forgiveness:

I noticed that many of us didn't really know how Nigeria(the dream team) was able to concur the world to emerge the winners at the 1996 Olympics football game in Atlanta. Many people do not really know how the so called Nigeria underdog team that were so called after been humiliated in their last friendly match at the National stadium prior to the Olympics which I personally witnessed at the stadium were able to defeat the almighty Brazilian and Argentina teams that paraded the best players in the world at that time or later became the best players in the world after the Olympics e.g Ronaldo, Bebeto, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Dede, Juninhor, Ortega, Hernan Crespo, Ayala, Diego Simon, etcetera etcetera.

This achievement didn't just come by mere luck or by trial and error. This feat was possible because the coach identified and picked players that were tested and trusted in top European leagues. Players that have already established themselves in their own clubs and in top European leagues. In fact, most of those players have already won laurels for themselves and their respective clubs. These laurels ranges from African footballer of the year, UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, Africa nations cup, Eredivisie, Belgium pro league, Highest goal scorer(for their team), English FA cup, Belgium young player of the year, Coupe the France etcetera prior to the Olympics.

In this light, I want to present to you the profiles of these players before they made history by winning the Olympics football game in Atlanta in 1996. These will further help buttress my point that believe best players must be selected based on club performance rather than sentiment.


Celestine Babayaro: He is one of the best left back player Nigeria ever produced. Prior to the 1996 Olympics football game, Babayaro was already a regular players with Anderletch for two good seasons (1994/1995 & 1995/1996) in First Division. He helped his team to win the 1994/1995 league and 1995/1996 Belgium Super cup prior to the Olympics in 1996 which earned him the Belgian young football player of the year twice in both seasons.

Taribo West: Taribo seems to be the only player that was brought from a second division team in Europe to play in the 1996 Olympics. However, he helped Auxerre to successful win the Division 1 league to gain promotion into the Eredivisie league in 1996\1997 and the Coupe the France cup in 1994 & 1996 prior to the first victorious Olympics football game by an African team. His just promoted team won the 1996/1996 Ligue 1. As we can see he played regular before he man our defense at the Olympics.


Nwankwo-kanu: This name is a house hold name in Nigeria. He doesn't need much introduced but for the sake of those who don't know him before the Olympics, I will highlight his profile. He won 3 Eredivisie league(1993/1994,1994/1995 & 1996/1997), UEFA Champions League (1994/1995), UEFA Super Cup(1995) and Intercontinental Cup(1995) before he singlehandedly and heroically punctured the dreams of Ronaldo and his co dreamers from winning the Olympics for the first time with his sublime and well taken two goals that earned us the Finals. As you also see he was used to winning for top teams before.......


To be continued.....

forgiveness:

I noticed that many of us didn't really know how Nigeria(the dream team) was able to concur the world to emerge the winners at the 1996 Olympics football game in Atlanta. Many people do not really know how the so called Nigeria underdog team that were so called after been humiliated in their last friendly match at the National stadium prior to the Olympics which I personally witnessed at the stadium were able to defeat the almighty Brazilian and Argentina teams that paraded the best players in the world at that time or later became the best players in the world after the Olympics e.g Ronaldo, Bebeto, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Dede, Juninhor, Ortega, Hernan Crespo, Ayala, Diego Simon, etcetera etcetera.

This achievement didn't just come by mere luck or by trial and error. This feat was possible because the coach identified and picked players that were tested and trusted in top European leagues. Players that have already established themselves in their own clubs and in top European leagues. In fact, most of those players have already won laurels for themselves and their respective clubs. These laurels ranges from African footballer of the year, UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, Africa nations cup, Eredivisie, Belgium pro league, Highest goal scorer(for their team), English FA cup, Belgium young player of the year, Coupe the France etcetera prior to the Olympics.

In this light, I want to present to you the profiles of these players before they made history by winning the Olympics football game in Atlanta in 1996. These will further help buttress my point that believe best players must be selected based on club performance rather than sentiment.


Celestine Babayaro: He is one of the best left back player Nigeria ever produced. Prior to the 1996 Olympics football game, Babayaro was already a regular players with Anderletch for two good seasons (1994/1995 & 1995/1996) in First Division. He helped his team to win the 1994/1995 league and 1995/1996 Belgium Super cup prior to the Olympics in 1996 which earned him the Belgian young football player of the year twice in both seasons.

