[WC2014] France 2-0 Nigeria: FT (Pogba, Yobo(OG))

[tunde72]

The point is in naija everything goes and no accountability. Keshi should have been called to come and explain, why he picked, Rueben, Ameobi, Uchenbo, Ejike etc. Just look at the bench is that what we can offfer as a football playing nation?

tunde,

Accountability? Let the FA account for the bonus problem before they begin accounting for Keshi's choices. The way some of you guys go on about names, you'd think Keshi dropped some George Weah that we ha. This is naija, the talent left at home is not miles better than what we took.

I will never agree that Rueben is better than, Nosa, Lawal or Lukuman, or that Uchebo is better than Ezekiel or Uche Ike. And what is the work of Ameobi in the team. we will hear story about how much those guys paid to get into that team at a latter date. Yea thats why i said everything goes in naija am not exonerating the N.F.F from it. They are basically the main reason Keshi can get away with his selection. Onazi went out and we are done. Its very painful and not eazy to swallow bros. the gap between the bench and the first eleven is dam too much. In 1994, it took Italy the job of taking out Amunike and Amokachi and the internal fight to beat us.

[wale1974]

Oh boy Griezmann

Griezmann and Onazi changed the game period, i was nervous when i saw Griezmann jogging on the sideline.

[platinum]

The point is in naija everything goes and no accountability. Keshi should have been called to come and explain, why he picked, Rueben, Ameobi, Uchenbo, Ejike etc. Just look at the bench is that what we can offfer as a football playing nation?

tunde,

Accountability? Let the FA account for the bonus problem before they begin accounting for Keshi's choices. The way some of you guys go on about names, you'd think Keshi dropped some George Weah that we ha. This is naija, the talent left at home is not miles better than what we took.

I will never agree that Rueben is better than, Nosa, Lawal or Lukuman, or that Uchebo is better than Ezekiel or Uche Ike. And what is the work of Ameobi in the team. we will hear story about how much those guys paid to get into that team at a latter date. Yea thats why i said everything goes in naija am not exonerating the N.F.F from it. They are basically the main reason Keshi can get away with his selection. Onazi went out and we are done. Its very painful and not eazy to swallow bros. the gap between the bench and the first eleven is dam too much. In 1994, it took Italy the job of taking out Amunike and Amokachi and the internal fight to beat us.

First of all, any player who isn't ready to bend to the coach's will is not a player to invite, not unless you're cristiano or messi so that rules out uche.

Keshi had TWO chances to invite Nosa and didn't, that ought to say something to you. Reuben plays a different role from the guys you named too, the guy who'd have competed with himm uld be john ogu for me.

[goldenera94]

Fair enough my brother

goldenera,

I dey kampe. The loss dey pain me but I'll get over this better than most. I fully expected us to lose but the only disappointment I feel is because we matched them stride for stride.

You are naming all those names, you do realize that not one of those guys is a world beater right? Not one of them will come into a game and have france quaking in their boots. Keshi is the star of the team not any one individual, this is the least gifted team we've taken to a world cup ever and their performance was as good as they could have mustered. We've seen more gifted nigerian tams perform way worse.

The only player I'd agree with you on is Kelechi, I think a talent like him may have been worth a call BUT the boy had the chance to make the local CAN and he missed it, it's small things like this that determine a future.


I hate saying we tried, I hate it because I believe in doing not saying. We achieved what any sane person has any right to believe we could, now we must build on it with the big boss.

Platinum, how are you? I've watched Keshi play since the mid eighties, and have a lot of respect for him as a player. Do u realise Keshi did not have replacement for Mikel- his playmaker. That's was not either you nor i's fault. Pls check this substitution scenarios: Mikel not playing well, a Lukman haruna, Kalu Uche, Sone Aluko, and even kelechi yes kelechi sub. Emenike, a Martins, Uche, sub is still an ok quality. I was dissapointed with the composition of the team from the start of the worldcup. How was it that a great Nigeria player like a Keshi was such poor man-manager? And pls don't say all these players are spent force, it was keshi's job to blend tried and untried personnel. Juwon tried, but be honest the poor soul was fishing in deep waters- a Taiwo sub would've had more impact.

And lastly, where was the leadership from Yobo and Vincent? at some points in the first half, Mikel lost balls carelessly in our half and Yobo and co had to struggle to mop it up. But not once did any of them turn around and say to Mikel to knock it off like an Oliseh would say to Okocha- I've witnessed it more the once at Agbole in Surulere, Cairo, and other venues. I no say ball no be milk and cornflakes, well that was why i did not play pass LAFA, Super league, and College Div1 for U.S. But trust me my brother, Yoruba people say "it is at ur job we shall determine if u are lazy" If as a Nurse, the Physician ordered for an abdomen injection(heparin), and I administer it in a different site, it's my fault.

