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Tag: Super Eagles

  • BREAKING: Mikel announces retirement from national team

    BREAKING: Mikel announces retirement from national team

    Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi has retired from the national team.
    He retired following the third-placed finish of the Super Eagles at Egypt 2019 AFCON.
    Mikel took to his verified Instagram page to make the announcement.
    Spotting his photo in the national colours, the former Chelsea ace wrote: “Egypt is a country where I’ve started and have finished my National career.
    “In 2006 I played my first official championship for my country. 2019 African Cup of Nations marks my last championship for National Team with Super Eagles.
    “My national career started in 2003 under 17 World Cup and I’m grateful for the national team for placing me on the world arena and giving me an opportunity to show my skill and have an incredible National and International career.
    “At the age of 32, it’s time for me to retire from the National team and let the youth take over, who’ve done an amazing job securing a bronze medal at AFCON 2019.
    “Thank you to all my Nigerian supporters and to my Country for all the trust, support and love you’ve shown me over the past 15 years.
    “Mikel am out!”

  • AFCON: Rohr satisfied over Super Eagles’ third place finish

    Super Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr has expressed satisfaction over Nigeria’s third place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Egypt.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Odion Ighalo’s early goal in the third minute gave Nigeria a 1-0 win over Tunisia in their third-place playoff on Wednesday.
    The 30-year-old forward, who is the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, was gifted an easy tap-in following a Tunisian defensive mix-up at the Al Salam Stadium.
    This was after Jamilu Collins’ cross from the left was poorly parried by goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifa against the legs of defender Yassine Meriah.
    NAN also reports that Nigeria, who dominated the game, have won the bronze medal at eight different Cup of Nations tournaments.
    Rohr told newsmen during a post match conference that he was satisfied with the team’s performance, adding that he was very positive about the future.
    “We are satisfied with the third place. We managed to beat Africa’s second best team.
    “It was hard, so we are good with it.
    “I told the players that winning a small final was better than losing a big one.
    “I am very positive about the future,” he said.
    On his part, Coach Alain Giresse of Tunisia said that he was proud of what his team achieved at this year’s AFCON, adding that Tunisia had lots of hope for the next AFCON and World Cup.
    “At the beginning of the tournament, we didn’t do well. But after that our performance evolved.
    “Tunisia have been waiting for a semifinal since 2004, and here we are in a 24-team tournament.
    “We have lots of hope for the next AFCON and for the World Cup,” he said.
    Algeria play Senegal in the Cup of Nations final in Cairo on Friday.

  • Nigeria vs Tunisia: Super Eagles goalkeeper, Akpeyi confirms being dropped by Rohr

    Super Eagles goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi has insisted that Gernot Rohr’s decision to start Francis Uzoho in Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations third-place playoff against Tunisia has nothing to do with his performance against Algeria.
    Akpeyi has kept the goalpost in five of the six games in Egypt, keeping two clean sheets and conceding five goals.
    “It is a coincidence that Francis Uzoho is going to be starting when my performance is under scrutiny again just like it was when we played against Argentina in a friendly game like two years ago.
    “I remember that two days before that friendly game with Argentina in Krasnodar, Russia, the coach had called me and informed me that he would like to use Uzoho also in that game. He said I would be starting the game while he would replace me in the second half.
    “I know that Nigerians will start saying that this is another mistake from me and that the same goalkeeper is replacing me.
    “Even though I made a mistake which resulted into one of Argentines’ goals, my substitution in the second half was based on what the coach had told me with before the game that I would only take the first half but it was twisted to mean that it was because of the goals I conceded,” Akpeyi told Goal.

  • Super Eagles need better goalkeeper now, says Disu

    A former Technical Adviser to the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Tunde Disu OFR, has said that the senior national team, Super Eagles deserves a better goalkeeper to keep up with football’s current standard.
    Disu made his stance known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday while commenting on the lapses of the first choice goalkeeper, for the Super Eagles, Daniel Akpeyi.
    Disu, a former Assistant Coach to Otto Gloria, the 1980 African Cup of Nation winning coach, said that the Eagles needed a more tactically experienced safe hand.
    “We seriously need another goalkeeper for now, and if I may ask, what is the duty of the goalkeeper trainers and technical crew that we have in camp?
    “The technical crew should now go round to look for goalkeepers and we should not be lazy about it, we should not be comfortable with what we have now, we should look towards the local players.
    “There were times when we have good goalkeepers in the country; we have produced the likes of Emmanuel Okala, Peter Rufai, Alloy Agu and recently Vincent Enyeama.
    “My own take is that we still have good goalkeepers around that can do better than what we have right now, we should look for them either in the local league or foreign clubs,” he said.
    Disu said the performance of the Eagles first choice goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi, was not up to standard but added that the goalkeeper could be improved upon.
    “The performance of Akpeyi was not up to standard and I wonder what other goalkeepers are doing on the bench if they are not good enough which means that they are not as good as him.
    “Another point is that, how will a coach take three goalkeepers that he cannot use to a big competition of this magnitude? The fact is that Akpeyi cannot cope with pressure.
    “When the pressure is too much on the goalkeeper; he losses concentration, an example of how he conceded the last goal against Algeria, Akpeyi organised a wall and stood behind the wall.
    “I watched the clip over and over and I can see his deficiency. He cannot have a clear vision of the ball the way he stood behind the wall he created,” he said.

