Can we win Afcon?

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Seriously! Pioooom is less than a yr away. I can't handle another disappointment from SE after DNQ and Eguavoen-gate. Assuming we qualify, do we have enough to be a contender at the next Afcon. Morocco, Senegal, Cameroun, Tunisia and host CIV will be teams to beat based on recent records. Egypt,Ghana, BF and Ghana are also very formidable.

Can we win this thing or should I prepare myself for 2nd rd and out?man don taya!

[Adisboy]

Seriously! Pioooom is less than a yr away. I can't handle another disappointment from SE after DNQ and Eguavoen-gate. Assuming we qualify, do we have enough to be a contender at the next Afcon. Morocco, Senegal, Cameroun, Tunisia and host CIV will be teams to beat based on recent records. Egypt,Ghana, BF and Ghana are also very formidable.

Can we win this thing or should I prepare myself for 2nd rd and out?man don taya!

Ofcourse we can. But so can the others you've mentioned. Just need to have a best players ready & fit as well as some good fortune.

[maceo4]

Would be tough with our midfielders and defenders not being as strong as other contenders…

[joao]

As long as our officials keep interfering on team selection we will continue getting the bronze.
BTW, is there any country with more bronze than Nigeria in all competition?

[Bigpokey24]

As long as our officials keep interfering on team selection we will continue getting the bronze.
BTW, is there any country with more bronze than Nigeria in all competition?

nobody fit near us for bronze. in fact i doubt any one fit pass us for Silver sef, 7 AFCON finals and 4 losses

[gochino]

Since watching the Portugal friendly, I doubt it.

[Adisboy]

Since watching the Portugal friendly, I doubt it.

Using the Portugal friendly as a yardstick is MASSIVELY,MASSIVELY misleading.

[vancity eagle]

African football is very tough.

I predict Morocco who everybody will be expecting to win after their WC exploits, WILL NOT WIN.

Here are the contenders though.

Nigeria
Egypt
Morocco
Senegal
Ivory Coast
Ghana
Algeria

Any one of those teams can win

Then you will have dangerous teams like

Burkina Faso
Tunisia
Mali
Gambia
DR Congo
Cape Verde
Angola

It will be tough

[gochino]

Since watching the Portugal friendly, I doubt it.

Using the Portugal friendly as a yardstick is MASSIVELY,MASSIVELY misleading.

That's exactly the point, they need to show professionalism and patriotism no matter the type of game they are playing. I have never seen a national team show up for a game and refuse to contest any of the 50/50 balls. The team has a major issue!

[Undertaker]

No love for Algeria? I think Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, or Nigeria will win it!

[vancity eagle]

No love for Algeria? I think Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, or Nigeria will win it!

Ivory Coast are hosting and are building a very strong team. Don't overlook them

[Undertaker]

No love for Algeria? I think Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, or Nigeria will win it!

Ivory Coast are hosting and are building a very strong team. Don't overlook them

Ok, Morocco, Senegal, Algeria or Ivory Coast will win it!

[Tbite]

Based on actual talent I think this should not even be a question. We have more than enough talent to win it.

but the NFF seem worse than ever before, so I feel like we are performing significantly below talent. Everyone is talking about recruiting this or that. I think the talent is actually BETTER than the output.

I am not saying we are the best in theory. I am just saying that you get to a certain level in football where even if you are second or third best and the margin is minimal, it becomes negligible. So yes there may be Morocco or Senegal or Algeria etc. but their talent would not be significantly better, even if ahead. We can pull them back all things being equal.

It is concerning because I didn't just think it, but I felt that the AFCON was on the way. I was even sure of it. And then the NFF capitulated. If we can stop the rot, then if not the next edition, then the one after should be realistic.

I wouldn't even worry about talent right now as a first order of business, I would focus on the basics. The way we are right now, even Lionel Messi would struggle in our team.

[marutimon]

Based on actual talent I think this should not even be a question. We have more than enough talent to win it.

but the NFF seem worse than ever before, so I feel like we are performing significantly below talent. Everyone is talking about recruiting this or that. I think the talent is actually BETTER than the output.

I am not saying we are the best in theory. I am just saying that you get to a certain level in football where even if you are second or third best and the margin is minimal, it becomes negligible. So yes there may be Morocco or Senegal or Algeria etc. but their talent would not be significantly better, even if ahead. We can pull them back all things being equal.

It is concerning because I didn't just think it, but I felt that the AFCON was on the way. I was even sure of it. And then the NFF capitulated. If we can stop the rot, then if not the next edition, then the one after should be realistic.

I wouldn't even worry about talent right now as a first order of business, I would focus on the basics. The way we are right now, even Lionel Messi would struggle in our team.

Our talent is all in the front. Almost no in form defenders or midfielders and no good goalie. Compare with top contenders Senegal, Morocco, Algeria or even Cote d'Ivoire. Morocco went so far at the World Cup because they are quality front to back.

BTW No love for Cameroon? They have a very decent squad. Although they could use Onana.

[Bigpokey24]

Goal keeping is going to be a major problem for us..however the luck of the fixtures can work for us

[packerland]

Goal keeping is going to be a major problem for us..however the luck of the fixtures can work for us

Only GK? We don’t have proper midfielders or central defenders. We only have strikers and wingers.

