The 2024 African Women’s Cup of Nations has been postponed to 2025 by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The competition will now run from July 5 to July 26 2025.
CAF fixed the date at its virtual executive committee meeting on Friday.
Africa’s football govering body took the decision following the congested calendar for the women’s football this year.
Read Also:Enekwechi Wins First Gold Medal At African Athletics Championship
Three African countries will participate in the women’s football event at the 2024 Olympic Games.
There is the qualifiers for the CAF Women’s Champions League and the main tournament later this year.
Multiple champions Super Falcons of Nigeria, current holders Banyana Banyana of South Africa and Ghana are among the countries that have already qualified for the biennial competition.
Other are hosts Morocco, Zambia, Algeria, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo , Tunisia, Senegal, Tanzania, and Mali.
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There is enough time for the NFF to plan a well managed transition from Randy Waldrum to an indigenous coach in time for next year’s Wafcon.
I am truly sympathetic to the call for local contents to manage both the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons. However, expecting local coaches to come in at short notice to perform abracadabra after a previous coach had either been sacked unceremoniously or had left the team on the lurch.
Peseiro only managing 2 draws against weaker opponents had left Finidi with a mountain to climb and little mistake-room to manuovre.
The sacking of Gernot Rohr so perilously close to the 2022 Afcon and final stages of World Cup qualifiers left Eguavoen out on a limb with either death or glory as the only options – any minute mistakes would prove fatal, and it did.
Now, after the Olympics, regardless of how well Randy Waldrum performs, there will be around 10 months before next year’s Wafcon. Enough time for any indigenous coach to lose the same number of matches that Eguavoen (3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss) and Finidi (1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses) lost and still retain their job with opportunities to learn from their mistakes.
Judging any coach in world football based on the outcomes of 4 or 6 games is madness. But the incompetence of the NFF meant they had set Eguavoen and Finidi up for failures based on the monumentally significant matches these coaches were expected to mastermind victory for within a very short space of time.
Justin Madugu is a decent coach. In the absence of Waldrum, he successfully navigated less crucial Wafcon and Olympic qualifiers. When it was time for the deadlier qualifiers against Cameroon and South Africa (the kind that Finidi and Eguavoen were brought to navigate) Alhaji Gusau was smart enough to mend fences with Randy Waldrum and return him for those games, hence the Super Falcons qualified for the Olympics.
Madugu wasn’t ready for such an assignment at this time but his time will come when he is allowed to build up to it and mould the team in his own image over several months before meaty encounters.
Yes, we want indigenous coaches but they have to be set up to succeed. They need many inconsequential or mildy consequential matches to lay they foundations of their success.
In qualifiers, Gernot Rohr lost 2:0 at home to South Africa and 1:0 at home to Centre Africa Republic but still topped those Afcon and World Cup qualifier groups.
Peseiro lost to Guinea Bissau in Afcon qualifiers but still qualified Nigeria, for the tournament.
But Eguavoen didn’t even lose to Ghana in open play and Finidi lost to the Benin and both were swiftly fed to the lions.
Again, because of the short term nature of success expected from thier assignments, NFF had set them up for instant failure.
Personally, I would advise indigenous coaches NEVER to accept these poisoned chalice short term assessments.
If the NFF does not announce the immediate appointment of Justin Madugu after the Olympics, he will be a fool to accept the appointment on the eve of the commencement of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations next summer.
A word is enough for the wise!
Correction: **However, expecting local coaches to come in at short notice to perform abracadabra after a previous coach had either been sacked unceremoniously or had left the team on the lurch is ludicrous.**
Nigeria can boast of highly qualified female coaches now. Florence Omagbemi, Maureen Madu, Perpetua Nkwocha and host of others. Eucharia Uche is there, don’t forget coach Ann Chiejine. Coach Eucharia and Florence won WAFCON respectively.
So we have a reservoir of female coaches to choose from.
ewu deo sharap pls! stop wasting pipo time, if you has too mush time den use it for someting useful, sto come here and talking robbishes kai! omo you nor de try at all, fullish itk lolz, yu thinks all yer talking long long tings make yu looks wise but no is opposite, showing jus how fullish yu are lolz
“Three African countries will participate in the women’s football event at the 2024 Olympic Games.”
CSN, it’s two = Nigeria and Zambia.
Perhaps they think France is an African country too. Lol
“…Personally, I would advise Indigenous coaches NEVER to accept these poisoned chalice short-term assessments…”
A ‘sentence’ is enough for the wise.
I cant remember the NFF ever putting a gun to anybody’s head to take up the SE or SF coaching job.
The irony of it all is that its the local coaches themselves who fight and jostle over one another, sometimes seeminly begging the NFF to be handed these chalice.
The NFF handed Peseiro a contract that expired after 2 world cup qualifiers.
The NFF sacked Rohr in the eve of Afcon and at the most crucial stage of world cup qualifiers.
Yes, local coaches too appear to have an over-inflated belief in their own abilities to rescue such flailing campaigns.
Finidi, Eguavoen and Siasia have failed to recover such dire situations. They then become the fall-guys, attracting endless insults from fans for a situation not entirely of their making. They only wanted to help!
