Danielnino00:
On paper, considering their squad strength and recent form, my top 10 ranking of the teams likely to win the AFCON is:

1. Algeria
2. Senegal
3. Morocco
4. Nigeria
5. Ivory Coast
6. Cameroon
7. Egypt
8. Tunisia
9. Mali
10. Ghana

Nigeria should be in tenth place

Egypt or Tunisia in 4th and 5th

Apart from that, nice list

darkelf:


All this una talk na to give una self hope

Algeria will win and there's nothing any of you can do about it

Senegal will get to the finals and either Morocco or Egypt or Tunisia will place third

Nigeria with their shoddy preparation and Olosho-loving players will be lucky to smell the Quarter finals

I don talk am - Bookmark this comment

And If I end up being wrong, I will deliver a public apology

Hahaha. You have to go back and study the African Cup of Nations Bro.

mkrest:



This shouldn't even be a question

Many of you will perform very poorly as coaches

Kog45:
Oh my God it was 1999 in Dutse Jigawa state,nothing like GSM and the satellite network was bad,am always on the road to Wudi(police college) in Kano State to watch matches cos a friend was serving in police college.

I can imagine

Icon4s:



Hahaha. You have to go back and study the African Cup of Nations Bro.

Oga mi, nothing dey to study

In life, the best team wins. The team with better cohesion and devoid of drama wins

The team with good Football Admin wins. The team with disciplined players win

Nigeria is 2/10 on all these criteria I just mentioned

Just the same way I warned you guys of Mikel in the last AFCON

No worry, una eye go soon clear

darkelf:


Nigeria should be in tenth place

Egypt or Tunisia in 4th and 5th

Apart from that, nice list

Pundits that have followed the AFCON well enough will always rate Nigeria to finish in top 4.

JohnBullMySon:
So you would prefer Musa replaced with Amoo

It won't be a bad replacement also Dessers can be called up Amoo will help beef up our midfield options

Kog45:
Chief,yes is a game we must win but a draw is not bad.We must not start Afcon on a losing note.

You don't get him

Icon4s:


Pundits that have followed the AFCON well enough will always rate Nigeria to finish in top 4.

No worry, all these una hope go end in premium tears

darkelf:


Oga mi, nothing dey to study

In life, the best team wins. The team with better cohesion and devoid of drama wins

The team with good Football Admin wins. The team with disciplined players win

Nigeria is 2/10 on all these criteria I just mentioned

Just the same way I warned you guys of Mikel in the last AFCON

No worry, una eye go soon clear

Not always so sir. The best team does not win every time. 2013 Nigeria team was not the best team . Ivory coast was the best

JohnBullMySon:
Many of you will perform very poorly as coaches

Lol... but the open mindedness of some peeps here will make them excel as coaches

They may fumble at the onset but may later become better

darkelf:


Oga mi, nothing dey to study

In life, the best team wins. The team with better cohesion and devoid of drama wins

The team with good Football Admin wins. The team with disciplined players win

Nigeria is 2/10 on all these criteria I just mentioned

Just the same way I warned you guys of Mikel in the last AFCON

No worry, una eye go soon clear

The team you might consider as the best team before the tournament can turn out not to be the best team when the tournament proper starts. Football is not mathematics.

Talking about the best team always winning, this doesn't happen all the time.

darkelf:


Nigeria should be in tenth place

Egypt or Tunisia in 4th and 5th

Apart from that, nice list

Who Dey Egypt and Tunisia ?

You are no more realistic like before my bro

Nigeria should be in tenth ,is it not same naija that narrowly missed out of the afcon final the last time and took the 3rd place ?

I no no Wetin make we Dey call you here now ,even trolls self no go talk this one wey you talk

Excellent submission

drDoom3:


All these are important, but remember, before plucking out the needle in your brother's eye, first remove the plank in yours.

The most important thing the SE needs right now is to solve our internal players. We can do this by defining the way we play to maximize available players, making the right selections, mastering the basics of the game etc. This is not the world cup or the champions league where almost every team is already good and the competition is for who is "gooder" if I can use the word. This is the AFCON. At least half the teams present are farmers. Having a balanced well set-up team will already destroy most of the teams present. That is why Algeria is doing so well, because their team is so well set up. Even in friendlies and impromptu matches they still comfortably beat teams with 3+ goals. It is not necessarily because they know what their opponents' top striker ate for breakfast the day of the game.

Tactically overanalyzing opponents, while good, is a sign of inferiority. When your team is well set-up, other teams will be the ones trying to counter your playing style. For example, Mourinho is more known for spying on other teams tactics and so on, but look where it got him playing against guys like Pep and Klopp who set up their teams to play in a well-defined way. I am not saying don't analyze your opponents, I am saying focus more on analyzing yourself and your abilities.

Watching highlights of 2013 Afcon Burkina Faso vs. Ghana, the officiating was so poor, and it appears the referee wanted Ghana to win by all means. I hope this 2021 cup officiating will be void of controversies

humility33:


It won't be a bad replacement also Dessers can be called up Amoo will help beef up our midfield options

Apart from Musa, Leon, hardly anyone else organizes the team. The rest are either mummy's boys or too quiet. You can't just begin to fill a team with all manner of strange players and expect to win AFCON. We have enough talent to win the cup already. What we need more now is team cohesion and discipline.

Icon4s:


For booker's that really understand the AFCON and have followed the tournament decade after decade, you cannot rate teams to Win the AFCON based only on FIFA ranking and current form. There are some typical AFCON teams, that no matter the strength of the team they present they are always a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the AFCON. Such teams are Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria. Little wonder that in the last 30 years they have won the AFCON the most.

