Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by metalalloy »

:clap: :clap:
When Nigeria's U-17 boys outscored Ghana 3-1 in a penalty shootout to qualify for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday, few would have taken note of a small but very important squad detail.

Five members of the squad were graduates of the NFF U-15 team, who also progressed from the NFF U-13 team.

There were also graduates of the NPFL/La Liga U-15 Promises tournament.

A few short months ago, these players were in Morocco playing friendly matches.

Both programs were organised with the objective of creating a viable and continuous conveyor belt of genuine, high-quality talent for the national teams.

Success in Niamey was vindication of that approach.

Ghana's Isaaku had just missed his spot kick in the penalty shootout - his third such miss for the Black Starlets.

As Nigeria's Muhammad Ibrahim stepped up to the spot, it was up to him to guarantee victory, the title, and progression to the U-17 AFCON for this young Nigerian side.

Nerveless, the youngster drilled in his kick, took the score to 3-1 and it was time to pop the fizz.

The Golden Eaglets are on their way to the African championships, where they will compete for one of four tickets to the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Normally, the West African giants should get the job done.

Nigeria are record winners of the FIFA tournament, their five titles unmatched by any other country.

They also hold the record for the most appearances - eight - at the African championships, and qualifying for one more should really be considered par for the course.

There are reasons however, why this time things might be different.

For one, CAF recently changed its qualifying format to a regional qualifying series, meaning each of its six zones could only produce one qualifier, with the exception of the hosts' and the defending champions' zones, who have two each.

To that extent, winning Saturday's match in Abidjan was mighty important for Nigeria to get to the African championships.


Big miss: Defending champions Nigeria will play no part in the 2017 tournament. Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty Images
However, there was a subtler, and surely more important reason for celebration.

In the midst of the goings on within and around Nigerian football, a shift has begun to take hold, one that has largely flown under the radar, but which could prove vital for Nigeria's future football fortunes.

Since those heady days of the mid to late 90s, Nigeria have seen a steady decline in the quality of talent coming through the ranks.

It's true that the country won the U-17 world title three times in the 2000s, but fans have been treated, largely, to the same scattergun approach with little or no clearly defined strategy.

In recent years, there has been a shift.

Under the administration of Sani Lulu Abdullahi, the NFF set up the national U-13 program, with the objective not just of identifying players early, but of grooming them for promotion through the age-grade ranks all the way to the Super Eagles.

That program was given priority prominence under the current administration, with direct oversight provided by NFF Vice President Seyi Akinwunmi.

Emphasis has silently shifted from winning trophies, to more rounded football education for youngsters, Akinwunmi tells KweséESPN.

"We are proud that we are beginning to change the mindset of Nigerians to understand that youth football development should be judged on development and not necessarily on the number of trophies won," he began.

Prominent products of that program are Kelechi Iheanacho and Francis Uzoho, both of whom were in Nigeria's squad at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

As a matter of fact, that Super Eagles team to Russia had 13 youth-team graduates, the highest ever such number since the Super Eagles first qualified for the World Cup in 1994. :clap:

Two years ago, under a partnership with La Liga, the NPFL also instituted the U-15 Promises tournament, which should also contribute to the nation's youth development.

"We do consider [the partnership] a success, indeed a great success," Akinwunmi added. "Not only because the boys have made the squad, but also because it clearly gives hope to the next set coming behind them that they will not be 'lost' in the crowd of 'screening' of the thousands of players that hitherto took place prior to the selection of our U-17 squad.

"We are hopeful that the next U-17 squad would come exclusively -- or almost exclusively -- from NFF-organised or recognised youth tournaments and programs."

One of the biggest challenges for the NFF has been the influence of agents, enabled by parents trying to get their children a big professional contract as soon as possible.

Akinwunmi vows that the NFF will continue to tackle this challenge.

"This is the biggest challenge that we have given the indigence of many of the parents of these talented footballers who are still minors in the eyes of football," he continued.

"We will continue to counsel the players and their parents, but we hold the view that once you play for any of the Nigerian youth teams then you should 'belong' to the country for those youth years since that is what brought you to the limelight.

"It is a delicate legal issue and we are working gradually on a policy along those lines," he continued. "However, we are always mindful of our guidance and mentorship role in leading them along the path to successful careers."

