elyte89:
By dis time on Saturday


Its eida we re calling for rohrs head or Heep praises to d whole team,hyping dem DT dey would reach semi final at d world cup

Mujtahida:

I dey feel your updates. Them need am. WC is the peak of a professional footballer's career. Even those who played when the World Cup was less glamorous still recall it with nostalgia and tears in their eyes. Not to talk of today with the glitz and razzmatazz that goes with the event. Oya Zambia fall by fireeeeeee!!!

TheGoodJoe:
I will like to touch lightly on Gbenga Okunowo because I am seeing some misconceptions flying here.

Gbenga Okunowo was a young man who had a promising talent. Long before he got known in the international scene, there was a local buzz about the young kid Okunowo who had the potential of becoming a Nigerian Right-back regular.

I did not hear much of him again until he played in the Meridian Cup where Nigeria beat a talented Spanish side which included Xavi. After we won that match, the news wagged about the brilliance of Okunowo and some tagged him the best player of the final.

Barcelona officials who were there to monitor the technical gem they produced, Xavi were blown away by the talent of Okunowo and swung to action to capture the young Nigerian.

Not long from there, he was on the books of Barcelona and playing for the main team. He was not a regular but what some miss was that the Barcelona Okunowo played for was very strong with the likes of Overmars, Zenden, Figo, Reizeger, Cocu and Guardiola. (to the best of my knowledge)

After that, injuries blighted his career but no doubt, Okunowo was among the gems Nigeria unearth after the Golden Generation that had the likes of Okocha, Oliseh, Kanu, Finidi, Amunike etc.

Some of the talents of Okunowo's generation included Aghahowa, Ikedia, Aiyegbeni, Agali, Blessing Kaku, Emma Issah, Sunday Ibeji, Greg Etafia, Martins Obafemi, Blessing Kaku etc. That was a big explosion of Nigerian talents.

When Okunowo first arrived Barcelona training pitch, Xavi walked to him and introduced himself. Okunowo did not know Xavi but Xavi knew Okunowo because of Okunowo's performance in the final of the Meridian Cup.

How time changes. Today Xavi is known all over the World and few know Gbenga Okunowo. However, we do remember Okunowo because he was a talented kid that gave us promise and hope.

soetanoreoluwa:


Thanks man!

Amen ooo
Seriously o... They have a clique now... Aina, iwobi and kelechi...

The boys really want to be at the World Cup... They really want be at Russia... IGWE Mikel just gentle

I dunno... Very calm...

The way musa dey play for camp... Truly his presence is speaking alot...

Mujtahida:

Conte no see that fault?

Mujtahida:

They say that is Musa's work now ooo. Toh, if that would keep morale high then so be it since he's footballing contributions has dwindled. Every team needs a comedian. Even the Pyschologist would tell Rohr : leave that Aboki in the team, he's good for the spirit of the team.

AIG07:
*laughing* so na only one of their players fi make the combine eleven.

Mickael2:



I see light, well MAINLY light but some darkness still and I will explain why.

I have seen some people saying we can sit back if the Zambians sit back forcing them to come out and play, home ground does not support that. If I pay 5k to sit in the VIP corner and you are playing 0-0(plus a boring game) after 60mins, I will join and start chanting 'all we are saying...' and if you have been in that situation before you will run mad, and go all out attack forgetting what the coach said, this is what happens to Madrid, once it's 60mins and they are yet to score, the boos start ringing and the players get disorganised and become easy picking. If Zambia can withstand our attack till the 60th minute mark we are in trouble.


Another point, the coach is going to show them some clips of that first leg. Trust me the Zambians had 3-4 very good chances that should be put away, if they have a proper team psychologist he will point out the fact that they have become more clinical since that match(I think they beat Algeria with only 2 shots on target), that is a nitro-level confidence booster. There mindset will be if we can create just that same number of chances like we did in the first leg, considering the fact that we are more clinical now and their gk is worse than ever, we may be able to put one away and hold out for the remainder of the game. If they score the first goal we have a big problem, I am not sure we have won a game that we conceded first under Rohr, he is not a tactical genius.


Also, they may watch our clips from their first match against us down to our last match and notice one thing, our midfielders(Mikel is included) all take atleast 20mins to settle into any game and that is a bad omen. If they can take advantage of that by attacking through the middle instead of the wings in the first twenty minutes then they are sure of two good chances, that is assuming Onazi remains Onazi and is caught out of position a lot of times in the first half and Ndidi remains Ndidi who would rather concentrate on attack rather than defence.


