Cybereagles

Ossie Ardiles tips Super Eagles to be World Cup dark horses as NFF picks Pyatigorsk as Nigeria's base camp - See more at: https://goo.gl/qzmPUH

Hahaha now the rooster has no hiding place! When everyone starts to sing your praise,it is time to go into hiding....

oloye wrote:Hahaha now the rooster has no hiding place! When everyone starts to sing your praise,it is time to go into hiding....

Our secret is out oooooo. personally, I like the fact that we are getting some respect, so it is now up to us to live with the pressure and deliver.

Teams like Brazil, Germany, Spain, France, etc have no hiding place but they always deliver. we need to imbibe that wining mentality.

oloye wrote:Hahaha now the rooster has no hiding place! When everyone starts to sing your praise,it is time to go into hiding....

The tactics of heaping pressure on your opponents and hope they crumble under it

The Zambia home game was where this team grew up and showed it can handle pressure.

Despite having done well throughout the campaign, the team suddenly realized that Zambia had blown the group open again with their home and away victory over Algeria. The Zambia game in Uyo suddenly became one in which Zambia could take the initiative in the group, and believe me, Zambia came prepared, with 2 planeload of supporters as well.

A few days to the match, Mikel said 'We respect Zambia, but it is time to wrap this up. That was putting pressure on your team, & it was also a call to action. It was a tight game, but the boys delivered.

Once we sort out the GK position, it'll take a lot to beat this team.

Fasten your belts for an exciting ride folks.

Ayo Akinfe wrote:

oloye wrote:Hahaha now the rooster has no hiding place! When everyone starts to sing your praise,it is time to go into hiding....

Our secret is out oooooo. personally, I like the fact that we are getting some respect, so it is now up to us to live with the pressure and deliver.

Teams like Brazil, Germany, Spain, France, etc have no hiding place but they always deliver. we need to imbibe that wining mentality.

Deg, lets tell all our players to skip any televised game their club is involved in so we can keep our 'secret'....

truetalk wrote:The Zambia home game was where this team grew up and showed it can handle pressure.

Despite having done well throughout the campaign, the team suddenly realized that Zambia had blown the group open again with their home and away victory over Algeria. The Zambia game in Uyo suddenly became one in which Zambia could take the initiative in the group, and believe me, Zambia came prepared, with 2 planeload of supporters as well.

A few days to the match, Mikel said 'We respect Zambia, but it is time to wrap this up. That was putting pressure on your team, & it was also a call to action. It was a tight game, but the boys delivered.

Once we sort out the GK position, it'll take a lot to beat this team.

Fasten your belts for an exciting ride folks.

Pressure pass pressure. He's tipping us for semi finals of a world cup when we are in the same group as them along with two other decent teams. If you start believing the hype then you better have a proper grounding to handle it.

I don't believe it's helpful for us to go in expecting teams to underestimate us. Our team need to assume that teams will respect them so that we understand that each victory will be the result of a careful plan based on the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent. This will see them get stronger and better as the tournament progress and it will be much better than winning by surprise. Surprises will wean in the later stages of the tournament progresses teams would have to respect anyone they face. Nigeria vs. Denmark in the 1998 world cup is case in point.

kzz5joa wrote:I don't believe it's helpful for us to go in expecting teams to underestimate us. Our team need to assume that teams will respect them so that we understand that each victory will be the result of a careful plan based on the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent. This will see them get stronger and better as the tournament progress and it will be much better than winning by surprise. Surprises will wean in the later stages of the tournament progresses teams would have to respect anyone they face. Nigeria vs. Denmark in the 1998 world cup is case in point.

The Denmark game is a good example of how teams will deal with you once they figure you out. If you think that our team can handle this pressure being heaped on it....then i will simply say see you in Russia

It is better to be under estimated than to have all teams gunning for you!

oloye wrote:

kzz5joa wrote:I don't believe it's helpful for us to go in expecting teams to underestimate us. Our team need to assume that teams will respect them so that we understand that each victory will be the result of a careful plan based on the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent. This will see them get stronger and better as the tournament progress and it will be much better than winning by surprise. Surprises will wean in the later stages of the tournament progresses teams would have to respect anyone they face. Nigeria vs. Denmark in the 1998 world cup is case in point.