NFF president Amaju Pinnick has already promised to take the boys on training tours to Qatar and Jordan ahead of next year's African championships.

Qualification for the World Cup will of course be an important focus, but continued development would represent even greater success :clap:


http://www.espn.com/soccer/nigeria/stor ... all-policy
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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They have't qualified yet , make we wait.. we are still waiting for dem Kele for 2022 ooo
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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"Emphasis has silently shifted from winning trophies, to more rounded football education for youngsters, Akinwunmi tells KweséESPN.

"We are proud that we are beginning to change the mindset of Nigerians to understand that youth football development should be judged on development and not necessarily on the number of trophies won," he began."
This is what we were laboring to make Jackal understand but the only sense he could make out of it was that we were unhappy that the boys won the tournament.
I mean, how jackassic is that? :roll:
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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There is a healthy balance just like in anything; winning can be a feedback that one is doing something in the right direction. Just picture a situation where we think we have the best program ever and yet cant hack it with the best at the youth world cups.
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by imehjunior »

Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by fabio »

metalalloy wrote::clap: :clap:



Under the administration of Sani Lulu Abdullahi, the NFF set up the national U-13 program, with the objective not just of identifying players early, but of grooming them for promotion through the age-grade ranks all the way to the Super Eagles.

That program was given priority prominence under the current administration, with direct oversight provided by NFF Vice President Seyi Akinwunmi.

[/color]


http://www.espn.com/soccer/nigeria/stor ... all-policy
The bolded is a lie. The so-called 'priority prominence' was under Maigari administration.
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
...except those watching from the comfy of their computer :biggrin:
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
... yes I know a lot of them here. I just will not mention their names. Thus to them, it is: :boo: :boo: :boo: :boo:
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
why don't you just say txj? :evil: :taunt: . Watch him go on about us supporting age cheats. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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Let me repeat again for the block-heads here: we are STILL cheating!

And on the main topic, what we have masquerading as a "youths policy" is actually a win the FIFA U-17 project. And from the perspective of youth academies, get as many players as you can into the U-17 team so you can subsequently sell them...

Sometimes it works out well; most times it does not. Why?

Because there is no real policy, and esp there is an utter lack of leadership from the NFF, which ironically is here celebrating Akinwunmi!

Nigerian youth academies are developing independent of our domestic clubs, IMO the most significant development in our domestic game in the last 20yrs...

But in the absence of creative leadership/oversight by the NFF, this has become an all-comers affair, with little or no standards, resulting in a direct from academies to market pipeline for transfer of players, with zero impact on player development or the domestic game.

...With well formed players winning tournaments and MVP status, but not translating to higher levels as u would expect of what would appear to be exceptional talent...

In the end, we are only cheating ourselves. That is the real tragedy of this...
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by peppersoup »

pajimoh wrote:
Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
why don't you just say txj? :evil: :taunt: . Watch him go on about us supporting age cheats. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
I dont think the points TXJ raised are invalidated by the victory of the Eaglets. Regardless of MRI or not, we should be able to say without any doubt the ages of the players and dont have to rely on MRI to validate if a player is overage or not. If a 16 years old fails the MRi here in the US, the last thing you want to call him is an age cheat. The reason being, you are sure that from his birth through his school records, everything can be validated. That is not in case of Nigeria and other African countries.
NFF should do more than just using the MRI to prove the age of the players. It should not be a problem stating the class they were/are and the school they attend. That could help with transparency.
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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peppersoup wrote:
pajimoh wrote:
Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
why don't you just say txj? :evil: :taunt: . Watch him go on about us supporting age cheats. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
I dont think the points TXJ raised are invalidated by the victory of the Eaglets. Regardless of MRI or not, we should be able to say without any doubt the ages of the players and dont have to rely on MRI to validate if a player is overage or not. If a 16 years old fails the MRi here in the US, the last thing you want to call him is an age cheat. The reason being, you are sure that from his birth through his school records, everything can be validated. That is not in case of Nigeria and other African countries.
NFF should do more than just using the MRI to prove the age of the players. It should not be a problem stating the class they were/are and the school they attend. That could help with transparency.
Let me be as emphatic as I can be on record, I've never doubted the validity of txj's point but his failure to acknowledge the challenges in verifying our players documents and the gains made by the NFF compared to yester years. Anyone highlighting these gains, according to txj, are complicit in cheating. That's where my battle is with that Liverpool supporting ......... :D :taunt:

