NewStats: 3,259,435 , 8,170,097 topics. Date: Sunday, 25 May 2025 at 12:18 AM 32466f

As fans I think we get too emotional following a loss. This same team won in Rwanda (a very difficult place to get a result), but drew (lost) at home in the dying minutes of added time.

Let us see what Chelle can cook. If we miss our of the world cup, it isn't his fault but the clowns in the NFF.

Rohr's scouting team did a great job. Chelle needs his own guys to do same. After AFCON, we can the assess Chelle's performance.

semid4lyfe:
South Africa has a whopping +5 goal difference, and that's my real worry.

Their 13 points haul will be reduced to 10 points when FIFA deducts 3 points for their fielding of an ineligible player. (I'm confident this will happen).

Also, SA's goal difference will take a hit with 3 goals deduction and reduce to +2.

With 10 points, if SA wins three matches of their remaining four matches (I assume they'll lose against us), they'll be on 19 points.

If the Super Eagles win all their four remaining matches, which includes beating SA in their home, we'll be on 19 points too.

In my mind we can defeat Benin Republic at home. Lesotho away and Rwanda at home....,and it must be done handsomely..

Anyhow e wan be, we must pick 3 points against South Africa.

Ultimately, it'll boil down to goal difference so we must score goals.

Is this doable and possible, emphatically YES.

There's still that glimmer of hope so I ain't giving up yet.

Tedium lies the road to success and like 2baba go talk, if e easy na set up.

Believe.

Our SA brothers have also accepted their fate with regards the FIFA hammer. It's just a matter of "when" not "if" for them now. FIFA would not like the case going to CAS.
The head-to-head rule takes precedence over goal difference if two are 2 teams tie at top (like Angola and Nigeria in 2006 WCQ). If these guys manage to win in SA, and tie them on points, Nigeria qualifies irrespective of their goal difference..but can these guys we are seeing do it I only feel sorry for Osimhen , Lookman and the die hard SE fans.

elyte89:
Come to think of it…this could be a blessing in disguise guys cos from findings it shows dt the 3points will be deducted for sure and if that will happen,it means we still av d World Cup qualification in our hands

Now let’s assume dis scenario played out in a must win game against Benin 🇧🇯 in d last game for us to qualify…so many ppu will have heart attack 😀😀😀😀


So guys we re still in it …3points will be deducted from SA CONFIRMED.

If this current SA meets this current SE in South Africa,I can't see a Naija win. Watched highlights of the Benin Vs SA match, This SA team are a serious problem. How can one explain that in a WCQ with nine groups NGR isn't even second at the half way point.

Those dimwits in the NFF need to called out.

Also some of the players are mentally not as strong as they should. If Chelle gets his midfield combo right the SA game will be interesting from a neutral's perspective.

Glad to see Osimhen reacting angrily to his teammates after the game. They need to know this dropped points was down to them. Zimbabwe weren't going forward often but looked dangerous with each forward move..Zim missed some chances before and after our goal.

Chelle..the intensity from the players clearly dropped particularly in the second half. His subs should have done everything necessary to close shop. Anyways I think he remains and works on this team. AFCON should be the realistic goal now.

The Zimbabwean equalizer is on the players. Beats me how they couldn't hold the lead till the end. ..by committing technical fouls in non dangerous areas to frustrate the opponent.

Still think Chelle should continue his process and then by AFCON we can see where we are.The World cup ticket is firmly in SA's hands barring any bizarre turn of events.

Eric Sekou Chelle..take your flowers. Been long I saw the SE put up such a tactically disciplined performance.

Osimhen...Starboy for a reason.

Bag the 3 points in the next game and throw the group wide open.

Looking forward to a tricky game tomorrow.

The Rwandese may decide to sit deep and wait for opportunities to counter. A draw isn't a bad result for them but isn't good for us given our situation. The SE may need an early goal to make the game more open.

The SE coaching job is presently a poisoned chalice ..no thanks to the diabolical results under JP and Finidi.

Any high profile coach accepting the job now risks taking a huge dent on his reputation. We are not in an attractive position.

The NFF have rolled the dice, I hope it works out well. fingers crossed.

Congratulations AdeBaller Lookman!

Safe to say we are experiencing an era akin to the 90s.

These guys need an AFCON title and a good world cup outing to be cement their legacy.

Guys in the English FA would be scratching their heads. How did they let this man (Lookman) slip through their fingers? Lookman has turned out to be the player they probably thought Tammy Abraham would become.

elyte89:


I said it den dt ac Milan moves doesn’t really favour Nigerian 🇳🇬 players ,citing t Taiwo as an example..he was so hot in Marseille b4 he turned cold in Milan .

It's best to look at each case with the specific circumstance. Taiwo was past his prime when he moved to Milan. Tomori has been good so far in same club. Prime Taribo played for both Milan clubs.

Truth is that these top European sides (Milan, Madrid, Juve, etc) have extremely high standards even for elite players and our guys rarely move to these teams. We are still to get a proper Naija international play for Madrid.

elyte89:
Dubois beat Joshua like tif wey steal iPhone for computer village 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Like Dubois has AJ's number.

Very humiliating loss for Joshua.

Joshua's legacy took a huge dent.

Usyk is the best heavyweight of this era and an all time boxing great.

Naija and quick fix approach to issues.

3 coaches this year already. We want to ride on sheer talent to scale through only to get found out on the big stage.