Finally they will watch that first leg again and discover that their lord and saviour(Echejile) who provided them with 3 good chances in the first leg is still our LB. Now Leon is a good CB, but he is different from Omeruo in the sense that he is always quick to rush out whenever a player beats his LB, now this is not really a bad thing but with proper tactics it becomes a bad thing. Create an overload and Leon is dinner, that is let the RW beat Echejile and while Leon comes out to mark the RB runs past Leon and receives a pass, that means Leon is out of the equation and assuming Onazi isn't back covering they have a safe passage to our 18.

Now they have to pray that all these things go according to plan and they must remain clinical. If after the first twenty minutes they haven't scored then they should pull back and choke every attack and wait patiently for that 60-70th minute mark. All in all this will not be a blowout, quote me anywhere. You do not destroy Zambia, it is impossible, highest two goals, you do not see them at the wrong end of a proper hiding

Mickael2:
Who is watching this game between NI and Germany? Germany are missing like 7 starters but they are still teaching NI(the second team in their group and a team that has won their last 5 games) a serious lesson. God please don't let Germany come near us atleast until the semifinal so we can bow out with a lot of pride to the eventual champions

AIG07:
laughing @ your last statement.

Joebie:
Very good detailed report. But what really happened to him? Did he have a serious injury or something?

That reminds me of another promising right back (at the time) -- Jero Shakpoke. Please tell us about him.

Mujtahida:

Mikel has seen it. From Youth championship to UEFA to the WC to the Olympics. A young veteran. He will be calm, he will. Experience good.

They say that is Musa's work now ooo. Toh, if that would keep morale high then so be it since he's footballing contributions has dwindled. Every team needs a comedian. Even the Pyschologist would tell Rohr : leave that Aboki in the team, he's good for the spirit of the team.

Humility017:

my bro....to be honest wit you...the fear of Germany is the beginning of wisdom...
that country is just so blessed....beginning from the under 17 to senior national team both male and female.....

Pray keep Germany, Brazil and France very far away from us...

AIG07:
I hope for the latter. We can start talking about the easy route Meeting England/USA in round 16, Uruaguay/Mexico @ the quarters won't be a bad one.

Mujtahida:

Spain too is hot oo.

Nigerdeltaboi:
young men

TheGoodJoe:
My preferred Starting Eleven against Zambia.

Mujtahida:

Some just want to be afraid cos fear is sweeter for them than having faith in our team. They don't want to believe and be disappointed. I believe we will win. Let the worse happen

bataderemi:

This looks like a lot of the ball winning will have to be done by Ndidi. I don't think that's a good idea, with the way Leicester have used the guy over the last couple of weeks (I think he played league and carabao cup). According to whoscored, he's the most dribbled player in the epl.

Mujtahida:

Yes cos footballitically (pardon me) Musa's inclusion is questionable but I've read that he brings so much fun to the team and never underestimate the power of serotonin. Our Dr Mickael2 can shed more light

bataderemi:

This looks like a lot of the ball winning will have to be done by Ndidi. I don't think that's a good idea, with the way Leicester have used the guy over the last couple of weeks (I think he played league and carabao cup). According to whoscored, he's the most dribbled player in the epl.

Joebie:
So what we have here is the Zambians studying our tapes. We are also studying theirs.
Are you saying the are no deficiencies we can exploit in the Zambian's?

I'm sure just as Rohr pulled Moses Simon away and gave him special instructions before the Cameroon match because of the lapses he saw with him against SA, Rohr has also studied our weaknesses. He will correct them accordingly.

They have tapes. We have tapes. They have deficiencies. We have deficiencies. They have team psychologists. I believe we do. I still don't understand why the fear. The fact remains, we are determined to seal this up. We have the players to deliver. We will have our strategies. They will have theirs. On paper, we are still the better team. So why the fears?

TheGoodJoe:


Gbenga Okunowo took a big blow to the knee that shattered it. He was out for a long time and when he returned, he was never the same. He tried to play but his knee was gone. Lost his pace totally.

TheGoodJoe:


Wow. Iheanacho looks so fit. Looks threatening and ready. Nice post.