Any indigenous coach who does not learn from these experiences is a fool!
Don’t think that’s how things played out. These guys actually lobbied for those roles. In some cases, like that of Eguavoen, they deliberately pushed Rohr away so that they can takeover. In Finidi’s case, NFF settled for a foreign coach but Amuneke started pressing buttons via the sport ministry. The rest is history.
Onwajunior,
Yes, like Dr Drey rightly observed, nobody took a gun to the heads of Finidi and Eguavoen to lobby for and accept short term perilous appointments that had failure written all over it, unless they could perform magic. Which was why I said perhaps Finidi and Eguavoen overestimated their tactical capabilities to win big speedily.
Finidi was officially appointed as the Super Eagles coach only to be demoted after 2 matches. Eguavoen lost the job after only losing 1 match in 6. These are bizarre set of circumstances created by NFF’s disgraceful, shambolic and lack of foresight in handling of the tenures of Peseiro and Rohr. Had these two coaches been allowed, by the NFF, to finish what they started, Eguavoen and Finidi would never have found themselves in a situation where only one loss to Benin and two draws to Ghana will mean losing their jobs.
Again, this is cautionary tales to indigenous coaches who should be careful not allow themselves to be made scapegoats by the NFF in future.
There were some truly fascinating aspects of Finidi’s outputs which will forever be overshadowed and tainted by just 1 loss to Benin. Rohr lost to South Africa and Centre Africa Republic but still topped those qualifier groups because he was given A LONG ROPE TO PULL AND ALLOWED TO FINISH WHAT HE STARTED ON THAT OCCASION.
Peseiro lost 1:0 at home to Guinea Bissau but was allowed to continue the Afcon qualifiers.
But Eguavoen and Finidi were put in a position where they had to hit the ground running with zero margin of error.
When Rohr lost those matches didn’t he win his next match? Why do guys close your eyes to the fact that our local coaches are not measuring up? Eguavoen started playing 505 formation because he thought that by having more strikers on the field of play will result to more goals for the SE. Finidi did the same thing. Eguavoen has no excuse for the SE not qualifying for the last world cup after all he took played with the same set of players at the nations cup in Cameroon. Being with the players at the nations cup was enough for him to know his players. You guys are never realistic.I am asking you @Deo,when was the last time a local coach qualified ANY team to the final or semi-final of a CAF club organized competition? Pitso did in his home country SA and in Egypt. If the local teams were financially buoyant they will get the services of foreign coaches
… after all he played with the same set of players *
Bro, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. Bonfrère Jo nearly sank us with those dismal results, especially that disaster against Liberia in Monrovia. It seemed like we were going to miss out on the World Cup, with George Weah and his Liberian squad ready to steal our ticket.
Then Bonfrère Jo got the axe, and Shaibu Amodu stepped in. Suddenly, the narrative shifted. We secured a critical win against Sudan away in Omdurman—one of the Super Eagles’ best performances in a high-pressure match. Ghana did us a solid by tripping up George Weah’s giant-killers in Accra, and we finished the job with solid wins against Liberia and Ghana at home, earning our World Cup spot! It’s a shame Amodu was dropped after that AFCON debacle, but let’s be real: Amodu and Stephen Keshi were the best homegrown coaches we’ve had.
You mentioned the NFF set Finidi and Eguavoen up for failure. Bro, things were way worse when Amodu took over in 2002. I thought Nigeria was never going to make it to that World Cup after those two dreadful results. The tension was sky-high when Nigeria stepped into the stadium in Sudan. Despite our clear superiority, the Sudanese Football Federation tried to frustrate us with afternoon matches in sweltering heat on a shabby pitch. Yet, our team delivered an emphatic 4-0 win. That marked our resurgence, all thanks to Shaibu Amodu. He had every excuse to fail—from the mess he inherited to the NFF’s usual disorganization—but he prevailed.
So, what were Eguavoen and Finidi’s excuses? Eguavoen had three weeks to prepare for AFCON, with all the support he needed, but still crumbled against a depleted Tunisian team in the second round. Was he forced to claim he didn’t know Cyriel Dessers, a top performer in Holland? Remember how he invited an unattached Ogenyi Onazi over active, better players in Europe?
And Finidi? His selection, tactical, and post-match decisions were riddled with controversy. What was his excuse? Post-Keshi and Amodu, no local coach has shown the maturity, courage, and technical acumen to manage the Super Eagles.
We need a Nigerian coach with the guts to resist NFF interference. A coach free from bribery and corruption allegations. A crisis manager who can eloquently address the press when things go south. A coach who stands up for his players and isn’t afraid to drop influential yet disruptive figures.
We need someone who can navigate the turbulent waters of Nigerian football politics and still keep the ship afloat. The current crop of coaches simply doesn’t measure up. Without such a leader, our football is destined to flounder, regardless of how much raw talent we have. The NFF must realize that our past successes were not flukes but the result of strong leadership and proper planning—something we desperately need to rediscover.
Papafem,
At some point reading your submission, I thought you were diametrically opposed to my views. But, as I read in, you seem to be on the same page with me.
