Nigeria facing Challenges in World Cup Qualifications: My Observations

[Enugu II]

After watching on television today's match played at home in Uyo, it is becoming crystal clear to me that the Super Eagles must begin to face some hard truths. Sometimes, pride and an ingrained belief in one's capability blinds to the point that instead of saving oneself, one ends up in abyss. In my view, it is clear that Nigeria has a coaching problem but it is not one borne solely by Finidi but one that was notable from Gernot, Jose Peseiro (to a certain extent), and one ingrained in the larger Nigerian pundit public. Nevertheless, let me not solely get into it but instead lay out some points that we must all ponder and that are directly related to the disappointing result in Uyo today.

1. As most people called for, on CE and the wider Nigerian public, the Super Eagles reverted to an aggressive attacking formation. This is a far cry from what took Nigeria to the AFCON final under Peseiro. More disappointing, this attacking belief is based on the fact that Nigeria has multiple forwards leading scoring charts in Europe. Thus, the simplistic belief is that playing as many of them together will generate a high scoring team. It did not happen under Rohr, it did not happen under Peseiro, and it will not happen under Finidi. This game involves both offense and defense. Focusing on offense, has often created a situation where Nigeria concedes more than a goal per game. The only exception was at the recent AFCON where the use of a defensive formation led to multiple games without conceding. Importantly, in those games, opponents barely had an opportunity to score because of how disciplined Nigeria was defensively. Yet, the call for an ultra attacking focus persists... erroneously, I must state. Peseiro came with that belief but disappointing results forced him to change and an AFCON final appearance was the result. Now, we are back to the belief once again! Finidi needs to start to rethink or else....

2. Paul Onuachu has scored a ton of goals in Europe by dominating the air. Today, Finidi believed that Onuachu will do so against South Africa. Yes, Paul won multiple fouls and had a header saved on the line but the return in terms of opportunities paled in light of the thinking that underlay his use as the point man. He has no pace to keep up with his mates and he is practically not useful when the ball is played on the ground.

3. While we had opportunities, one must acknowledge the spectacular performance of Nwabali. I shudder to think of the days when Uzoho manned the posts. It is a sea of change to think that the regular complaint about goalkeeping has suddenly disappeared and it now dims so far into the past.

4. South Africa came prepared and I believe that they clearly conceived Nigeria's defense as being slow and ponderous, given the way they tested Nigeria and successfully and repeatedly got behind the Nigerian defense especially in the opening half and a few times after the interval. Was this a surprise? Nope!! This has always been South Africa's way and what Nigeria often has over them is that Nigeria is far more clinical. South Africa is certainly not Top 5 nor are their players in the Top 5 league. However, they have played together for long periods and that is what matters in building a solid team. While their players play locally in Africa, they are very good. By the way our goalkeeper also plays locally in Africa and he has made us forget the woes of several years when we believed in Euro-based goalkeepers!

5. Victor Osimhen is certainly a rare breed. However, I do not think that his presence today would have assured anything given the points that I have already made. I will not play GOD and claim that if Osimhen was there, if this or that was there, and so on. The fact is that he was not, but we had a capable set of players playing against a team of largely Africa-based talents. Those are factual.

6. I often loath Samuel Chukwueze's play because of his wayward decisions, however, today he gave his all and when he was in the game it was clear that he was Nigeria's biggest threat. On the other hand, Ademola Lookman had a good game as well. He gave the effort. If I was to fault him at all, it appeared that he sought to put the SE on his back and shoulders and made a few choices to shoot or go alone when alternatives existed.

7. The good thing is that the next game against a motivated Benin Republic is ostensibly a "home" game for the Beninois.But playing in Yamoussoukro, where a significant Nigerian population resides, gives Nigeria a huge opportunity. Yet, it will not be easy. Nothing but victory can keep a chance of topping the group alive. Or else, the window of opportunity shall begin to rapidly close.

[Tobi17]

Strange how Finidi stuck to a high-line despite the number of times the pacey South Africans easily exploited it with their quick passing and balls over the top...I appreciate attacking football but not at the expense of playing smart especially in a world cup qualifier for goodness sake.

[ohenhen1]

SE need a lot of work. No one has the magic wand. But I did like the mentality of the players to be moe agreesive. I still think the team needs a major overhaul. There are a lot of average players that lack discipline in the squad.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

I might have written about this before but the older I get the more I’ve come to terms with the fact that this might actually be true. An expat once said …..

