Former Nigerian midfielder, Henry Nwosu has expressed disappointment with the Super Eagles failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Thomas Partey’s early strike via a goalkeeper error helped Ghana secure a 1-1 draw with hosts Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.
However, reacting to the defeat, Nwosu told Completesports.com in an interview that Super Eagles goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho’s error cost the team World Cup ticket.
“I am disappointed that the Super Eagles failed to capitalize on home advantage to defeat Ghana and pick the World Cup ticket.
“However, it’s so unfortunate that Uzoho’s blunder was just what the Black Stars needed to qualify ahead of Nigeria for Qatar 2022. It was his positioning that let that goal inside the back o the net.
“Well, we just have to accept the defeat because the deed has been done.”
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COMMENTS
The problem with Nigeria is deeper than goalkeeping errors. Our native coaches are blind and semi-illiterate. Thet have not studied soccer science and therefore have no tactical concepts. Since Gernot Rohr left the Eagles have turned into chicken! Granted Uzoho’s error, Nigeria had 80 minutes to score 2 goals on home ground and ended up with a paltry penalty.
I have not stopped laughing after reading comments since yesterday. WE SHOULD PLEASE STOP BLAMING INNOCENT PLAYERS. THEIR FOOTBALL ON THE PITCH IS ONLY A DEMONSTRATION OF A DECAYING SOCIETY WE HAVE UNKNOWINGLY TO MAJORITY, SUDDENLY BECOME. GREED, SELFISHNESS, RITUAL KILLINGS, WORSHIP OF MAMMON, EGO, WITCHCRAFT, PULL HIM DOWN SYNDROME,HATE, BRIBERY…. ETC HAVE ALL BUILT UNSEEN ALTARS AROUND THE NIGERIAN POLITY TO A POINT THAT NOTHING AN ANGEL WILL SAY THAT NIGERIANS WILL EVER ACCEPT. THE PUNISHMENT FOR SUCH PEOPLE IS, GOD ALWAYS GIVE THEM OFF TO SERVE SMALLER NATIONS.
IF WE ARE TO BLAME PLAYERS, MUSA N IGHALO ARE THE TWO PLAYERS I WILL BLAME. THEY ALLOWED SELF INTEREST TO RULE OVER THEM.THAT ALONE COULD HAVE LEAD OTHER BETTER DESERVING PLAYERS TO PUT A CURSE ON THE TEAM. THEY, INCLUDING SALISU CAUSED ROHR TO BE SACKED AS THEIR INSISTENCE ON BEING PART OF THE TEAM, GAVE ROOM FOR EXPANDED CRITISM OF ROHR WHICH CULMINATED INTO TAIL END POOR PERFORMANCES LEADING TO ROHRS SACK AND ULTIMATELY GETTING US TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
I WILL FOREVER RESPECT PLAYERS LIKE VICTOR MOSES, OBI MICHEL, AND NOT THOSE TWO, BUNCH OF SELF SEEKING BENEFITS.I JUST WANNA ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO EASE UP, WE LOSING TO GHANA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GHANA HAVING BETTER PLAYERS THAN US BUT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH GHANA BEING A MORE DECENT AND WELL ORGANIZED COUNTRY. EVERYTHING ABOUT MY BELOVE COUNTRY NIJJA IS TOPSY TURVY. MAY GOD HELP US.
The same Obi Mikel you once blamed for everything wrong with the Super Eagles at the time. The same Mikel that slowed down the midfield. Is it the same Obi Mikel that you saw at Wembley against England? Lolzzzz, Lolzzzz. Do you remember the day you exchanged abuse with fans on this platform because you insulted Obi Mikel? Some of us have long memories o. Lolzzzz Lolzzzz.
@ Igbekun,read n understand before replying people’s post.
When someone isn’t performaning well n humbly Your retire, isn’t that worth admiring? Your reply itself support my admiration of the said two players Mikel and Moses. Both being honest/selfless in their decision to retire from the national team; Mikel being honest to accept he’s past his prime and Moses accepting he is no longer motivated to play, even going on to twit, he was giving the younger ones the chance to represent.
If you think God will judge Nigeria via football matches then you don’t know him. God is spiritual and not human, and has no interest in all these stupid fleshy stuffs like football. You can fast and pray and find yourself healing the sick and receiving blessing from God. However, if you like fast for 100 days and pray to win a football match , you will still lose if your opponent is better than you because God has no interest in things like this, so winning or losing a match is not because you are righteous or sinner, it’s your business and not God’s.
