20s. Then they start this merry go round of one loan spell to another in distant lands, unfamiliar places where they probably can't even speak the language, have no friends and family for support, and maybe have to deal with the prejudice and racism that is prevalent in Europe. This lack of stability will negatively affect a player's development. It would take the very strong-willed, super focused and ambitious player to get through all of that disruption and get to their full potential. Many don't make it and hence drop off from the SE. As much as we think Europe helps our players get better (i.e. better training facilities and a more professional environment) it also chews up a lot of players that would have otherwise grown to greater heights if they had a more stable environment.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

Nigeria takes 29 year olds to the World Cup who masquerade as 21 year olds. To make matters worse, because they have not had the necessary exposure and coaching from a tender age, their development is at the level of a 22 year old.

In four years time when they should be in their primes, the body can no longer cope. To break the logjam, we need to go to Russia 2018 with a genuinely young squad that can develop over the next four years. Let these boys come into their prime under Rohr.

Over the long term, we simply have to address age cheating. We should stop deluding ourselves.

A few years ago, we took a group of U17 Nigerian diasporans in the UK to go and play the Golden Eaglets in Abuja. The UK boys were totally out physicalled in that match. Hmmmm. Ask yourselves who should be more physically developed, who gets better nutrition and who should have the edge in terms of fitness.

I just love Father Tiko. In 1975, he went to the National Sports Festival in Lagos and selected the best kids he could find. It is no surprise that his players were still in the thick of it in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by chief nfachairman »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
And trust me, majority of the "youngsters" in the current SE are iver 28! Except for the likes of iwobi, ebuehi and co who pretty much have records properly kept by the government.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

chief nfachairman wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
And trust me, majority of the "youngsters" in the current SE are iver 28! Except for the likes of iwobi, ebuehi and co who pretty much have records properly kept by the government.
More reason for you to drop your opposition to diasporan players. Those who ages we can be 100% certain of include:

Tyrone Ebuehi
Ola Aina
Brian Idowu
William Ekong
Leon Balogun
Victor Moses
Alex Iwobi
Denis Bonaventure
Cyriel Dessers
Noah Bazee

I would like to add Akpoguma and Uduokhai to the squad too, so we know exactly what we are dealing with. At least with these players, you can plan for the future.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by wanaj0 »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
chief nfachairman wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
And trust me, majority of the "youngsters" in the current SE are iver 28! Except for the likes of iwobi, ebuehi and co who pretty much have records properly kept by the government.
More reason for you to drop your opposition to diasporan players. Those who ages we can be 100% certain of include:

Tyrone Ebuehi
Ola Aina
Brian Idowu
William Ekong
Leon Balogun
Victor Moses
Alex Iwobi
Denis Bonaventure
Cyriel Dessers
Noah Bazee

I would like to add Akpoguma and Uduokhai to the squad too, so we know exactly what we are dealing with. At least with these players, you can plan for the future.
SE is not an age grade tournament so not sure why selection should be based on age!

Use the age grade tournaments to plan for the future.
“We do not have natural disasters in Nigeria, the only disaster we have is human beings,”
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

wanaj0 wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
chief nfachairman wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
And trust me, majority of the "youngsters" in the current SE are iver 28! Except for the likes of iwobi, ebuehi and co who pretty much have records properly kept by the government.
More reason for you to drop your opposition to diasporan players. Those who ages we can be 100% certain of include:

Tyrone Ebuehi
Ola Aina
Brian Idowu
William Ekong
Leon Balogun
Victor Moses
Alex Iwobi
Denis Bonaventure
Cyriel Dessers
Noah Bazee

I would like to add Akpoguma and Uduokhai to the squad too, so we know exactly what we are dealing with. At least with these players, you can plan for the future.
SE is not an age grade tournament so not sure why selection should be based on age!

Use the age grade tournaments to plan for the future.
You miss my point. When you have a 34 year old performing well in qualifiers, there is a risk he may be washed up by the time the World cup comes along.

If you look at the most successful teams in world football, they build their teams up over years. Father Tiko, Otto Gloria and Clemence Westerhoff did this very successfully. I like the fact that Gernot Rohr is going for youth. Many of these players will come into their own next June and will be at their peaks come Qatar 2022.