Keshi and his boys are below international norm and standard. A coach in his right mind came along with a lot of lightweights.

goldenera, the team just traded punches for 80mins with the best UNIT in this cup and that's what you come up with?

Get your mind right.

[tunde72]

The truth is BABATUNDE better than Mikel Useless Obi

[tunde72]

Seriously it will not have been so painful if they are better than us. Its obvious they are there for the taking if we have got the right mentality and players. Aside Onazi other fighter in that team. Oh Mikel! Mikel!! Mikel!!! where did you go because you didnt show up at this world cup. I will not be surprise if the guys was demoralised by the team selection.

[kajifu]

This referee from USA account need to be check

[wolverine]

This referee from USA account need to be check

I concur. Super Eagles will have their revenge.

[Kneedeep]

I would wait to see France Vs. Germany before saying Les Bleus were average. When they turned it up between the 70th-85th minute they were awesome. IMO they were held by tactics and spirited play by the Supereagles not "average-ness". Once Onazi went off.........

The boys gave all they had. That Victor Moses playing up front, sprinted 6 yards after when Enyeama parried the ball and cleared with two feet to spare while every other player in the 18 froze made up for whatever he did not do.

[marko]

The squad was thin on talent, germany had 23 world class players to choose from, Brazil about the same, France were able to make excellent subs, Nigeria had absolutely nothing!! apart from the starting 11, where was the game changers?? when Onazi went off, there should have been a more than capable players if not better that could come in and tidy things up, the Germans can always bring in world class substitutes as in nothing was wrong, sorry for the squad that Nigeria took, 2nd round was a solid acheivement, France always looked more dangerous than Nigeria on the break and it was only a matter of time that this clear advantage was going to show up! sadly it did, the goal was even coming, you could see the pressure building up, you dont give Europeans too many set pieces, they will punish you without a doubt, Nigeria problem has always been concentration, how many times did you see Mikel give away the ball carelessly, at least 4-5 times, sorry Nigeria football is only good in Africa, when you face the best in the world, they are always foud out

[Okochadman2Nas]

i wonder how all the so called self righteous blind patriots will now come defend this, I said the squad had no depth and was thin when chosen with unfit players, they were shouting here like this is the best team we could have gone with, have been banging on about Yobo's inclusion for donkey years, Yobo is capable they said, now the same people are now blaming yobo and saying the team was thin... smh

[Okochadman2Nas]

The squad was thin on talent, germany had 23 world class players to choose from, Brazil about the same, France were able to make excellent subs, Nigeria had absolutely nothing!! apart from the starting 11, where was the game changers?? when Onazi went off, there should have been a more than capable players if not better that could come in and tidy things up, the Germans can always bring in world class substitutes as in nothing was wrong, sorry for the squad that Nigeria took, 2nd round was a solid acheivement, France always looked more dangerous than Nigeria on the break and it was only a matter of time that this clear advantage was going to show up! sadly it did, the goal was even coming, you could see the pressure building up, you dont give Europeans too many set pieces, they will punish you without a doubt, Nigeria problem has always been concentration, how many times did you see Mikel give away the ball carelessly, at least 4-5 times, sorry Nigeria football is only good in Africa, when you face the best in the world, they are always foud out

[marko]

I saw the under 17s play a brand of football i thought Nigeria had forgotten, wondered why none of them could make the squad, they certainly could not have been any worse than Yobo, then again, i saw 2 images of the african players sharing millions as if they took part in bank robbery, then i knew it was over, money money money!! not football, thats why they are all out!!

[Guv007]

The point is in naija everything goes and no accountability. Keshi should have been called to come and explain, why he picked, Rueben, Ameobi, Uchenbo, Ejike etc. Just look at the bench is that what we can offfer as a football playing nation?

tunde,

Accountability? Let the FA account for the bonus problem before they begin accounting for Keshi's choices. The way some of you guys go on about names, you'd think Keshi dropped some George Weah that we ha. This is naija, the talent left at home is not miles better than what we took.

