The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed that Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo will not feature at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
This was revealed this morning by the NFF Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire in an interview with Brila FM.
Recall that Ighalo was still expected to arrive the Super Eagles camp as at yesterday and was handed the number 9 jersey by Austine Eguavoen on Wednesday night ahead of the tournament.
The veteran striker was widely expected to lead the Eagles attack in the absence of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.
However, in a new twist, Olajire confirmed that Ighalo’s Saudi Arabia club, Al Shabab has refused to release him for the the bi-annual showpiece.
“Al Shabab has confirmed that they won’t be releasing Ighalo for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
“However, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will not go to that level of reporting Ighalo’s club to FIFA because you won’t be helping the player.
“This was the same player that was invited for the 2022 World Cup qualifier against Liberia in Morocco and he was released.”
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Chance for other to shine at the end of the day.
Sadiq or awoniyi should lead our attack. Iheanacho always make us look toothless when he plays upfront
Anybody doubting Iheanacho has a major problem.
I hope they quickly draft in dessers. He’s in a decent run of form. I won’t be surprised if they invite an unheard player as they did with Ndah
The guy is really fed up with the cluelessness of NFF’s administration. I hope he holds on and we don’t lose him back to Belgium in the end.
Caf refused. We are stuck with 27 players.
We are done. No Ighalo, no Osimhem, no Amoo. Aaaa. Nigeria may not come out from the Group. I may not watch. Good luck with the rookie playing in the 2nd division in Spain.
CAF rules states that,unless a player is unwell he can’t be replaced.
Ighalo is well and fit so we go to Cameroon wth 27 players unfortunately.
But this things could either work in your favour or not.
Like the saying by the philosopher Aristotle who believes everything happening to you today has a reason let’s hope it’s for a good reason.
Ighalo signed for Al Shabab as a retired international now he wants to go to Afcon whereas the club needs him to push for the league title.
His return to the team was always controversial as I don’t see many fans shedding a tear that he will be missing.
I was actually starting to look forward to his participation in Cameroon as I feel he still has goals in him despite me not being a huge fan of his interpretation of the center forward role.
It is now up to Awoniyi and co to show (with ruthlessness in front of goal in Cameroon) once and for all that no gap exists in the Super Eagles for Ighalo’s return post-afcon.
Absolutely @deo the likes of Awoniyi,Olayinka,Umar and Iheanacho have to stand up to the challenge and give us a reason not to miss the unavailable strikers.
It’s interesting to see who will lead the line in Cameroon,who knows we might have a wonderful new number 9 who will end Osimhen’s invisibility and make him work hard towards reclaiming back his shirt.
That’s the fun for we fans and competition amongst players jostling to keep or take a position brings positive results to the national team.
It is very frustrating being a SE fan at times, especially with the current NFF administration. Here is a player who has retired from International Football and probably signed with the saudi club based on this fact. NFF now go to exhume Ighalo even when our strikers were performing very well for club and country, it is so ridiculous. There was no need for Ighalo but sentiments has brought us to where we are now.
Dessers was performing so well and would have been a good option from the bench but NFF does NFF things. A slot has been wasted now because of selfish Ighalo and a clueless NFF. There was also a case for Amoo, another one we will miss out on.
On a positive note, an opportunity for Sadiq & Awoniyi to prove themselves. Best of Luck SE!
Dessers was in the 40 MAN list submitted to the FA by Rohr…your owns chose to drop him. Osimhen a CF got injured, your own chose to invite a 1 goal and 1 assist in over 20 games winger ahead of Dessers claiming he has not been following Dessers “closely”…..LMAOooo
Leave Ighalo out of all these and lay the blames squarely where it should be laid. Ighalo did not choose himself. Ighalo did not send invitation letters late to his club. Ighalo did not stop Eguavoen and NFF from following and obeying simple CAF rules.
We still have a case here.. Emmanuel Dennis wasn’t injured,he was fit yet we still replaced him
For me the stupid thing NFF did was inviting four goalkeepers, That’s so unwise when at most we’ll use just two
We needed an extra midfield player..Amoo should have been invited instead of John noble
NFF wasted that slot
My brother, I am sorry, but we have no case. There are deadlines that have to be met. The deadline for replacing non-injured players his 31st December. The deadline for replacing players all together, be it injured, sick or non-injured is 8th January.
FIFA will fling NFF’s case out of their office with their left hand through the window….LMAoooo
NFF respected themselves by not even complaining in both cases. Apparently they just sent some letters on or after Christmas day, that is why clubs like Watford and Al Shabaab have chose to grab them by the scrotum….LMAOoooo. And rather than own up to their incompetence they went about telling all sorts of lies and sponsoring all sorts of media propaganda.
Ighalo should feign injury so as to enable someone take his spot since that’s the only way he can be dropped legally before January 8th, which is just in 2 days time.
Hehehehe…ighalo should feign injury in his club…? For his club coaches…or for his club doctors…? LMAOooo. Its like you have forgotten Saudi Arabia has one of the best medical care systems in the world…..Lmaooo. You think Al-Shabbab FC is Gombe united right…?
Let Akinkunmi Amoo join camp abeg.
Evil agents with evil intentions have prevented Ighalo from participating in the Afcon lolzzzzz. Ndi Conspiracy theory people na Una story be this. Ngwa Ighalo should be in Cameroon. Heaven bless all absent Super Eagles players.
This is sad! So so Sad and the NFF has to take all d blame for the poor invitation and arrangements. We have missed in on Emmanuel Dennis and now an Experienced player like Ighalo. The excuse they are even given is so lame. I mean if they were right there is no need to worry abt the player because FIFA would have protected the player.
At this point i jst want to wish the Super Eagles all d best. I want to believe the other attackers can step up nd come good for the team. It might jst be their time to shine.
We are lagging behind,missing out on 4 big strikers Osimhen,Ighalo,Onuachu and Dennis going into a major competition.
We are fortunate we had this problem in a department we are spoilt for choice otherwise if it was in the midfield that would have been catastrophic
Sorry, what really makes Onuachu a big striker?
No skills, low ball control, more goals in Club than country despite been used so much? No na
You mean 5 big strikers when you include Cyriel Dessers whom all Nigerians excluding the technical director of the NFF have been watching closely since the beginning of the season…?
Poor lad.I feel sorry for Dessers.
I learnt he posted his frustrations on social media but later got it deleted must have been difficult and frustrating for the young man.
Let’s hope he finds favour with the new foreign coach.
Another wasted slot. How can Ighalo not know that not participating in a tournament is in his contract? Coupled with the NFF Sending the invitation late. Wated 1 slot on an extra goalkeeper plus multiple injuries…… So it’s only sadiq and awoniyi that are the main strikers in a squad that was supposed to be 28. With the way Algeria played today without Mahrez, man I was impressed. I hope the Super eagles have a great outing but realistically I wont put my hopes high….
