Croatia had one shot on goal in 90 minutes of play

[Odas]

and that was their penalty.

And they still won. Absolutely unacceptable.

I say they were not better, they were just LUCKY and in life, that's all we NEED - luck!

[Odas]

I
1 shot on goal and they won by 2 goals.

Mandzukic's shot that was deflected in by Etebo was going wide, and so does not count as a shot on goal.

... and hence an "own goal (OG).

[Waffiman]

You don't need to play well to beat CAF teams at a WC.


CAF football situationally is horrendous, beyond naive. You play a CAF NT at the WC, just sit back, relax, defend reasonably well and sooner or later be it Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, CIV etc the CAF side will implode.

This what is really frustrating. We have all lost to teams that did not need to play to beat us. They did the basics right and waited for us to make the mistakes by failing to do the basics.

[airwolex]

Tunisian Gonner and Zee (in previous threads) have said it all.

Nigerian football has somewhat changed over the past few years. We always had a bit of a lethargic side, but it was tempered by moments of explosive brilliance. Now we sleep walk through the first half like football cowards (like Zee) says and just flicker for bits and pieces in the second half.

A solid Euro team would love this kind of game because they can be cautious too and just play the percentages. They are way better at set pieces so they just bide their time knowing that if they have 4 or 5 of them they will score.

[kolinzo]

That’s what I have been saying. We matched them toe to toe but was just “UNLUCKY” how many times do we see what ekong did today in Europe football and referee not blowing?? First and second goal were unlucky let’s just support the boys and hope for the best

You are making lots of sense here. The game was balanced and boiled down to the fact that the Croats were more experienced, seasoned and most of all lucky. Wished majority of Nigerians could imbibe your spirit and see this WC as a stepping stone to a brighter future for the National Team...

I no talk am?? SMH.

Staff Serg, so you are assuming that in the future these same guys will be good to play in the future WC? No sir!! I have seen this movie far too many times. There is nothing bright about the future of the National team. Absolutely nothing!

Moral victory again!

[kolinzo]

You don't need to play well to beat CAF teams at a WC.


CAF football situationally is horrendous, beyond naive. You play a CAF NT at the WC, just sit back, relax, defend reasonably well and sooner or later be it Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, CIV etc the CAF side will implode.

This what is really frustrating. We have all lost to teams that did not need to play to beat us. They did the basics right and waited for us to make the mistakes by failing to do the basics.

Both of you have just elaborated on classic definition of Naivety!

[Waffiman]

You don't need to play well to beat CAF teams at a WC.


CAF football situationally is horrendous, beyond naive. You play a CAF NT at the WC, just sit back, relax, defend reasonably well and sooner or later be it Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, CIV etc the CAF side will implode.

This what is really frustrating. We have all lost to teams that did not need to play to beat us. They did the basics right and waited for us to make the mistakes by failing to do the basics.

Both of you have just elaborated on classic definition of Naivety!

Naivity involves showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement. Our first goal came from the near or front post defender missing the first header. The man defending there was Ighalo. There is nothing naive about Ighalo, he did this job week in and out when he was at Watford. The reason he lost out was not due to nativity, he was double teamed in what looked like a foul, and consequently, he was out muscled.

Was Ekong naive? I don't think so, I have seen defenders do worse, you will see defenders do worse in this WC and get away with it. Ekong's mistake was not due to naivity, he is an experienced pro.

There is a good case that our defending at corner kicks needs improved organisation. When we had Ikpeme, we had a keeper who organised and led the troops, his leadership is sorely missed. We now have a young 19 year old goalie, who is not at his confident best, so he does not yet have the personality to give orders at set piece defending.

[wale1974]

How many shots at goal from Naija?

Please help me ask my people o................How are we supposed to win by passing sideways and crossing aimlessly into a back line with tall experienced defenders.

[wale1974]

The only thing we did wrong in the game was that we lacked bite upfront....we simply did not trouble them up front. The two goals were avoidable , our keeper was on holiday for most of the time, we just did not trouble Croatia, we had a couple of shots that were blocked. One from Iwobi, and the header from Balogun.

Nothing more to add.

[wale1974]

It was an even game. In fact I thought we had the upper hand and would have won if we had attacked properly.

Exactly.

[wale1974]

The only thing we did wrong in the game was that we lacked bite upfront....we simply did not trouble them up front. The two goals were avoidable , our keeper was on holiday for most of the time, we just did not trouble Croatia, we had a couple of shots that were blocked. One from Iwobi, and the header from Balogun.

Our lack of bite was also down to a combination of factors. Mainly, they pressed us and stopped us from playing out from the back with any purpose or conviction. Most of our passes between the lines, in midfield and from defence were read and intercepted, because it was tight and compact in there.

Above all, I felt their defending was aided by a Ref who let them get away with tactical fouling especially on Moses. They roughed up and took out Moses, this in turn allowed them narrow our attack, we could not spread our attack to create space for us to exploit our pace and running power.

But in situations like this, you make sure you do not concede against a team that offered nothing in attack, we gave away two terrible goals from corners. This was a problem in friendlies and we did not solve it before the WC. A crying shame because it could end our WC before it has started.

They basically studied the way we play