The Denmark game is a good example of how teams will deal with you once they figure you out. If you think that our team can handle this pressure being heaped on it....then i will simply say see you in Russia

It is better to be under estimated than to have all teams gunning for you!

Oloye, after that result in Krasnodar, everyone will be gunning for us. We can only fly below the radar as you suggested by playing poorly in friendlies.

I remember Cameroon going into the 2002 WC, they held an impressive record having won the ANC that year, and during the pre WC preparations all eyes were on them. I still remember a commentator drooling all over them in their last friendly when the Lions were playing samba and physical football combined, sending passes left and right. Ireland was in the same group, all my colleagues in the office were shitting in their pants. Come WC, Cameroon could only beat Saudi Arabia in their group. They could not even beat Ireland who matched them easily in the physical department.

Stay under the radar and you will be fine. There is a reason team deflects such attention away from themselves, it has a way of putting you under pressure and making other teams sit up when facing you!

oloye wrote:

kzz5joa wrote:I don't believe it's helpful for us to go in expecting teams to underestimate us. Our team need to assume that teams will respect them so that we understand that each victory will be the result of a careful plan based on the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent. This will see them get stronger and better as the tournament progress and it will be much better than winning by surprise. Surprises will wean in the later stages of the tournament progresses teams would have to respect anyone they face. Nigeria vs. Denmark in the 1998 world cup is case in point.

The Denmark game is a good example of how teams will deal with you once they figure you out. If you think that our team can handle this pressure being heaped on it....then i will simply say see you in Russia

It is better to be under estimated than to have all teams gunning for you!

To rely on underestimation means we are not good enough and will only go so far. We need to start learning how to figure teams out now so we become proficient at it. This is one of the reasons I so much enjoyed the Argentina friendly. The team had to go back to brainstorm on how to break down Argentina - the second half bears witness to the success of it. Doing this from the early stages can only mean we'll be better at it by the later stages. It'll help to shape our players thinking so they learn to capitalize on the opponents weaknesses thus making us more clinical. In 1998, we surprised Spain but Denmark was well prepared for us. We were clueless and frustrated against a well prepared and less athletic Denmark team. What I'm saying is that let us be the prepared team in this case. Our natural athletic abilities will take care of the rest for us. In the second half of the friendly, we blitzed Argentina so much that it almost seemed that every counter-attack would result in a goal. In contrast, Argentina was contained and neutralized because we figured them out. Can we at least approach the world cup in this way? I will live with the result even if we don't make it out of the group stages. I'll take that over the false hope that sees us in the second round only to get easily conquered by a "Denmark".

kzz5joa wrote:

oloye wrote:

kzz5joa wrote:I don't believe it's helpful for us to go in expecting teams to underestimate us. Our team need to assume that teams will respect them so that we understand that each victory will be the result of a careful plan based on the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent. This will see them get stronger and better as the tournament progress and it will be much better than winning by surprise. Surprises will wean in the later stages of the tournament progresses teams would have to respect anyone they face. Nigeria vs. Denmark in the 1998 world cup is case in point.

The Denmark game is a good example of how teams will deal with you once they figure you out. If you think that our team can handle this pressure being heaped on it....then i will simply say see you in Russia

It is better to be under estimated than to have all teams gunning for you!

