Football Nigeria -- Eagles Etcetera

Recent reports indicate that Nigeria plans to play two international friendlies before a key Nations Cup qualifier against Egypt next March. Quite often Nigeria, as well as other nations, seek to play international friendlies before a competitive game. The idea is that an international friendly prepares the team for the more important competitive game that follows. However, Nigeria does not always play international friendlies just before participating in a competitive game. This makes one wonder whether or not it makes a difference playing international friendlies before a competitive game. This article explores the question of whether international friendlies before a competitive game makes a difference in the outcome of the competitive game. Method While we will not depend on an ultra scientific test to measure effects of international friendlies on the results of competitive games for Nigeria's Super Eagles, we will in this piece look at a few data. We will inves...

One major question about the Super Eagles under Sunday Oliseh is as follows: Is the team improving or not? Ultimately, that question will be answered by how much progress the team makes in its attempt to qualify for both the 2017 Cup for African Nations (CAN) and the 2018 World Cup. However, we can at least take a look at one area that improvement now appears obvious. That area is in conversion of set pieces. In an earlier article , we discussed Nigeria v opponents' set-piece successes at the CAN and the World Cup. This article is different. It looks at the set-piece data under Coach Oliseh and compares it to similar data, at the same point of development, for the Super Eagles under Adegboye Onigbinde, Christian Chukwu, Augustine Eguavoen, Berti Vogts, Shuaibu Amodu, Lars Lagerback, Samson Siasia, and Stephen Keshi. In essence, it is a comparison of Nigerian coaches since 2002. We wanted to look at the last 15 years but that would have involved covering one coach over two peri...

Nigeria beating Swaziland on Tuesday was anticipated even though Nigeria huffed and puffed through the two-game series in order to unpack a defensive team. What was not anticipated was Coach Oliseh’s bold move to change the team in the midst of a critical series. Also, his decision to suddenly replace three foreign-based players with home based lads. However, Oliseh making those moves made clear his thinking going forward. It also indicated a major shift in his stated positions in the past. Read below: How Oliseh Wants To Play? You cannot play in our attacking line-up if speed is not one of your stronger points            -- Oliseh in July 2015. The quote above obtained from Goal.com indicated Oliseh’s views about characteristics of his attacking players. In previous interviews he made statements that such characteristics should define a Nigerian team, not just attackers. Then in the quote below he praises such characteristics in a N...

Swaziland, with a population of just over a million people, is smaller than the population of several Nigerian cities. Swaziland is ranked 130 compared to Nigeria's 59 rank. Of course, the conclusion is that the Swaziland game should be a walk in the park for the Super Eagles even though Nigeria has never met Swaziland in an international.  However, think again. Just a month ago, Nigeria was unable to overcome the No. 135 ranked Tanzania. More telling was that Tanzania did enough to lament missed opportunities to win the game. Guess what? Swaziland in the last few months has beaten the same Tanzania and stunned Guinea 2-1 in Morocco. Those results represent the strength of this Swazi team, the best the country has ever produced. Of course, all that does not mean that Swaziland is expected to beat Nigeria. However, it does mean that Super Eagles must be aware that this team is capable of an upset, particularly in front of a home crowd at the Somhlolo National Stadium in Lobamba...

Nigeria has dominated the FIFA U17 World Cup but has done very little in the senior World Cup that many, both Nigerians and non-Nigerians, have raised serious questions. Most of these questions revolve around the allegation that Nigeria uses over-age players to win the competition. In this piece, we address these allegations in various ways. To do this in any meaningful way, we begin by describing Nigeria's success under two periods, the pre-MRI and the post-MRI; then we review the MRI test; explain Nigeria's dominance at U17 level; analyze the hypothesized link between U17 performance and World Cup dominance at the highest level; and close by assessing how Nigeria should address some issues. The Past (Pre-MRI Era) For us, the past covers the pre-Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) era. There is little doubt that Nigeria took advantage of lax control in the area of birth certifications to field over age players at the U17 levels during this period. To be sure, it was not ju...

Two years ago, Emmanuel Emenike was one of Nigeria's heroes in the improbable Cup of African Nations' triumph. During that competition, his scoring in five consecutive matches tied a Nigerian record. But that was two years ago! He is still Nigeria's top choice for striker. However, he has now played 19 games without scoring a single goal. This drought is far more than any top Nigerian striker has ever endured in a national team shirt. The table below lists the 19 games played by Emenike without getting on the scorers sheet. His drought began against Ethiopia in a World Cup qualifier on November 16, 2013 and has continued. Before that fateful date in 2013, Emenike scored twice in Addis Ababa to win a critical game for Nigeria. So what has happened since? 1.  Emenike has played 1,353 minutes of soccer for the Super Eagles without scoring! 2.  Nigeria has won 14 games but surely not through Emenike's scoring. 3.  Ahmed Musa has scored 5 goals in games played by E...

After the 0-2 loss to Congo DR a few days ago, few expected Nigeria to comprehensively take Cameroon apart by a 3-0 score. However, one must always view this from the proper perspective. Just as Nigeria was not all bad in the Congo game, one must recognize the Cameroon result as just an international friendly against a team that had been on a decline for a while. Nevertheless, Nigeria's play was well organized and the immense impact of Mikel Obi cannot be overstated and Moses Simon had his best game yet for Nigeria. The manager, Sunday Oliseh, certainly must be credited with the controlled play of his team and today he is likely basking in smiles in response to his widely criticized invitation of Sylvester Igbonu. Igbonu was extremely important in the middle with his boundless energy and his commitment on both sides of the ball -- when the Eagles had it and when they did not. In fact, a positive in this game was how often the Eagles won challenges against their opponents and toss...