I will never agree that Rueben is better than, Nosa, Lawal or Lukuman, or that Uchebo is better than Ezekiel or Uche Ike. And what is the work of Ameobi in the team. we will hear story about how much those guys paid to get into that team at a latter date. Yea thats why i said everything goes in naija am not exonerating the N.F.F from it. They are basically the main reason Keshi can get away with his selection. Onazi went out and we are done. Its very painful and not eazy to swallow bros. the gap between the bench and the first eleven is dam too much. In 1994, it took Italy the job of taking out Amunike and Amokachi and the internal fight to beat us.

Does anyone believe Keshi wholeheartedly picked the team without any others in-particular the NFF having a say?

[maceo4]

I saw the under 17s play a brand of football i thought Nigeria had forgotten, wondered why none of them could make the squad, they certainly could not have been any worse than Yobo, then again, i saw 2 images of the african players sharing millions as if they took part in bank robbery, then i knew it was over, money money money!! not football, thats why they are all out!!

They are busy struggling at U-20 level but you want them at the WC? I mean come on mennn, the loss is painful but come onnnnn...

[sinequanon]

Nigeria had all the technical class to beat France. But I identify two problems.

1. They made the tactical error of not varying their attack enough, especially from set pieces. From corners, they put almost all their eggs in one basket: drill it in to the near post and hope for a spill or flick. France were able to anticipate because there was hardly any variation.

2. Psychological weakness. I don't think the players or management themselves are psychologically weak, but they are surrounded by psychologically weak people and fans, from which they cannot isolate themselves.

France's second goal was a fluke. Nigerian defenders were in the right place, but what looked like an attempted French back-heel to nobody, ricocheted into the net. Otherwise Nigeria had it covered.

As for the first goal, I keep seeing these "inexplicable" moments of weakness, often late in the game, that are like negative energy seeping through from a weak, doubtful and insecure fan base.

If only they could shut out that three quarters of their fan base.

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

Giroud gives me hope when he is playing.... The hope that his team is most likely not to score. I get scared when he is being removed because his replacement might do what he could not do.

Giroud and Ozil...ok, make I go hide before PapaK, SkyWaffi and Platinum catch me...

[yannick]

I saw the under 17s play a brand of football i thought Nigeria had forgotten, wondered why none of them could make the squad, they certainly could not have been any worse than Yobo, then again, i saw 2 images of the african players sharing millions as if they took part in bank robbery, then i knew it was over, money money money!! not football, thats why they are all out!!

They are busy struggling at U-20 level but you want them at the WC? I mean come on mennn, the loss is painful but come onnnnn...

on what basis are they "struggling?''

[oscar52]

The squad was thin on talent, germany had 23 world class players to choose from, Brazil about the same, France were able to make excellent subs, Nigeria had absolutely nothing!! apart from the starting 11, where was the game changers?? when Onazi went off, there should have been a more than capable players if not better that could come in and tidy things up, the Germans can always bring in world class substitutes as in nothing was wrong, sorry for the squad that Nigeria took, 2nd round was a solid acheivement, France always looked more dangerous than Nigeria on the break and it was only a matter of time that this clear advantage was going to show up! sadly it did, the goal was even coming, you could see the pressure building up, you dont give Europeans too many set pieces, they will punish you without a doubt, Nigeria problem has always been concentration, how many times did you see Mikel give away the ball carelessly, at least 4-5 times, sorry Nigeria football is only good in Africa, when you face the best in the world, they are always foud out

[lagos777]

Depth this , depth that. We don't have the players. Their is no team Nigeria could have come up with that would have been expected to get to the quarter finals of the the world cup. Thinking otherwise is delusions of grandiose. We have a bunch of loonies running around this forum talking nonsense.

Arguably, the most talented team we've ever assembled is the USA 94 team front to back. They also played the best brand of football IMHO. They didn't get past the second round. Suddenly you think a team of Uche, Haruna, Mba, Moses, Mikel and whoever else you think is are gonna be better than Finidi, Yekini, Amotaxi, Amunike, and SSS. What are you guys on.

NIGERIA lacks the talent. We are not that good. We don't have a single outfield player that's top 10 in their position world wide. France that beat us are deep and talented. Heck they lost Ribery and they didn't blink. We don't have anyone on this Nigerian team that starts for France. And for the heroes you guys are clamoring for depth, who are they ? You feaking think Uche would start for France ? or Haruna ? Are u kidding me ? I saw some lunatic complaining about depth when Belgium played yesterday, i just shook my head. Eminike doesn't make the Belgium 23. Not to talk of starting.