They can never be a contract like that if not the club will be fine if any of those story is true… That’s slavery
There a contract like that. Ighalo knew the contract he signed with h8s club, don’t mind him. Bothe Rohr and Eguavon are olodos who denied Dessers opportunity to be at afcon.
Forget the imaginary 40man list that supposedly includes Dessers.
Both Rohr and Eguavon never wanted him shikina?
Poor journalism from CSN. Can’t you interview coach Eguavoen himself before his departure to Cameroon?
However, I am so happy that Ighalo did not make the trip to Cameroon.
With what I saw him playing in our last match hmmm, he should thank his God that he won’t be available for the tournament.
Ighalo can’t lead the attack when we have young vibrant striker in Dessers. Why NFF are so corrupt like this kę.
Ighalo have no peace and strength to compete in Cameroon.
I love Ighalo and I wish him well but he should not come back.
Now, who will replace Ighalo? For me, Dessers is the best to replace him if NFF can still makethe move.
This is where Amaju should use hi power. Amaju need to get in touch with CAF. Nigeria need Dessers in Cameroon. Umar Sodiq is the only reliable striker in the team which is not enough.
Although we still have Olayinka but Dessers is totally different. Since Mr. No nonsense claims that he doesn’t know Dessers that much, what can we do bayi ooo. Ah, I can’t believe that kę. Wonders shall never ends.
Dessers will be the next option to replace Ighalo. Again, if God says Dessers will be in Cameroon to represent Nigeria, nothing will stop him. From Oga Rohr to Eguavoen but can they stop the work of God? Fingers crossed. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Awoniyi is more complete, deadly and composed than Sodiq my good friend
@Akp, on what yardstick?? Are you looking at this season alone? Sadiq has been hitting double digits in the past 2 seasons. This season Sadiq has scored 8 goals and Awoniyi has scored 9.
Awoniyi could still be looked as a one season wonder whilst Sadiq has proven to be an established goal scorer.
@Omo9ja sometimes you give good point but sometimes you play to the gallery.
How can you say that sodiq is the only reliable striker. What about awoniyi and ebn iheanacho. Much disrespect to these players from you.
On dessers, yes very good but do you know we have not really tested him against African opposition. So even if he comes, and I am rhe coach, I will not start him ahead sodiq and awoniyi.
He may need time to adjust. His loss of form in Belgium and the rigidity of rohr has not given us the time to see him against African opposition.
On ighalo, this is another rohr and nff foolishness. He had retired and he should have been left that way. You brought him to fill up space when we have good and better options.
I am happy it is happening this way to show what we have been talking about. We are wasting a precious one spot already.
Nff and pinnick are clueless and insincere. If it was in his contract that he would not be released, there is nothing you can push. Stop lying that you don’t want to push it with fifa. Liars you are.
Igahlo came reluctantly and he is not ready to push for his release. If alshaba sack him, he would get another oil rich club. They won’t even sack him. This is retirement football.
Lies lies lies everywhere. Insincerity everywhere. So much happening behind the scene.
I support omo9ja on this: shame on you CS. You only do copynand paste journalism. Shame on you. Why can’t you out interview eguavon. Even ighalo or even dessers.
You can’t even give us report about their trainings. Owngial and allnigeriasoccer does that. Shame.
I am so happy that you me asked that question @Christians ministries Nigeria.
I repeat, Umar Sodiq is the only reliable striker we have available to represent Nigeria in Cameroon and I am so scared now.
Umar is smart, very calculative and confident to punish any defender. Out of three chances, Sodiq can score two.
Sir, let’s think out of the box for a minute. If our opponents cage Umar, is Awoniyi good enough to bail Eagles out?
How about Olayinka? You see point now?
Against big opposition like Egypt, we need strikers like Umar Sodiq and Dessers. Mr. No nonsense really fumbled on this.
“On dessers, yes very good but do you know we have not really tested him against African opposition. So even if he comes, and I am rhe coach, I will not start him ahead sodiq and awoniyi”.
Out of the strikers we have for Afcon in Cameroon, Awoniyi and Olayinka are good but when we are talking about match winner, weapon, joker, sharp shooter, vision, deadly in front of goal, Dessers is the man and he has it all.
I have been following Dessers for so long and I can boldly tell you today that none of the strikers in the Super Eagles has Dessers qualities.
“How can you say that sodiq is the only reliable striker. What about awoniyi and ebn iheanacho. Much disrespect to these players from you”.
You are missing the point here again brother.
Nacho is good but not reliable. On a good day, Nacho can wow you but that is not what am talking about. I am talking about consistency.
Umar Sodiq is the only striker in that category.
On the other hand, Awoniyi is another fantastic striker but can he prove that in Cameroon?
Under 17 is totally different to Super Eagles level fah.
Dessers already proved his worth against Tunisia and he almost scored in that encounter.
That is why I said Oga Rohr should be blamed for not giving Dessers a chance during his time.
If not because of NFF “AJĘWOMASAN” the debtor, Ighalo have no space in that team. The way he played in our last match showed that he had nothing left to offer Super Eagles against
strong and well organized team, NFF and coach Eguavoen should be blamed for his inclusion.
For me, Oga Rohr wasn’t the kind of coach to managed Eagles for good five years he spent with the team. He left out Dessers, Dennis and Onyekuru for no reasons.
Coach Eguavoen should be the one complaining now because of the time frame but Mr. No nonsense have no time for that because he is Nigerian which means we don’t have time for excuses but actions.
Lastly, I will encourage NFF to sack Amaju Pinnick after the Afcon tournament in Cameroon. His servants Agu, Aigbogun and Akpeyi should go with him.
If Dessers fails to make it to Cameroon to represent Nigeria, I won’t be happy with Amaju and Eguavoen period.
Don’t be surprised if you see Umar Sodiq leading the attack. He is our main striker now and follow by Awoniyi and Olayinka.
The missing link in that team is Dessers. If NFF can try and get him in, with God mercy and hard work of our players and the coaches, I can say we are ready.
It is time to rebuild the Super Eagles. Our own will wow you Nigerians. Watch out. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
NFF AJEWOMASAN.
Nice!
Omo 9ja, you are not informed joor, Don’t you know that Ighalo can’t be replaced again,? it’s too late . A player can only be replaced if he is injured. In Ighalo’s case, he is not injured so CAF can’t accept a replacement, We hace 27 players already which is 0k, we have a large pool to pull from. Most countries are coming to Afcon with 23 or 24 players. Nigeria with 27 players have one of the largest squads in this tournament
Your Mr nononsense has not been watching Dessers closely……lmao. Even omo9ja that is not NFF technical director knows Cyriel Dessers.
I hope you have gotten yourself now…….otherwise more shocks await you o.
This is why love this Drey too much lolz.
Funny you @Dr. Drey lolz. Don’t mind him, he have eaten sweet “dodo” with Amaju and other NFF members but I will tell them the bitter truth wether they like it or not.
You can see the difference between you Oga Rohr fans and I omo9ja?
I don’t follow people blindly kę.
Our “own” are the best to do the job.