Good performance and more importantly a good result.
However, the uncertainty around the coaching situation needs to be addressed squarely for consistency.
This team is clearly brimming with talent but needs proper and management.

elyte89:
Southgate is free ,can we go for him 😊

I don't see him coming to Africa. Southgates's stock is at an all time high. He could end up with one of the big 6 in the Premier League.

Southgate has exceeded all expectations with England.Their golden generation that had everything were serial quarter-finalists.

To put it into perspective, it took them 24 years to reach the semis of a world cup after their first/only trophy in 1966.

Nomyth:


Guardiola's influence is rubbing off on the English national team much like it did in and Spain.

Guardiola again.lol

I think the guy is good but gets way too much credit.

The English game has been influenced largely by foreign managers and players not just Guardiola.

Tipping Spain to give the English some lessons on Sunday.

That said, the real Southgate must have his place in English folklore , the tournament form under his charge is unprecedented in English history.

BascoVanVeli:
Neymar is the last real Brazilian player on the planet Earth. The rest might as well be playing for England

Probably Vini Jnr who has shown that Brazilian magic. Brazil needs some deep soul searching.

jihday:
Ronaldo Nazario: "I think I love more tennis now than football. I cannot watch football matches. I think it's too boring."

"I can stay for 5 hours watching tennis."

https://x.com/eurofootcom/status/1805872122885001448?s=46&t=Wic7bZ22o0NPuuEZ-ktA

Modern tactics is truly killing the beauty of the game..but I think his pain is due to the fact that this current Selecao should be the most boring Brazilian team in history.

Mujtahida:

Na lie. It's all theory. Amunike is probably a better pick. Don't say he's certainly a better pick. You can only say he's a better pick when he gets there and performs.

No more theories based on potential and past records. The man who gets in the saddle and rides the horse to destination is the better pick. A man is not the better pick because the man who was picked failed. No!

There is no guarantee that Amuneke was going to do better but Finidi was chosen through a skewed process..no interview was conducted..the metric used to justify his selection was continuity. It was a big gamble that has backfired and the backlash is justifiable.

Not a fan of local coaches.

I hope these "technocrats" at NFF understand that not every assistant coach morphs into a sound head coach. Any local coach hoping to coach the eagles should cut his teeth first as a head coach.

Frankly, sentiments aside, Amuneke was a better pick cos of his experience as a head coach. Sad seeing Finidi learn on the job to the detriment of the int'l careers of these players.

Funny how some still manage to blame the players knowing full well that the coach/NFF were responsible for their invitation and roles on the pitch.

Modern footie is highly scientific from the coaching perspective and I think this is where most of our coaches come up short.

Rohr did a thorough homework on our team especially after the SA game and apparently Finidi did a very shabby job in prepping his team. Eguavoen and Finidi have shown difficulty finding a way around teams that sit deep in a low block... simply throwing in more forwards doesn't increase the chances of goal scoring.

elyte89:



What I knw is if deres a country dt can have 100percent win run is only Nigeria 🇳🇬…odas will slip up as we go along d qualifiers

But we need to change finidi …we can beat all these teams on our good day…

This is a group where normally Nigeria should qualify with a game or two to spare but here are we today almost rock bottom...

I feel for some of the players who might never get the chance to play in the world cup in their prime.

NFF's interest stems more from the largesse from FIFA for qualification.

Funny how some still have faith in this current NFF.

Expect buck ing between the NFF, Sports Ministry and Coach between now and the next round of qualifiers.

The clueless Eguavoen may emerge as the interim head coach in February, 2025.

Some of these Ex-Intls should desist from hovering the SE coaching job like hawks..

Our local coaches come with a lot of baggage..foreign coaches have theirs but local coaches just have a little bit more complex issues.

Couldn't make sense of the substitutions today just like what Eguavoen did in the 2nd leg of the WCQ against Ghana..

Finidi just like our politicians back home..Shameless.

If he has some dignity, he would throw in the towel but the buck still lies with those dimwits at NFF.

This thread will be dedicated to following Nigerian players...the world cup ticket is all but lost.

Thanks to the Clueless misfits in the NFF.

Was Finidi the best qualified for the job

Truidstarr:
Let’s hope for a better second half. E no funny at all. We miss Rohr sha!!

Not really Rohr per say.

Those clowns in the NFF have badly managed the change of coaches for a long time.

That funny Eguavoen will be looking for a backdoor to the SE coaching role again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vlen1MCYh4?si=vTPrJRzfbkmVi1Ex

Benin would look to employ similar tactics ( though the analysis ignored the adjustments that shifted the momentum in the second half).

caprikon:
I just hope Chuks can rediscover his AFCON 2019 form....the attacking Trident should look more like.

Lookman......Osimhen/Boni/Awo....Chuks

Chuks showed "something" yesterday. Our play in the third phase needs to be less predictable for us to create more clear cut chances like his to Moffi did.

Lookman made some intelligent moves but didn't seem to be in sync with the other forwards like he was with Osimhen/Moses at AFCON.

The match against Benin Rep. is now everything. Anything outside a win ...

Broos schooling Finidi so far.

SA have a beautiful setup with a low block and quick transitions. We are playing into their hands...lucky to be only a goal down.

The offensive transitions have been very slow from SE. That midfield playing today is glaringly imbalanced... let's see what happens after the break.