Taribo West: Taribo seems to be the only player that was brought from a second division team in Europe to play in the 1996 Olympics. However, he helped Auxerre to successful win the Division 1 league to gain promotion into the Eredivisie league in 1996\1997 and the Coupe the France cup in 1994 & 1996 prior to the first victorious Olympics football game by an African team. His just promoted team won the 1996/1996 Ligue 1. As we can see he played regular before he man our defense at the Olympics.


Nwankwo-kanu: This name is a house hold name in Nigeria. He doesn't need much introduced but for the sake of those who don't know him before the Olympics, I will highlight his profile. He won 3 Eredivisie league(1993/1994,1994/1995 & 1996/1997), UEFA Champions League (1994/1995), UEFA Super Cup(1995) and Intercontinental Cup(1995) before he singlehandedly and heroically punctured the dreams of Ronaldo and his co dreamers from winning the Olympics for the first time with his sublime and well taken two goals that earned us the Finals. As you also see he was used to winning for top teams before.......


To be continued.....

Icon4s:


My oga forgiveness, well done. I usually like ur line of arguments cos u usuually load them with facts jst like the ones above.

Firstly, I am sure u won't include me in d list of those that didnt know how d original Dream Team won d Gold medal.

The last qualifying game was against Zimbabwe. 1st leg in Harare and Nigeria won 1-0 , goal scored by Teslim Fatusi. He celebrated d goal with a dance at d touch line, facing d Zimbabwean crowd hu responded by throwing things at him. The return leg was played at the Surulere 'slaughter house'- The national stadium, Surulere and we won 2-0(2 first half goals).

The team was engaged in 2 friendlies in Nigeria as tune up matches for d Olympics. First game was against Ajibade Babalade led Shooting Stars which they won 2-0. The 2nd friendly was against the Hawks of Togo(d senior team) and our Olympic team fell 3-1.So u see, i know that team wella.

I know ur arguments boils down from d fact dat u want to see d inclusion of some non- Nigerian grown talents like Ilori, Solanke, Aneke, and likes and also some other Nigerian born players u mentioned.

U must recall that those players in ur mention above were either products of our youth system or were members of d Super Eagles. I recall u said u dnt want tovsee d likes of Ambrose or Omeruo in d team dat u prefare Ilori at centre back.U are jst contradicting urself in such an instance. Omeruo and Ambrose are AFCON winners and have participated in d FIFA world cup. Both are also products of our youths system. At what level has Ilori or Aneke played? See, Nigeria has nt benefited from those Europe or English groom Nigerian players cos dey turn out average. Our best players have always been those raised from Nigeria before playing in Europe. Besides, most of those Ilori, Aneke, Solanke dat u are mentioning are nt even interested in playing for Nigeria.

TheGoodJoe:


Na wa for you. You try in remembering some kind of things. My memory of that Togo game is shaky but you remember the scoreline. I thought it was 4-0. Props sha.

I still remember NTA did an interview of Nigerians on the streets of Lagos and some said. We should just send a letter of thanks to the Olympics IOC and pull out of Atlanta '96 to avoid embarrassment.

It also reminds me of our 5-1 demolition by Holland before France '98 World Cup.

mikron:
i was banned here close to 2 days now for reasons im yet to decipher, i find it difficult to come to grips with the criteria or yardstick the mods or the anti-spam bot used in banning people in this forum, i wanted to comment here 2 days ago only to get this stern warning "SORRY YOU CANT DO THAT NOW". when i havent even typed anything.....

anyways im glad the ban has been lifted. goodevening my honourable and distinguished colleagues of the sports section. we re still in celebration mood after our victory at the just concluded junior CHAN

Icon4s:


Sorry bro. I usually experience that a lot too. That thing is frustrating. At a pt i stopped commenting for days.

mikron:
sir Icons the thing tire me o

BlackAlbino6:
[b][size=14pt]
Azubuike named Most Valuable Player
[/size]

Nigeria captain Okechukwu Azubuike has been named the Most Valuable Player by the CAF Technical Study Group for the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal 2015.

The 18-year old, who plays for Turkish side, Yeni Malatyaspor, was the fulcrum of Nigeria’s success at the championship that lasted 22 November to 12 December 2015.