As I said before the departure of our world class coach Oga Rohr, our own can build a team in less than two weeks and we are about to witness that next week.
You can see now that our own doesn’t give excuses bla bla bla like the former world best coach?
Oga Rohr was scared of MO Salah for what? Now, Mr. No nonsense is doing his thing silently.
Anyways, time will tell. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
See what Ighalo caused knowing his contractual clauses… The way NFF handled this is really bad, tournament has not started why would CAF be so stringent on their rules… This makes me dislike Ighalo the more, we actually never needed him… He should have stayed retired now he has wasted a slot for a player like Dessers!
Dem never grind beans finish,moi moi don dey smell…I won’t say much, Egwuavoen,pinnick even the so called ighalo no well. Ighalo no Sabi read contract ne? Egwuavoen and pinnick just the fumble like that present government.
God have a way of doing things I see UN17 iheanacho and awoniyi combo coming to life but the team might not go far
Eguaveon should call Akinkunmi.
Thanks to Ighalo for all his past contributions.
Eguaveon should call Akinkunmi.
Thanks to Ighalo for all his past contributions.
It might be a blessing in disguise…… moreover Awoniyi and sodiq are good old fashioned number 9s……..Let us place responsibility on their shoulders and see how they cope……….This is a good reason why national team caps should be spread out as much as possible…….let everybody have a feel of the action and gather experience because you never can tell who will be available when it’s time for war…….Now we have our two number 9s with just 1 international cap between them because of stinginess in using players even in friendly matches by Coach Rhor.
Ighalo, just caused unnecessary distraction. He should have stayed retired because he is no lomger relevant in the team. Without him we qualified for AFCON & World cup play off even when Osimhen the striker had to work out his heart to get the goals because the passing is not coming well enough. Osimhen had 5 goals and 5 assist in Afcon qualifiers and 4 goals in world cup qualifiers and maybe 1 or 2 assist as well. Ighalo at his best playing with good midfielders prime Mikel Obi, Onazi, winger Victor Moses don’t have such goal ratio. So why are the coaches reasoning as if he is the messiah. If we’re to miss any striker at Afcon, it’s clearly Osimhen.
They’ve all the time to replace Igahlo with Dessers but they decided to wait for ever. Even Eguaveon, that gave him till 5pm Jan. 4th, he didn’t stick to his decision. I hope Feyenord will release him anyway because it’s late already. Also disappointed Eguaveon said he is not aware of his quality but no thanks to Rhor that didn’t give the guy chance. He is very good with both legs. Even Osimhen our best striker isn’t very good on his left.
Goodluck to u guys eventhough i didn’t expect much.
NFF SHOULD CONTINUE MESSING UP WITH PLAYERS CALL UP.
BUT I GUESS ROHR HAS A PART TO SHARE IN THIS. HE INSISTED ON BRINGING IGHALO BACK INSTEAD OF LOOKING TO ANOTHER YOUNGER OPTION. REPORTS HAVE IT THAT HE DIDN’T INCLUDE DENNIS IN HIS INITIAL 37 MAN LIST. IT WAS WHEN EGUAVOEN TOOK OVER THAT HE ADDED DENNIS TO THE LIST AND THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT AFFECTED HIS RELEASE FROM WATFORD.
NOW HE INCLUDED IGHALO IN HIS LIST BUT NFF DIDN’T FOLLOW UP TO SEE IF HE WOULD BE AVAILABLE AND IGHALO HIMSELF DIDNT COME OUT ON TIME TO TELL NFF THAT HIS CLUB WONT LET HIM GO JUST LIKE DENNIS WITH WATFORD. AT LEAST THE NFF WOULD HAVE LOOKED FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO REPLACE HIM ON TIME. NOW WE DONT KNOW IF ITS POSSIBLE.
NOW WE WILL BE WITHOUT BOTH DENNIS AND IGHALO. WE ARE GOING TO THE AFCON WITH PLAYERS WHO ARE MOSTLY PLAYING IN THEIR FIRST AFCON. WE HAVEN’T HAD TIME TO BLEND. ITS JUST SO FUNNY.
WHATEVER HAPPENS I WISH THE TEAM WELL. BUT LETS KNOW THAT COMPARED TO OTHER TEAMS IN THE COMPETITION, OUR PREPARATION IS NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT.
Hahahaha…you guys are still circulating NFF’s lies of “Rohr did not include Dennis in 37 man list” to cover their own incompetence….LMAOooo. The likes of Dessers, Amoo, Akpoguma, Bassey who were included, where they picked.
Was it Eguavoen that added Ighalo’s name at the last minute that made his invitation letter also arrive late in his club…..LMAOooo.
When they were supposed to be sending out invitation letters to the 40 players submitted to them by Rohr in November, they were busy scheming their ways to the SE job and jostling for slots for player invitation…..LMAOOOooo
If the letters had been send since November, no club would have used timing of arrival of invitations as excuse, and other reasons for non release of players would have been communicated on time. Even at that, Mr (no)nonsense had all the time in the world to call up Cyriel Dessers at least when Osimhen pulled out. He rather chose to add another winger to a plethora of wingers we already had in the team……LMAOooo….claiming he has not been watching Dessers closely…..LMAOooo. Bloody bunch of liars.
Now they are claiming they dont want to go to FIFA….LMAOooo…..You have no damn case…..so dont just stress…LMAOooo. CAF gave you a window (close to 2 months window) as they gave all other participating teams to make adjustments to your squads…..if you fluffed your own chance due to your gross incompetence and lack of organization, who do you want to blame…?
Now they are telling us all sorts of lies to cover up their faults. A club that released Odion for almost 2 weeks to play vs Liberia and Cape Verde all of a sudden are not releasing him because he signed as a retired player…? Are you kidding me…? Is that the official statement of the club or whatabouteries from the NFF to save face having bungled yet another invitation….?
The probability of the team going beyond the semi-final is so slim. Anyways, i wish them the best in this tournament. Honestly, i hate every member of the NFF. They are a disgrace to Nigeria. If Amaju has any shame, he should tender his resignation after this afcon.
They will go nowhere. Why? No Ighalo, no Osimhen, and above all, no Amoo. You will see how Saleh will dribble all the mumus and embarrass the rookies and score beautiful goals against these rookies playing their games in the 2nd division in Spain. If Desser was so good, why was he loaned out to his current Club in Holland? Sacking Rohr at this time was wrong. You can’t sack the captain when the war is raging. Big disappointments are waiting those who support and advocated the sacking of Rohr who qualified Nigeria for these competitions and others.
If we eventually loose the guy to Belgium, it will really be a massive blow. Is like Amaju and his fellow corrupt NFF staffs want something like a token from him and he’s not responding. I think that could be the only reason he is being left out of the team all the time. Scoring 10 goals from the bench out of 21 matches is not an easy task. Even many average strikers don’t get that numbers playing 90 minutes for same amount of matches. Other than Lukaku, this guy can break into Belgium team if he believe in himself because i see him as a better striker as compared to Benteke and Batshuayi. Given that Mertens is ageing, Belgium might call Dessers if Nigeria contine to shun him
@Sean T, I also share that suspicion. Other African nations find it easy to conduct the switch of nationalities for their foreign born players but for us, it takes forever. Probably, they have requested for a token from these players before completing the switch and the players refused. That is why we have all this inconsistencies regarding the status of their switch.
