Former Nigerian international, Joseph Yobo says he’s not convinced with the Super Eagles’ victory over Guinea-Bissau in Monday’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Recall that Nigeria bot the break in the 37th minute as Opa Sangante smashed Moses Simon’s cross into his net while trying to stop Osimhen waiting behind him for a tap-in.
However, reacting after the game, Yobo, who was a guest at Afrosports AFCON Coverage, stated that he’s happy the Super Eagles won but that he’s not convinced with their performance.
Read Also: AFCON 2023: Super Eagles Bag Marginal Win Against Guinea-Bissau, Round Of 16 Spot
“It was not a convincing victory even though we got the deserved result we needed. The team still need more cohesion because from the midfield, we are yet to get it right,” Yobo said.
“However, we have more attacking players than midfield players. But then, when Iwobi picks, I am sure the team will create more goal scoring chances.
“I think keeping a clean sheet is another positive result from today’s game and it shows the defence is doing something good.”
By Austin Akhilomen
(Photo by Ganiyu Yusuf in Abidjan)
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45 Comments
God bless you Joseph yobo..with this fact now I wont be surprised if some idiot come out and begin to doubt if you’re a Nigerian..lol..they may say you’re a ghanian..lol.
Your obsession with Nigeria is really getting out of hand! Concentrate on your team Ghana.
His team is out as predicted. 32 fouls against 10 by Mozambique they are just wrestlers. Shame! Shame!! Shame!!! @Monkey though we have not played the best of game but we are still there
WHAT A WORST EVER MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF NIGERIA AFCON COMPETITION.
THE SET OF SUPER EAGLE TEAM SHOULD BE ASHAME OF THEMSELVES. A WINNING (via penalty) WE CELEBRATED AGAINST IVORY COAST IS WHAT ONE LOWEST RANKING FOOTBALL TEAM IN THE WORLD ARE WINNING BY 4-0.
WHAT A USELESS SET OF PLAYERS!!!
Sharaaaaaap! When in 2013 the late Stephen Keshi led squad started, they started exactly like this and still went on to win the cup. So be calming down
is Ivory Coast that underestimates them, but against them Nigeria vs Equatorial Guinea we would have beaten them 4 -1 because Oshimen forgot his scoring boot at Italy. hope fully he will discover his scoring mojo at knock stages if not we better defend well if we can not score.
Shut up you ghanian!! Go and concentrate that hate on your team ghana and leave our super eagles alone
Lol…
I thought I was the only one. Though we won but at the same time was sad after the match.
Make Yobo go find sit joor. The boy tried after all they are in the round of 16.
Super eagles that won Afcon 2013, there were not so convincing too, because they also struggle too in the group stage 1:1 with Burkina Faso open game in our group, 1:1 again with Zambia, then two penalties against Ethiopia in our last game.
Thank God I go church go pray on my destiny rather than watching this game.
The area of strength of our team had suddenly become the weakest point whao!
Such is life, I think something is totally wrong with this set of eagles.
They are just club player and national team player.
The truth is that even the win vs CIV wasn’t inspiring nor convincing.
It was just elating to know we defeated the hosts in front of their own fans.
We ended that game with only a shot on target the whole game and a goal from a VAR assisted penalty
But Equatorial Guinea just made rubbish of our victory against the same CIV with a more resounding victory even when the stakes were lesser. Heck they only needed a draw, yet they hammered CIV without even playing 7 men in their defence.
Even Cote D’Ivoire was unlucky today if those of their goal stood they will be QG, but lucky not on there sides today.
Dr Drey. Do you have a twitter handle? I come here to look for you every now and then. If you do please state it. If you don’t please open one Abeg.
I am sorry my brother, I never really did social media that much and do not do social media anymore. I used to in the days of MSN messenger and Hi5 though. I also used to have a Facebook account but closed it after it was hacked over a decade ago. That’s all my involvement with social networking to date, beyond dropping comments on the pages of football sites like kickoffnigeria, africaplays and now CSN
I watched the highlights of that match. Ovono, the EQ, is a 7-man defense on his own, would be difficult to beat the EQ team with him manning the post. In a way, the scoreline didn’t reflect the strengths of both teams. I would say it rather flattered the EQ team, whose players defend like wrestlers and get away with it. I mean they practically but smartly wrestle down and slam-dunk opponents out of the field of play and the refs don’t flash a red or yellow.