You are 100% spot on to imply that Eguavoen and Finidi combined are not of the same calibre with Amodu. So, as I said, I think Finidi and Eguavoen overestimated their abilities to achieve short term objectives.
Yes, Eguavoen lost narrowly against Tunisia but, on paper, he left that tournament with 3 wins and 1 loss. Not diminishing the significance of that 1 loss but most fans behave as if the 3 group stage wins never happened. And, against Ghana, he only lost on paper, not on the pitch due to an antwacky administrative rule that Uefa has mercifuly discarded. Again, fans fail to acknowledge this little detail.
For Finidi, please don’t even get me started. He started the world cup qualification campaign on the back foot of minus-4 points because of Peseiro’s useless 1:1 draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Now, you appoint Finidi and in his first TWO matches, you sack him because of 1 draw and 1 loss! Had Peseiro left Finidi 4 points in his will, Nigeria will have at least 5 points now with opportunities for Finidi to use Afcon qualifiers later in the year and may be one or two friendlies to be much better prepared for the resumption of World Cup qualifiers in March 2025.
Sacking a coach after 2 games is cruel because the the previous coach had left Nigeria on the back foot, a little detail missed by fans. And, like I said, it is an insult on Late Amodu Shuibu to place Finidi beside him – Amodu of 2002 was already a continental competition winning coach who had prior experience of managing the Super Eagles after 1994 World Cup (enough years to learn the ropes).
Brother Papafem, Onigbinde, Amodu and Keshi might be able to recover such situations but Eguavoen can actually try but Finidi, no way, not yet!
Appointing Finidi was always a vanity project. In my heart of heart, I had hoped for a return to Eguavoen in the short term. His Super Eagles played with a bit more discipline and organisation and his recent failed Afcon and World Cup qualifiers campaigns could have been channelled positively.
Anyway, I will go back to the heart of my argument which is : indigenous coaches should be employed for long term projects.
Hahahaha…..I like your sense of optimism deo. The way you always sugarcoat the super eagles performance under finidi makes you the best candidate for the job of making a rotten egg look good.
As they say in local parlance….Friday wey go good na Monday we dey sabi am.
From everything finidi displayed since March….it is obvious to even Bartimeus that he was going to fail. He just glaringly lacked the skill set for the job. There was no need waiting for a snail to grow wings like a caterpillar.
The most fundamental aspect of coaching is communication….Finidi couldn’t communication effectively to the press, neither could he communicate seamlessly with his players. I can’t pin point any intelligent move he made on the chessboard during his 4 month reign as the SE coach. Tactics and formations do not matter, his team only needs to know when to attack and when to defend…..and was that not evident in the way he set up the team for matches…? They eventually did know when to attack and when to defend, but never knew the how, where, what and who of attacking and defending…..things tactics and formations would have taught them.
Let’s even assume peserio had 6 points before leaving….Finidi has added just one point to that, meaning by now, we would have dropped a 2 or 3 point advantage to be joint top with 3 others on 7 points, and then we would still have resumed our permutations and combinations as usual. And there’s no way in hell Finidi would have won 6 straight games….he’s not Amodu nor Rohr, nor Westerhof. Our qualification would still by now be hanging on a balance.
And by the way, why is it that the foreign coaches’ loses never put us in dire situations….unlike those of their local counterparts…?
Rohr lost his first match of the 2019 afcon qualifiers to SA on home soil yet qualified with a game to spare….siasia took over the SE in 2010 after eguavoen had lost to Guinea in Conakry in the first game….but went down the wire to the last game on home soil….and even when we needed any sort of win to seal qualification, we couldn’t get it on home soil.
Rohr drew back to back again Sierra Leone in the 2021 qualifiers, dropping 4 points at a go, but guess what we were still top of our table and still braced the tape with 2 games to spare. Ditto our loss against CAR in Lagos.
Peserio too lost to GB in Abuja, but it was from a point of advantage that never put us in peril.
So when will these overrated locals learn to lose from a point of advantage…?
Rohr and Peserio lost more friendlies than they ever won as SE coaches…..but when it comes to the crunch, they adopt pragmatism. Does that tell a bit about what they do with the friendly matches….?
Even when Finidi used friendly matches to audition for the SE job permanently, it was glaring this guy wasn’t experimenting….he was putting his best foot forward…and we all saw the outcomes of his best foot subsequently. It’s very evident that only a little tactical organization by the opposing team would trip the SE under finidi anyday anytime.
Under Peserio, we were creating loads and loads of chances, our forwards weren’t just putting them in. But under finidi, we have been overrun in the midfield in almost every game…even against 10man Ghana. Mali dismissed us without breaking a sweat. South africa came calling for a draw and they got it. Imagine if they came for a win. Benin wouldn’t have been sad if they lost to Nigeria on a neutral ground….guess what, they got a win.
If Finidi could do anything differently we would have seen him do it already. From his callups, matchday lineups, utterances, game management and overall team management, Finidi was an epitome of “you don’t teach an old dog new tricks”.
I am not a coach, but i saw his lineup vs SA and i was so convinced we werent going through first half without trailing with such a disaster of a line up. Video game players would do better. The last straw was just the Benin game. His substitutions vs Benin makes good for comedy….LMAOoo.
