NIGERIA(2) VS ANGOLA(1) FT

[okidoki]

Nigeria has some talent but team-wise it is horrible. The big CD is solid. Atoluma has potential but rather clueless. Left back has potential. No 10 also

Ezenwa is world class

I think Ezenwa is really good, but his distribution is dreadful. In this era, you just don’t balloon the ball and gamble on opposition getting the ball back. Very good shot stopper, if he works on his distribution and crosses, we can then talk of world class.

[Enugu II]

Actually, Ikouwem was impressive particularly in the second half, IMHO. Of all the defenders he seems to me to be the one currently able to play at SE lovel. Yea, I see Eze dominating but he has a long way to go with playing possession soccer and bring the ball up via midfield. For me only Ikouwem and Ezenwa belong at the SE level. The rest, no.

The shooting up front is absurd. Just very bad to state the least. But I think this team is notches improved from what I saw in that opening game against Rwanda.

Eze is head-and-shoulders above every outfield player on this team...
He is the sole player to consistently acquit himself in EVERY game thus far (but not quite SE level IMHO).

You may be surprised that I do not disagree with you on Eze. However, he is very very rough. His first choice is always always to hoof the ball. Ikouwen play his first game today and in this one game he showed, IMHO, that he can play with a team that brings up the ball with ease. I would take him ahead of Eze if any of them is to be considered for the SE.

[Enugu II]

http://www.cafonline.com/en-US/NewsCent ... 8xLA%3d%3d

Total Man of the Match: Ikechukwu Vincent Ezenwa (Nigeria)

Reactions
Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Total Man of the Match)
I have to thank the team especially the coach who was very calm in the technical area pushing the team and believing that we will get the win. The performance was great because we continued to push and tried to get the goal after going down and we did just that in the last minute.
I'm happy with my performance and having Gernot Rohr here watching, I believe that will help me with the senior national team.

Salisu Yusuf (Head Coach, Nigeria)
Today's game was the most difficult for us in the tournament as we fought for 90 minutes against a good team. We never lost faith in our players because we were creating chances and the more you do that the chances of scoring are higher.
I'm so confident about Anthony Okpotu and we believe in him and he has been scoring despite missing some chances but he will be much better in the coming matches.
We never understimated Angola, they play good football and are a good team but the important thing was to win and we won.

Srdan Vasiljevic (Head Coach, Angola)
Football is sometimes not favourable. We scored and Nigeria equalized in the last minute before winning it in extra time. We thought it was enough to hold on for a win but it wasn't enough and we lost. I hoped to have a good result but this is football for you.
The tournament provides us with a lot of experience which will help us going forward because this is a tournament that gives great experience to our players.

[Flex Swift]

Libya have just beaten Congo on penalties .

[Gotti]

Libya have just beaten Congo on penalties .

Aside the Congolese Skipper/GK who ballooned his kick over the bar, all the PKs were top-notch...

[Tbite]

Nigeria has some talent but team-wise it is horrible. The big CD is solid. Atoluma has potential but rather clueless. Left back has potential. No 10 also

Ezenwa is world class

In relation to CHAN? Or world class in relation to De Gea, Courtois?

By any standard. He is a very good goalie. Whoever helped him get to this point deserves a lot of credit.

There are probably only 3 world class goal keepers in the world. If Ezenwa is one of them, then thats amazing stuff!

p.s-- I agree that he has improved.

Your bar is too high. World class means just that, world class. I.e. highest caliber in the world. Whatever that might be. If Akpeyi is the best or among the best in the world today then he is world class.

So to limit world class to only three players is folly imo. Should allow for at least 10 players. World class has NEVER been an absolute, it is a relative term.

So it is not about how good Ezenwa is in absolute terms but how good he is relative to everyone else in the professional class.

[ohenhen1]

Ezenwa is a good backup for Nigeria.

We need Enyeama back in goal.

[danfo driver]

Nigeria has some talent but team-wise it is horrible. The big CD is solid. Atoluma has potential but rather clueless. Left back has potential. No 10 also

Ezenwa is world class

In relation to CHAN? Or world class in relation to De Gea, Courtois?

By any standard. He is a very good goalie. Whoever helped him get to this point deserves a lot of credit.

There are probably only 3 world class goal keepers in the world. If Ezenwa is one of them, then thats amazing stuff!

p.s-- I agree that he has improved.

Your bar is too high. World class means just that, world class. I.e. highest caliber in the world. Whatever that might be. If Akpeyi is the best or among the best in the world today then he is world class.

So to limit world class to only three players is folly imo. Should allow for at least 10 players. World class has NEVER been an absolute, it is a relative term.

So it is not about how good Ezenwa is in absolute terms but how good he is relative to everyone else in the professional class.

Exactly! World class is a very high bar. Only the english throw that word around any how. World class has to do with consistency. Performing at the highest level on a consistent basis for 2-3-4 seasons. This separates players who have purple patches and those who actually perform for a sustained period of time.

De Gea, Neur and Courtois are world class. Who else? I see someone mentioning GiGi and Cech and I just laugh. please, come to the present day.

And I am sorry to break it to you, but I am not the one who "allows" players to be world class. Your performance at the highest level for a sustained period of time makes you world class.

[mystic]

Nigeria has some talent but team-wise it is horrible. The big CD is solid. Atoluma has potential but rather clueless. Left back has potential. No 10 also

Ezenwa is world class

I think Ezenwa is really good, but his distribution is dreadful. In this era, you just don’t balloon the ball and gamble on opposition getting the ball back. Very good shot stopper, if he works on his distribution and crosses, we can then talk of world class.

Very good observation. His kicks leave a lot to be desired. That aside, he was simply outstanding.

[Robbynice]

Ezenwa is a good backup for Nigeria.

We need Enyeama back in goal.

