Are the Super Eagles of Nigeria good enough to win Afcon 2024?

[bushboy]

The only hope we have is if the African player of the year shows up and has an incredible tournament. But he never does, and I don't the coach will have the guts to bench him for Boniface.

So, no, I don't think we will win or come close..

[danfo driver]

The only hope we have is if the African player of the year shows up and has an incredible tournament. But he never does, and I don't the coach will have the guts to bench him for Boniface.

So, no, I don't think we will win or come close..

Yes, that is how you will refer to him for the rest of your life.

[oglex30]

No they are not. Me am going to just watch the tournament without expectations.

100%, me too. I have no expectations at all.

[bushboy]

The only hope we have is if the African player of the year shows up and has an incredible tournament. But he never does, and I don't the coach will have the guts to bench him for Boniface.

So, no, I don't think we will win or come close..

Yes, that is how you will refer to him for the rest of your life.

No problem. I have a lot of reverence for the best player on the continent. I look forward to watching him display his dominance on Africa's biggest stage.

[danfo driver]

No problem. I have a lot of reverence for the best player on the continent. I look forward to watching him display his dominance on Africa's biggest stage.

[gochino]

Bigpoke,

The guy on the left touches on something about our current players which I have referred to as willing to give a 110% effort. Apparently, even mon-Nigeria notice this and see it. It is that obvious.

It really is nothing to me that you play in big this or that in Europe. Frankly, immaterial to me. What he speaks on is whether that same player is willing to sweat and give his blood to Nigeria on the field. You can see Osimhen do it, you can see Iwobi do it. But how many of these so called big this and that are willing to give that to Nigeria?

EII,

I don’t think we are in a position to judge what’s in the heart of a player when we’ve never worn the player’s shoes. I’d rather focus on the fact that every professional footballer wants to win something and will do whatever is within their remit to make it happen. There is precious little that can dampen the desire for personal glory. That is a common factor with every footballer who gets to go to the AFCON. The only differentiator is the individual level of skill and we, Nigeria, have got plenty of that so, I’ll take my chances with the group we have


Cheers.

God bless you for this.
It amuses me how fans and pundits sit in their armchairs and pass judgement on players who they believe are not able or willing to give their all. As far as I am concerned that Bongo guy on the left is talking rubbish about the Super Eagles.

These guys are by nature highly competitive and just want to win. A lot of the time it really doesn’t even matter the stature of game. Even when they go back home during the off-season and play 5-a-side with their old schoolmates, they still want to win the game.

If they are unhappy for some reason (eg coach, contract etc) it’s slightly different. But to assume they don’t have that desire to play and win in a national shirt at a continental competition is a long stretch. Then to go further and say it’s because they are spoilt millionaires or because they are not local borns is incredulous and does not reflect the mindset of an elite athlete.

The fire of an Osimhen vs the icy exterior of an Ajayi is no measure of their desire to win.
As you say, personal glory and bragging rights drive them forward.

Damunk

Remember that these players are not robots. They have personalities and differ from one another. The effort in one game differs from the next. There are those who will play with consistent effort in every game. Others will give effort and vary it unconsciously, depending on who the opponent is. For instance, do you think the SE will not dramatically up its game and effirt if Nigeria is to meet Lesitho again at the same venue in Nigeria? As a matter of fact, take a look at previous such games where Nigeria played a dud game but exploded against same opponent a few weeks after. What exactly do you think is mostly responsible for that difference?

That's even going too far! Watch their performance in the second half against Lesotho, you would see that they played a lot better and more aggressive than in the 1st half, the question is why? Claiming that every game is treated the same, doesn't really make sense, they are not machines and a lot of psychology is involved.

[maceo4]

Bigpoke,

The guy on the left touches on something about our current players which I have referred to as willing to give a 110% effort. Apparently, even mon-Nigeria notice this and see it. It is that obvious.