And for Eguavoen, has he been living in a rock or does he have his head stuck in the sand. To state that he does not know much about Dessers despite the player’s heroics for his club just leaves you wondering about the suitability of the personnel in charge of our football. I just tire for this country.
@Golden Child, yes ooo my brother. Even David Alaba confessed NFF and the then U-17 coach demanded a bribe from him to represent Nigeria. So that’s the honest truth.
On our chances at afcon. I stopped relegating Nigerian teams to the background after my experiences with the team at Algiers 90 and in 2013.
Those teams consist of rookies majorly..
A new and young player like amokachi was a revelation. Even elaho stole the show…it was his first afcon..
In 2013, we had about 17 players with their first afcon. Almost all people condemned the team.. they won the tournament.
This present team on paper is better than those teams. Yet we are scared they won’t do well.
What else do we want with players like
Awoniyi, one of the best in bundelsiga this season
Sodiq has goals in almost all European completions over the years. He is proven goal scorer..
Iheanacho though he blows hot and cold was one of the best in EPL last season. He has not lost form.
We neidi one of the best in his position in Europe and even in the world.
Chukwueze was a Europa cup winner. He is also doin well this season after injury.
Ejuke is about the best dribbler in Europe now. Though we need to check stats. But that boy is good. What he did against caoe Verde in cape Verde is still in my memory.
Aribo, though rohr limited him with his positioning during matches, we know what he can do.
We gave zaidu sanusi we have ebuehi we have ola aina we have iwobi (tournament player with lots of experience).
Common this is Nigeria and we have lots of good moments at afcon. Let us believe in our team. We can win afcon. The coach only need to come good. The materials are there even with the absentees.
NFF made four major mistakes with regards to invitation of players for 2021 AFCON.
1. Dennis’ issue was poorly handled. They shouldn’t have granted GR so much freedom to the point of leaving out our most in-form player because as at the time the list was submitted on the 15th, this guy virtually on fire. It’s so sad that we will miss him.
2. Why invite 4 goalkeepers when we might need only 1 throughout the competition? The standard anywhere is that national team selectors pick 3 goalkeepers for major tournaments. Why are we always different? What exactly is Noble doing in that team when it’s do obvious that he won’t play a single match at AFCON? As a matter of fact, he is not even the best in the league. Nigeria wasted another good slot that would have been useful. So sad.
3. NFF also made a very huge mistake by leaving out DESSERS. He is one of the most in-formed strikers we have in Europe now. Playing as a substitute, he scored consistently, not only in the domestic league, he doeas in Europe too. So on the basis of form, he deserves a call up. Again, we all know his status. Never capped officially yet for Nigeria, and he is still as free as the leg of a cripple to play for Belgium. Inviting him to AFCON would have been a huge boost, not only to him as a person but other foreign born players intending to change allegiance. I don’t really know what the coaching crew wants him to do to get another chance.
4. If it’s true that we can’t register a new player again because Ighalo’s situation came up late, then the player himself should be questioned. He didn’t just know his contractual terms with the club. And even if he knew he would try and see if he could talk to Al-Shabab’s management to release him, he should have set a time limit knowing a slot could be lost if his release couldn’t be negotiated within a certain time frame. To me, he could have done a lot better. So sad NFF couldn’t spot this early enough to effect a replacement. It’s so sad.
But I’m still of the opinion that Super Eagles would do well in Cameroon. We thrive in adversity. It’s in our nature to do well in such situations. Have we even done so well when everything around the team looks so perfect? The Atlanta Olympic team had a whole lot of issues going to the games. Starting from the shoddy preparation to being disgraced in Lagos by Togo. Logistic issues cropped up too in the States, so much so that players were the ones funding their own expenses in America. But what happened? We won an Olympic gold medal against all odds. Something very similar happened too in Rio 2014. Mikel came to our rescue with his big brother role. It got so bad that a Japanese doctor had to come in to motivate the boys with some huge cash when the NOC, the Sports Ministry, the NFF or whoever was responsible failed to do so. But what happened again? We won another medal in the competition! I see the same thing happening. We will be hopeful,supportive and prayerful. Go Eagles.
Nigeria want to normalise bad preparation not just in football but every other aspects of life.
Then complain that life is hard.
Nigerians make life hard for themselves
IF THERE IS NO GOING TO BE URGENT REPLACEMENT FOR IGHALO FOR THIS AFCON, I PRAY NIGERIA WILL FAIL INSHALLAH. UNLESS SET OF MANAGEMENT AND COACHES.
WHY SENDING LATE INVITATION AT THE FIRST PLACE?
Foreign born players are blocking avenue to sell market. Foreign born players dont do “yes sir”, “wehdone sir”, “happy weekend sir” to NFF officials. Foreign born players talk back when things are going wrong in camp yet Pinnick is coming to gloat in their team meetings. Foreign born players are less Nigerian than players born in Nigeria, hence have lesser rights to the super eagles. That is why they have tacitly chosen to scale down the number of foreign born players in the team considerably, under several guises…LMAOoo..one of them being “I’ve not been watching him closely”….LMAOooo. Its not mere coincidence. As they say in local parlance, No be mistake.
Now as a result of our own incompetence, We will be going to Cameroon with 27 players because the technical director of the Nigerian football federation has not been following the best goal per minute ratio Nigerian striker in the world at the moment Cyriel Dessers closely. Ighalo cannot be replaced any longer unless on health grounds. That’s one slot wasted already. That’s one CF short already. Talk about officials who do not under stand basic CAF rules. Add the useless 4TH CHOICE GOALKEEPER SLOT and then you have another slot wasted. Slots that could have been occupied by players who can help our destiny like Amoo, Dessers, Bassey etc. Now we are going to AFCON with 2 CFs and 4 goalkeepers……LMAOoooo…….so so laughable…LMAoooo
The issue of Jamilyu Collins is still there. His wherabout is still unknown till today. We are talking about a player who played his last game before Christmas not still in camp as at when the team flew to Garoua on the 5th of January. Yet the coach and the FA cannot tell where he is at the moment, no explanations whatsoever. There is a Calvin Bassey there who can even play LB, LWB, LM and CB eho could have come in as a last minute replacement. There is an Akopguma who can play RB, RWB and CB while Ola Aina shifts to the left to cover for Collins when the AWOL situation persisted. But No…they have resolved not to call them up…..LMAOooo. Maybe Eguavoen has not been following them closely too….LMAOoooo.
NFF should stop telling us loads of lies to save face. “Watford is threatening Dennis”…but they are not threatening Sarr, Ekong, Louza, and other players in the same club who are with their national teams at AFCON now…..LMAOoooo.
