If Nigeria had played the first leg at home…

[theDunamis]

It is not that difficult.

An away victory would have been an excellent result. Most of us believe it was within our reach.

A tied game with some scoring today in Kumasi leaves us in a better position than a goalless draw.

I am confident we can beat Ghana in Abuja.

However, if by some chance the game ends in a 1-1 draw we are out.

The situation is one of facts, as it pertains to the away goal rule, not one of feelings and drawing up funny scenarios.

Right. I don't know why Robby, E2 and a few others are struggling with this.

A great set of results
- Ghana 0-3 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-4 Nigeria

Very good
- Ghana 0-2 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-3 Nigeria

Good
- Ghana 0-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-2 Nigeria

OK
- Ghana 1-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 0-0 Nigeria

Bad
- Any defeat

Ghana 1 - 1 Nigeria is actually a good result and not just an ok result. It forces Ghana needing at least a goal in Abuja. A 0-0 result on the other hand gives them more options in terms of how they approach the game in Abuja. They could choose to start with a counterattacking tactic against our relatively slow defense. Or they could choose to park the bus. Hope for the lottery of penalties.

[Orion]

Among the four African teams that played yesterday, the ranking of the results is as follows:
Tunisia
Algeria
Morocco
Egypt
Nigeria

This is not exactly accurate. We have to go by the teams in pot 1.

Among the teams in Pot 1 this is how their results ranked:
Algeria
Tunisia
Morocco
Nigeria
Senegal

We're not talking about the same thing

Well, if you're gonna make comparisons then there should be some level base from which the results are being compared. In this case, Senegal got the worst result. If we're talking of teams in pot 2, then Egypt of course got the best result followed by Ghana.

[wanaj0]

Among the four African teams that played yesterday, the ranking of the results is as follows:
Tunisia
Algeria
Morocco
Egypt
Nigeria

This is not exactly accurate. We have to go by the teams in pot 1.

Among the teams in Pot 1 this is how their results ranked:
Algeria
Tunisia
Morocco
Nigeria
Senegal

We're not talking about the same thing

Well, if you're gonna make comparisons then there should be some level base from which the results are being compared. In this case, Senegal got the worst result. If we're talking of teams in pot 2, then Egypt of course got the best result followed by Ghana.

Four teams played but you listed five countries.

A win, a draw and a loss are the possible outcome.

A win for us will be GREAT.

A LOSS will be disastrous. A draw is in between. Call it whatever name you like.

We were the only one playing a 'Rival'! The dynamics are different.

We were not excellent BUT we had the better chances.

If we cannot win in Abuja then we do not deserve to go to Qatar.

[Orion]

Four teams played but you listed five countries.

A win, a draw and a loss are the possible outcome.

A win for us will be GREAT.

A LOSS will be disastrous. A draw is in between. Call it whatever name you like.

We were the only one playing a 'Rival'! The dynamics are different.

We were not excellent BUT we had the better chances.

If we cannot win in Abuja then we do not deserve to go to Qatar.

I don't understand.

10 countries played 5 games.

[The YeyeMan]

It is not that difficult.

An away victory would have been an excellent result. Most of us believe it was within our reach.

A tied game with some scoring today in Kumasi leaves us in a better position than a goalless draw.

I am confident we can beat Ghana in Abuja.

However, if by some chance the game ends in a 1-1 draw we are out.

The situation is one of facts, as it pertains to the away goal rule, not one of feelings and drawing up funny scenarios.

Right. I don't know why Robby, E2 and a few others are struggling with this.

A great set of results
- Ghana 0-3 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-4 Nigeria

Very good
- Ghana 0-2 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-3 Nigeria

Good
- Ghana 0-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-2 Nigeria

OK
- Ghana 1-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 0-0 Nigeria

Bad
- Any defeat

Ghana 1 - 1 Nigeria is actually a good result and not just an ok result. It forces Ghana needing at least a goal in Abuja. A 0-0 result on the other hand gives them more options in terms of how they approach the game in Abuja. They could choose to start with a counterattacking tactic against our relatively slow defense. Or they could choose to park the bus. Hope for the lottery of penalties.