“Nigerians are very smart but they do not know what they do not know.Unfortunately, they do not know how the functioning world works but they do not know that they don’t know that. Nigeria would be much greater if they knew how the world works.”

I’ve struggled it with since I heard it but I’m now coming to terms with it. What we saw today was not Finidi failing, it’s simply evidence of incompetence of the Nff. We lack structure and vision, ultimately, the plan rarely works. It’s the same with our economy and socio-economic situations. We just cannot seem to solve any problem. As a long time die hard SE fan, this game hurts badly but I’ll hold on to hope that we’ll eventually get lucky and get it right but I won’t invest emotionally.

[Shadams]

I might have written about this before but the older I get the more I’ve come to terms with the fact that this might actually be true. An expat once said …..

“Nigerians are very smart but they do not know what they do not know.Unfortunately, they do not know how the functioning world works but they do not know that they don’t know that. Nigeria would be much greater if they knew how the world works.”

I’ve struggled it with since I heard it but I’m now coming to terms with it. What we saw today was not Finidi failing, it’s simply evidence of incompetence of the Nff. We lack structure and vision, ultimately, the plan rarely works. It’s the same with our economy and socio-economic situations. We just cannot seem to solve any problem. As a long time die hard SE fan, this game hurts badly but I’ll hold on to hope that we’ll eventually get lucky and get it right but I won’t invest emotionally.

Very well said!

[kali]

The weakness in this team is the midfield. Finidi should think back to what made Nigeria solid in 1994. Hardworking central midfield full of no namers. Okocha was benched because he did not do the basics of getting the ball quickly to the forward line.

Nigeria has accommodated Iwobi for too long. The central midfield needs no nonsense players who can move the ball forward.

[Enyi]

The weakness in this team is the midfield. Finidi should think back to what made Nigeria solid in 1994. Hardworking central midfield full of no namers. Okocha was benched because he did not do the basics of getting the ball quickly to the forward line.

Nigeria has accommodated Iwobi for too long. The central midfield needs no nonsense players who can move the ball forward.

Sorry to say, this is utter rubbish.... put Messi in Iwobi's position, you will lose or draw against this SA team....

Which of the SA players will play consistently for Luton let alone Fulham...

What Emir said above is totally correct....nothing to do with the players and to be fair not really Finidi's fault...

If i give you a job as an intern for 3years and then give you chance in that job after three years and you mess it up... no way am i employing you full time....

FINIDI should not have gotten the job.....Nothing he did in the friendlies said that he was qualified for the top job...

Everyone here watched AFCON....tell me one positive from AFCON..99% of ppl will say the defence was soild...GREAT.

Finidi saw this first hand.......so why tear it down and start from the beginning? why not build on that and improve the forward line?


The problem with SE IS SIMPLE....HIRE THE RIGHT COACH? - Black, green or blue...

Ohenhen called them average players!!

Boniface
Lookman
Onuachu
Bassey
Ndidi
Bashiru
etc....

if you are facing Brazil, England then maybe we can talk....you are facing Lesotho, LESOTHO...LESOTHO

Am sure someone will type, there are no poor teams in Africa anymore....(Except SE then)

NFF needs to get their affairs in order, treat it like a business...and generate funds to pay the right person with the right qualifications....

-Play the right players whether they are from Sokoto, Abuja or Rivers...
-Get ur players from abroad...e.g Eze, Olise, Zirkzee etc... to play for you
-Focus once again on the youth teams and Olympic teams...
-Develop the local league

Infact, the whole thing needs to be privatised ....

I heard the announcer yesterday calling out the governors that came to the stadium to be clapped for? why?

[davidbam14]

I might have written about this before but the older I get the more I’ve come to terms with the fact that this might actually be true. An expat once said …..

“Nigerians are very smart but they do not know what they do not know.Unfortunately, they do not know how the functioning world works but they do not know that they don’t know that. Nigeria would be much greater if they knew how the world works.”

I’ve struggled it with since I heard it but I’m now coming to terms with it. What we saw today was not Finidi failing, it’s simply evidence of incompetence of the Nff. We lack structure and vision, ultimately, the plan rarely works. It’s the same with our economy and socio-economic situations. We just cannot seem to solve any problem. As a long time die hard SE fan, this game hurts badly but I’ll hold on to hope that we’ll eventually get lucky and get it right but I won’t invest emotionally.

i fully agree, Nigerians are smart people on average the issue i see is staying power, the ability to patiently focus on a subject till it's understand. We prefer quick fixes If something can't be achieved quickly then it's a waste of our time.