“Ighalo signed for Shabaab as a retired player”….but he was released for almost 2 weeks to play WCQ vs Liberia and Capeverde……LMAOooo…. Bunch of liars.
They should grow balls and agree they bungled player invitations and squad selections to this AFCON big time…..LMAOoooo….and stop shifting attention away from their incompetence….from the coach to the FA itself.
I am struggling to find another Country going to this AFCON, struggling with player invitations and release like Nigeria
May God help them all….LMAOooo. Arrant incompetence and lack of organization. The silence here on this forum in the face of all these is deafening….LMAOooo…our “liberation fighters and harbingers of truth” cannot rant anymore like they used to rant before, now that they are seeing worse things happening than when the problem of our football (Rohr) was still in charge. The shabbiness in the way their owns have managed the affairs of the team thus far has drained so much blood out of them that they cant shout anymore…..LMAOOooo
So true.
@ Dr. Drey you’re on point bro till you mentioned Rhor. Just forget it bro. The guy should try Cricket or Hockey. Football is not his calling. Period. If he is a good coach, you will know in 1 to 2 years if he can secure another coaching job from a decent national team or clubside
Hahahahaha…its like you’ve not heard Rohr has already gotten another job at the moment. At 68 years of age he is not likely going to take up active coaching jobs after now, He already coached 4 national teams and several clubsides. How many national teams and clubsides have your owns that are good and have football as their calling coached…?? If not for NFF in their lives they are as good as jobless. Your current interim coach abandoned Sharks FC in relegation zone, was fired by Sunshine Stars after leading them to relegation zone, and outrightly got Gombe United relegated in the last 10 years of his coaching career.
Your own that is a good coach cannot even handle player invitations properly….LMAooooo. Your own that is a good coach and technical director of Nigerian football federation has not been watching Dessers closely……LMAOooooo. You owns that have football as their calling cannot get jobs unless NFF bails them out. LMAoooo
I guess Sunday Oliseh is not a good coach since he has not gotten another coaching job after 6 years since he ran away from Nigeria and 4 years since we was chased away from Sittard
@dr Dre – Thank you for always saying it the way it is. I shook my head reading the NFF statement on Ighalo’s palava, someone that played for SE in the last two matches suddenly not allowed to represent the nation. Lol
NFF did not rate us at all and I don’t blame them, I blame the gullible ones that always believe tons of lies from Amaju’s factory.
I see NFF with the help of local coaches trying to sideline foreign born players, I might be wrong but Eguafoen’s body language says otherwise.
Dr. Drey I concur. Incompetence and lies everywhere from this incompetent people in nff. I just wonder if I am the president of Nigeria, I would have dealt with this people.
I have said it before. Any coach who allow nff and pinnick to corrupt them will face the music. Instead resign and leave the job.
Olofinjana rejected their technical director position. So it’s possible to leave the job instead of allowing them to run mud on them.
Eguavon goofed by saying he has not been following dessers closely. Them whatbhas been doing as a technical director. Nigerian officials just open their mouth to talk nonesense. They know nobody will cane them. So they just talk anyhow. Nonesense..
Dr. Drey what are our chances with the players in camp now.
Mr Man, you better leave me out of your permutations for this tournament.
Those who can see beyond their noses are already looking beyond this AFCON. Some of you are so disappointed now that you are choking on your own saliva on the results of the fire of destruction which yall lit with your own hands. Some of you have said we should go and use the AFCON to prepare for the WC playoffs and I am beginning to buy that idea as the way to go. Expectation is the mother of disappointment.
We are going to AFCON with a midfield and attack that will be playing together for the first time in the tournament, and a coach that will be playing his first match vs Egypt after training with the entire squad for a little over 5 days, to face teams that have either been playing together for years, or have just returned from a major championship……all thanks to our greed, sheer hatred of heart and incompetence.
That disaster which yall wanted to avert MUST BE AVERTED O, we wont tolerate any excuse. Afterall Tuchel and Di Matteo won champions league within a matter of weeks…..LMAOoooo…..otherwise, exile will be the middle name of many people here.
Most at times I come here I don’t come because I am missing CS but because I am missing your analysis…. The problem of Nigeria football is the head of Nigeria football… You know it has been long i started writing about Pinnick even long ago before Rohr was sacked…. When the28man list came out I was shocked with what I saw most especially in the defensive department…even with your obvious corruption, how can you leave out Akpoguma of all defenders? How can you tell us without fear of God that you don’t really know much about Cyriel Dessers of all strikers? How can you replaced a whole Osimehn with Onyekuru?
Wait o! Why Are things done in Nigeria like this na? Who do us like this na?
Melvin Pinnick will be boasting being a member of FIFA yet it is not reflecting in the way he is handling Nigerian football…
But I am surprise that CAF said that they cannot replace Ighalo because it is not on health issue when Olayinka replaced Dennis was it on health issues? NFF always have excuses for whichever way they want to swing their selfish pendulum…NFF under Amaju Melvin Pinnick is a fraud!
If Eguavoen doesn’t know about Cyriel kolawole Dessers of all strikers is it that he doesn’t know about Akpoguma too ni?
What has he been doing as the head of NFF technical department ?
This is a man the coaches are supposed to turn in their list of players to for vetting and approval before invitations are sent out to the players for National assignment. Yeye dey smell !
LOOOOOLZ, foreign born player no go ROGER OGA AT THE TOP.
Oyibo no go say WEH DONE SIR or HAPPY WEEKEND SIR because he was not brought up that way.
Those who need egunje should kuku politely ask for it na.
If your friend visits you when you’re having dinner, and he’s staring at your meal to the point where it seems his eyes are about to pop out of his head, the humane thing to do is to ask him to come and join you, abi?
Instead of Nigeria to be losing out on good players, let those who need egunje go ahead and communicate this to the foreign born guys.
If asked nicely, I’m sure our foreign born guys will comply 🙂 🙂 🙂
The law of karma will take its natural course. He who disturb Israel will not sleep. They have not seen anything yet.
The NFF wouldn’t stop amazing me. To think the egocentric,Pinnick is a top official with FIFA makes it much more disorienting. What’s the point of Amaju?!
Pinnick and his board are simply are waste of space.
If the Super Eagles does succeed in the Afcon, it would be inspite of the NFF.
The NFF basically shot this team not just on the foot but in the arm as well.
I am livid .
My only hope is in the players’ zeal and quality to do the Nation proud and come back with the gold. Thanks to the FA’s ineptitude,it has become much more tougher to succeed but I believe in our boys; success is achievable.
Don’t be surprised that Even with all their mismanagement they will still not pay the players their bonuses..
Leadership in Nigeria is our greatest problem..
If those boys don’t do well, there should be a nation wide protest.
Ah-Shabab’s refusal to release Odion Ighalo for the forth coming continental showpiece reenforces the fact that our Coach should be given more time to tap into our local league as against what is being done presently. I dismissed the notion foreign based players are better than their local counterparts, it is a mere fallacy and this I can substantiate.