[Bigpokey24]

Goal keeping is going to be a major problem for us..however the luck of the fixtures can work for us

Only GK? We don’t have proper midfielders or central defenders. We only have strikers and wingers.

now tell me why we lost this game

[delisyomie don]

Seriously! Pioooom is less than a yr away. I can't handle another disappointment from SE after DNQ and Eguavoen-gate. Assuming we qualify, do we have enough to be a contender at the next Afcon. Morocco, Senegal, Cameroun, Tunisia and host CIV will be teams to beat based on recent records. Egypt,Ghana, BF and Ghana are also very formidable.

Can we win this thing or should I prepare myself for 2nd rd and out?man don taya!

Ofcourse we can. But so can the others you've mentioned. Just need to have a best players ready & fit as well as some good fortune.

definitely no! with that 419 Portuguese coach, lost all the friendly matches putting too many attack-minded players between the midfield and a forget the midfield that needs to use proper midfielders, and is formation not good for the eagles besides our players are not committed at moment and they could only do what they can do, NFF is pretty rubbish since peak milk mess everything more financially and the present NFF chairman trying to be stable. the simple basic thing just follows the way westhahoff or Keshi, did start from players from home but they all say they will go abroad the next day, can you not call them back so the core of the team is solid like westahoff did .even Keshi did similar thing solid with committed players. before you can see a kind of committed player you need to start from home, whoever signs that the coach must be taking a big cut also, instead of assigning him with a home base eagle and a foreign eagle to coach.

[Orion]

Based on actual talent I think this should not even be a question. We have more than enough talent to win it.

but the NFF seem worse than ever before, so I feel like we are performing significantly below talent. Everyone is talking about recruiting this or that. I think the talent is actually BETTER than the output.

I am not saying we are the best in theory. I am just saying that you get to a certain level in football where even if you are second or third best and the margin is minimal, it becomes negligible. So yes there may be Morocco or Senegal or Algeria etc. but their talent would not be significantly better, even if ahead. We can pull them back all things being equal.

It is concerning because I didn't just think it, but I felt that the AFCON was on the way. I was even sure of it. And then the NFF capitulated. If we can stop the rot, then if not the next edition, then the one after should be realistic.

I wouldn't even worry about talent right now as a first order of business, I would focus on the basics. The way we are right now, even Lionel Messi would struggle in our team.

Our talent is all in the front. Almost no in form defenders or midfielders and no good goalie. Compare with top contenders Senegal, Morocco, Algeria or even Cote d'Ivoire. Morocco went so far at the World Cup because they are quality front to back.

BTW No love for Cameroon? They have a very decent squad. Although they could use Onana.

I would even question the effectiveness of the talent we have upfront. Osimhen is the only player that ranks in the same class as the top talents we've had in the past. We're at one of our lowest ebbs talent-wise in the last 30 years or so.

The only way we can win the AFCON is to get a new coach and discover new players.

[Adisboy]

Seriously! Pioooom is less than a yr away. I can't handle another disappointment from SE after DNQ and Eguavoen-gate. Assuming we qualify, do we have enough to be a contender at the next Afcon. Morocco, Senegal, Cameroun, Tunisia and host CIV will be teams to beat based on recent records. Egypt,Ghana, BF and Ghana are also very formidable.

Can we win this thing or should I prepare myself for 2nd rd and out?man don taya!

Ofcourse we can. But so can the others you've mentioned. Just need to have a best players ready & fit as well as some good fortune.

definitely no! with that 419 Portuguese coach, lost all the friendly matches putting too many attack-minded players between the midfield and a forget the midfield that needs to use proper midfielders, and is formation not good for the eagles besides our players are not committed at moment and they could only do what they can do, NFF is pretty rubbish since peak milk mess everything more financially and the present NFF chairman trying to be stable. the simple basic thing just follows the way westhahoff or Keshi, did start from players from home but they all say they will go abroad the next day, can you not call them back so the core of the team is solid like westahoff did .even Keshi did similar thing solid with committed players. before you can see a kind of committed player you need to start from home, whoever signs that the coach must be taking a big cut also, instead of assigning him with a home base eagle and a foreign eagle to coach.

This start from home thing will not work. It's not just commitment that is needed, exposure, experience and capability and this is were most of our homebased players are lacking. People mentioning Keshi have short memory. At the start of AFCON 2013, NO ONE expected us to win it all, NO ONE. Anybody who claims otherwise is a joker. We only started to believe when we beat CIV in the quarters ( a game even the NFF was expecting us to lose). That was a one-off. The 1994 team was 95% foreign based. Following the Keshi route will totally fail in this day and age. We just need our best assembled, fit & ready with a bit of good fortune. Using friendlies to gauge the team is wrong even prior to 2013 triumph we didn't win any of our friendlies.

[Bigpokey24]

As long as we have our Osimhen , we will not only win the next AFCON , but also the one after CIV 2024

[packerland]

As long as we have our Osimhen , we will not only win the next AFCON , but also the one after CIV 2024

You mean the Osimhen that has stud midfielders at Napoli passing him the ball. I love Ndidi but presently he’s not even on the level of Zambo Anguisa. Osimhen will be neutralized and frustrated by African jambody defenders. You forgot what Djiku and Amartey pocketed Osimhen in a must win game for Ghana to steal the ticket.

[packerland]

Goal keeping is going to be a major problem for us..however the luck of the fixtures can work for us

Only GK? We don’t have proper midfielders or central defenders. We only have strikers and wingers.

now tell me why we lost this game

Bad coaching, 2 defenders and 2 midfielders that couldn’t get the ball away from one guy and an attack that couldn’t score a goal. We still have the same problem till today? Now tell me what happened in the next two games the team played?