[davidbam14]

I might have written about this before but the older I get the more I’ve come to terms with the fact that this might actually be true. An expat once said …..

“Nigerians are very smart but they do not know what they do not know.Unfortunately, they do not know how the functioning world works but they do not know that they don’t know that. Nigeria would be much greater if they knew how the world works.”

I’ve struggled it with since I heard it but I’m now coming to terms with it. What we saw today was not Finidi failing, it’s simply evidence of incompetence of the Nff. We lack structure and vision, ultimately, the plan rarely works. It’s the same with our economy and socio-economic situations. We just cannot seem to solve any problem. As a long time die hard SE fan, this game hurts badly but I’ll hold on to hope that we’ll eventually get lucky and get it right but I won’t invest emotionally.

i fully agree, Nigerians are smart people on average the issue i see is staying power, the ability to patiently focus on a subject till it's understood. We prefer quick fixes If something can't be achieved quickly then it's a waste of our time.

[vancity eagle]

The weakness in this team is the midfield. Finidi should think back to what made Nigeria solid in 1994. Hardworking central midfield full of no namers. Okocha was benched because he did not do the basics of getting the ball quickly to the forward line.

Nigeria has accommodated Iwobi for too long. The central midfield needs no nonsense players who can move the ball forward.

Sorry to say, this is utter rubbish.... put Messi in Iwobi's position, you will lose or draw against this SA team....

Which of the SA players will play consistently for Luton let alone Fulham...

What Emir said above is totally correct....nothing to do with the players and to be fair not really Finidi's fault...

If i give you a job as an intern for 3years and then give you chance in that job after three years and you mess it up... no way am i employing you full time....

FINIDI should not have gotten the job.....Nothing he did in the friendlies said that he was qualified for the top job...

Everyone here watched AFCON....tell me one positive from AFCON..99% of ppl will say the defence was soild...GREAT.

Finidi saw this first hand.......so why tear it down and start from the beginning? why not build on that and improve the forward line?


The problem with SE IS SIMPLE....HIRE THE RIGHT COACH? - Black, green or blue...

Ohenhen called them average players!!

Boniface
Lookman
Onuachu
Bassey
Ndidi
Bashiru
etc....

if you are facing Brazil, England then maybe we can talk....you are facing Lesotho, LESOTHO...LESOTHO

Am sure someone will type, there are no poor teams in Africa anymore....(Except SE then)

NFF needs to get their affairs in order, treat it like a business...and generate funds to pay the right person with the right qualifications....

-Play the right players whether they are from Sokoto, Abuja or Rivers...
-Get ur players from abroad...e.g Eze, Olise, Zirkzee etc... to play for you
-Focus once again on the youth teams and Olympic teams...
-Develop the local league

Infact, the whole thing needs to be privatised ....

I heard the announcer yesterday calling out the governors that came to the stadium to be clapped for? why?

KPOM.

The NFF is not a serious organization.

They are a bunch of clowns.

[bret- hart]

SE need a lot of work. No one has the magic wand. But I did like the mentality of the players to be moe agreesive. I still think the team needs a major overhaul. There are a lot of average players that lack discipline in the squad.

Always making excuses for Finidi. Was it not finidi that called up these "average" players? The buck stops on him. I dont want to hear any nonsense excuses for Finidi, If he does not get 3 points on Monday he needs to be sacked simple.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

I might have written about this before but the older I get the more I’ve come to terms with the fact that this might actually be true. An expat once said …..

“Nigerians are very smart but they do not know what they do not know.Unfortunately, they do not know how the functioning world works but they do not know that they don’t know that. Nigeria would be much greater if they knew how the world works.”

I’ve struggled it with since I heard it but I’m now coming to terms with it. What we saw today was not Finidi failing, it’s simply evidence of incompetence of the Nff. We lack structure and vision, ultimately, the plan rarely works. It’s the same with our economy and socio-economic situations. We just cannot seem to solve any problem. As a long time die hard SE fan, this game hurts badly but I’ll hold on to hope that we’ll eventually get lucky and get it right but I won’t invest emotionally.

i fully agree, Nigerians are smart people on average the issue i see is staying power, the ability to patiently focus on a subject till it's understand. We prefer quick fixes If something can't be achieved quickly then it's a waste of our time.

We took a struggling team to Afcon and the team overachieved by coming 2nd to the sunrise of the whole country.

How do we respond?

We rear it up because it didn't win Afcon and go a different direction. That direction nows seems to be a longer path and may cost us the big price of going to the WC.