Using US as an example compared to Nigeria is a mismatch to say the least. The reality on the ground is what we need to look at and how people have to deal with those realities in the course of their duties.
Where US is today, we cannot say Nigeria is there, both in infrastructure, mental attitude, expectation, economic capacity, tradition etc
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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pajimoh wrote:
peppersoup wrote:
pajimoh wrote:
Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
why don't you just say txj? :evil: :taunt: . Watch him go on about us supporting age cheats. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
I dont think the points TXJ raised are invalidated by the victory of the Eaglets. Regardless of MRI or not, we should be able to say without any doubt the ages of the players and dont have to rely on MRI to validate if a player is overage or not. If a 16 years old fails the MRi here in the US, the last thing you want to call him is an age cheat. The reason being, you are sure that from his birth through his school records, everything can be validated. That is not in case of Nigeria and other African countries.
NFF should do more than just using the MRI to prove the age of the players. It should not be a problem stating the class they were/are and the school they attend. That could help with transparency.
Let me be as emphatic as I can be on record, I've never doubted the validity of txj's point but his failure to acknowledge the challenges in verifying our players documents and the gains made by the NFF compared to yester years. Anyone highlighting these gains, according to txj, are complicit in cheating. That's where my battle is with that Liverpool supporting ......... :D :taunt:

Using US as an example compared to Nigeria is a mismatch to say the least. The reality on the ground is what we need to look at and how people have to deal with those realities in the course of their duties.
Where US is today, we cannot say Nigeria is there, both in infrastructure, mental attitude, expectation, economic capacity, tradition etc
^^^^^^
The mugus dont realise that there will be age-verified US and UK youths that will still fail the MRI test, but its only the ones in Nigeria they will automatically label 'cheats', while the obodo oyibo kids are recognised for what they are: victims of an imperfect screening process.
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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Internet coaches and administrators yarning opaks, just to have something to say.
Riding the high horse is turning to an art here on CE, whether it's about sports or politics.

Guys, we have to crawl before we walk. This is not about goats walking same day they
came out of the womb. I believe time will prove that things are gradually improving.
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

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peppersoup wrote:
pajimoh wrote:
Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
why don't you just say txj? :evil: :taunt: . Watch him go on about us supporting age cheats. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
I dont think the points TXJ raised are invalidated by the victory of the Eaglets. Regardless of MRI or not, we should be able to say without any doubt the ages of the players and dont have to rely on MRI to validate if a player is overage or not. If a 16 years old fails the MRi here in the US, the last thing you want to call him is an age cheat. The reason being, you are sure that from his birth through his school records, everything can be validated. That is not in case of Nigeria and other African countries.
NFF should do more than just using the MRI to prove the age of the players. It should not be a problem stating the class they were/are and the school they attend. That could help with transparency.
peppersoup,

If you have a way to definitively determine the player's actual age then you have solved one of the biggest mysteries that currently cannot be solved in Nigeria. Here is why:

1. A large number of births in Nigeria are not recorded meaning that birth dates must be guessed. Do not be fooled by the facts that we are aware of neighbors who deliver babies in the hospital. A greater number of Nigerian babies are TODAY delivered outside the hospital for several reasons and birthdates are not recorded immediately. THESE ARE FACTS expressed by workers on ground as well as scholars who work on this matter and international institutions.

2. Using the schools to track ages of players is to really on guesswork. Sure it will provide a good estimate but it still will not tell you their actual ages.


But even if somehow there is a magical wand that assures us the actual age of these footballers, many of them will still be ineligible to play at the U17 level. Why?

1. They must be able to pass the MRI test whether or not you can establish their actual age. This is a FIFA requirement for players in Africa and Asia. As you and I know, even those who are actually under the age of 17 may fail the test.