The Ivoriens had 60% ball possession and 22 shots compared to 10 for EQ, yet lost by a scandalous scoreline. EQ though were more clinical with 7 shots on targets against 3 for CIV, thanks in large part to their rock of a goalkeeper and the extremely rough plays of their defenders and DMFs.
This is an era of VAR, I don’t think EQ tackles are as rough as you have exaggerated and yet escaped the eagle eyes of VAR.
At least CAF president is not from EQG, They are not hosts, and dey do not bring in an significant market value to the AFCON, that legally punishable offences will go unpunished with such regularity.
Nigerians should calm down with their too much expectations.. we actually won and there are some positives..
We have conceded just one goal the whole tournament, sadly our strikers are not finding it easy getting the goal.. if we continue to win by 1 :0 till the final , it can fetch us the cup..
Oshimen did his best but two hand ball cost us those two goals and I don’t understand why that hand ball wasn’t a penalty..
We are playing either of Angola, Burkina Faso or Algeria in the next match, and I prefer Angola!
Let’s keep supporting our boys.. 1: zero is still a win
Hmm this guy be careful what you wish for ooo!
Remember wetin Angola take our boys do the last time dem put us inside same group? Apart from beat us in park football, dem also beat our boys physically on the day o! Come see bullying, nna I repeat be careful what you wish for – I would rather take Burkina and if not then Algeria but I would avoid that Angola by hook or crook- me I tell you!
Pasero or pajero your job is still at stake. Equatorial Guinea with their local coach have achieved what all these journey men coaches from Cote d’ivoire, Nigeria etc have failed to achieve in this competition. Relying on soft penalty and an own goal to qualify for the next round shows the trial and error approach mr pajero has adopted in the competition. Chukwueze, aribo and Simon must raise their game.
Peisero and NFF were warned to rejig the SE midfield of Iwobi, Aribo and Onyeka is not working. These guys have below average football skills, stamina, poor passing accuracy, weak marking/tackling capabilities and very poor shooting ability, always passing backwards/sideways like cowards.
There are certain attributes you must possess before you can call yourself a midfielder. Midfielders that can’t play free kicks/set pieces, not good in penalties, can’t face and dribble the ball through an opponent in the middle…. I’m dumbfounded.
SE wingers are not aggressive in surging forward like Victor Moses and Samuel Kalu.
Simon Moses, Chukwueze, Sanusi, Osimhen, Aribo, Onyeka, and the entire team, no one can really shoot with precision and ballistically around the 18yard of opponent in a rebound. It’s a shame how Iwobi positioned his leg to shoot against GB.
Our players could not mark closely and put pressure on GB. And could not string passes. Chukwueze and Lookman are trying small but they need to be more agile and aggressive going forward with good shooting ability (with both feet) and intelligence to commit defenders for penalty or free kicks in sensitive areas.
Well Nwabali. You are good.
We are likely playing guinea or Cameroon but I feel we would get guinea..
Same yobo in 2013 had a terrible group stage but they won the cup
Im surprised at how people are condemning the team, even after securing a win. I know many of us castingating the SEs didn’t even believe they would win a single game before the competition began, going by events leading to the tournament and the series injuries we had.
We need to take it easy, tbh. First, Peseiro’s new tactics is a response to tbe team’s inability to keep clean sheets. He’s been extremely cautious, knowing we would always find a way to score, but allowing opponents to always score against us isn’t an idea he would like to stomach. He doesn’t trust our defence, so he needs to be deliberate in tightening things up in that regard. And if he hadn’t done that, we would have possibly conceded goals against CiV and GNB.