My disappointment with Finidi is not just that he lost games….my disappointment with finidi is that he lost games amateurishly. From how he managed the team you would easily tell there was no way back for this man. I will beat my chest to say we would have struggled to qualify for 2025 AFCON were finidi to be in charge.
Not all jobs are for just anybody…..not especially the most unqualified of the lot. High risk jobs are meant for high-risk service providers….not interns who do not demonstrate any form of credence to have successfully handled such jobs in the past. It’s a simple recruitment principle.
One thing I have learnt over years of consulting experience is that “not all meat is for the eating”
Once again, no one put a gun to the head of anyone to take up any job.
As impossible as our qualification looks now, advertize the sE job today, strictly for local coaches, and you will see the intrigues, drama and infighting that will trail the recruitment process.
Nobody set anybody up for failure. Greed is usually the reason why these men are always in a hurry to drink from a poisoned chalice.
As the saying goes….Look before you leap..!
I for one would have left Finidi alone to run out his contract while watching him cremate our WC hopes in agony. But his employers who are as optimistic as you, quickly felt the need to undo the error of their ways with the hope that the situation could still be salvaged.
But as far as I am concerned it’s so long to the 2026 WC
There is no excuse for failure, they thought they were capable and that was why they took the job. No one forced the job on them.
Why are trying to give excuses on their behalf?
This is one reason why Nigeria never progress because we try to always give excuses for the incompetence of these people.
If Finidi and Eguavoen knew that they were being set up to fail, then they should not have accepted the job.
The same team Eguavoen took for the world cup qualifiers against Ghana was a team he inherited 90% of the players from Rhor. So, the team chemistry was there,he just lacked the tactical acumen to succeed. The truth remains that Rhor would have qualified that same team for the world cup.
Pls let us desist from giving excuses for failure but rather encourage them to take responsibility for their failures.
The real question is “Is there any coach who is not literally set up to fail when working with the NFF”?
Enough of the excuses. We do not have a capable local coach as at now and that is just the fact.
Excuses? Who is talking about excuses? One of the reasons why we struggle in this country is because we are disingenuous with our choice of words.
Any project can either succeed or fail. Whichever way, we should always seek to identify FACTORS that led to success of failures. Once the factors are established, then we can enhance them in future projects in cases of success or seek to avoid them in future in cases of failure.
It is wise to identify the factors that led to Eguavoen and Finidi failing so other indigenous coaches will not become sacrificial lambs in future.
It is called lessons learnt exercise, not just seeking excuses.
Fac
omo leave that mumu @deo undersabi overtalk yeye man of too many stoopid words lolz
He thinks is something special but always talking from is yash lolz
he sais the other day that finidi is responsible for nwabali goodness as a goalkeeper and also saying that under finidi nigeria is playing beuatinful footbal lolz – the man needs to go and see doctor, and somebody should seize that phone or wateva the man is usibg to writing all dese nonsence. robbish lolz
Finidi wasn’t just sacked because of the result alone, he was sacked because he wasn’t getting it right! Chikeina!
Go back and watch his interviews, how about the player invitations? By now, even a non Nigerian citizen knows a coach is not ready to win a match which the choice of Onuachu upfront in national colors. Keshi started well with the choice of Moses, Emenike, Ideye up front but by the time Uzoenyi, Salami and Osagona ighodaro took over the front 3 in the qualifiers, he was sacked. Very simple. He even invited one non league player and gave him number 10.
Amodu gave us Ejiofor, Joseph Yobo and Justice Christopher. The rest were regulars.
A coach that needed to win a match and started substituting Iwobi, Chukwueze for Homebased players including Onuachu, with Tanimu on the pitch doesn’t deserve to press further please. This is 2024. And presently no good coach, make we allow keshi and Amodu rest well I beg.
Sean, all of the factors you so clearly stated above as contributing to Finidi’s demotion contributed to failure in just one match: against Benin.
When Nigeria were losing that match, Finidi was very decisive in changing the formation that led us to concede 2 goals and inject the team with fresh legs and a more attacking approach which almost bore fruits. Benin defended with their lives to hold on to the slim win.
However you want to slice it, demoting a coach just after 1 loss in 2 games belie how desperate the appointment was to start with. In our first qualifier for the 2019 Afcon, Rohr lost 2:0 to the same South Africa that Finidi drew 1:1 against. But Rohr at the time wasn’t sacked because there was time for him to recover the situation, and he did by even qualifying with games to spare.
But Finidi had no such wriggle room. It was either death or glory in two games which is sheer madness. In retrospect, I think he was foolish to have accepted such a poisonous assignment.
I’ve known you @deo to stick with whom you want to stick with no matter the result. Daniel Akpeyi , your best Goalkeeper in Naija history came to mind. So, we need to wait for Finidi to fail drastically before we take our step? We are already 5th on the table , two home games gone yet una want time for Finidi to get himself before we make corrections?
Rohr’s loss against South Africans was our first match in that qualifying series , he had time to make corrections which he did superbly with games to spare. I repeat, Finidi wasn’t chased because of the result, he was chased because he’s not good enough and we don’t have his time.