The best player on our team in this world cup was Onazi. Once we lost him the game was lost. Their is no one that Keshi left at home that would have been able to carry Onazi's jock strap in that game. You can have depth but when a key player goes down, it very difficult for teams to survive , especially when equals to your opponents, not to talk of when you're over matched to start with. You watch Argentina try to beat Belgium without Messi and come tell me about their depth. France without that kid in their middle for them looks different, kid was massive. Neymarless brazil will be average team. So is Holland without Robben.

Did keshi make some mistakes, I think he did. He put too much faith in Mikel and dude was let us down. So did Moses. Those were our key players and they just didn't play well. I can imagine the uproar if keshi had left them both at home

[txj]

Depth this , depth that. We don't have the players. Their is no team Nigeria could have come up with that would have been expected to get to the quarter finals of the the world cup. Thinking otherwise is delusions of grandiose. We have a bunch of loonies running around this forum talking nonsense.

Arguably, the most talented team we've ever assembled is the USA 94 team front to back. They also played the best brand of football IMHO. They didn't get past the second round. Suddenly you think a team of Uche, Haruna, Mba, Moses, Mikel and whoever else you think is are gonna be better than Finidi, Yekini, Amotaxi, Amunike, and SSS. What are you guys on.

NIGERIA lacks the talent. We are not that good. We don't have a single outfield player that's top 10 in their position world wide. France that beat us are deep and talented. Heck they lost Ribery and they didn't blink. We don't have anyone on this Nigerian team that starts for France. And for the heroes you guys are clamoring for depth, who are they ? You feaking think Uche would start for France ? or Haruna ? Are u kidding me ? I saw some lunatic complaining about depth when Belgium played yesterday, i just shook my head. Eminike doesn't make the Belgium 23. Not to talk of starting.

The best player on our team in this world cup was Onazi. Once we lost him the game was lost. Their is no one that Keshi left at home that would have been able to carry Onazi's jock strap in that game. You can have depth but when a key player goes down, it very difficult for teams to survive , especially when equals to your opponents, not to talk of when you're over matched to start with. You watch Argentina try to beat Belgium without Messi and come tell me about their depth. France without that kid in their middle for them looks different, kid was massive. Neymarless brazil will be average team. So is Holland without Robben.

Did keshi make some mistakes, I think he did. He put too much faith in Mikel and dude was let us down. So did Moses. Those were our key players and they just didn't play well. I can imagine the uproar if keshi had left them both at home

We had options. It came down to choice and decisions made or not made...

And even more important, we had time and opportunity.

We misused each and everyone of them...

I mean why would a Nigerian WC team have to depend on Oshaniwa, a technically malnourished player?

Don't get me wrong, I praise him for his efforts. He was a man out there...

But you cant give what you aint got!

A goat cannot bring fort a swan, however hard it tries!

[lagos777]

TXJ, lets discuss these options and what expectations you would have had with em.

Who would you have taken ahead of oshaniwa that's obviously superior to him ? Would you have taken Taiwo to the world cup with his attitude ? Is that what you think a world class coach would do ? Such exceptions are made for exceptional talent imho. Oshaniwa did more than Mikel and Moses in this competiton, no doubt about that in my mind. Sometimes effort and blood is more impactful than just superior talent.

How would you rate the talent pool of Nigeria ( overall ) compared to the teams we faced in this world cup ? Do you even think we deserved more than a 2nd round berth based on our talent coming through. Heck, do you think we were more talented than the Argentines, the French or even the Bosnians ? And I know you want to say coaching would have made the difference but that would be supposing they have mediocre coaches !

Personally, I think we are tied to the local economy and development of the local league. No world class coach is gonna come in and make us true contenders for the world cup until we have the local coaching and league improved and structured. we have a bunch of stars that cannot take corner kicks or free kicks. smh. Maybe keshi should have taken Aloku but then it's a give and take. All these guys go to the foreign clubs and they're 2nd / 3rd choices in this technique based facets of the game. They don't get trained. It took JJ to like age 32 before he could take free kicks and shoot well.

That is seriously tied to economics.

We had options. It came down to choice and decisions made or not made...

And even more important, we had time and opportunity.

We misused each and everyone of them...

I mean why would a Nigerian WC team have to depend on Oshaniwa, a technically malnourished player?

Don't get me wrong, I praise him for his efforts. He was a man out there...

But you cant give what you aint got!

A goat cannot bring fort a swan, however hard it tries!

[txj]

You are right, there are very fundamental issues involved.

But even on the ephemeral level of player selection, there were much better players in the local league than Oshaniwa.

And I would have the same expectations from an Isaac Success or Musa Mohammed as any player in the current SE.

Afterall, how many years has Oboabona been in high level football?