To rely on underestimation means we are not good enough and will only go so far. We need to start learning how to figure teams out now so we become proficient at it. This is one of the reasons I so much enjoyed the Argentina friendly. The team had to go back to brainstorm on how to break down Argentina - the second half bears witness to the success of it. Doing this from the early stages can only mean we'll be better at it by the later stages. It'll help to shape our players thinking so they learn to capitalize on the opponents weaknesses thus making us more clinical. In 1998, we surprised Spain but Denmark was well prepared for us. We were clueless and frustrated against a well prepared and less athletic Denmark team. What I'm saying is that let us be the prepared team in this case. Our natural athletic abilities will take care of the rest for us. In the second half of the friendly, we blitzed Argentina so much that it almost seemed that every counter-attack would result in a goal. In contrast, Argentina was contained and neutralized because we figured them out. Can we at least approach the world cup in this way? I will live with the result even if we don't make it out of the group stages. I'll take that over the false hope that sees us in the second round only to get easily conquered by a "Denmark".

Nobody is asking anyone to rely on underestimation....it is just one of the tools that is available in sports psychology. There is no point waving big biceps when you are still trying to life decent weights! It is a tool that works and will always work when managed carefully. Even the best teams in the world still try to use it to take away pressure from themselves.

oloye wrote:

kzz5joa wrote:

oloye wrote:

kzz5joa wrote:I don't believe it's helpful for us to go in expecting teams to underestimate us. Our team need to assume that teams will respect them so that we understand that each victory will be the result of a careful plan based on the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent. This will see them get stronger and better as the tournament progress and it will be much better than winning by surprise. Surprises will wean in the later stages of the tournament progresses teams would have to respect anyone they face. Nigeria vs. Denmark in the 1998 world cup is case in point.

The Denmark game is a good example of how teams will deal with you once they figure you out. If you think that our team can handle this pressure being heaped on it....then i will simply say see you in Russia

It is better to be under estimated than to have all teams gunning for you!

To rely on underestimation means we are not good enough and will only go so far. We need to start learning how to figure teams out now so we become proficient at it. This is one of the reasons I so much enjoyed the Argentina friendly. The team had to go back to brainstorm on how to break down Argentina - the second half bears witness to the success of it. Doing this from the early stages can only mean we'll be better at it by the later stages. It'll help to shape our players thinking so they learn to capitalize on the opponents weaknesses thus making us more clinical. In 1998, we surprised Spain but Denmark was well prepared for us. We were clueless and frustrated against a well prepared and less athletic Denmark team. What I'm saying is that let us be the prepared team in this case. Our natural athletic abilities will take care of the rest for us. In the second half of the friendly, we blitzed Argentina so much that it almost seemed that every counter-attack would result in a goal. In contrast, Argentina was contained and neutralized because we figured them out. Can we at least approach the world cup in this way? I will live with the result even if we don't make it out of the group stages. I'll take that over the false hope that sees us in the second round only to get easily conquered by a "Denmark".

Nobody is asking anyone to rely on underestimation....it is just one of the tools that is available in sports psychology. There is no point waving big biceps when you are still trying to lift decent weights! It is a tool that works and will always work when managed carefully. Even the best teams in the world still try to use it to take away pressure from themselves.

I agree on that. We don't need to say much - just put on the hard hat and get to work. I recall Amokachi proudly boasting in 1998 that they would score 10 goals if the opponent scored 9. Definitely no need for that. As long as we are prepared, I don't care what teams think of us.

Only way we can rely on underestimation is if we play poorly and have poor friendly results leading up to the WC like in 1998, if we do well in our WC prep there is no hiding in this digital age, people will know what we are about and come up with schemes to stop us, its up to us to show what we got.

Oloye is right, I remember Cameroon was feared prior to the 2002 WC. They had an impressive set of results going for them including playing a 1-1 draw with reigning world and European champions France in Paris. I remember their final warm-up game where they toyed with England and could have become the first African team to beat England. England equalised in injury time through Michael Owen because Cameroon made a lot of subs, The likes of Geremi, Lauren, Etoo, Mboma etc were on fire. Come the WC, it was an underwhelming performance by the Lions.

kzz5joa wrote:

oloye wrote: Nobody is asking anyone to rely on underestimation....it is just one of the tools that is available in sports psychology. There is no point waving big biceps when you are still trying to lift decent weights! It is a tool that works and will always work when managed carefully. Even the best teams in the world still try to use it to take away pressure from themselves.