And there are some teams that would always be rated high based on FIFA ranking and current form but would end up breaking the hearts of their fans: Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Ivory coast. Algeria belonged to this group until 2019.

I know a lot of people would not fancy a team like Cameroon but I am tipping them as one of the tip favorites to win it. I also rate Nigeria ahead of Senegal and Ivory coast to win this tournament.

You're right
Cameroon have a good AFCON history even when they're overlooked they always prove wonders

samtol4:
Watching highlights of 2013 Afcon Burkina Faso vs. Ghana, the officiating was so poor, and it appears the referee wanted Ghana to win by all means. I hope this 2021 cup officiating will be void of controversies

I am sure there will be VAR

JohnBullMySon:


Apart from Musa, Leon, hardly anyone else organizes the team. The rest are either mummy's boys or too quiet. You can't just begin to fill a team with all manner of strange players and expect to win AFCON. We have enough talent to win the cup already. What we need more now is team cohesion and discipline.

You made some good points
If Musa is injured he can still be in the team... but may not play and instead of wasting his alot someone else can come in...simple

samtol4:

Not always so sir. The best team does not win every time. 2013 Nigeria team was not the best team . Ivory coast was the best

Now, this is what I am talking about. Ivory coast was the best before they played Nigeria but Nigeria eventually dominated and won that game. Someone like darkelf would predicted a 4:0 defeat against Nigeria

There are some teams that are no pushovers when it comes to the AFCON, irrespective of the kind of team they present. Nigeria is one of Such.

Icon4s:


The team you might consider as the best team before the tournament can turn out not to be the best team when the tournament proper starts. Football is not mathematics.

Talking about the best team always winning, this doesn't happen all the team.

No one expects south Africa to beat Egypt' the last time

I am sure one of this francophone countries might just upset Algeria route to the finals

andrewbaba44:


Who Dey Egypt and Tunisia ?

You are no more realistic like before my bro

Nigeria should be in tenth ,is it not same naija that narrowly missed out of the afcon final the last time and took the 3rd place ?

I no no Wetin make we Dey call you here now ,even trolls self no go talk this one wey you talk

Oh, so you're talking about individual stars

I am here talking team cohesion, fighting spirit and discipline

We are barely in the middle of the pack when it comes to the above criteria

I am being pessimistic to avoid premium tears

I no get bucket for house to cry because of disappointment. Na shower I dey use



BTW andrewbaba my guy, happy new year, more blessings this year for you and your family my G

JohnBullMySon:
Many of you will perform very poorly as coaches

Really?
I know ,never wanted to be anyway
But I feel musa should give way ,he's just there based on sentiments IMO

joxxy01:
Unfortunately for me i can't watch this afcon, coz i was posted to a village with no light and no network and no water, for my youth service... Anyway, I wish super eagles the best of luck

So sorry bro
I can relate

But try make do with the YouTube highlights whenever you are opportune to leave your base maybe during CDs days or so

humility33:


You made some good points
If Musa is injured he can still be in the team... but may not play and instead of wasting his alot someone else can come in...simple

The extent of the injury is not known yet. Not every injury is serious. Some slight knocks that players go off for in training, they can simply get treated and return if it were a real match.

andrewbaba44:


Who Dey Egypt and Tunisia ?

You are no more realistic like before my bro

Nigeria should be in tenth ,is it not same naija that narrowly missed out of the afcon final the last time and took the 3rd place ?

I no no Wetin make we Dey call you here now ,even trolls self no go talk this one wey you talk

Don't mind him
It was possible for us to win Algeria the last time which we almost did couple with the fact it was players like Chuks,Kalu, Simon, Onyekuru,Ekong,Leon, Aina, awaziemetc first AFCON unlike now with the growth and experience one pessimistic man somewhere is writing us off

JohnBullMySon:
The extent of the injury is not known yet. Not every injury is serious. Some slight knocks that players go off for in training, they can simply get treated and return if it were a real match.

That's fine but if serious he should be replaced
This covid19 is not smiling at all

Pls let's pray COVID19 leave us help a good outing pls imagine some team VIP players test positive thats a huge blow

humility33:


You're right
Cameroon have a good AFCON history even when they're overlooked they always prove wonders

It is called Pedigree as a football nation. Same thing that makes a country like Italy win tournaments meanwhile teams like Holland, Belgium and England would be struggling from generation to generation.

On paper and current form teams like Senegal, Mali, Ivory coast, Ghana and Morocco might be ahead of Cameroon but I would rather put my money on Cameroon to win it. Not Just because they are the host but because they have proven from generation to generation that they have that tournament winning mentality. They have that Champions pedigree.

mkrest:



Really?
I know ,never wanted to be anyway
But I feel musa should give way ,he's just there based on sentiments IMO

Sentiments Na wa oh. There are many Musa-like players in some of these North African National teams we admire. Many of our experienced players are already out, and some people are eager to dump Amoo, an untested player straight into AFCON. No na.

darkelf:


Nigeria should be in tenth place

Egypt or Tunisia in 4th and 5th

Apart from that, nice list

Una no believe in this our team Sha..

Watch out, e go shock una

Good to see Darkelf, the Elf of Darkness and in-house Master of the pessimism realm resuming "official" duties for the tournament.

Mission 1: Dampen the hopes!!!

He is here to always dish out the dark side of things. So Brace up


Lol... Ride on Darkelf. At least, you making yourself useful in that regard.