It really is nothing to me that you play in big this or that in Europe. Frankly, immaterial to me. What he speaks on is whether that same player is willing to sweat and give his blood to Nigeria on the field. You can see Osimhen do it, you can see Iwobi do it. But how many of these so called big this and that are willing to give that to Nigeria?

EII,

I don’t think we are in a position to judge what’s in the heart of a player when we’ve never worn the player’s shoes. I’d rather focus on the fact that every professional footballer wants to win something and will do whatever is within their remit to make it happen. There is precious little that can dampen the desire for personal glory. That is a common factor with every footballer who gets to go to the AFCON. The only differentiator is the individual level of skill and we, Nigeria, have got plenty of that so, I’ll take my chances with the group we have


Cheers.

God bless you for this.
It amuses me how fans and pundits sit in their armchairs and pass judgement on players who they believe are not able or willing to give their all. As far as I am concerned that Bongo guy on the left is talking rubbish about the Super Eagles.

These guys are by nature highly competitive and just want to win. A lot of the time it really doesn’t even matter the stature of game. Even when they go back home during the off-season and play 5-a-side with their old schoolmates, they still want to win the game.

If they are unhappy for some reason (eg coach, contract etc) it’s slightly different. But to assume they don’t have that desire to play and win in a national shirt at a continental competition is a long stretch. Then to go further and say it’s because they are spoilt millionaires or because they are not local borns is incredulous and does not reflect the mindset of an elite athlete.

The fire of an Osimhen vs the icy exterior of an Ajayi is no measure of their desire to win.
As you say, personal glory and bragging rights drive them forward.

Damunk

Remember that these players are not robots. They have personalities and differ from one another. The effort in one game differs from the next. There are those who will play with consistent effort in every game. Others will give effort and vary it unconsciously, depending on who the opponent is. For instance, do you think the SE will not dramatically up its game and effirt if Nigeria is to meet Lesitho again at the same venue in Nigeria? As a matter of fact, take a look at previous such games where Nigeria played a dud game but exploded against same opponent a few weeks after. What exactly do you think is mostly responsible for that difference?

That's even going too far! Watch their performance in the second half against Lesotho, you would see that they played a lot better and more aggressive than in the 1st half, the question is why? Claiming that every game is treated the same, doesn't really make sense, they are not machines and a lot of psychology is involved.

Yea, I agree nobody can approach every game the same way, it just makes no sense. There are different stakes, opponents, goals, rewards, incentives from game to game. Internal and external factors that can affect a players drive. Even on Mikels podcast he’s mentioned how players (professionals o) can band together to tank the season in order to get a coach fired. Talk less of refusing to put leg in 50 50 tackles for the NT fearing injury that might affect their club career.

Talent is necessary but there is definitely a desire aspect that can come into play depending how ‘comfortable’ you are. It’s human nature to become complacent and do the bare minimum. It’s why you want to have multiple competent players per position so they push one another and neither gets too ‘comfortable’ where they just start ‘phoning in’ their performances as they say…

Most players don’t have the same drive as an Osimhen…that’s why he is the APOY…but also notice his drive has somewhat waned at Napoli since the racist tweet and his treatment from the club, so outside factors can affect even a player with Osimhen level of drive…

[Enugu II]

Bigpoke,

The guy on the left touches on something about our current players which I have referred to as willing to give a 110% effort. Apparently, even mon-Nigeria notice this and see it. It is that obvious.

It really is nothing to me that you play in big this or that in Europe. Frankly, immaterial to me. What he speaks on is whether that same player is willing to sweat and give his blood to Nigeria on the field. You can see Osimhen do it, you can see Iwobi do it. But how many of these so called big this and that are willing to give that to Nigeria?

EII,

I don’t think we are in a position to judge what’s in the heart of a player when we’ve never worn the player’s shoes. I’d rather focus on the fact that every professional footballer wants to win something and will do whatever is within their remit to make it happen. There is precious little that can dampen the desire for personal glory. That is a common factor with every footballer who gets to go to the AFCON. The only differentiator is the individual level of skill and we, Nigeria, have got plenty of that so, I’ll take my chances with the group we have


Cheers.