The above is the reality that Nigeria confronts today. IMHO, the NFF has worked hard and continues to work hard by locating players who are young and tracking them from U13 upwards through there own teams. More over, they have had the NPFL clubs set up academies to track another set of young players. Third, they also make use of other youngsters who play for academies that are neither in the NFF or the NPFL system. That to me is a huge progress from where Nigeria was a couple of years ago. Thus, while I still cannot vouch for actual ages of these players we can state that they are more than likely within the age of eligibility based on the MRI results.
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by txj »

Enugu II wrote:
peppersoup wrote:
pajimoh wrote:
Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
why don't you just say txj? :evil: :taunt: . Watch him go on about us supporting age cheats. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
I dont think the points TXJ raised are invalidated by the victory of the Eaglets. Regardless of MRI or not, we should be able to say without any doubt the ages of the players and dont have to rely on MRI to validate if a player is overage or not. If a 16 years old fails the MRi here in the US, the last thing you want to call him is an age cheat. The reason being, you are sure that from his birth through his school records, everything can be validated. That is not in case of Nigeria and other African countries.
NFF should do more than just using the MRI to prove the age of the players. It should not be a problem stating the class they were/are and the school they attend. That could help with transparency.
peppersoup,

If you have a way to definitively determine the player's actual age then you have solved one of the biggest mysteries that currently cannot be solved in Nigeria. Here is why:

1. A large number of births in Nigeria are not recorded meaning that birth dates must be guessed. Do not be fooled by the facts that we are aware of neighbors who deliver babies in the hospital. A greater number of Nigerian babies are TODAY delivered outside the hospital for several reasons and birthdates are not recorded immediately. THESE ARE FACTS expressed by workers on ground as well as scholars who work on this matter and international institutions.

False. You should really stop denigrating your country. Its not supported by any facts on the ground. None of the eminent Nigerian scholars of primary care have ever written this; not the late Ransome Kuti, not Prof ABC Nwosu...none!

2. Using the schools to track ages of players is to really on guesswork. Sure it will provide a good estimate but it still will not tell you their actual ages.

But even if somehow there is a magical wand that assures us the actual age of these footballers, many of them will still be ineligible to play at the U17 level. Why?

1. They must be able to pass the MRI test whether or not you can establish their actual age. This is a FIFA requirement for players in Africa and Asia. As you and I know, even those who are actually under the age of 17 may fail the test.

Passing the MRI test is secondary to establishing correct ages. Even if an age eligible player fails the test, on the balance of things, that is better than an overage player passing the test.

The above is the reality that Nigeria confronts today. IMHO, the NFF has worked hard and continues to work hard by locating players who are young and tracking them from U13 upwards through there own teams. More over, they have had the NPFL clubs set up academies to track another set of young players. Third, they also make use of other youngsters who play for academies that are neither in the NFF or the NPFL system. That to me is a huge progress from where Nigeria was a couple of years ago. Thus, while I still cannot vouch for actual ages of these players we can state that they are more than likely within the age of eligibility based on the MRI results.

On the contrary, the NFF has worked hard to maintain the status quo even while appearing to be above board. This is not rocket science as many apologists for cheating continue to assert here. It is quite possible to correctly credential our players and verify ages within an acceptable range of success.
Form is temporary; Class is Permanent!
Liverpool, European Champions 2005.

We watched this very boring video, 500 times, of Sacchi doing defensive drills, using sticks and without the ball, with Maldini, Baresi and Albertini. We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics." Jurgen Klopp
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by txj »

Damunk wrote:
pajimoh wrote:
peppersoup wrote:
pajimoh wrote:
Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
why don't you just say txj? :evil: :taunt: . Watch him go on about us supporting age cheats. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
I dont think the points TXJ raised are invalidated by the victory of the Eaglets. Regardless of MRI or not, we should be able to say without any doubt the ages of the players and dont have to rely on MRI to validate if a player is overage or not. If a 16 years old fails the MRi here in the US, the last thing you want to call him is an age cheat. The reason being, you are sure that from his birth through his school records, everything can be validated. That is not in case of Nigeria and other African countries.
NFF should do more than just using the MRI to prove the age of the players. It should not be a problem stating the class they were/are and the school they attend. That could help with transparency.
Let me be as emphatic as I can be on record, I've never doubted the validity of txj's point but his failure to acknowledge the challenges in verifying our players documents and the gains made by the NFF compared to yester years. Anyone highlighting these gains, according to txj, are complicit in cheating. That's where my battle is with that Liverpool supporting ......... :D :taunt:

Using US as an example compared to Nigeria is a mismatch to say the least. The reality on the ground is what we need to look at and how people have to deal with those realities in the course of their duties.
Where US is today, we cannot say Nigeria is there, both in infrastructure, mental attitude, expectation, economic capacity, tradition etc
^^^^^^
The mugus dont realise that there will be age-verified US and UK youths that will still fail the MRI test, but its only the ones in Nigeria they will automatically label 'cheats', while the obodo oyibo kids are recognised for what they are: victims of an imperfect screening process.

