AFCON U-17 NIGERIA 0 VS GUINEA 0 (9-10 Penaltys)

[Gotti]

MRI killed Naija. In the days of Ugbade, Atere, Osondu and okoro when we used to play Men vs Boys, the game would have ended in the 1st 20 minutes

Except that we have won multiple tourneys since MRI testing was instituted...

And I think this team should do relatively well at the WC...
The pitches will be much better and refs will not permit this sort of African hack-a-thon.

[mcal]

...when I hear Guinea always think of the Kalum Stars wey destroyed our Enugu Rangers dream back then. Their players here today displayed good skill, also our players tried. e no easy o!

It wasn’t Kalum Stars, but Hafia...
Rangers destroyed Kalum Stars in Rangers’ first-ever continental campaign.

...correct, I remember Kalum stars because I was at the stadium that day, the first foreigners I ever set eyes on

[Gotti]

In my honest opinion, of the last three teams. This one, has the least individually talented players.

We thought the same when Amuneke’s 2015 team finished 4th at the AFCON U17...

[Eaglezbeak]

MRI killed Naija. In the days of Ugbade, Atere, Osondu and okoro when we used to play Men vs Boys, the game would have ended in the 1st 20 minutes

Except that we have won multiple tourneys since MRI testing was instituted...

And I think this team should do relatively well at the WC...
The fields will be much better and refs will not permit this sort of African hack-a-thon.

That's the most important think,winning this tournament would have been good for their confidence but qualifying is what they had to do,lets hope they've gained the experience they need!

[Gotti]

We have lost the battle but the war lies ahead. The team needs a few tweaks but will get better

Concur! Glad the primary goal of qualification was achieved...
This might put us in a tougher WC group, but we have 5-6 months to prepare.

[Rawlings]

This is a Precursor to AFCON 2019

[jette1]

Once you started getting into the double-digits on PKs someone is bound to miss...
And as our GK never looked in danger of saving any of their kicks, I was hoping it would be one of theirs.

I don't usually blame GK's for penalty shoot-out losses, but GK's play critical roles, however...

The Guinea keeper must have put some doubts in several players minds when he started guessing the direction of our PK's...

Our GK, in contrast, probably added to the Guinea PK-takers' confidence...

You don’t usually blame keepers but you did exactly
that; it’s a shameless stretch to let the kicker who missed off the hook and instead make a fall guy out of innocent fellow. Yes this attitude is ingrained deep in the Nigerian DNA but it speaks of something larger and deeper that goes back deprivation.

[JACKAL]

hmmm ... very ironic. It is easier to win the World Cup (U17 - 5 times) than win the Africa Cup (U17 - 2 times). Wonder why?

For starters, the officiating at the WC is not this poor...
If the Guineans play as they did today, they will not finish any game with 11 players.

The Officiating is the number 1 reason we lost.... The Guineans should have ended the game with 8 men... Its crazy that the ref let the captain of their team stay on the field. Its just insane.

Plus the lack of clinical finishing destroyed us...we had at least 3 one -v-one situations that we couldn't convert....its very sad. Also we lost our best player Amoo at the end of the half.....

I have long talked about our lack of understanding of gamesmanship during the game. We Africans seem to expect the ref to do his job while Europeans don't...so they know how to complain effectively to get the decisions they want... Our coaches sat silently, the players just shrugged their shoulders and played on... no one confronted the ref !!!

We need to introduce this gamesmanship into our game where we learn to influence the ref and this is the level to introduce this attitude in a formal way into our game. I have long advocated for the appointment of Tactical Refereeing coach (TRC) to join all the national teams.The job of the TRC is the teach the team how to use the rules of the game to their advantage...how to complain, foul and get away with it.

[DIMKA76]

Bad results all day today - Arsenal lost, Eaglets lost, What next?

[jette1]

hmmm ... very ironic. It is easier to win the World Cup (U17 - 5 times) than win the Africa Cup (U17 - 2 times). Wonder why?

For starters, the officiating at the WC is not this poor...
If the Guineans play as they did today, they will not finish any game with 11 players.

The Officiating is the number 1 reason we lost.... The Guineans should have ended the game with 8 men... Its crazy that the ref let the captain of their team stay on the field. Its just insane.

Plus the lack of clinical finishing destroyed us...we had at least 3 one -v-one situations that we couldn't convert....its very sad. Also we lost our best player Amoo at the end of the half.....

I have long talked about our lack of understanding of gamesmanship during the game. We Africans seem to expect the ref to do his job while Europeans don't...so they know how to complain effectively to get the decisions they want... Our coaches sat silently, the players just shrugged their shoulders and played on... no one confronted the ref !!!

We need to introduce this gamesmanship into our game where we learn to influence the ref and this is the level to introduce this attitude in a formal way into our game. I have long advocated for the appointment of Tactical Refereeing coach (TRC) to join all the national teams.The job of the TRC is the teach the team how to use the rules of the game to their advantage...how to complain, foul and get away with it.

So you want to rather appeal to our worst instincts and succumb to the lowest denominator possible yet you exalt in Africanism, and you talk about how African refs failed you & don’t meet the standard. I find your narrative paradoxical and double binding. it sort of falls in line with mourning anguish of “Jesus please take me” that we hear at funerals knowing fully well that Jesus would not honor that call. You can’t possibly teach players to consciously go out and contravene the game. Opposing a bad call comes innately and out of passion for hard work and righteousness and never a pre-planned act. It is not a technical know how. Yes we often cite the Argentine school of dive. It is something they do out passion to win. No one teaches them when to do it they just feel it in their bone. Perhaps we are not a football nation yet until we start looking inside. You are right about one thing - the coach must reflect this passion to his players than just standing on sideline.

[Oguleftie]

...when I hear Guinea always think of the Kalum Stars wey destroyed our Enugu Rangers dream back then. Their players here today displayed good skill, also our players tried. e no easy o!

Bearers of false news.

[Gotti]

The penalty shoot out...

[/video]

[Rawlings]

Naija man, why?
Incomplete video

The penalty shoot out...

[/video]

[Damunk]

It looked like we are playing against a senior team. Does anyone know how these Guineans beat the MRI screening?

Just accept they passed the screening and didn't 'beat' it, which assumes they are cheating
You really cannot judge age based on physical development and facial features.
You should know enough about human nature to realise this.

Even in the medical world nobody claims to be an expert on age based on physical characteristics alone. I get asked fairly often to assess the age of illegal immigrants caught in transit and arrested.
Most are Chinese and it is near impossible to tell within a ten -twelve year age bracket.
Its as imprecise as trying to assess a girl's age based strictly on breast development.
Ko le werk.