My major concern isn’t even Peseiro now. It’s the strikers who have been profligate in front of goal. We should have won our three matches by at attest 3 goals each. But here we are with Osimhen and Co wasting chances upon chances. The coach wont do this for the team, but he should find a way to motivate the team to convert the opportunities coming their way in matches. Their decision making in that regard is so so poor.
Having said that, I still believe in this team. And hopefully, they will soon find their scoring boot.
We haven’t score any goal in open play 3 games. By this time in 2022, Eguavoen’s Super Eagles have scored 6 clear goals to shoot to the top of their group.
I am truly perplexed as to why Peseiro’s Super Eagles are failing woefully to convert chances. Iheanacho, Chukwueze, Awoniyi, Simon, Ekong and Umar all scored in the group stages of the last tournament.
Now Osimhen, Sanusi, Yusuf, Aina, Simon, Iwobi, Onyeka Aina can’t fashion a single goal in open play across 3 games. It is beyond worrying.
I just can’t put my finger on it.
I suggested the Super Eagles play the more progressive, attacking and vibrant 4-3-3 open formation but they went for the tepid 3-4-3 after it gave them a slim win against Ivory Coast. They were really lethargic in their performance.
I only hope they rouse from their slumber and re-produce the more courageous performance we saw against Equatorial Guinea when the knockout phase commences – and this time with end product, finally.
I also asked myself this same question. Scoring is usually not a problem for Nigeria, so I carefully re-watched the game. I discovered that all our opponents have realised that Osimhen is the arrow-head of our attack, so they set their offside traps based on Osimhen’s position.
That is their back 4 watch to see where Osimhen is, then step up to ensure that when he receives the ball he’ll be offside.
Tristan
Omo forget that micro analysis I beg – okay what about all the chances that we have seen him have in this AFCON so far that he has been nowhere near offside nko? How many have there been? I am not even counting but I can tell you that there must be up to 10 now if not much more – So how many of those has he scored?? Is it not to balloon the ball over the bar into row Z? Even the like 3-4 heading opportunities which were like open goals that he got today, how many did he even direct towards goal? let alone score?? open goal headers wey him suppose bury! O’boy make we leave offside matter abeg – let’s call a spade a spade! If we cannot tell ourselves the truth, then to whose detriment is that? Our enemies?? Please let’s be objective to encourage excellence and decry mediocrity – That guy is supposed to be the current APOTY in the continent yet my little boy has more composure in front of goal than him, his gra gra is just too much and soo annoying that I cannot even begin to find the words! It’s like he does not utilise his brain when he is playing football!
Go and watch Cape Verde’s last goal today and see what I mean – And that is a guy who does not have the accolade that our guy has, yet the way he insisted on scoring that goal even when it seemed like it would never be possible to find the back of the net from that situation/angle was supremely impressive I tell you! If that were Osimhen, you can forget scoring from there! I don’t know if there is something going on, but I am getting the same vibes I was getting from Oshoala at the World cup from Osimhen now – I hope there is nothing untoward going on! We know Nigeria has too many unwarranted enemies for no reason and we also know that life is spiritual – I really cannot understand or believe the kind of profligacy that we are seeing not just from Osimhen but the entire Nigerian team at the moment!
Tristan, yeah I can’t put my finger on it. These guys just can’t score. Field Marshall touched on questionable technique employed by Osimhen which I can not discount. I also think it has to be more than that.
Anyways bro let’s hope they find their shooting range in the knockout stages.
Fingers crossed!
Hahahaha, na wa ooo!
Indeed, 3-4-3 should be scrapped from football. It’s a useless, tepid, pathetic formation.
Who developed such a lethargic formation? That person should be publicly flogged.
How is Xabi Alonso using such a useless formation to top Bundesliga? How did Tuchel win champion’s league for Chelsea FC with this rubbish formation? How come this useless formation is so popular in Europe, and often used by the world’s elite coaches? Has the European continent gone mad?
Honestly, 3-4-3 is COMPLETELY useless, even though it may be the reason we are still in this competition.
With 3-4-3, we are solid defensively, and we create chances. Is it the fault of 3-4-3 that our players are not converting chances?