God bless you for this.
It amuses me how fans and pundits sit in their armchairs and pass judgement on players who they believe are not able or willing to give their all. As far as I am concerned that Bongo guy on the left is talking rubbish about the Super Eagles.

These guys are by nature highly competitive and just want to win. A lot of the time it really doesn’t even matter the stature of game. Even when they go back home during the off-season and play 5-a-side with their old schoolmates, they still want to win the game.

If they are unhappy for some reason (eg coach, contract etc) it’s slightly different. But to assume they don’t have that desire to play and win in a national shirt at a continental competition is a long stretch. Then to go further and say it’s because they are spoilt millionaires or because they are not local borns is incredulous and does not reflect the mindset of an elite athlete.

The fire of an Osimhen vs the icy exterior of an Ajayi is no measure of their desire to win.
As you say, personal glory and bragging rights drive them forward.

Damunk

Remember that these players are not robots. They have personalities and differ from one another. The effort in one game differs from the next. There are those who will play with consistent effort in every game. Others will give effort and vary it unconsciously, depending on who the opponent is. For instance, do you think the SE will not dramatically up its game and effirt if Nigeria is to meet Lesitho again at the same venue in Nigeria? As a matter of fact, take a look at previous such games where Nigeria played a dud game but exploded against same opponent a few weeks after. What exactly do you think is mostly responsible for that difference?

That's even going too far! Watch their performance in the second half against Lesotho, you would see that they played a lot better and more aggressive than in the 1st half, the question is why? Claiming that every game is treated the same, doesn't really make sense, they are not machines and a lot of psychology is involved.

Yea, I agree nobody can approach every game the same way, it just makes no sense. There are different stakes, opponents, goals, rewards, incentives from game to game. Internal and external factors that can affect a players drive. Even on Mikels podcast he’s mentioned how players (professionals o) can band together to tank the season in order to get a coach fired. Talk less of refusing to put leg in 50 50 tackles for the NT fearing injury that might affect their club career.

Talent is necessary but there is definitely a desire aspect that can come into play depending how ‘comfortable’ you are. It’s human nature to become complacent and do the bare minimum. It’s why you want to have multiple competent players per position so they push one another and neither gets too ‘comfortable’ where they just start ‘phoning in’ their performances as they say…

Most players don’t have the same drive as an Osimhen…that’s why he is the APOY…but also notice his drive has somewhat waned at Napoli since the racist tweet and his treatment from the club, so outside factors can affect even a player with Osimhen level of drive…

Mace,

Unfortunately, it seems that many fans here think you can get on the field and be at the same level of performance all the time. That does not even make sense except if we are discussing robots. Human beings simply cannot do that. Even though I write about those that give 110%, I am referring to those who are more consistent than others in giving their maximum effort based on what we know that they can do.

There are may writeups on this issue and there are managers who have the ability to make their wards approach this potential more often than not and there are other managers that are lax in that regard. However, to think that players all get onto the field and produce at the highest potential is simply strange.

Thank you for the post and hopefully people read it and understand what the discourse is about.

[kali]

Morocco and Senegal have the strongest teams. Nigeria has a good attacking lineup but a weak midfield and defence. They also have a weak mentality folding against Tunisia and not seizing the opportunity to qualify against Ghana. They will be lucky to make the semi finals.

[Enugu II]

Morocco and Senegal have the strongest teams. Nigeria has a good attacking lineup but a weak midfield and defence. They also have a weak mentality folding against Tunisia and not seizing the opportunity to qualify against Ghana. They will be lucky to make the semi finals.

Kali

While I do no quarrel with issue of mentality, but did you forget that Nigeria played to Tunisia with a man less for more than 50 minutes?