What I believe in is that every player given an equal chance can perform for our country. So the issue or rather the challenge to having to wait for Odion’s release
all this while shouldn’t have cropped up in the first place. Now there is the mad rush to suggest a player or to get a replacement which I personally don’t like and might not even happen.
Most likely many commenters here have no idea that another golden chance is opened. My brothers and sisters, an opportunity is right on our palms to further pressurize the football bodies in the country to see the need to support our coaching crew so that time can be allocated to them to scan through the numerous talents abound in the country, bring them forth to represent us in future tournaments. Sincerely speaking, that’s the sure way to go. Otherwise, some of us will still be here making the same noise. We can’t continue doing the same thing and be expecting a different result, it doesn’t work that way.
I wish the Super Eagles good luck as they begin to prosecute Afcon22 by locking horns with the Pharaohs of Egypt next week. God bless Nigeria!
The same local league players that went to play Mexico and were clearly not up to standard. Super Eagle is not where to develop local players.
Neo: Planned programmes usually take time before you start to experience good results, people are wont to have instant results but we can do away with that. The invited home based for the match in reference had only 10 days for camping, what were you expecting? Even if they were defeated by 10 to 0, I wasn’t going to be perturbed but rather be concerned about running a time tested programme while keeping them for future engagements. That is what we need to mount pressure on.
Did you say good results? NPFL players that don’t know their position in the field of play,they are still being taught how to trap ball! Must it be in the SE alone that local coaches be given opportunities? What about the age grade competitions,CHAN? Are they pulling their weight in CAF organized competitions? Amodu Shuaibu proved himself several times on the local scene before he was handed the position of the Head Coach.Name one local coach that have a proven track record on both the local scene and CAF organized competitions.You are not being objective.
If that’s the case the Nff should take responsibility for his no show.
We look thin right now in the striking department going into a huge tournament,doesn’t look good for our team.
Our options are few to make matters worse of the four strikers available three are greenhorns only Nacho has been part of the team,this does not look good at all.
The Nff should know the rules they are the authorities it’s hard to understand how they fall short of the rules it’s gross incompetence on their part and must take responsibility should we fail in our quest to come back home with the ultimate price.
Rohr’s sack robbed us a bit of organisation it shows we are not yet ready to fully manage our team foreign experts should take charge until we are ready.
As in, my dear….the internal system of the NFF has been grossly compromised. How on Earth will a player miss a competition of this nature because the FA failed to send just a letter of invitation to the club? How? Why on Earth did compile that list and sent it to CAF when they knew players wouldn’t get their within the time permitted by the same CAF? So the continental body got the list but the club didint the invitation? Why didn’t they even send the invitation letters to the players before sending those names to CAF since they know it is not for CaF to scrutinize but to process players’ data ahead of time?
We should sincerely speak up on this stupidity! NFF has been messing up for many years now, a long annoying list of administrative blunders , but no one is talking. I’m sure all the players recieved their invitations late just that some clubs are less lenient on setting aside those rules guiding players invitation. While they were busy dealing with Rohr, they forgot to perform their own statutory task. It’s so so unfortunate!
Pinnick and this current rudderless NFF board of idiots need to be gone for good this year. What the hell is Olajire talking about? You report to FIFA if need be and screw the consequences. Pinnick needs to go honestly! And as for Eguavoen, he also bungled this. I have never liked him for good reason and the way he took Dessers off that initial 20-man list tells you all you need to know about him. This team will not do anything in Cameroon. There is no squad depth at all. What if they have injuries?
I meant initial 40-man list. Eguavoen is an agent and should not be allowed anywhere near the SE after this AFCON.
I am sorry but this seems to only be happening to Nigerian players. All other African countries end up having some understanding with the clubs and they are released. Even Salah is released by Liverpool. Which player can be more important to a club?. This is what happens when you have corrupt management because all their clout would have been eroded. At this point, any club can decide anything they want with our players and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Let us listen to the voice of wisdom. Salah’s Egypt has 14 players from their local football league, that cannot be said of Nigeria which has only one player. Somebody is talking about local inputs for the Super Eagles, that I feel would solve these problems.
Salahs’s Egypt can hardly boast 10 players playing in 1st divisions in the whole of Europe….how many players can Nigeria boast of playing in English Premier league alone…?
Salah’s Egyptian league is the best in Africa….please what is the current state and rating of your own league….?
3-4 of Salah’s Egyptian clubs qualify for group stages of CAF club competitions almost on yearly basis….how many of out of 4 of your own clubs reach group stages…?
Salah’s Egyptian clubs have played in the finals of the CAF CL 25 times and won it 16 times, how many time have your own reached the finals and won it…? Lets not even talk about others like the Confed cup, the CAF cup or the Cup winners cup
So dont even dare bring this your Egyptian sentiments into it. Every country in the world picks players from wherever their best players are based, not particularly based on geographic reasons.
Morocco are back to back CHAN champions, their clubs have contested the final of either the CAF CL or CAF CC for 5 years running now, yet their team to this AFCON is 95% foreign based and mostly foreign born players.
Egypt can afford to start 11 homebased players in the team and still win AFCON, when Keshi managed to start starting 3 homebased players in the SE at a time, we know how it all ended.
Our best players are abroad. Its that simple. We can conveniently name a 50 man list without a homebased player in it and nobody will be crucified.
It is still about harnessing the local players dotting our landscape.
How many caps (or months after his debut) did it take Iwuala to become foreign based…? How many caps did it take Ndah to go trialing in South African league. All the guys that played against mexico, can they all still be called home-based today…?
You have not even harnessed the players dotting only the top 5 leagues in Europe sufficiently enough, its the ones that cannot compete with their fellow Africa based players and will jump out of the NPFL to even Tanzania league after 3 international matches you want to harness.
Start you harnessing project by first getting enough quality to qualify your clubs for group stages of CAF competitions. The fact that only 5 out of 28 players going to the AFCON tasted action in the NPFL in their careers says alot about the ‘quality’ of the content of your domestic league.
Name one local player that has been outstanding in the last 2-3 seasons. the
What good will your local imput do if you have no standard local league, a league that stays active for six months and takes longer than a year brake?, a league that cannot boost of standard stadiums with standard playing pitch?, a league where players welfare is looked upon as doing them a favor?, a league where contracts are breached by NFF, LMC, Clubs and Players?, a league where players’ lives, health and safety are placed in constant danger by NFF, LMC and the Clubs?, a league where players go on a two to three days road trips weekly on horribly roads just for a match? a league that intentionally made it impossible for players to improve because of all the horrible way the league is administered and run, a league that is run by criminals whose only intentions are to steal the finances for personal purposes?.
What local content are you talking about, when was the last time the local content Eagles won the WAFU or CHAN tournament ?
I think the answer would be “Never in the history of neither WAFU nor CHAN has the local content Eagles been the champions but we want them to go win the Nation’s and world cup for us, how realistic are we ????