1-1 is somewhere between OK and good given the quality of the opposition. But yes, it could be considered a good result.

[Enugu II]

It is not that difficult.

An away victory would have been an excellent result. Most of us believe it was within our reach.

A tied game with some scoring today in Kumasi leaves us in a better position than a goalless draw.

I am confident we can beat Ghana in Abuja.

However, if by some chance the game ends in a 1-1 draw we are out.

The situation is one of facts, as it pertains to the away goal rule, not one of feelings and drawing up funny scenarios.

Right. I don't know why Robby, E2 and a few others are struggling with this.

A great set of results
- Ghana 0-3 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-4 Nigeria

Very good
- Ghana 0-2 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-3 Nigeria

Good
- Ghana 0-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-2 Nigeria

OK
- Ghana 1-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 0-0 Nigeria

Bad
- Any defeat

I understand the rules. That is not the issue.

The issue is that the rules do not void the psychological advantage tgat you get playing at home. Do they? What explains the fact that Nigeria wins over 60% of its home game and about 30% away? Can you tell us why? That is the point. Nigeria has a likelihood of winning at home than away. That is the point. Instead, you are focused on tiebreaker when Nigeria fails to win at home. That is not my focus. My focus is on the probability of winning the game outright and that probability is higher at home than it is away. Hopefully, you now understand the difference in your focus and ours.

[bushboy]

…and the game ended 0-0, would Nigeria have the “upper hand” going to Kumasi for the second leg? Would we be praising the result as a good result?

A bloody good question

We are too quick to find faults in our own , I actually don’t mind the criticism but it’s the inconsistency as you point out now that is the head scratcher

Baba it is a shame, a damn shame if you ask me.

I mean if this scenario was the case, nobody will be saying “If Nigeria score in Kumasi…” They will probably be saying that since we can’t score in Abuja, we should forget it in Kumasi. They will say Ghana was unlucky not to have beat us at home with 2 glorious chances and a PK that was over turned by VAR. Now all we hear is if Ghana score, if they do this do that, same Ghana that could not do jack at home. They didn’t even trouble our defense. Uzoho was comfortable all game long…Anyways it is what it is with my country people and it is very sad…smdh

Let me explain it to you, slowly:

This is not 1970. Football has evolved and especially defensive tactics have evolved, re low block. This often means, AT LEAST IN THEORY, that an away team has more space to attack on the break and take advantage of the away goal rule.

So, you could expect that there will be less space for Nigeria to attack in the next game than in yesterday's, on the assumption that Ghana adopts a low block, as most inferior road teams would do. See CAR. Again in theory.

But theory doesn't play football. Plus this is not a good Ghana team. They just DO NOT have the players...

It was not a bad result. Neither was it a great result.

Among the four African teams that played yesterday, the ranking of the results is as follows:
Tunisia
Algeria
Morocco
Egypt
Nigeria

So you think sitting back in a "low block" is a modern tactic? Lol. Please sir, tell us how inferior teams defended in 1970.

Yes it is. Its an adaptation from the old cattenacio...

Please stop. The more you talk the worse it gets. There is nothing "modern" about the low block. Teams have been using this for decades. The fact that you believe it's a recent innovation to think "If we pack our defense, our opponent will find it harder to score" is laughable.

Teams have gotten more efficient at it with the advent of data and video analysis, and improved fitness levels and training techniques. But the philosophy of that tactic is as old as football itself.

[The YeyeMan]

It is not that difficult.

An away victory would have been an excellent result. Most of us believe it was within our reach.

A tied game with some scoring today in Kumasi leaves us in a better position than a goalless draw.

I am confident we can beat Ghana in Abuja.

However, if by some chance the game ends in a 1-1 draw we are out.

The situation is one of facts, as it pertains to the away goal rule, not one of feelings and drawing up funny scenarios.