Before you tell us how Rohr lost to SA in the 2019 AFCON qualifiers, kindly remember he had won 4 (including qualifiers away to Zambia and home against Algeria) and drew 1 (a friendly against Senegal) of his first 5 games.
And in all of that, he never demonstrated any glimpse of incompetence leading to or after that loss vs SA. It was widely agreed that using too many young players cost us that game we lost to SA in Uyo. 8 of the players that started that game 7 years ago and 12 of the 18 in the matchday squad are still very relevant in our national team set up till date…that’s to show how young that team was
So comparing the premises, why would Rohr be sacked for a 3-1-0 or a 4-1-0 or a 4-1-1 record…?!
Unlike finidi whose only win (vs a 10 man Ghana) in 4 games wasn’t even greated with much pleasure by all stakeholders other than the fact that we got one over an eternal rival….owing to the tasteless manner of the win.
Imagine if Peseiro had drawn with Sierra Leone and lost to Sao Tome after losing to both Mexico and Ecuador in his 1st 4 games….. you really think he wouldn’t have been booted out…?
Go back and evaluate Rohr and Peserio’s win ratios in friendlies vs in competitive games then you will know how smart these foreign coaches can be in ensuring their job security.
Too true Dr Drey, Peseiro and Rohr were shrewd in grinding out victories to cement their job securities which was why I advocated for a foreign coach at the time. Indigenous coaches will have their time but I don’t think they are ready for these crucial appointments.
You call Finidi’s win over Ghana tasteless due to the brand of football players. Hahaha. Sort of reminds me of how Kel, Tristan and others views Super Eagles’ highly commendable Afcon silver as ‘tasteless’ due to the boring brand of football that Peseiro employed, similar to how many of us criticed Rohr’s boring brand of football despite hitting his target.
It is then surreal to me that you equate the only win under Finidi with tastelessness meaning, only a tasteless brand of football can bring success to the Super Eagles.
Perhaps, as you rightly observed, as Finidi continued with that tastelessness that he started with, he could have kept his job!!!
Dr Drey, you accuse me of sugarcoating Finidi’s performance whilst being (overly optimistic) of his chances of success. In my view, these assertions of yours fail to stick the landing.
You see, I never advocated for Finidi to land the role of Super Eagles Head Coach. In fact, I remember writing an article, pleading with the powers that be to return a foreign gaffer after Peseiro’s departure.
But those pleas fell on deaf ears and Finidi was appointed. Okay, I did wish him well and pray fervently for the stars to align for him so that he proves everyone wrong as I too had my doubts.
Was that being overly optimistic? Well, if you take that view, I leave you with your opinion. But, I seem to recall vividly you taking a pessimistic view about Peseiro at some point. I seem to recall you taking a pessimistic view a about Waldrum at some point. On both occasions, your pessimism proved unfounded in the fullness of time.
So, rather than being a miserable git, I chose to give Finidi a chance to prove me right or wrong. Despite my doubts, I handed him a blank cheque to write the currency of failure or success himself before I know what to cash. I think, Dr Drey, you are quick to write off some coaches some of the time, not all of the time.
As with sugarcoating Finidi’s performance, nothing could be further from the truth. Beauty, they say, is in the eyes of the beholder. I found elements of Finidi’s performance beautiful, you found zero elements of his performances beautiful. To your tent or ye Israel or oh ye Dr Drey. Just I don’t intend to shove my perception of beautiful football down your throat, you should know me better than now that I will only accept elements of your arguments that resonate with me.
By and large, your arguments against Finidi’s appointment was on point. Your fears of his output proved well grounded. And your lack of faith in indigenous coaches remain unchanged.
But, I will seek crumbs of positivity wherever I can find them. And I maintain that, from my perspective, however minute, there were some modicum of positivity to be extrapolated from Finidi’s ill-fated brief reign as Super Eagles coach.
Oh yea…Thanks for being a man of strong memories. I did express deep-seated pessimism in Waldrum and Peserio…..and for good reasons as time and space justified, till they too switched to far more pragmatic approaches to obtaining results. If your memory is as sharp as you’ve just demonstrated, you’ll also recall I commended them for their pragmatism once they flipped in transition into such a mode, even when the rest of the world would have none of it. That is the least I could do for them both….Not sugarcoating unproductive performances all in the name of celebrating “positivity” albeit being false positives.
A midfield that was overran by 10 man Ghana, none existent against Mali, dominated by a Teboho Mokoena and Themba Zwane orchestrated SA and lacking in ideas vs Benin republic deserves more than being beatified as an “improved” midfield, all in a bid to eke out baseline cut off points for a glaringly incompetent coach.
Hmm, Dr Drey. Sugarcoating unproductive performances. You know what, football is a game of results. If beautiful football does not yield victory, I guess it can be regarded “unproductive”. Not matter how much one might want to highlight the positives, failing to fashion a win will always cast a long shadow.
But, that admission will not deter some of us from assessing the totality of a performance, whether it leads to victory or ends in a loss: even if it is mockingly called “sugarcoating”.