The West Africans beat Algeria 2-1 in the final to emerge champions of the second edition of the tournament.

Below are the other statistics;
Most Valuable Player
Okechukwu AZUBUIKE (Nigeria)

Top Scorer
Peter Etebo OGHENEKARO (Nigeria) – 5 goals

Best Goalkeeper
Abdelkadir SALHI (Algeria)

Fair Play
South Africa

Total Number of Goals
36 goals in 16 matches, average of 2.3 per match

Top scoring team
Nigeria – 9 goals in 5 matches
Goal distribution
0-15 minute: 8 goals
16-30 minute: 6 goals
31-45 minute: 4 goals
46-60 minute: 8 goals
61-75 minute: 4 goals 76-90 minute: 6 goals
www.cafonline.com/en-US/NewsCenter/News/NewsDetails?id=k5D7gFczIHxgFn1Iv2sfLA%3d%3d
[/b]

lexyman:



You can avoid it , don't comment on different thread at short intervals. It's just as simple as that ....

Icon4s:


That pix is not Azubuike's. That is Usman Mohammed.

But wait. Azubuike is 18yrs?

For the picture, the mix up was on my part.

But for age, his profile says he was born on 1997-04-19 in Katsina, Nigeria, though technically he should be 19 yrs old. However, the author of the article judged him to be 18.

BlackAlbino6:


For the picture, the mix up was on my part.

But for age, his profile says he was born on [b]1997-04-19 [/b]in Katsina, Nigeria, though technically he should be 19 yrs old. However, the author of the article judged him to be 18.

TheGoodJoe:


If I am correct, the last friendly game before the Atlanta '96 departure was a 4-0 loss to Togo. I think I posted it before.

What matters is not where they play bit Coach Siasia should select the best legs home and Abroad. Not just foreign base players.

I hope Siasia invites as many as he can to camp so that he can closely scrutinize and pick the best team.

BlackAlbino6:
[b][size=14pt]
Azubuike named Most Valuable Player
[/size]

Nigeria captain Okechukwu Azubuike has been named the Most Valuable Player by the CAF Technical Study Group for the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal 2015.

The 18-year old, who plays for Turkish side, Yeni Malatyaspor, was the fulcrum of Nigeria’s success at the championship that lasted 22 November to 12 December 2015.

The West Africans beat Algeria 2-1 in the final to emerge champions of the second edition of the tournament.

Below are the other statistics;
Most Valuable Player
Okechukwu AZUBUIKE (Nigeria)

Top Scorer
Peter Etebo OGHENEKARO (Nigeria) – 5 goals

Best Goalkeeper
Abdelkadir SALHI (Algeria)

Fair Play
South Africa

Total Number of Goals
36 goals in 16 matches, average of 2.3 per match

Top scoring team
Nigeria – 9 goals in 5 matches
Goal distribution
0-15 minute: 8 goals
16-30 minute: 6 goals
31-45 minute: 4 goals
46-60 minute: 8 goals
61-75 minute: 4 goals 76-90 minute: 6 goals
www.cafonline.com/en-US/NewsCenter/News/NewsDetails?id=k5D7gFczIHxgFn1Iv2sfLA%3d%3d
[/b]

TheGoodJoe:


The CAF technical team should do more in releasing the stats of players. How can we get information on the performances of players like passes completed, passing accuracy, interceptions etc.

Icon4s:


My oga forgiveness, well done. I usually like ur line of arguments cos u usuually load them with facts jst like the ones above.

Firstly, I am sure u won't include me in d list of those that didnt know how d original Dream Team won d Gold medal.

The last qualifying game was against Zimbabwe. 1st leg in Harare and Nigeria won 1-0 , goal scored by Teslim Fatusi. He celebrated d goal with a dance at d touch line, facing d Zimbabwean crowd hu responded by throwing things at him. The return leg was played at the Surulere 'slaughter house'- The national stadium, Surulere and we won 2-0(2 first half goals).

The team was engaged in 2 friendlies in Nigeria as tune up matches for d Olympics. First game was against Ajibade Babalade led Shooting Stars which they won 2-0. The 2nd friendly was against the Hawks of Togo(d senior team) and our Olympic team fell 3-1.So u see, i know that team wella.

I know ur arguments boils down from d fact dat u want to see d inclusion of some non- Nigerian grown talents like Ilori, Solanke, Aneke, and likes and also some other Nigerian born players u mentioned.