Right. I don't know why Robby, E2 and a few others are struggling with this.

A great set of results
- Ghana 0-3 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-4 Nigeria

Very good
- Ghana 0-2 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-3 Nigeria

Good
- Ghana 0-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-2 Nigeria

OK
- Ghana 1-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 0-0 Nigeria

Bad
- Any defeat

I understand the rules. That is not the issue.

The issue is that the rules do not void the psychological advantage tgat you get playing at home. Do they? What explains the fact that Nigeria wins over 60% of its home game and about 30% away? Can you tell us why? That is the point. Nigeria has a likelihood of winning at home than away. That is the point. Instead, you are focused on tiebreaker when Nigeria fails to win at home. That is not my focus. My focus is on the probability of winning the game outright and that probability is higher at home than it is away. Hopefully, you now understand the difference in your focus and ours.

My focus isn't on a tiebreaker. It's on the result of the last game with little speculation on the result of the next game.

[wanaj0]

Four teams played but you listed five countries.

A win, a draw and a loss are the possible outcome.

A win for us will be GREAT.

A LOSS will be disastrous. A draw is in between. Call it whatever name you like.

We were the only one playing a 'Rival'! The dynamics are different.

We were not excellent BUT we had the better chances.

If we cannot win in Abuja then we do not deserve to go to Qatar.

I don't understand.

10 countries played 5 games.

Father forgive them for they don't know what they are saying!

If it was Equavoen that made such ridiculous statement we will not hear word.

10 countries played 5 matches. So let us rank the result earned b y the countries and see where Nigeria stands

[Orion]

Four teams played but you listed five countries.

A win, a draw and a loss are the possible outcome.

A win for us will be GREAT.

A LOSS will be disastrous. A draw is in between. Call it whatever name you like.

We were the only one playing a 'Rival'! The dynamics are different.

We were not excellent BUT we had the better chances.

If we cannot win in Abuja then we do not deserve to go to Qatar.

I don't understand.

10 countries played 5 games.

Father forgive them for they don't know what they are saying!

If it was Equavoen that made such ridiculous statement we will not hear word.

10 countries played 5 matches. So let us rank the result earned b y the countries and see where Nigeria stands

You said 4 only teams played?

BTW, I didn't do the ranking. I was just correcting txj.

[wanaj0]

Four teams played but you listed five countries.

A win, a draw and a loss are the possible outcome.

A win for us will be GREAT.

A LOSS will be disastrous. A draw is in between. Call it whatever name you like.

We were the only one playing a 'Rival'! The dynamics are different.

We were not excellent BUT we had the better chances.

If we cannot win in Abuja then we do not deserve to go to Qatar.

I don't understand.

10 countries played 5 games.

Father forgive them for they don't know what they are saying!

If it was Equavoen that made such ridiculous statement we will not hear word.

10 countries played 5 matches. So let us rank the result earned b y the countries and see where Nigeria stands

You said 4 only teams played?

BTW, I didn't do the ranking. I was just correcting txj.

I was highlighting/repeating what txj said. He stated that 4 teams played and went on to list 5 teams.

In trying to make sense he ended up confusing himself.

Now that we know that 10 teams played 5 matches, he should now list and rank the 10 teams (not the 5) and let us see where Nigeria will be based on the result

[Enugu II]

It is not that difficult.

An away victory would have been an excellent result. Most of us believe it was within our reach.

A tied game with some scoring today in Kumasi leaves us in a better position than a goalless draw.

I am confident we can beat Ghana in Abuja.

However, if by some chance the game ends in a 1-1 draw we are out.

The situation is one of facts, as it pertains to the away goal rule, not one of feelings and drawing up funny scenarios.

Right. I don't know why Robby, E2 and a few others are struggling with this.

A great set of results
- Ghana 0-3 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-4 Nigeria

Very good
- Ghana 0-2 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-3 Nigeria

Good
- Ghana 0-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-2 Nigeria

OK
- Ghana 1-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 0-0 Nigeria

Bad
- Any defeat

I understand the rules. That is not the issue.