The goals against South Africa and Benin were scored by Super Eagles midfielders after well worked passing routines. These were not shoddy or fluke goals. Also Nigeria carved out credible scoring opportunities in those games. However, from a pessimistic viewpoint, I will be very supportive indeed if you assign any competency to any aspects of the Super Eagles’ games against South Africa and Benin, even going as far as trying to blame Nwabili for the first goal against Benin, all in the name of pessimism.
The optimist sugarcoats whilst the pessimist sees nothing but negativity at every turn.
I am still struggling to recall which aspect of the SE display under Finidi you call beautiful just for the sake of Optimism…LMAOoo.
Is it the defence and goalkeeping that has shipped in 6 avoidable goals in 4 games, the midfield that has been overran and/or shackled and lacking in ideas in all 4 games or the attack that looks like the ball-less cannon on Arsenal FC’s logo…???
The goals scored vs Benin and SA even though scored by midfielders were from direct plays and not midfield transitions. They were as flukish as fluke gets as none of the moves that resulted in both goals were every repeated in both games.
And of course…..in all my years of watching top level goal keepers and keeping goals myself, I have never seen a GK worth his salt gallop all the way to the edge of the penalty box….yea….all the way to the 90 degrees of the penalty area… to try to claim the ball off the feet of an attacker with a man on him already. The siliest form of goalkeeping I’ve ever seen.
Stay in your goddamend 6 yard box, cover your lines and let the attacker take more steps while your defenders catch up with larger strides to jockey him. The more steps he takes the greater the tendency to be caught in two minds…should I chip, should I hit, should I square,…should I hold up…….One of Bassey’s biggest strengths is speed. Just like in the Europa league final where he recovered from a similar stagger Bassey was on his way to jockeying that attacker to a narrower angle where he would be caught in several minds and his best bet would most likely be to retreat and look for a teammate to square that ball to. Joedel Dossou is not such of a class act as to score from a tight angle with bassey already jockeying him.
Mr showboater running 18 yards headlessly to the vertex of the Pen Area gave Dossou 1 and only 1 option…..just lift the ball beyond the reach of the GK. Anyhow you do it, just make sure it is beyond his reach as he will be going down while the ball is projecting upwards. Just hit it away from the span of the Gk’s arms towards the goal post…its 24 while feet wide.
So yes…..Mr low-budget Enyeama was also culpable for that 1st goal, while the poor coordination of his defence before the corner kick left almost 4 Beninoise unmarked at the far post for the 2nd.
A defence that conceded only 3 open play goals in 7 games at the AFCON just months ago now ships in 6 in 4…..LMAooo. Should there be room for optimism about that too…? I guess so. At least it was not more than 6,
For me, the goals against Benin and South Africa came from intricate passing routines. I was happy to see the Super Eagles play on the front foot rather than a defensive approach. For Benin’s first goal, I have seen goalkeepers in world cup tournaments rush out of the whole box 18 to try to recover such a situation.
The pattern of play was open, fluid and vibrant.
But yes, it did get us the needed points which sadly taints their overall efforts.
Kindly do well to share the videos of the WC games where you have seen goalkeepers rushing all the way to the 90 D of their boxes to successfully claim (not sweep) balls at the feet of an on-running attacker with man on.
Claim or sweep, that was not the variable I wished to project. Rather, just like Nwabili rushed out of his area to try to intercept (claim sweep, parry, punch) the ball, I have seen many such attempts in world cups with mixed results.
Ok….claim, sweep, parry, swallow….please share us clip of World Cup games where you have seen GKs rush all the way to the 90 D of their penalty boxes and taken custody of a non 50:50 situation.
At least there are usually 64 matches per world cup since the WC was expanded to 32 teams in 1998. So after 256 matches post 1998, it’s shouldn’t be so difficult for you to find 20 of such scenario as that of the 1st goal we conceded vs Benin.
Feel free to also expand your search to pre 1998 WC too….LMAOoo
Against Argentina in the 2018 World Cup, I seem to remember – in the first half – the Argentine goalkeeper rushing out to intercept a long ball destined for Ahmed Musa. In the same match, I seem to recall Uzoho taking a whack to the head inside the 18 yard box (also in the first half) when coming out to intercept a pass. He was knocked out cold for some minutes.
My point is that I have seen goalkeepers rush out of their area in either a futile or successful attempt to intercept passes. Admittedly, these have often led to the goalkeeper clattering with the striker to give away penalties. But, I have seen goalkeepers rush out the same way Nwabili rushed out against Benin.
You’ve seen them rush all the way to the 90 D of their penalty areas….? LMAOoo
Mr Sean,
It is not about sticking with Finidi. My bone of contention is that the circumstances to which he became the coach of the Super Eagles gave him zero room to manuovre around mistakes.
I never saw Finidi as capable for the tasks on hand. I was hoping the NFF would have hired a foreign technical adviser to take over from Peseiro.
But alas, they gave us Finidi.
Rather than cry over spilt milk, I chose to give Finidi a benefit of the doubt but yes he proved incapable of hitting the ground running.
You see what we’re saying.
I am cock sure over 90% of Nigerians will prefer the latter two’s tastless but clearly identifiable brands of football with results to show, than the disaster we have witnessed since March.
Even in tastelessness, Finidi is still a grand failure. Sending us tumbling down the FIFA ladder like the Naira against the dollar.