     

    Disu said that he expected Akpeyi to have stood out of the wall so he could have a clear vision of the ball.
    “I think that even if he wants to gamble or predict Mahrez, being a left footer he should have known that he would shoot to his left preferably.
    “If the goalkeeper wants to gamble, he should have targeted exactly where the player would love to play since he is a left footer.
    “Akpeyi should have stood away from the wall apart, but his position during the free kick was unprofessional,” he said.

     

  • Don’t put Eagles’ loss to Algeria on me, says Akpeyi

    The blame games have not ceased since the Sunday’s defeat to Algeria, and the Super Eagles goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi who is at the centre of it has absolved himself and his teammates of any blame to contrary views.
    The Super Eagles will meet Tunisia on Wednesday for a chance to go home with a consolation prize after the three-time African Champions lost 2-1 to the Dessert of Algeria in the Nations Cup semi-final tie in Cairo on Sunday night.
    The loss left a broken heart on the national team players with some Nigerian fans pointing at the goalkeeper’s ‘poor’ performance and left a few suggesting that a better goaltender would have stopped Mahrez’s free kick.
    Nigeria were dominated by a sleek-passing, sweet-attacking Algerian side and ultimately lost to a stunning Riyadh Mahrez free kick with extra time looming.
    Odion Ighalo had earlier gotten the West Africans on level terms after trailing to a Troost-Ekong own goal since the first half.
    “It’s very tough and very sad that we have to lose in that manner, to have conceded through that kind of free-kick,” said Akpeyi who explained that “hard luck played its part in the Super Eagles Sunday night defeat to Algeria.”
    “I wish there can be a replay, but it’s over now and we have to look up to the third-place game,” the 32-year old goalkeeper said as he would rather focus on the future away from the loss.
    “So far, it doesn’t matter whatever anyone would say about the team. These players have actually tried. A lot of teams have been knocked out of this competition but we are still here.”
    “We have very young talent and I’m very sure if this team can be given a chance, we’ll be able to fix things,” Akpeyi concluded.
    Meanwhile, Williams Troos Ekong has sent out a ‘Thank you’ message to Nigerian for showing support for the national team seine the group stage of this year’s biennial competition which started in June.
    ‘Thank you for all your support,” the Eagles centre back posted online as he called for a continued support till the Eagles last match against Tunisia.
    “Let’s push one more time Wednesday!” he added on his tweeter handle.

    The Super Eagles has won each of their six third-place games in Nations Cup, while keeping a clean sheet in four of these ties.

  • 2019 AFCON: What went wrong with Super Eagles against Algeria

    The former Technical Adviser of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Tunde Disu OFR, on Monday attributed the Super Eagles loss to the Les Fennecs of Algeria to many factors such as pressure and lack of tactical discipline.
    Disu gave the reasons in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while commenting on the Eagles Sunday’s loss to the Algerians.
    The former Assistant coach submitted that the Eagles allowed too much pressure unnecessarily and also lacked tactical discipline.
    “The Eagles defence was too open for the Algerians to operate and penetrate and this caused the first goal because they forced us to make errors.
    “The Eagles worked with two central midfielders while one of them, Etebo, is too much conscious of going forward leaving the backline to be porous and the goalkeeper to be panicky.
    “We already have Ahmed Musa, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze who are conscious enough in the attack so the other midfielders joining should be occasional.
    “The Algerians are relatively better coordinated in the middle, likewise the flanks so we need to be tactically alert to curtail the Algerians which the Eagles failed to achieve,” he said.
    Disu said that allowing the Algerians to dictate the pace of the game was an undoing to the team, adding that the Eagles should have attacked their opponents.
    “The Algerians had too much control of the game yesterday because they saw the Eagles too much on the defensive, so they kept on coming to the Eagles.
    “There is something called pressing in coaching, this means you attack your opponents from their own half, but the Eagles were constantly allowing the Algerians to pressurise them.
    “The attack should have been from the defenders, note that we used the same formation 4-3-3 so we should have played them with the same strength moreso, they are not better than the Eagles.
    “Another problem is that the Eagles main striker, Ighalo was isolated throughout the game, the wingers were not playing with him, he needed the ball, but at times he doesn’t get it,” he said.

  • Super Eagles lost to a better team- Rohr

    Super Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr has admitted that his team lost to a better side in the semifinals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt on Sunday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a Riyad Mahrez’s goal from a free-kick at the edge of the box, with seconds left to play, condemned Nigeria to a 2-1 defeat and steered Algeria to their first AFCON Final match in 29 years.