The issue is that the rules do not void the psychological advantage tgat you get playing at home. Do they? What explains the fact that Nigeria wins over 60% of its home game and about 30% away? Can you tell us why? That is the point. Nigeria has a likelihood of winning at home than away. That is the point. Instead, you are focused on tiebreaker when Nigeria fails to win at home. That is not my focus. My focus is on the probability of winning the game outright and that probability is higher at home than it is away. Hopefully, you now understand the difference in your focus and ours.

My focus isn't on a tiebreaker. It's on the result of the last game with little speculation on the result of the next game.

My focus, however, is on probability at home which is why there remains a home -and-away schedule in sports. The fan support counts for something. Players are not machines and they are susceptible to psuchological effects. Not only players arer but also matych officials. It is probability that now favors Nigeria and that is where my focus is. There is ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT who the probability now favors. I cannot speculate on reality because none of us can predict that.

[txj]

It is not that difficult.

An away victory would have been an excellent result. Most of us believe it was within our reach.

A tied game with some scoring today in Kumasi leaves us in a better position than a goalless draw.

I am confident we can beat Ghana in Abuja.

However, if by some chance the game ends in a 1-1 draw we are out.

The situation is one of facts, as it pertains to the away goal rule, not one of feelings and drawing up funny scenarios.

Right. I don't know why Robby, E2 and a few others are struggling with this.

A great set of results
- Ghana 0-3 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-4 Nigeria

Very good
- Ghana 0-2 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-3 Nigeria

Good
- Ghana 0-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 1-2 Nigeria

OK
- Ghana 1-1 Nigeria
- Ghana 0-0 Nigeria

Bad
- Any defeat

Ghana 1 - 1 Nigeria is actually a good result and not just an ok result. It forces Ghana needing at least a goal in Abuja. A 0-0 result on the other hand gives them more options in terms of how they approach the game in Abuja. They could choose to start with a counterattacking tactic against our relatively slow defense. Or they could choose to park the bus. Hope for the lottery of penalties.

Agreed completely.

[Orion]

Four teams played but you listed five countries.

A win, a draw and a loss are the possible outcome.

A win for us will be GREAT.

A LOSS will be disastrous. A draw is in between. Call it whatever name you like.

We were the only one playing a 'Rival'! The dynamics are different.

We were not excellent BUT we had the better chances.

If we cannot win in Abuja then we do not deserve to go to Qatar.

I don't understand.

10 countries played 5 games.

Father forgive them for they don't know what they are saying!

If it was Equavoen that made such ridiculous statement we will not hear word.

10 countries played 5 matches. So let us rank the result earned b y the countries and see where Nigeria stands

You said 4 only teams played?

BTW, I didn't do the ranking. I was just correcting txj.

I was highlighting/repeating what txj said. He stated that 4 teams played and went on to list 5 teams.

In trying to make sense he ended up confusing himself.

Now that we know that 10 teams played 5 matches, he should now list and rank the 10 teams (not the 5) and let us see where Nigeria will be based on the result

OK, you should have addressed your post to him as you added to the confusion too.

[txj]

…and the game ended 0-0, would Nigeria have the “upper hand” going to Kumasi for the second leg? Would we be praising the result as a good result?

A bloody good question

We are too quick to find faults in our own , I actually don’t mind the criticism but it’s the inconsistency as you point out now that is the head scratcher

Baba it is a shame, a damn shame if you ask me.

I mean if this scenario was the case, nobody will be saying “If Nigeria score in Kumasi…” They will probably be saying that since we can’t score in Abuja, we should forget it in Kumasi. They will say Ghana was unlucky not to have beat us at home with 2 glorious chances and a PK that was over turned by VAR. Now all we hear is if Ghana score, if they do this do that, same Ghana that could not do jack at home. They didn’t even trouble our defense. Uzoho was comfortable all game long…Anyways it is what it is with my country people and it is very sad…smdh

Let me explain it to you, slowly:

This is not 1970. Football has evolved and especially defensive tactics have evolved, re low block. This often means, AT LEAST IN THEORY, that an away team has more space to attack on the break and take advantage of the away goal rule.