Anyway, if reverting to 4-2-4 and reinstalling Uzoho in goal wins us the trophy, I will happily request for humble pie.
For me, the team comes before my ego or pride. Let’s do whatever it takes to succeed.
Lemaooo! @pompei I tire oo. Dem go explain explain tire no evidence. Peseiro no Dey gree for anybody.
…the 3-4-3 formation is solid. It is meant for a team that knows how to dictate possession in triangle points.
…when Xabi Alonso uses it, his players position in triangular pieces.
…Super Eagles midfielders are not mobile and can’t interpret patterns that’s why they struggling.
…Go and watch how Cape Verde plays, they form triangles for easy passes and ball reception.
…A country like Cape Verde despite being small selects players based on merit but not Nigeria.
…I repeat Joseph Aribo, Moses Simon,and Samuel Chukwueze specifically are fluke players… donkeys who aren’t good enough for Super Eagles.
Wow! Jimmy, I think you are on to something here. Perhaps the personnel in midfield against Guinea Bissau failed to light up the potentials in their approach. Interesting. Whatever it is, the Super Eagles looked flatfooted an ineffective in the last match and I am still trying to work out why. They started the tournament really strong and promising but they paling off badly. Is it due to a dubious approach? who knows.
I wish the team well. Like you appear to suggest, if Peseiro sticks with that template he should get his personnel right and put square pegs in squad holes. Then that approach, which has clearly worked for some coaches in club football, might yet click into gear for the Super Eagles. Presently the presentation is rubbish!
Good luck to the team, regardless of how they set up.
Na wah ooo, enemies of progress everywhere, so you guys would have prefer fancy football and be ready to pack our bags back home already? Hello we dnt care how we win, all that matter now is winning until our strikers remember how to score again, even if they score 10penalties, we dnt care, anybody who need fancy football is dress to join the black stars of Ghana.
You prefer result oriented football over fancy football.but in GENERAL ROAR’S time you guys opened your black black teeth and be shouting he plays boring football….
Hypocrites! Na ogun go k!ll una…
Fellow Nigerians, I have warned you all before the Afcon, and what is happening now shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
Did I not warn you Nigerians about coach Paseiro and his team?
Limit your expectations. Otherwise, you would be disappointed if Super Eagles failed to leave the trophy.
Anybody who is blaming Osimhen in this tournament doesn’t understand football.
Instead of blaming Osimhen, why not put the blame on the coach?
Yes, the coach should know that there would be a lot of pressure on Osimhen as an African footballer of the year.
Plus, he is a young footballer, and putting these two things together will affect his game.
Instead to relying on Osimhen, the coach should have another striker that will be scoring goals for Nigeria while Osimhen will continue putting pressure on our opponents.
Can Moffi rise to the occasion, I doubt it.
Are we not missing Dessers and Nwakali in this tournament. Yes or no?
Have we heard from Nacho? This should tell us that Nacho is not fit to play. If he was fully fit before the last game of our group, he would definitely play in that match. who is fooling who between the coach and NFF? I’m sorry for Nigeria.
I am deeply sorry for the coach, the Nigeria Football Federation, and those fans behind the squad hailing the coach for selecting unmerited players in this squad.
The coach can not give what he does have, just like Oga Rohr.
If truly NFF want a better performance from Super Eagles then if they can’t hire the best foriegn coach, they should go for an African coach or even in Nigeria, we still have the quality local coaches that can give more than what coach Paseiro is giving now but because NFF are selfish and corrupt, they would rather hire TOKUNBỌ coach and call them foriegn coach for us. Now we are seeing the result.
Super Eagles will continue struggling in this tournament because the team lacks a quality creative midfielder and a striker that can turn things around after Osimhen.
As a Nigerian, I want my country to win the tournament, but what I have seen so far is very
far from it. There’s no hope going forward because Super Eagles can score goals, but they are wasteful in front of goal.
If you can fix it, then don’t break it. Fingers crossed. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Just STFU you miserable Dundee United. Did you give them a chance to make it out of the group stage in the first place??? Agbaya isọnu. Leave the coach alone focus on your Amrouche.