I agree on that. We don't need to say much - just put on the hard hat and get to work. I recall Amokachi proudly boasting in 1998 that they would score 10 goals if the opponent scored 9. Definitely no need for that. As long as we are prepared, I don't care what teams think of us.

That, brother, is the KOKO of the matter!

Ayo Akinfe wrote:Ossie Ardiles tips Super Eagles to be World Cup dark horses as NFF picks Pyatigorsk as Nigeria's base camp - See more at: https://goo.gl/qzmPUH

Chief Ayo: This your "see more at ..." is getting out of hand. Why don't you post the article here (in our forum) instead of referring us to your Site or blog all the time?

Dammy wrote:Oloye is right, I remember Cameroon was feared prior to the 2002 WC. They had an impressive set of results going for them including playing a 1-1 draw with reigning world and European champions France in Paris. I remember their final warm-up game where they toyed with England and could have become the first African team to beat England. England equalised in injury time through Michael Owen because Cameroon made a lot of subs, The likes of Geremi, Lauren, Etoo, Mboma etc were on fire. Come the WC, it was an underwhelming performance by the Lions.

It was Robbie Fowler who equalised for England with an injury time header.

Did he tip us as "dark horses" because we are black? Why not "white horses"? Just saying....

truetalk wrote:The Zambia home game was where this team grew up and showed it can handle pressure.

Despite having done well throughout the campaign, the team suddenly realized that Zambia had blown the group open again with their home and away victory over Algeria. The Zambia game in Uyo suddenly became one in which Zambia could take the initiative in the group, and believe me, Zambia came prepared, with 2 planeload of supporters as well.

A few days to the match, Mikel said 'We respect Zambia, but it is time to wrap this up. That was putting pressure on your team, & it was also a call to action. It was a tight game, but the boys delivered.

Once we sort out the GK position, it'll take a lot to beat this team.

Fasten your belts for an exciting ride folks.

... for some reason, I believe we will BEAT CROATIA and TOP THE GROUP. Please let no one ask me how or why, but that is what I believe or know.

All this big, bog grammar wey Oloye dey blow get as e be. Growing up, Brazil was always the favourite for every World Cup. Everyone knew who they were, what they could do and was waiting in line for them.

Brazil no send anybody message. Come the big dance, they will show you pepper, no matter how well you research them. Same goes for Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Argentina, Holland, etc. If we want to join this kind of illustrious company, we need learn to handle being in the spotlight.

Nigeria is not an "underdog nation." By our very mature, we are a proud people, who like the limelight and thrive on facing any challenges. Underdogs do not win World Cups, only nations that scare and terrify their opponents do!

pajimoh wrote:

truetalk wrote:The Zambia home game was where this team grew up and showed it can handle pressure.

Despite having done well throughout the campaign, the team suddenly realized that Zambia had blown the group open again with their home and away victory over Algeria. The Zambia game in Uyo suddenly became one in which Zambia could take the initiative in the group, and believe me, Zambia came prepared, with 2 planeload of supporters as well.

A few days to the match, Mikel said 'We respect Zambia, but it is time to wrap this up. That was putting pressure on your team, & it was also a call to action. It was a tight game, but the boys delivered.

Once we sort out the GK position, it'll take a lot to beat this team.

Fasten your belts for an exciting ride folks.

Pressure pass pressure. He's tipping us for semi finals of a world cup when we are in the same group as them along with two other decent teams. If you start believing the hype then you better have a proper grounding to handle it.

Like I have said several times before, all these people praising us are only being diplomatic. The same way our NFF personnel would have been if interviewed. I believe deep down in their minds, they are smiling and salivating about their guaranteed three (3) points when they play Nigeria. To me, they are REALLY in a DEEP and HOT SOUP because we will win the group - that's all.