So, you could expect that there will be less space for Nigeria to attack in the next game than in yesterday's, on the assumption that Ghana adopts a low block, as most inferior road teams would do. See CAR. Again in theory.

But theory doesn't play football. Plus this is not a good Ghana team. They just DO NOT have the players...

It was not a bad result. Neither was it a great result.

Among the four African teams that played yesterday, the ranking of the results is as follows:
Tunisia
Algeria
Morocco
Egypt
Nigeria

So you think sitting back in a "low block" is a modern tactic? Lol. Please sir, tell us how inferior teams defended in 1970.

Yes it is. Its an adaptation from the old cattenacio...

Please stop. The more you talk the worse it gets. There is nothing "modern" about the low block. Teams have been using this for decades. The fact that you believe it's a recent innovation to think "If we pack our defense, our opponent will find it harder to score" is laughable.

Teams have gotten more efficient at it with the advent of data and video analysis, and improved fitness levels and training techniques. But the philosophy of that tactic is as old as football itself.

Read my statement again and stop embarrassing yourself as usual. The low block is a modern ADAPTATION of defensive tactics

[txj]

Four teams played but you listed five countries.

A win, a draw and a loss are the possible outcome.

A win for us will be GREAT.

A LOSS will be disastrous. A draw is in between. Call it whatever name you like.

We were the only one playing a 'Rival'! The dynamics are different.

We were not excellent BUT we had the better chances.

If we cannot win in Abuja then we do not deserve to go to Qatar.

I don't understand.

10 countries played 5 games.

Father forgive them for they don't know what they are saying!

If it was Equavoen that made such ridiculous statement we will not hear word.

10 countries played 5 matches. So let us rank the result earned b y the countries and see where Nigeria stands

You said 4 only teams played?

BTW, I didn't do the ranking. I was just correcting txj.

I was highlighting/repeating what txj said. He stated that 4 teams played and went on to list 5 teams.

In trying to make sense he ended up confusing himself.

Now that we know that 10 teams played 5 matches, he should now list and rank the 10 teams (not the 5) and let us see where Nigeria will be based on the result

Read my post again. Its pretty straightforward.

I said, RANKING THE RESULTS from the games (ie wrt the advantage it confers on the teams that got +ive results)...

Not the teams, not the pots, etc

[nemi2002]

If we can't win in Abuja,we have no business in Qatar

[Enyi]

…and the game ended 0-0, would Nigeria have the “upper hand” going to Kumasi for the second leg? Would we be praising the result as a good result?

Actually yes…..cos all u need is to nick a goal……

that’s what Ghana did

[tfco]

It is not that difficult.

An away victory would have been an excellent result. Most of us believe it was within our reach.

A tied game with some scoring today in Kumasi leaves us in a better position than a goalless draw.

I am confident we can beat Ghana in Abuja.

However, if by some chance the game ends in a 1-1 draw we are out.

The situation is one of facts, as it pertains to the away goal rule, not one of feelings and drawing up funny scenarios.

True.
What is more, our recent records at home has been awful. I am shaking \with this result. not a good result at all

We should pray that Ghana doe not score first.

My man concern is our coach. He has no clue.

[DIMKA76]

…and the game ended 0-0, would Nigeria have the “upper hand” going to Kumasi for the second leg? Would we be praising the result as a good result?

Bros I suspect you know the answer. Naija shot themselves in the foot, poor preparation etc a funky football pitch. Naija need to invest in centres of excellence to raise standards. In every sector of human endeavour. Invest in their youth.

[Rawlings]

We should pray that Ghana doe not score first.

My man concern is our coach. He has no clue.

did you pray?
If u did, then it was not well received