No mind d mugu I tok am na only ire o dis guy sabi
ı know ı am beginning to sound like a broken record but I will say this again; it is not about the formation; it is always down to application. At the end is always down to the player, their understanding and their capacity to deliver. Ours haven’t fared brightly. we have used various forms of formation through the world cup qualifiers and now the group stage of the AFCON and it is clear to see that our major problem lies; Scoring.!
I’ll give the boys some slack; they did qualify for the next round where many big names are faltering. Remember, we have been plagued by injuries, so have to make personnel changes. We live to fight another day. We criticise and take the positives and hope they fine tune the mishaps before the knockout stages because going forward there will not be much room for errors and missed opportunities. It is all about the small margins.
I still believe in Osimhen, whatever his happening to him is not new, it has happened to the best of them in the past, he just needs to relax and be himself. he should learn from his flaws and improve on them. He has scored goals before, he’ll score again.
Nevertheless, we still have Moffi and off course, the ever accurate, Iheanacho (Hopefully he is fit), to call upon. They just need the coach’s trust.
Great observation Mr Hush. It is not about the arrangements but rather how the movement weaves into it to produce a compelling output that matters. The output against what turned out to be a strong Equatorial Guinea side was strong in terms of creating clearcut chances: Osimhen on a 1-1 with the goalkeeper and Zaidu missing an open net, to mention a few.
Why they now ditched that approach for one that curtailed their ambitions and restricted their movements is beyond me. Everyone had expected Randy Waldrum to adopt an approach that will overload the defence but he went to toe to toe with England in a style similar to our application against Guinea Bissau and we all saw the results.
In any event, Peseiro knows best. Whatever constellation he uses will secure or sink his contract. He now has 2 games to save his job. If his boys are grotesque, fearful and unadventurous as they were in their last game particularly, then it’s lights out for Peseiro.
Whatever approach he goes with, I wish the team all the best.
We shouted, we sounded the alarm and we screamed eerily loud, to the NFF and Peseiro to make sure we pick 27-Players as allowed by CAF, and also on merit, because there must be contingency solutions and backup plans for injuries and exigencies of unexpectedness in situations that will throw comeuppances on us for being mischievously unfair to ourselves. How do you explain leaving out a Jerome Akor, Chuba Akpom and Kelechi Nwakali… that is if you do not want to prime-up your midfield which we all know still ails the team with suggested players like Obinna Nwobodo and Ifeanyi Matthew, two great midfielders in the Nigerian-mold we know too well from their professional careers so far?
You take a Joe Aribo, who has not done anything of note in his club football at lowly Sunderland for the better part of the last 18-months in his career. At a club without pedigree, he has been deemed surplus to requirement and perceived as without effect, his club only began playing him in the lead-up to the AFCON squad announcement just to help him get into the team for possible after-tournament sales… same way Sivaspor started using Ahmed Musa, we know the commercial-gains politics these clubs play because they are in football for glory but, more for business. See the situation of Ahmed Musa, the coaches don’t even trust him enough to hand him a cameo appearance even in a dead rubber game for us like this last game against Guinea Bissau… what can be more embarrassing for a cheerleader non-playing captain who used men in high-office to take the spot of better and more deserving player in Nathan Tella.
When we call out players as being donkeys… we just try to say they only bring burden on the team, as donkeys though hardworking and diligent, don’t ever receive praise because they may carry a mountain on their backs but are so slow in movement that their masters can even get to their intended destination ahead of them… they appear to be doing so much by their own self-assessment, but nobody sees their work as being effective enough to command any sort of praise… the revered and iconic JERSEY No. 10 of Nigeria has to be worn by a lethargic lackey and an absolute footballing-moth of a player like Joe Aribo… just pathetic.
I have spoken for years about these sort of players… atleast every comer on this forum knows… Chukwueze, Aribo, Simon, Musa are moths in our team… in their place we should have picked Nathan Tella, Kelechi Nwakali, Obinna Nwobodo/Matthew Ifeanyi, and Chuba Akpom. I will continue to be loud about these underserving players until the NFF & Peseiro do the needful. There should be no room in our squad for favoritism and bias… merit, form and ability should be the only reason and yardstick for populating the national team with players… lest we fall hard on our face to the mud like how Ghana has fallen!!!