The club has the right to hold into their player.. They inserted the clause to his contract because they knew such a time might come when he might leave them when he is needed the most..
His club wants to win the Saudi league and with ighalo in their team they have the chance of winning ,( remember it will be their first in history).
More European clubs are learning and they continue to insert such clauses in contracts involving African players..
This is where good administrative acumen is needed.. It is no news that igaalo signed such a contract, he told the world he did in our last match against cape Verde and Liberia.. So no way NFF wasn’t aware.
What stopped them calling his club on time to know their state of mind regarding the release of the player Rather they were concerned with speaking to morinho.. The time they spent to holding meeting for rohn should have been used to plan for the afcon and put all in place..
Everyone said it the time is short but they kept to their plans ignoring the advise of Nigerians and ex footballers..
We are going for a tournament as afcon with just 2 CF, and 4 goalkeepers maybe akepyi will play striker when our strikers contract covid.
Another reason why I don’t support local coaches.. Where is eguavoen now, he was taking every where before.. He did not watch desser.. It is a coaching error to have just 2 strikers when CAF gave you 28 slots.. He should pray we do well and NFF agrees to pay match bonuses because he would indirectly show the world that local coaches are not yet ready to lead the team
That clause that every dick and harry are mentioning was there when his club released him to play against Cape Verde. His club are only citing the clause because they have two important matches coming up soon. On the 8th Odion is listed to play against Abha FC and on the 14th he will be playing against Ettifaq FC, these matches are very important to his club. We can even protest to the sports ministry that we want local players in the SE instead of this disappointment. Don’t you think that will be better?
Local league players are just not good enough and your minister is part of the problem I guess you can’t see that because you share similar views and values.
That Dennis and Ighalo are not there is blamed by Pinnick on Rohr. When Nigeria is knocked out in the first round it will certainly be blamed on Rohr. Stay tuned!
The excuse of the coach having little time is already prepped and waiting to be released when we fail. I remember when I did a rough risk assessment that resulted in Rohr remaining as our coach for Afcon and WC qualifiers and someone, respectfully, rubbished it. The only reason we prefer foreign coaches is because we know our local coaches can be corrupt and biased, and this caused us 2 Afcon tournaments. Now see – invitations didnt get to clubs in time, 40man list reduced to 28 because that was the only loophole available to include Nwakali and Ndah. Afcon is one episode, let’s wait for the WC playoffs. The new coach has the best job ever, trial and error, if it works he takes the team to the WC if it doesn’t he gets his 2-4 months pay.
I wish the team luck in AFCON!
You’re right bro, I won’t be surprised if Eguavouen himself personally blames Rhor for the team’s has poor performances during the tournament
Eguavoen is a horrible liar…. Claims he watched Olayinka against Inter months ago but he is blind to know who the curent top scoring Nigerian in the eredivise is? IF WE MAKE IT TO THE SEMI FINAL I’LL BE SURPRISED AND NFF WILL TAKE A HUGE PORTION OF THE BLAME BEFORE THE BALL IS EVEN KICKED. TOU HAVE AN EGOTISTICAL FOOL In AMAJU AND THEN YOU HAVE A TECHNICAL DIRECTOR WHO HAS SEEN ALOT OF NDAH IN CAPE TOWN WARRIORS OR WHATEVER BUT IS OBLIVIOUS TO THE DUTCH LEAGUE. THE DAY I CATCH ANY OF THIS OFFICIALS IN YANKEE I GO LIKE PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE BUT I NO WAN GO JAIL FOR THEIR STUPID ASS. THEY JUST FRUSTRATE NAIJA FOOTBALL FANS GLOBALLY..
Hi football fanatic, it is like a measure of maturity if we could make comments without sounding abusive. Coach Eguavoen actually needs more time. 2 weeks isn’t going to be enough for any tangible plan and we all know about that.
So why did you sack the man who was there before if you knew “…2 weeks isn’t going to be enough for any tangible plan…”….LMAOoooo. See excuse o…..LMAoooo.
2 week inst going to be enough for Yobo the Asst Coach since last year, Salisu the Asst coach since 2016 (bar the period of his ban), Agu the GK coach since 2016, Eguaoven the technical director who has been following the team around since for over a year, Aigbogun his deputy to do things as simple as releasing a 40 man provisional squad, getting letters out to clubs on time, selecting our best 28, getting them to camp as early as possible, organizing a friendly with either Zimbabwe or Ethiopia or any of the early birds in Cameroon on their way there…??? LMAOooo. They needed 2 years to do all that…??? LMAOoooo.
As far as we are concerned, the only change in this crew was Rohr leaving, otherwise its the same ring of “technical men” who have been around the team for a while now.
Please look for better excuses o. This wishy washy excuse you are putting forward will not hold water if you end up not averting that disaster you wanted to avert o…..LMAOoooo
This is selfishness on Ighalo’s part too…. You can’t tell me he didn’t know this information like a week ago. The invites were sent out way before 2 weeks ago why leave it till when they’re about to go to Cameroon. THANK god Eguavoen won’t be the coach after the Nations cup…..some of his selections have been so biased and choppy in a short time has been nothing but a disgrace so imagine if he was long term.. 3 times!!! To name Dessers in the absence of Osimhen, Dessers, Onuachu, and Ighalo but comes up with the lamest excuse a gaffer can come up with in this technological age were you can watch videos and assess player unlike the 90s minutes after each game. Only 2 Nigerian strikers have scored more than Dennis this season…. Awoniyi and Ighalo so how is he not merited?
I hope he rescinds his decision and Belgium cap tie him. We don’t deserve to have him with the treatment meted out to him..
Ighalo tried to go against all odds to honor his fatherland, that was it. It’s unfortunate Nigeria had to depend on foreign players year in year out but I have the firm believe that it is high time we looked inwards. The NFF really has to do something about it.
@ Mr. Xenophobic Dayo, who are the foreign players Nigeria has been depending on?
People like you are the reason Nigeria is stuck on/ deep rooted in discrimination and can’t move past tribal sentiments.
Selfishness…..what sort of selfishness…? Was it Ighalo that sent letter after FIFA deadline for such…?
Al Shabaab have stated EXPRESSELY that “…WE DID NOT PREVENT THE PLAYER FROM JOINING, BUT HIS INVITATION LETTER DID NOT REACH US WITHIN THE PERIOD SPECIDIED BY FIFA FOR RECEIVING PLAYERS’ CALL-UP LETTERS…..”
So how is a player who was in his club jeje waiting for the game vs AlAhli to be played on Jan 1 for him to pack his bags to go join the SE now the selfish one…?
Is it not gross incompetence that warranted letters to be sent after 24th December when provisional list was submitted since 16th November…?