What to do now?
Keep going, turn back or find a new direction? Imho, it really doesn't matter has all option lead to an unknown destination.
You get to your destination by staying the course and making adjustments as needed.
Ironically, that's how the world works.

[Cmoke]

Nice write up except that you moved Felix H B stadium from Abidjan where I last saw it with my korokoro eyes to Yamoussoukro

Cmoke

After watching on television today's match played at home in Uyo, it is becoming crystal clear to me that the Super Eagles must begin to face some hard truths. Sometimes, pride and an ingrained belief in one's capability blinds to the point that instead of saving oneself, one ends up in abyss. In my view, it is clear that Nigeria has a coaching problem but it is not one borne solely by Finidi but one that was notable from Gernot, Jose Peseiro (to a certain extent), and one ingrained in the larger Nigerian pundit public. Nevertheless, let me not solely get into it but instead lay out some points that we must all ponder and that are directly related to the disappointing result in Uyo today.

1. As most people called for, on CE and the wider Nigerian public, the Super Eagles reverted to an aggressive attacking formation. This is a far cry from what took Nigeria to the AFCON final under Peseiro. More disappointing, this attacking belief is based on the fact that Nigeria has multiple forwards leading scoring charts in Europe. Thus, the simplistic belief is that playing as many of them together will generate a high scoring team. It did not happen under Rohr, it did not happen under Peseiro, and it will not happen under Finidi. This game involves both offense and defense. Focusing on offense, has often created a situation where Nigeria concedes more than a goal per game. The only exception was at the recent AFCON where the use of a defensive formation led to multiple games without conceding. Importantly, in those games, opponents barely had an opportunity to score because of how disciplined Nigeria was defensively. Yet, the call for an ultra attacking focus persists... erroneously, I must state. Peseiro came with that belief but disappointing results forced him to change and an AFCON final appearance was the result. Now, we are back to the belief once again! Finidi needs to start to rethink or else....

2. Paul Onuachu has scored a ton of goals in Europe by dominating the air. Today, Finidi believed that Onuachu will do so against South Africa. Yes, Paul won multiple fouls and had a header saved on the line but the return in terms of opportunities paled in light of the thinking that underlay his use as the point man. He has no pace to keep up with his mates and he is practically not useful when the ball is played on the ground.

3. While we had opportunities, one must acknowledge the spectacular performance of Nwabali. I shudder to think of the days when Uzoho manned the posts. It is a sea of change to think that the regular complaint about goalkeeping has suddenly disappeared and it now dims so far into the past.

4. South Africa came prepared and I believe that they clearly conceived Nigeria's defense as being slow and ponderous, given the way they tested Nigeria and successfully and repeatedly got behind the Nigerian defense especially in the opening half and a few times after the interval. Was this a surprise? Nope!! This has always been South Africa's way and what Nigeria often has over them is that Nigeria is far more clinical. South Africa is certainly not Top 5 nor are their players in the Top 5 league. However, they have played together for long periods and that is what matters in building a solid team. While their players play locally in Africa, they are very good. By the way our goalkeeper also plays locally in Africa and he has made us forget the woes of several years when we believed in Euro-based goalkeepers!

5. Victor Osimhen is certainly a rare breed. However, I do not think that his presence today would have assured anything given the points that I have already made. I will not play GOD and claim that if Osimhen was there, if this or that was there, and so on. The fact is that he was not, but we had a capable set of players playing against a team of largely Africa-based talents. Those are factual.

6. I often loath Samuel Chukwueze's play because of his wayward decisions, however, today he gave his all and when he was in the game it was clear that he was Nigeria's biggest threat. On the other hand, Ademola Lookman had a good game as well. He gave the effort. If I was to fault him at all, it appeared that he sought to put the SE on his back and shoulders and made a few choices to shoot or go alone when alternatives existed.

7. The good thing is that the next game against a motivated Benin Republic is ostensibly a "home" game for the Beninois.But playing in Yamoussoukro, where a significant Nigerian population resides, gives Nigeria a huge opportunity. Yet, it will not be easy. Nothing but victory can keep a chance of topping the group alive. Or else, the window of opportunity shall begin to rapidly close.

[Enugu II]

I might have written about this before but the older I get the more I’ve come to terms with the fact that this might actually be true. An expat once said …..

“Nigerians are very smart but they do not know what they do not know.Unfortunately, they do not know how the functioning world works but they do not know that they don’t know that. Nigeria would be much greater if they knew how the world works.”