I am a watchdog for SE and shall continue to sound my alarm… we all know National Team involvements and exposures helps players’ careers… we have given Aribo, Simon, Chukwueze and Musa the right platform to perform and they just can’t get it done for themselves anymore… it is about time we moved on from these players, and let others come in to show their own worth… period!!!
Bro leave story. We’ve made it to the knockout stage unbeaten. We’ve kept two clean sheets in 3 games. None of you expected then to make it out of the group anyway so what does it matter if they crash out now?? African football is unpredictable. Obviously some players are underperforming including the APOY but you can never underestimate their efforts to fight for the green and white.
I don’t know about you but I’m seeing a SuperEagles that plays with their hearts for Nigeria. Our only concern so far is converting our chances. You blame Aribo obviously, he hasn’t covered himself in glory so far but you left out Simon who has been pathetic as well.
You came up with a terrible tribalistic statement and it shows exactly the type of human being you are. Go and do your tribalism on X SuperEagles is for every deserving Nigerian anywhere in the world.
Fair point though AY the Great when you say the team has achieved their objectives by qualifying for the second round.
My two concerns are:
1) Why ditch an approach that proved strong against the strongest team in the group for one that turned out to be weak against the 2 weakest teams in the group?
– Against Guinea Bissau we had 49% possession and just 1 shot on target.
– Against Ivory Coast we had 35% possession and 1 shot on target.
– But against the strongest team in the group Equatorial Guinea we outplayed them with 51% possession and a massive 7 shots on target.
So, are we getting better or going backwards with each game following an unjustified change in approach?
2) Also, my second worry as you allude to is that we aren’t converting chances. AYTheGr8t, let me add a spanner to the works. Before we were not converting chances, now (following a change in arrangement) we are actually no longer creating as many clearcut chances as we started with. Again we have regressed when it comes to creating chances.
Whatever tactical approach the coach goes with, I wish the team all the best.
Yesterday match would have been a perfect time to try iheanacho and osimhen together. Iheanacho has a good conversion goal rate than osimhen. But the guy kept to his gun SMH. Now you can’t experiment i? Knockout stages. I hope he gets it right in the knockout stages.
Something that really makes me laugh albeit quite surprising, is those that came out here to write off the SE, that they won’t win a single match, talk less of qualifying from the group, are still shamefully coming out to castigated the team; despite the team showing them the fore finger by not only qualifying for the group stage but also doing so, not losing any game as well as creating most scoring chances in all three games, though painfully yet pardonably failing to make those chances count.
Anyone who thinks he knows better than the coach or plays better than the players should provide practical evidence. TIRED OF READING CHEAP CHEAP TALKING. SOME SAID THEY WONT WATCH SO THEY DONT HAVE BP, BUT THE TEAM IS PROGRESSING NOT MINDING IF THEY WATCH, LOLZZZ. NOW THEY START WATCHING AND WANT TO TELL THE TEAM HOW TO PLAY. HABA… UNA WELL SO? LOLZZ. Alaso..oro people.
I want to remind everyone in this forum that Nigeria started poorly in 2013 AFCON, drawing the first two games against Bourkina Fasso and Zambia respectively before scoring two penalty goals against Ethiopia in their last group game. Despite that slow start, we won the competition.
Furthermore, the reigning defending champions, Senegal drew their first two games (0-0 scoreline) and managed to win the last group game 1-0 to qualify with 5 points. They scored only one goal in the group stage, yet theY went on to clinch the trophy.
Guys, let’s keep on supporting the team, bearing in mind that some big teams are really struggling in this tournament.
Concerning Osimhen not scoring, it happens like that at times. I want to remind everyone that Kareem Benzema in one of Champions Leagues he won, he did not score during the group stage and he ended being the highest goal scorer. There is light at the end of the tunnel for our boys. Up Nigeria!