4 tasteless wins would have had Finidi cruising nicely in godlike steps on the streets of Nigeria right now. But incompetence has no medication.
So once again, before you burn excess glucose wrapping your mind around why finidi was demoted after 4 games, kindly retreat to evaluating Rohr’s (or even Peserio’s) win ratios after 4 games and the prevailing circumstances
I seem to recall Peseiro losing his earlier Super Eagles games but I stand to be corrected. After Finidi was officially appointed as Super Eagles coach, he only played 2 games with 50% non-loss ratio.
Yes, under the circumstances, based on what he inherited from Peseiro in World Cup Qualifiers and the desire of the Fanbase not to miss another world cup, one can understand why Finidi was demoted.
However, under normal circumstances, sacking a coach after just 2 games with 50% undefeated ratio after resuming fully in post is rather bizarre.
If Finidi had been given the chance to continue, perhaps he too could have changed course to become more pragmatic. But, like I said, I think a more technically grounded coach is needed for the tasks on hand.
Hahahaha…another futile sugar coaching attempt. Coaches are judged by “WIN-RATIOs”.
Your concept of “Non-loss” Ratio makes for comic relief….LMAOoo
The divergence between winning and “not losing” is as steep as the slopes of Mount Everest.
As much as you want to throw Finidi’s first 2 games as SE coach under the bus while reminding us Peserio lost his first 2 games, the records still state that Finidi picked 1 point out of 6 in his first competitive games after taking a job which only permits him to drop at most 2 points per window as compared to 6 out of 6 in Peseiro’s
Coupled with his stark display of incompetence and inability to manage or improve the team, a stitch in time has just saved us the heartache of failing to qualify for AFCON 2025.
Incompetence is not like local brew which gets better with time…LMAOoo
Dr Drey, I no go laff tire. Hahaha. So you didn’t fall for my “50% undefeated ratio”… Hahaha. But it’s true na. Abi.
In fairness, the NFF and sports ministry should have worked together to employ a more competent coach before gifting Finidi the job. I had hoped Finidi would prove us all wrong but, you know, the rest is history.
The draw against South Africa was manageable but the loss to Benin was irredeemable.
Anyways, the NFF and Sports Ministry initially said they didn’t have money to hire a foreign technical adviser. After their vanity project of Finidi failed, they now all of a sudden have money for a foreign coach!
Which for me reinforces my position that the NFF are the ones to be blamed for this shambles.
@deo my guy, I think you are being used by someone to sugarcoat the terrible football witnessed this past 3 months from Finidi. Perhaps you have been paid to promote hiring of another indigenous coach to continue from where Finidi stopped.
mentioned that Eguaveon and Finidi were set up to fail…………….wow that is rich coming from you. Eguaveon took over a solid team built by Rohr, he knew all these players and has always interacted with them as the Technical director for a couple of years, he was there as the team evolved into a well knitted team under Rohr and this is the exact reason he colluded with Amaju to chase Rohr away so that he can take over and get credit for winning AFCON.
We all saw their display in the group stage, don’t be deceived because they won all those 3 matches simply because not much tactical input is required in the group stage, 3 points out of maximum 9 can still progress your team. However Eguaveon failed where he now require to use his tactical mien different from just asking players to express themselves on the pitch. His Zero tactics was the reason we lost to Tunisia Team B when their team A failed to win any match in that competition.
And don’t forget all his previous failure with Golden Eaglets and SE filled with talented players
Against Ghana, same tactical deficiency repeated itself where we couldn’t score a single outfield goals in both matches against a weak Ghana team. Do not sugarcoat it by saying he never lost, no one ever expected him to even draw with that Ghana team, so a draw when you needed a win to qualify is akin to a loss @deo.
The less said about Finidi the better, even if you like you can employ the world best PR company to market him and they will fail woefully.
Finidi have been with these boys for 2 years as assistant coach and they won Silver at AFCON beating CDV, Cameroon, Angola and South Africa amongst others, they only lost to CDV in Final due to fatigue and the fact that most of our players played that match with injury revealed when they got back to their various clubs.
So can you then tell me how Finidi turned these same boys into a leaking team from a team that only conceded 1 outfield goal before the final.
A coach that said “Tactics and patterns doesn’t win matches”.
A coach that invited 23 players for an important WCQ without a natural LB. Lined up his 11 players by switching his poorly selected defence line into unfamiliar positions? Taminu (CB) to RB, Osayi (RB) to LB, Bassey who excels better @ LB to CB. No combative MF, Ndidi played attacking MF this whole Season in LC, Onyeka wasting on the bench. Onuachu spearheading attack when there is no one to cross to him, and when the crosses came he couldn’t do anything with it
A 10-man Ghana took over the midfield completely, a tactical Mali team strolled effortlessly to a 2:0 victory. Tell me the last time SE lost in Africa by 2 unreplied goals?
SE is not a team that a coach will use to learn his trade, it is meant for an astute and tactical coach who knows his ways to victory however ugly it could be.