I’ve struggled it with since I heard it but I’m now coming to terms with it. What we saw today was not Finidi failing, it’s simply evidence of incompetence of the Nff. We lack structure and vision, ultimately, the plan rarely works. It’s the same with our economy and socio-economic situations. We just cannot seem to solve any problem. As a long time die hard SE fan, this game hurts badly but I’ll hold on to hope that we’ll eventually get lucky and get it right but I won’t invest emotionally.

i fully agree, Nigerians are smart people on average the issue i see is staying power, the ability to patiently focus on a subject till it's understand. We prefer quick fixes If something can't be achieved quickly then it's a waste of our time.

We took a struggling team to Afcon and the team overachieved by coming 2nd to the sunrise of the whole country.

How do we respond?

We rear it up because it didn't win Afcon and go a different direction. That direction nows seems to be a longer path and may cost us the big price of going to the WC.

What to do now?
Keep going, turn back or find a new direction? Imho, it really doesn't matter has all option lead to an unknown destination.
You get to your destination by staying the course and making adjustments as needed.
Ironically, that's how the world works.

Emir

The problem is that we have a lot of Nigerians loathing the defensive approach because the team lost to Ivory Coast in the final. In my view, many Nigerians think [erroneously] that the SE can win by attacking. Yet, under Peseiro it was demonstrated multiple times that it is not the case. Peseiro did well to change that approach which led to the AFCON final. Yet, Nigerians persist in calling for an attacking team because we have so many high achieving forwards in Europe. I feel we must look to the defensive setup at AFCON to learn. That team presented opponents with very few opportunities. Yet we ignore that. By shutting down the opposition and then coupled with having quick forwards, I thought Nigeria finally found the way to Nirvana. Nope, fans are calling for attack and attack. Yesterday, we saw large holes at our defensive end because of this.

[Schillachi]

Kelechi Ineanacho and Paul Onuachu had no business starting that game. Like I pointed out in the friendly matches, Finidi is sabotaging himself with these inexplicable decisions. It’s either he’s incompetent or he’s corrupt.

Having said that, the team played very well in the second half. I truly believe if Findi starts the right personnel, he wil be successful. Shikena!

[deanotito]

I’ll say again. Our problem is Iwobi. Issue is that he has no credible replacement…and it’s unfortunate.

We need a technical player in the middle that can…HOLD ON TO THE BALL.

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

Kelechi Ineanacho and Paul Onuachu had no business starting that game. Like I pointed out in the friendly matches, Finidi is sabotaging himself with these inexplicable decisions. It’s either he’s incompetent or he’s corrupt.

Having said that, the team played very well in the second half. I truly believe if Findi starts the right personnel, he wil be successful. Shikena!

There is a very distinct third possibility, namely, that you don’t know what the heck you’re talking about. You are merely projecting your uneducated opinion on Finidi because, as far as I know, you are not competent to decide who gets to start games. Moreover, your conclusion that Finidi can still be successful despite your earlier assertion that he is either incompetent or corrupt is, at best, paradoxical


Cheers.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Kelechi Ineanacho and Paul Onuachu had no business starting that game. Like I pointed out in the friendly matches, Finidi is sabotaging himself with these inexplicable decisions. It’s either he’s incompetent or he’s corrupt.

Having said that, the team played very well in the second half. I truly believe if Findi starts the right personnel, he wil be successful. Shikena!

There is a very distinct third possibility, namely, that you don’t know what the heck you’re talking about. You are merely projecting your uneducated opinion on Finidi because, as far as I know, you are not competent to decide who gets to start games. Moreover, your conclusion that Finidi can still be successful despite your earlier assertion that he is either incompetent or corrupt is, at best, paradoxical


Cheers.

But we’ve never seen any evidence that you know what you’re talking about.

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

Kelechi Ineanacho and Paul Onuachu had no business starting that game. Like I pointed out in the friendly matches, Finidi is sabotaging himself with these inexplicable decisions. It’s either he’s incompetent or he’s corrupt.

Having said that, the team played very well in the second half. I truly believe if Findi starts the right personnel, he wil be successful. Shikena!

There is a very distinct third possibility, namely, that you don’t know what the heck you’re talking about. You are merely projecting your uneducated opinion on Finidi because, as far as I know, you are not competent to decide who gets to start games. Moreover, your conclusion that Finidi can still be successful despite your earlier assertion that he is either incompetent or corrupt is, at best, paradoxical


Cheers.

But we’ve never seen any evidence that you know what you’re talking about.

One more irrelevant post to your credit… missing accomplished


Cheers.