Ezenwa will most likely be the starter at the WC. I just do not see Enyeama fit enough to make the WC. Ezenwa has earned it right now. Lets call a spade a spade.

[Enugu II]

Ezenwa is a good backup for Nigeria.

We need Enyeama back in goal.

Ezenwa will most likely be the starter at the WC. I just do not see Enyeama fit enough to make the WC. Ezenwa has earned it right now. Lets call a spade a spade.

Robby,

Ol'boy it is not easy ooo! The saves Ezenwa made today were ridiculous! Kai, the one he did in the first half diving almost parallel to the bar to save after a defender's error. Then the two quick one and ones against an Angolan attacker. But can he do this again? He possibly can but today some of the saves were simply unreal.

I really was pissed when someone tried to blame him for the goal wondering why he came out. I can only believe the guy who attempted that blame was not watching the game.

[mystic]

Ezenwa is a good backup for Nigeria.

We need Enyeama back in goal.

Ezenwa will most likely be the starter at the WC. I just do not see Enyeama fit enough to make the WC. Ezenwa has earned it right now. Lets call a spade a spade.

Our starter at the Mundial is to be determined. As good as Ezenwa has been at CHAN, the competition for the starting goalkeeper position is still wide open.

[ohenhen1]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

[Enugu II]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

Uzoho has done nothing to show he is ahead of anyone. IMO, the only one that can arrive and be No.1 is Vince. The rest of them -- IUzoho, Akpeyi, Ezenwa -- have to prove it in the coming friendlies.

[bret- hart]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

Uzoho has done nothing to show he is ahead of anyone. IMO, the only one that can arrive and be No.1 is Vince. The rest of them -- IUzoho, Akpeyi, Ezenwa -- have to prove it in the coming friendlies.

Uzoho is better than Akpeyi

[Enugu II]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

Uzoho has done nothing to show he is ahead of anyone. IMO, the only one that can arrive and be No.1 is Vince. The rest of them -- IUzoho, Akpeyi, Ezenwa -- have to prove it in the coming friendlies.

Uzoho is better than Akpeyi

He has not proven it, that is the bottomline. We have seen Akpeyi several times and know what he brings to the table. We have seen Uzoho for all of 45 minutes when he was under very little threat. The jury is still out on him. We shall see about all of those guys during the upcoming friendlies. IMO, none of them has any claim for #1 or #2 or #3.

[icee]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

Did you watch Uzoho today? He left me scratching my head. I'll give a pass for now on judgement based on this one game

[Enugu II]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

Did you watch Uzoho today? He left me scratching my head. I'll give a pass for now on judgement based on this one game

icee,

TBH, I won't use that to judge him just as I won't use the error (v Argentina) to judge Akpeyi. Errors happen even to the best of them. What matters is what you do in a consistent basis for the team. IMO, none of these GKs have shown any consistent trait to be #1 except Vince. As for Uzoho, he has the best physical element but we have seen so little of him in GWG that I cannot make any conclusive evaluation of his worth until the upcoming friendlies.

[Undertaker]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

Uzoho has done nothing to show he is ahead of anyone. IMO, the only one that can arrive and be No.1 is Vince. The rest of them -- IUzoho, Akpeyi, Ezenwa -- have to prove it in the coming friendlies.

Uzoho is better than Akpeyi

Dude, you are better than Akpeyi ......... so you aren't say much

[mystic]

Ezenwa is a good backup for Nigeria.

We need Enyeama back in goal.

Ezenwa will most likely be the starter at the WC. I just do not see Enyeama fit enough to make the WC. Ezenwa has earned it right now. Lets call a spade a spade.

Robby,

Ol'boy it is not easy ooo! The saves Ezenwa made today were ridiculous! Kai, the one he did in the first half diving almost parallel to the bar to save after a defender's error. Then the two quick one and ones against an Angolan attacker. But can he do this again? He possibly can but today some of the saves were simply unreal.

I really was pissed when someone tried to blame him for the goal wondering why he came out. I can only believe the guy who attempted that blame was not watching the game.

His saves today (as good as they were) is what I have come to expect from him. Where I have issues with him is his judgement (both in terms of gauging high balls and decision making). And this is the area of his game that he needs to work on the most ahead of the Mundial.

[Enugu II]

Ezenwa is a good backup for Nigeria.

We need Enyeama back in goal.

Ezenwa will most likely be the starter at the WC. I just do not see Enyeama fit enough to make the WC. Ezenwa has earned it right now. Lets call a spade a spade.

Robby,

Ol'boy it is not easy ooo! The saves Ezenwa made today were ridiculous! Kai, the one he did in the first half diving almost parallel to the bar to save after a defender's error. Then the two quick one and ones against an Angolan attacker. But can he do this again? He possibly can but today some of the saves were simply unreal.

I really was pissed when someone tried to blame him for the goal wondering why he came out. I can only believe the guy who attempted that blame was not watching the game.

His saves today (as good as they were) is what I have come to expect from him. Where I have issues with him is his judgement (both in terms of gauging high balls and decision making). And this is the area of his game that he needs to work on the most ahead of the Mundial.

Mystic,

Agreed as those were the issues in the Algeria/Zambia games. However, today he did well with the crosses and had a heck of an all round game.

[mcal]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

Uzoho has done nothing to show he is ahead of anyone. IMO, the only one that can arrive and be No.1 is Vince. The rest of them -- IUzoho, Akpeyi, Ezenwa -- have to prove it in the coming friendlies.

...has Ezenwa not proven his mettle during the qualifiers, and still proving at CHAN?

[mcal]

Uzoho is ahead of Ezenwa.

...agree, he plays for oyinbo club, in oyinbo land, rubs shoulder with oyinbo coaches. While Ezenwa deal with inferior naira, coaches and local pitches