So abeg, go and tell the people that sent you that you failed woefully to convince anyone here just like the failure your paymaster was. Refund of their money is in order to maintain some integrity back into you
S
Dr Banks,
I thought long and hard whether to respond to your post but I think i will respond on this occasion. Should you continue to type absurdities then I will simply reconsider in future.
You insulted me the other day; a conduct one would not associate with a medical doctor which makes me want to doubt whether you are what you claim to be. Your post doesn’t suggest coming from someone of high intellect based on how wierd your assumptions are.
You see sir, nobody paid me noffink (nothing) to push the agenda of indigenous coaches. That suggestion is beyond stupid.
If you are as learned as you claim to be, you will understand the principles of subjectivity. We all come here to express our subjective views. What floats your boat doesn’t necessarily float mine.
Yes, I think hiring a coach in the eve of a tournament and hiring a coach to mop up the mess left behind by a previous coach is recipe for disaster (those coaches are already set up to fail). The NFF didn’t need to sack Rohr when they did. The NFF could have tied Peseiro down to a longer contract or come to an agreement with him on a fresh post-Afcon contract.
The real enemy here is the NFF. But, I wholly accept Dr Drey’s argument of nobody putting a gun to Finidi and Eguavoen’s heads to accept these challenges.
I wanted Eguavoen and Finidi to succeed. But I also criticised them for areas which I felt they messed up. It’s all about trying to get a sense of balance.
If the way I write, the conclusions I reach, or the way I analyse are not to your liking, why not just leave me alone? LEAVE ME (the F**K) ALONE!!! NA BY FORCE.
I read a lot of junk on this platform from area-boys like you claiming to be medical doctors. However, I simply walk on by. I don’t start typing rubbish like someone is paying them to promote homebased coaches. Like seriously!!
Listen. There were elements of Finidi and Eguavoen’s games that I thoroughly enjoyed. That is my perogative! You find them to be a waste of space, each to their own!
deo sharap dere- you all are all the same, bunches of mumus lolz and csn is just bunches of goats lolz all una deserf each other so make una continue lolz
csn is shamefool pipo lolz robbish – we we soon close dem down and all the yeye wey dey shele for here nor go dey hapened again nonsence
It is the same Dr Drey replying you. Make we hear word biko. You have made your point very clear. You can tell it’s just their personal hatred for local coaches. Have asked why wasn’t paseiro booted when we played draw with Less fancied teams. What exactly is the excuse for keeping him? People keep pointing to his selection, please mention the players that weren’t available that would have won us the game. Some one is saying their was nothing beautiful about the super Eagles against South Africa and Benin republic, what a shame. The goals we conceded were errors committed by professional players, how on earth is that the coach’s fault. Did we watch another game. Even the second goal Iwobi was in another world. Is that the coach’s fault.
Dr Banks, you are far from being objective, you can as well learn from Deo on how to balance your arguments, Deo has repeatedly pointed out both the highpoints and low points of Finidi’s Tactics in all the games he has handled, Yes Finidi failed, yes he is not so tactically sound but he is not definitely as daft as you and Drey are projecting him to be. He actually wanted to win the 2 qualifiers but his tactics failed him. He wanted to attack more , he wanted to get goals , he had intensions, eg the game against SA Onuachu could have scored if he had directed his header well earlier in the game . The goal by Dele Bashiru was a well mapped out plan just as the 2nd half resumed. You and Drey should just try to point the good sides and the bad sides of any situation when making a comment. We all know that Finidi for now is not ripe for SE job, but he has the capabilities to improve, he must have learnt some vital lessons of live from his short stint as Eagle’s gaffer, We can only but wish him well in his future endeavors,
I was hoping you would help point out the so-called “good points” you want us to dig out from non-existence.
“… He actually wanted to win the 2 qualifiers but his tactics failed him…He wanted to attack more , he wanted to get goals , he had intensions….”
I too, I wanted to become FIFA president, I had intentions, I even played some regional league football and co-organized Saturday morning countryside leagues…..Alas, I ended up not becoming FIFA President…..LMAOoo
The goal by Dele Bashiru was not a well mapped out plan, it was pure happenstance…other wise the team would have continued to tru that same sequence of events leading to the goal in order to get more goals, both in the game against SA as well as again Benin.
Likewise, the goal against Benin to. The sequence was not repeated. You will know If a mover is clearly worked out if it repeated by the team.
I don’t know what balance you want us o find where there is none.
Were we defending better under Finidi…? NO
Were we dominating our opponents in the midfield under Finidi….? NO
Were we carving defenses open like Manu Garba’s teams always does, under Finidi…? NO
Was our attack sharper and were we scoring more goals under Finidi….NO.??
So please provide us with the so-called “good points” you want expect to see.
I am sorry, but speaking from both sides of my mouth is not something I am very good at.
Finidi failed spectacularly Shikena!! Let us now focus on getting our coach for the crucial battles ahead. A foreign coach who knows how to grind out results is all we need at the moment.
Simply put, Finidi is the worst Super Eagles coach in recent memory.
Terrible tactician. Bad in and off pitch selection. Wrong and panicky substitutions.
Terrible managerial skills. Lack of presence and charisma. And off course, worst results.
Respectfully, the only positive from Finidi is that he resigned.
Almost a year! I’m so looking forward to this…