Football Nigeria -- Eagles Etcetera

This is the second The Fan's Annual Report for Nigerian Football (The inaugural version can be found here ). Similar to the previous report, this one will grade five units (see below) and the cumulative grades will inform the total grade for Nigeria's football: 1. Youth Football 2. Women Football 3. Local Professional Football. 4. Football Administration. 5. The Super Eagles. Additionally, the 2017 individual and team data for Nigerian football is presented along with recognition of selected individual accomplishments. YOUTH FOOTBALL 2017 has been a barren year for Nigerian youth football, at least at the international level. The failures, at the qualifying stages, in the previous years meant Nigeria was absent from both African and World phases of the age grade tournaments. Locally, the NPFL organized an exciting youth tournament for club academies and there were other youth tournaments. Overall, however, it was an unusually down year. Grade: D based largely on...

Ambivalence pervades analyses of Nigeria's 2018 World Cup group. For some, this is definitely a group where Nigeria is certain to finish among the qualifying two teams. For others, the ranking states otherwise and both Argentina and Croatia should keep Nigeria out. The uncertainty among analysts about the likely outcome in the group has led some to christen it the Group of Death even though there are surely much stronger groups from top to bottom. My analysis is not so much to claim that I have a crystal ball. Instead, it is to provide some insight, another perspective, or fresh thinking beyond just results achieved by each team in the group. In doing so, I intend to examine the draw, the schedule of games, and then the teams. I believe those three areas are critical in gaining insight on what could happen in June in Russia. The Draw The draw on December 1 was certainly not what Nigeria hoped for but it was not the worst case scenario either. In a sense, the best possible dr...

The 2018 World Cup in Russia is barely seven months away but Nigeria's readiness to build a record-setting team remains largely unclear in spite of the recent 4-2 win over Argentina in an international friendly. By record-setting one refers to a team that would at least get to the quarter final stage in order to surpass previous performances by Nigeria at a World Cup (see Figure 1). The current team has qualified for the World Cup finals with one game to spare but, at times, left doubts about its ability to take serious positive steps at the World Cup in Russia. This is not to slam the team. Not at all. After all, qualifying with a game to spare is no mean feat and dominating Argentina in a spectacular second half was indelible. However, Nigeria in doing so did not always dominate its opponents and, at times, there were some doubts. What Nigeria largely demonstrated was its clinical ability in front of goal, something that its opponents rarely matched. Take the 3-1 win over A...

The 4-2 come back win in Russia against Argentina is an important marker. To come back from being 0-2 and being overrun by a top team like Argentina is remarkable. That should never be underestimated. Besides that marker, Rohr's decision to test the 3-5-2 formation is work in progress but there are indeed promises. As we saw after Nigeria went up 3-2, the defensive benefits from that formation proved important as it frustrated the Argentines repeatedly. It is likely that Rohr will call up that formation at critical moments at the World Cup. But it must be clear that the 3-5-2 did not work very well at times. This was particularly clear with   Aina reluctant to join the attack and at times effectively rendering the system unbalanced on the left. Idowu's entry and his willingness to commit upfront created opportunities as the formation should, going forward. As for Aina's reluctance, is surprising because he had provided attacking promises in the game against Algeria. Al...

Nigeria ended its World Cup qualifying schedule, again, unbeaten after a 1-1 draw against Algeria in Constantine. It was a game that would be quickly forgotten. It produced very little fireworks and had large stages of unorganized play by both teams. The field was atrocious with the ball bouncing unpredictably and passing by both teams was just as unpredictable. While it is easy to blame the poor field, the fact that several key players were missing on both sides may well have been significant in producing the poor display for a game that was supposedly a competitive encounter. Nigeria had already qualified for the World Cup and, thus, this game was equivalent to an international friendly. It ended up even looking worse. However, it was enough to provide some insight on those who were on the field. Here are my thoughts: Ikechukwu Ezenwa (16) -- 5.5 -- This was a horrific game for Ezenwa. In the first half, the Algerians had little to threaten him but his unreadiness was expo...

Nigeria’s Coach Gernot Rohr may not have debuted any of the current starting players in the Super Eagles but he has made some key changes. Unfortunately, the media have rarely commented on these changes. I will comment on them by focusing on five key ones. The formation and focus on defense first . Gernot has moved away from Nigeria’s most recently preferred use of the 4-3-3 as the base formation with a great deal of attention to attack. Instead, Rohr has chosen to play cautiously, with a base formation of 4-2-3-1 that changes, at times, to 4-5-1.   From these formations, particularly the 4-5-1, he relies on quick counters, using players wide, and widening passing lanes. His use of 4-5-1 in Yaounde, particularly, exposed what I believe Rohr will use at the World Cup against a favored opponent. The game in Yaounde has been, in my opinion, the most clinical display by Nigeria for years. Besides conceding an unforced penalty kick, Nigeria gave Cameroon few decent chances in fro...

Alex Iwobi, who had missed the crucial two games against Cameroon, returned against Zambia to send Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. His solitary goal was all that was needed to shut up the Zambians. Iwobi had lost his starting spot and no one could argue that he had not played his best until today against the Zambians when his energy, runs, and his intelligent passing proved decisive.  While Iwobi definitely was the man of the match, Leon Balogun again, was at the heart of Nigeria's defense. He is quickly emerging into the mold of great Nigerian center backs. Not only did he dominate at the heart of the defense over the Zambian striker but he frequently cleaned up mistakes by others. It was also a welcome sight to watch Ola Aina take his debut by the scruff and in one move down the left a cross provided by him spoke volumes. The days are now numbered for Elderson Echiejile on the left who started strong but was poor after half time. This was not Nigeria's best ...

These five keys will decide the Nigeria v Zambia qualifier Saturday. Nigeria is at home in Uyo but unmistakably, the team that is under greater pressure will be Zambia. Zambia must earn a point or three away from home to have a chance of qualifying for their first World Cup. A point only provides a dim chance! Thus, a win is preferred and to win away in Nigeria requires a high level of motivation. Nigeria can qualify in Uyo on Saturday or wait to do so in Algeria in the next month. That should be motivation for Nigeria but not necessarily one that induces extreme pressure. 1.               Victor Moses starts at the top of his game. Moses has become the barometer for Nigeria. When he plays well, Nigeria always has a big chance and Nigeria is yet to lose a home game played by Moses. Zambia will clearly strategize to take both Moses and Mikel Obi off their game but planning to do so ...