With your background, u shouldn't really be making such a vacuous statement...In the first place, nobody in the US or UK programs is involved in MRI tests...
Form is temporary; Class is Permanent!
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We watched this very boring video, 500 times, of Sacchi doing defensive drills, using sticks and without the ball, with Maldini, Baresi and Albertini. We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics." Jurgen Klopp
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felarey
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by felarey »

Damn, some peeps are still trying to talk their way out of this racket of MRI screening. I bet if 40% of these Eaglets fail the MRI, they will continue to be academic about it. Pls lets stop this outright nonsense that you can't verify the ages of well known soccer stars, good enough to play for the country. It is a non starter to say Nigeria does not have enough records to verify the ages of kids born after 2000 and have risen to national spotlight. Stop abusing us with all these awkward theories deficient of the Nigerian experience. It's 2018! You need to be reported to your wives, haba!
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Damunk
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by Damunk »

txj wrote:
Damunk wrote:
pajimoh wrote:
peppersoup wrote:
pajimoh wrote:
Damunk wrote:
imehjunior wrote:Ran into the team at Abuja airport was super super impressed on the fact no sane person can question their ages.
Sebi the Beninoise were laughing at our boys that they were "too small". Look who's laughing now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But don't be surprised that there will remain some pig-headed forum members here that will insist in a few months time that these boys are "overage", esp as they mature and go through the MRI scanning process with mixed results.
They can never be convinced.
They know themselves. :lol:
why don't you just say txj? :evil: :taunt: . Watch him go on about us supporting age cheats. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
I dont think the points TXJ raised are invalidated by the victory of the Eaglets. Regardless of MRI or not, we should be able to say without any doubt the ages of the players and dont have to rely on MRI to validate if a player is overage or not. If a 16 years old fails the MRi here in the US, the last thing you want to call him is an age cheat. The reason being, you are sure that from his birth through his school records, everything can be validated. That is not in case of Nigeria and other African countries.
NFF should do more than just using the MRI to prove the age of the players. It should not be a problem stating the class they were/are and the school they attend. That could help with transparency.
Let me be as emphatic as I can be on record, I've never doubted the validity of txj's point but his failure to acknowledge the challenges in verifying our players documents and the gains made by the NFF compared to yester years. Anyone highlighting these gains, according to txj, are complicit in cheating. That's where my battle is with that Liverpool supporting ......... :D :taunt:

Using US as an example compared to Nigeria is a mismatch to say the least. The reality on the ground is what we need to look at and how people have to deal with those realities in the course of their duties.
Where US is today, we cannot say Nigeria is there, both in infrastructure, mental attitude, expectation, economic capacity, tradition etc
^^^^^^
The mugus dont realise that there will be age-verified US and UK youths that will still fail the MRI test, but its only the ones in Nigeria they will automatically label 'cheats', while the obodo oyibo kids are recognised for what they are: victims of an imperfect screening process.

With your background, u shouldn't really be making such a vacuous statement...In the first place, nobody in the US or UK programs is involved in MRI tests...
You really dont need to comment on everything, especially the things you don't understand. That way you won't expose the vacuous spaces in your head.

Read the post again and comprehend. :idea:
It wasn't about "US and UK" MRI programs.
ITK. :rotf:
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by txj »

Damunk wrote:Read the post again and comprehend. :idea:
It wasn't about "US and UK" MRI programs.
ITK. :rotf:

How many US or UK players have you ever heard failed the MRI test since all the years it has been used?
Form is temporary; Class is Permanent!
Liverpool, European Champions 2005.

We watched this very boring video, 500 times, of Sacchi doing defensive drills, using sticks and without the ball, with Maldini, Baresi and Albertini. We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics." Jurgen Klopp
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by Enugu II »

txj wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
peppersoup,

If you have a way to definitively determine the player's actual age then you have solved one of the biggest mysteries that currently cannot be solved in Nigeria. Here is why:

1. A large number of births in Nigeria are not recorded meaning that birth dates must be guessed. Do not be fooled by the facts that we are aware of neighbors who deliver babies in the hospital. A greater number of Nigerian babies are TODAY delivered outside the hospital for several reasons and birthdates are not recorded immediately. THESE ARE FACTS expressed by workers on ground as well as scholars who work on this matter and international institutions.