U must recall that those players in ur mention above were either products of our youth system or were members of d Super Eagles. I recall u said u dnt want tovsee d likes of Ambrose or Omeruo in d team dat u prefare Ilori at centre back.U are jst contradicting urself in such an instance. Omeruo and Ambrose are AFCON winners and have participated in d FIFA world cup. Both are also products of our youths system. At what level has Ilori or Aneke played? See, Nigeria has nt benefited from those Europe or English groom Nigerian players cos dey turn out average. Our best players have always been those raised from Nigeria before playing in Europe. Besides, most of those Ilori, Aneke, Solanke dat u are mentioning are nt even interested in playing for Nigeria.

forgiveness:


The match ended 3-1 in favor of the Togolese National team. After the match our players were booed and hauled with pure water.

Bros, Where they play sometimes matters oo but as you just said they should pick the best legs only even If all of them are either from home or Abroad. But the truth is best players from all over the world plays in Europe.

So, you last suggestions must be considered by Siasia to pick the best and that is just my point.

There need to restrict our dragnet on to home grown players else we will loose another Adebayo, David Alaba, Dele Alli, Ross Barkley etcetera. in years to come.

Remember, Messi is not a product of Argentina home grown players. He was brought up in Spain before he played for Argentina Under 20 team.

TheGoodJoe:


Barkley would never play for us because of the problem with his father. He actually changed his surname. So that one was off.

I doubt Tiago Ilori wants to play for us. He is one of the few Nigerian players who has ball handling abilities. There was a period he captained Sporting Lisbon even though he was one of the youngest players in the team.

I doubt he wants to play for us. He is waiting for the Portuguese National team call up.

I think what is important is for those willing to play for us. Coach Siasia should write to them asking them if they want to play for us. Or, The NFF should assign an office to look into it.

At the end, the best legs are required but the coach should look into as many players as he can.

forgiveness:


Nobody even knew Barkley was eligible to play for Nigeria until the day he himself revealed it through interview. He was ready to play for Nigeria or England if called upon but England gave him the call. That's all

Ilori will play for Nigeria if he's convinced that he has a better future with Nigeria.

Siasia knows how to talk to players.

forgiveness:


Nobody even knew Barkley was eligible to play for Nigeria until the day he himself revealed it through interview. He was ready to play for Nigeria or England if called upon but England gave him the call. That's all

Ilori will play for Nigeria if he's convinced that he has a better future with Nigeria.

Siasia knows how to talk to players.

forgiveness:


Bros, I never land na before you start to crucify me now.

Yes, my argument boils down to the fact that we should not restrict our dragnet to only home grown players but to also extend it to identified potential players. That's all.

That's what I am talking about many of those players were never the products of our youths system, but they were infused directly into the National team after their performance in top European leagues e.g Taribo West, Tijani Babangida, Victor Ikpeba, Garba Lawal, Jay Jay Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Sunday Oliseh etcetera. And I far as any player is eligible to play for Nigeria, they should be given equal opportunity to play for their father land if they so wish or are convinced to do so.

Remember, David Alaba made himself available for our 2007 under 17 winning team but he was told point blank that we don't need foreign grown players. Where are those under 17 players today and compared them to where David Alaba is presently? You know the answer.

Please, kindly take note that Omerue is included in my first eleven players. And my choice for another player apart from Ambrose is simply my opinion.

Your asked at what level Ilori and Aneke have played. OK, let me simple say that Ilori has played at the highest level of club football. He has played for Sporting Lisbon( a team topping the portuguese-liga) portugal, Granada Spain and Bordeaux France. His last season with Bordeaux was very successful because he was part of the team that secured Europa league ticket for this season. He has played in Europa league before.

Aneke played for Crewe Alexander in third level of English league for three good seasons before singlehandedly helped them to win the Football League Trophy in 2013 and became the highest goal scorer for his team in the same year with 14 goals. This earned him a direct transfer to the Belgium league. His team is presently jostling for the UEFA Champions League ticket for next season.

Remember that Messi was never part of Argentina youth system but the Argentina FA tussle with the Spanish FA to have him play for them. Now, behold it was the best decision they have ever made.

So, far they have not rejected publicly to play for Nigeria, so we should give them a chance because they could become our Messi.