    Rohr told newsmen during a post-match interview that it was a game of two halves, adding however that Algeria were the better side at the end of the day.

    “Until the last minute, Algeria had a better first half than us, but we came back a much better team in the second half.

    “Unfortunately, we conceded a goal in the last minute. I think the players wanted to go to extra-time believing that perhaps Algeria will get tired and we could win the match in extra time

    “It was a wonderful game. We lost it, so we are not happy. Congrats to the winners. They were the better team in the first half.

    “We scored an own goal. We were unlucky but we came back like we have always done all the time in this tournament.

    “When we found ourselves in a difficult situation, we always reacted and we did that also today coming back through a penalty and playing a better second half.

    “But a wonderful free-kick from a football genius made the difference.

    “In our last game, we won in the last minute against South Africa and today we lost. That’s football, ” he said.

    Coach Djamel Belmadi of Algeria on his part said his side had a tough game against a tough opponent, adding that it had to take the quality of Mahrez to decide the result of the match.

    “We knew that it would be a tough game because of the quality of our opponents and the tough game we had against Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday.

    “My boys had an amazing first half. So, we deserved at that time to score a goal and I think we could have scored even more goals.

    “Then in the second half, we had a difficult moment for about 15 minutes, we were under pressure.

    “I think we played too deep and didn’t apply enough pressure on our opponents due to fatigue on my players and the quality of course of our opponents.

    “Then came the penalty which I think my players showed great character and mental strength to come back and fought until the end to score the decisive goal.

    “We however had some situations in the second half, maybe not clear cut chances where I think we could have scored another goal with a little more accuracy.

    “Then the free-kick arrived and of course with the quality of players like Riyad Mahrez, it’s a massive chance at goal and thank God we made it count,” he said.

    Nigeria will now take on 2004 champions Tunisia in the third place match at the Al Salam Stadium on Wednesday, while Algeria take on Senegal in Friday’s final at the Cairo International Stadium.

  • BREAKING: Super Eagles crash out of 2019 AFCON

    Algeria has qualified for the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, following a 2-1 win over Nigeria on Sunday.
    The Desert Foxes took the lead in the first half, thanks a William Troost-Ekong own goal.
    The Super Eagles levelled in the second half, after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision, with Odion Ighalo stroking home the penalty.
    With the match heading into extra time, Riyad Mahrez stepped up and spanked a free-kick past Daniel Akpeyi, to send his side into the final.
    They will take on Senegal in the final on Friday, July 19.

    Nigeria faces Tunisia in the third-place playoff on Wednesday, July 17.

  • AFCON: Onyekuru, Osimhen could play against Algeria, says Rohr

    AFCON: Onyekuru, Osimhen could play against Algeria, says Rohr

    Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr confirmed he will be parading a full strength squad in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final against Algeria, but it remains to be seen whether Victor Osimhen and Henry Onyekuru will play a role.
    The duo and Francis Uzoho are the only Super Eagles players yet to play in the tournament despite Rohr’s rotation strategy.
    However against Algeria in Cairo, Osimhen and Onyekuru could be thrown into the fray with Uzoho expected to warm the bench throughout the championship.
    “We had two changes before the game against South Africa, the winning team against Cameroon has been changed and it is possible that we will change the team again because all the players are ready to go,” said Rohr during Saturday’s pre-match conference.
    “We have nine strikers in the team, played seven but we cannot play all of them at the same time. The young are also here to learn.
    “Out of 23 players, 20 players have played already which is a lot and I hope we can see the other two [Osimhen & Onyekuru].
    “It is difficult for the third goalkeeper coming in. The moment has come to bring the best team against Algeria.”
    Nigeria will play their 14th semi-final in AFCON, more than any other team.
    However, they have qualified for the final only once in their last five games at this stage – against Mali on 6 February 2013 in a comprehensive 4-1 triumph.
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  • 2019 AFCON: Madagascar was our joker, says Rohr

    Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has suggested the team’s loss to Madagascar could be a blessing in disguise and the major reason they are still in the race for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) title.
    The Eagles were beaten 2-0 by the Barea at Alexandria Stadium in their last Group B encounter almost two weeks ago.
    Nigeria will next trade tackles with the Fennecs of Algeria in the semi-finals on Sunday in Cairo, and the Franco-German noted the defeat to Madagascar deflected pressure from the Eagles.
    “The loss to Madagascar was our joker,” Rohr told the media.
    “We could lose it because we had already qualified for the next round.

    “We wanted to allow others in the team to play as well.
    “We can forget about the defeat to Madagascar now because we are through to the semi-final. Even the defeat helped us to be more humble and sometimes it is good also.”
    The Eagles have beaten Cameroon and South Africa after the defeat to the Barea and they are only a win away from featuring in the final.
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