False. You should really stop denigrating your country. Its not supported by any facts on the ground. None of the eminent Nigerian scholars of primary care have ever written this; not the late Ransome Kuti, not Prof ABC Nwosu...none!Can you tell us or post what the two scholars stated about those issues? I await to see what they said. What you are spewing is incredibly false. The facts are clear and I have actually cited scholars who have stated these things are they do not have to be ABC Nwosu or Kuti. There are many other Nigerian scholars, you know. Nevertheless, it will be good if you can post the views of Kuti or ABC Nwosu. Facts are facts and are not based on your conjecture, my brother.BTW, :rotf: for those not waiting on Late Kuti and ABC Nwosu's research, here are related data on this matter:

https://data.unicef.org/topic/maternal- ... very-care/
https://www.businessdayonline.com/news/ ... s-birth-2/
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/f ... 2888.E.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 011.565531

BTW, there are more research on this matter all over the internet. All you have to do is google. Hopefully you won't be waiting for ABC Nwosu and Late Kuti.


2. Using the schools to track ages of players is to really on guesswork. Sure it will provide a good estimate but it still will not tell you their actual ages.

But even if somehow there is a magical wand that assures us the actual age of these footballers, many of them will still be ineligible to play at the U17 level. Why?

1. They must be able to pass the MRI test whether or not you can establish their actual age. This is a FIFA requirement for players in Africa and Asia. As you and I know, even those who are actually under the age of 17 may fail the test.

Passing the MRI test is secondary to establishing correct ages. Even if an age eligible player fails the test, on the balance of things, that is better than an overage player passing the test.Not in Africa or Asia. The fact today is that MRI is used for establishing eligibility for players from this region no matter what other documentation that they present. Those are facts. You can check FIFA procedures. We would not rely on your conjecture.

The above is the reality that Nigeria confronts today. IMHO, the NFF has worked hard and continues to work hard by locating players who are young and tracking them from U13 upwards through there own teams. More over, they have had the NPFL clubs set up academies to track another set of young players. Third, they also make use of other youngsters who play for academies that are neither in the NFF or the NPFL system. That to me is a huge progress from where Nigeria was a couple of years ago. Thus, while I still cannot vouch for actual ages of these players we can state that they are more than likely within the age of eligibility based on the MRI results.

On the contrary, the NFF has worked hard to maintain the status quo even while appearing to be above board. This is not rocket science as many apologists for cheating continue to assert here. It is quite possible to correctly credential our players and verify ages within an acceptable range of success.On the contrary, what we have read is that the NFF has made efforts to correct tis. Unfortunately, people like up are fixated on the past and refuse to acknowledge progress and efforts of the last few years. Your inability to acknowledge those or recognize them does not mean others won't. You claimed that they deliberately see overage players but evidence produced recently indicate otherwise not only in media reports but also on anecdote provided by Ugbowo whew cited his own academy. You have chosen to ignore those but it does not mean that the rest of us will ignore those.
Last edited by Enugu II on Tue Sep 18, 2018 11:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Golden Eaglets vindicate Nigeria's youth football policy

Post by Enugu II »

txj wrote:
Damunk wrote:Read the post again and comprehend. :idea:
It wasn't about "US and UK" MRI programs.
ITK. :rotf:

How many US or UK players have you ever heard failed the MRI test since all the years it has been used?
Well, how many Nigerian players have you heard failed the MRI test since FIFA has been doing the test? That should tell you all you need to know. FIFA does its own test for years but HAS NEVER reported the results for any of the players tested whether they are US, England, or Nigerian. That is the fact. Note also that FIFA does not require the USA or European federations to test for MRI because it trusts documentation from those regions. That is not with the case in Africa and Asia. Why? FIFA states and recognizes (Even though you don't) that documentation in Africa and Asia do not exist in many cases and/or are unreliable. You may sometimes visit FIFA's site where these things are available to the public to research and understand.
The difficulties of statistical thinking describes a puzzling limitation of our mind: our excessive confidence in what we believe we know, and our apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in. We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events -- Daniel Kahneman (2011), Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

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