Age is a vital factor in football, especially in today's game where pace and fitness are key. Why do you think Wayne Rooney is no longer playing for England?
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Tbite »

chief nfachairman wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
And trust me, majority of the "youngsters" in the current SE are iver 28! Except for the likes of iwobi, ebuehi and co who pretty much have records properly kept by the government.
Where does all this speculation come from? We know for a fact that Iheanacho is genuinely young, why didn't you mention him as well. Why the bias? AND BTW it is possible to falsify records in the West.
Buhari, whose two terms thankfully ground to a constitutional halt in May. (One thing both democracies have going for them is that their leaders, however bad, have only two terms to swing the wrecking ball.) Under Buhari, growth per head also plunged to 0. An economic agenda drawn from the dusty pages of a 1970s protectionist handbook failed to do the trick. Despite Buhari’s promise to tame terrorism and criminality, violence flourished. Despite his reputation for probity, corruption swirled. FT
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

Tbite wrote:
chief nfachairman wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
deanotito wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:(1) Spot on analysis
(2) As you can see age cheating has a way of catching up with you eventually
(3) You can only cheat nature so far
(4) There is only only one antidote and that is to use kids so they mature
(5) What generally happens is that our “youngsters” are past it in fours years time
(6) I have always said that Father Tiko laid the foundations for Nigeria’s football by clearing out the old guard that won the All African Games football Gold in 1973 and rebut the Eagles with kids
(7) If you look at the team that won the Nations Cup in 1980, they were mainly Father Tiko’s boys from 1973 - Chukwu, Lawal, Odegbami, Odiye, Adokie, Atuegbu, etc
(8) Clemence Westerhoff was equally brave bringing in kids like Oliseh, Okocha, Amokachi, etc
(9) Rohr appears to be going down this route with Uzoho, Ebuehi, Awaziem, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Onyekuru, Aina, etc
(10) What we need to do is blood these boys and keep them together until 2022 and see them blossom
I agree that the ages are probably not credible (especially in the 2002-2014 time frame), but even that is problematic. A few months ago, I spent some time arguing on here on why age cheating was so destructive to our senior national team, and I don't fancy rehashing it...but age cheating or not, we are clearly always "rebuilding"...and that shows a lack of focus.
When you go to the World Cup with 29 year olds, it is inevitable that you will have to rebuild over the next four years. The only antidote is to go to the World Cup with the bulk of your squad being 24 and under.
And trust me, majority of the "youngsters" in the current SE are iver 28! Except for the likes of iwobi, ebuehi and co who pretty much have records properly kept by the government.
Where does all this speculation come from? We know for a fact that Iheanacho is genuinely young, why didn't you mention him as well. Why the bias? AND BTW it is possible to falsify records in the West.
Iheanacho may be young but is he 21 as he claims he is?
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

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Orion wrote:The age thing is real and not just down to age cheating. We have a very high turnover because Europe is chewing up most of our promising players. They start off very promising and even make it to the SE in their late teens or early 20s. Then they start this merry go round of one loan spell to another in distant lands, unfamiliar places where they probably can't even speak the language, have no friends and family for support, and maybe have to deal with the prejudice and racism that is prevalent in Europe. This lack of stability will negatively affect a player's development. It would take the very strong-willed, super focused and ambitious player to get through all of that disruption and get to their full potential. Many don't make it and hence drop off from the SE. As much as we think Europe helps our players get better (i.e. better training facilities and a more professional environment) it also chews up a lot of players that would have otherwise grown to greater heights if they had a more stable environment.
:agree:
We have been brainwashed by the Premier League that it's the best in the world. Nonsense. It's the best brand
Roy Keane: ITV 02/25/14

He says that we are currently "brainwashed" into believing that the Premier League is the best competition in the world, and that we are now a long way off dominating the Champions League again.
Gary Neville: Mirror: 12/23/14

I think Spain’s by far the best league.
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Re: Our World Cups:NIGERIA ALWAYS ONE THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

metalalloy wrote:
Orion wrote:The age thing is real and not just down to age cheating. We have a very high turnover because Europe is chewing up most of our promising players. They start off very promising and even make it to the SE in their late teens or early 20s. Then they start this merry go round of one loan spell to another in distant lands, unfamiliar places where they probably can't even speak the language, have no friends and family for support, and maybe have to deal with the prejudice and racism that is prevalent in Europe. This lack of stability will negatively affect a player's development. It would take the very strong-willed, super focused and ambitious player to get through all of that disruption and get to their full potential. Many don't make it and hence drop off from the SE. As much as we think Europe helps our players get better (i.e. better training facilities and a more professional environment) it also chews up a lot of players that would have otherwise grown to greater heights if they had a more stable environment.
:agree:
Name one Nigerian player that has developed better by not moving to Europe at an early age.

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