Does the NFF want to deny the fact that Al Shabaab would have replied them within 24-48 hours of late reciept of Ighalo’s letter for them to quickly find a replacement…? Eguavoen had till midnight of 31st of December to replace Ighalo with yet another player who was in the initial provisional list but refused only to come up with a lame lie of “I’ve not been watching Dessers closely”, because he had been flying to Soweto and Huesca every weekend to watch players who were not even in the provisional list closely…?
The ball is in their courts…..let them deal with the chaos they have caused.
When Eguavoen was supposed to be sending letters and attending to squad management issues, he was playing table soccer on youtube and teaching us how 4-4-2 is played as if we started watching football yesterday…..LMAOooo. And his sycophants and co-hungry ex-internationals were busy hailing him…..LMAOoooo.
Imagine going to a major 24 team tournament like AFCON with just 2 out and out CFs in a 28 man squad. Even a 23 man squad would usually have 3-4 out and out CFs….LMAooo.
They must avert that disaster they wanted to avert o. They must avert it, otherwise they themselves will become disasters when the sun sets on all these nonsense happening at the moment.
With a vibrant local league in place should the NFF looked our way, we wouldn’t need this story.
So is your league an example of a vibrant league….LMAOoooo.??
Please apart from Enyimba, how many teams from your league can boast of playing in the group phase of CAF club competitions in the last 10 years…?
How many players have been signed directly from your league to the top divisions of mainstream European leagues in the last 10 years….? LMAOooooo
The topscorers in your league in the last 10 years, please in what level and quality of leagues have they ended..? Have they been able to replicate their forms even in those leagues…? LMAooooo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuurXd6k3aI
This is your vibrant league nde…? LMAOoooo
Please scroll to 5:16 of the video to see how vibrant and exuberant your league is….LMAoooo
Is there anybody still wondering why Nigerian Referees never get to officiate in CAF tournamnets…? LMAOoooo.
Will CAF see these kinds of abracadabric goals and ask NPFL referees to come and disgrace them….?
Eguavouen “our own Mr. No Nonsense disciplinarian no excuses hard worker” is supposed to have been NFF’s head of technical department for well over a year but hasn’t been following Desser closely? He is a moronic lier.
What has he been doing as the head of the technical department, shinning Amaju Pinnick’s ?
Eguavouen “our own Mr. No Nonsense disciplinarian no excuses hard worker” is supposed to have been NFF’s head of technical department for well over a year but hasn’t been following Desser closely? He is a moronic lier.
What has he been doing as the head of the technical department, shinning Amaju Pinnick’s shoes?
No wonder they ask foreign coach to follow them and be observing from sideline.
How can you be a technical director and yet you don’t monitor your players, then what have you been doing.
Last last egu you will disappoint Nigeria ni.
With this gross confusion, disorientation, disorganization and lack time for the players to really perfect their strategies and really blend well to form a true cohesive team, we should not expect too much.
@ Mr. Xenophobic Dayo, who are the foreign players Nigeria has been depending on?
Al- Shabab said the invitation letter got to them late. Make of it what you will…
When we say this coach talk too much that time, it looks like we hate him.
So all these times you were busy granting interview egu, shouting that you are going to play attacking football, you don’t know that you ought to release the list so as to avoid this kind of situation.
You are loosing strike and yet you still want to play attacking football, with who ke? Is it those strikers that you have not tested at all and that you don’t even have enough time to perfect your strategies with that you are going to be playing attacking football with?
OK first game we judge.
It’s really amazing that it took less than three weeks after Rhor’s disengagement to expose how grossly incompetent the entire NFF together with their technical department head (Eguavouen) is.
Just like Pinnick, Eguavouen is clueless and I’m not expecting any thing from him because a man cannot give what he does not have. However, I trust that the players will represent Nigeria to the best of their abilities and believe they will do well because of their desire and hunger for success. They really don’t need Eguavouen in the mix, having him there is just to say there’s a “coach” while there is really non.
The player’s/ team’s success will have nothing to do with his ability or knowledge because based on his decisions, he has demonstrated that he lacks knowledge of our players and has no idea on how to properly handle the task given to him.
@Detruth,
My observation is that Eguavoen belongs to those school of thought that believe the real Nigerians are the ones born and bred here with no mixed ancestry. How do you explain replacing osimhen with onyekuru who is yet to record a single goal or assist in the Greek league but you can omit Dessers who gas been prolific despite coming from the bench in a more respected league. Eze & M.olise have both dodged bullets, they would have been treated the same way had they decided on Nigeria.
Shehu, Onyekuru & Co would have made the team list ahead of M.olise, 100% Facts! I used to be an advocate for local coaches but foreign coaches are the way.
On what criteria was Onyekuru picked ahead of amoo?
It is still fresh in my memory how NFF publicized Dessers decision to switch on their website, clueless. Please go to youtube to watch the video when Hannibal who plays for the manchester u23 team decided to switch to Tunisia. What a spectacle! He is also part of their team to AFCON. Other Foreign born players would be licking their lips to join them.
We treat these foreign born players like cow dung, it would not surprise me one bit if M.Olise decides to choose Algeria instead of Nigeria. If i were Dessers, i would be considering my options for Belgium.
Alaba formerly of Bayern Munich wanted to play for Nigeria, these corrupt clowns and some coaches colluded to frustrate him out. They will be the one saying one player or the other is unpatriotic but they are the real unpatriotic ones. Why on earth will these foreign born players want to play for Nigeria? Logistics =0 , Match Bonus=0, to even send invite to players on time, the akara enters the mouth of a toothless man, it turns into bone.
It is tiring.
This cannot be a contractual issue, rather a procedural issue. Same way the NFF made it easy for Watford to deny Dennis’s release is probably the same reason Al Shabab is digging their heels in.
If the NFF cannot get something so simple as a squad makeup and release documents out on time then we deserve all the muck that’s being thrown at us. Suffice to say that we never had this issue once in the past 5 years as these things which are routine were done professionally.
This just exposes the NFF “Anyhowness” to the world
For Pinnick to come out and say even if Eguavoen win the AFCON they will still appoint a foreign coach says it all. A technical director of the NFF for well over a year doesn’t know much or follow a player like Dessers closely??? A player who was top scorer in the eredivisie two seasons ago and was playing with Onuachu at Genk last season. Anyway Egu Cerezo is not the only one to blame in this scenario. The NFF caused all this confusion for themselves and soccer loving Nigerians will be the ones to endure the heartbreak. Anyway I hope the players we have in our disposal can give their best to exceed all expectations. If we continue dwelling on the issues of Nigeria particularly the NFF we will still come back here next year and talk about the same issues. I’ve learned to only hope that an Awoniyi can rise to the occasion or Sadiq becoming a revelation or an Olayinka and Iheanacho to play out their minds and make Nigeria proud. It is mostly people in diaspora that are making the country great. Most of those in the position of Authority should be made to face a firing squad for the country to reach her potential.
“If we continue ‘dwelling’ on the issues of Nigeria particularly the NFF we will still come back here next year and talk about the same issues.” AY’the Great’.
Nothing more to add.
You said it all..
NFF ONIGBESE = PROBLEM.