Which home advantage is Mr Henry Nwosu talking about. People who have been to abuja who wana tell the truth will agree that Abuja those not have the average Nigeria street vibes that gives a team a feeling of playing at home.I view the stadium ; no one was singing or dancing. Very Few wore green and white or painted their faces green and white. It’s fans who create the home advantage vibes not the stadium .NFF pls get these into your heads. The capital of Brazil is Brazilia but they play their crucial home games in Maracana stadium in Rio De gerio. Ghana manipulated their match to Kumasi away from Accra. We saw what happened. SE draw a match they would have won because of the vibes the Kumasi fans generated. They played the role of the 12th player very well. Let me reiterate the abode of Crazy football fans in Nigeria is in some cities such as lagos, Calabar, Kaduna, Enugu, Benin and port Harcourt. In this cities fans besieged the hotel were Eagles are camping and start playing , singing and dancing hours before the game, just to say the least. Ghana were so comfortable in abuja bcoa the vibe generated was that of a Neutral ground.
Some people were shouting before the game that uzoho is better than okoye and he should be our number keeper, the goal okoye conceded was still better than this, uzoho own was heading directly to him, but okoye’s own swerved, but okoye received many hatred words because he is white and their girlfriend are crushing on him. Now they have seen the keeper they hyped to the heavens.
Seriously it saddens me so much hearing a former footballer claiming Ghana on the ticket to Qatar by courtesy of a goal keeping error.Naija equally needed a brutal penalty call to get back into the game,bare that in mind.Ghana were technically and tactically better than Naija in both legs considering the stats and and game approach style.
Tribalism, Bribery and Curruption in the Super eagles selection of players over merit is a direct consequence of our downfall in the Afcon and World Cup qualifiers. No 1 question, why should someone like Salisu Yusuf be still retained in the national team as one of the coaches, after caught on Camera taking bribe? Don’t you think his involvement will be a means for him to collaborate with some of the other coaches including Eguavon, or those having upper hand in the selection of players, to taking bribe for including or fielding players. Eguavon is a suspect too. This is because of the fact that his actions are suspecious, concerning the players that he fields to play who had no better merit compared to others, his answers given to questions for why he did not invite certain players that are doing better than some of the players that he invited, who did not merit their invitation to the super eagles when compared. Why should Eguavon bring in Musa and Igalo and leave Amoo on the bench in the second leg against Ghana, when Amoo is young, strong and very talented? Why did Eguavon not invite Dessers from the beginning? The reason he gave for not inviting Dessers was that he has not watched him play before in live. This did not make any sense because he can always watch Dessers club matches on videos to be able to make his decision to invite him and also watch Dessers performance during training. Instead, Eguavon gave Dessers place to someone else probably after taking bribe. He should have invited Bonke too from the beginning. But he gave Bonke’s space also to someone else, probably Onaze and may have taken bribe too. About the goalkeepers; these three goal keepers namely, Okoye, Apkeyi and Uzoho have not helped the Super Eagles to be reckoned with. Talking about Uzoho, because of his size or tall height, he happened to be brought in by Rohr from a devision 2 German club to be the goalkeeper for the super eagles in the last world Cup, in place of Ezenwa, who actually qualified Nigeria for that world cup and did so well in the qualifiers. Ezenwa was the second goalkeeper for the super eagles then. But he came in as a replacement for the jittery goalkeeper Akpeyi. Ezenwa performed excellent, saved more difficult shots than those ones Maduka and Uzoho could not save. Yet Ezenwa is not noticed or invited since after the world cup or recently. The problem with Uzoho is punching the ball straight to the opponents plus this recent error of not being able to position himself properly in goal, in order to save a direct shot. I see good goalkeepers being so flexible that they even save a deflected direct shot that went through players in the box. But still our coaches invite Okoye, Ekpehi and Uzoho all the time, despite their errors that have cost Nigeria so badly. I don’t see anything good happening for the Super Eagles until tribalism,bribery and curruption no more exists.
I remember before the afcon in Cameroon,I call out eguavoen as a bribe eater on this same forum, but some people that are short-sighted says I should keep shut because I have no proof. At least now the chicken has come home to roost. Bribe eater’s una well done ooo. Especially that good for nothing goalkeeper’s coach.
Please can you present your proof that he collected bribe, the last i time i checked 90 percent of the players were the by product of rorh. Except you want to tell us oga rorh too collected bribe. Bros, the game is over, stop coming with senseless excuses. the players didnt just come out to play simple
@Adilo Bro please which club does Ezenwa play for and is he a regular at his club?
Why is no one talking about the elephant in the room – ALLOY AGU??? How do you keep someone that has consistently failed to give you a reliable goalkeeper and still continue to keep his position as goalkeepeer coach from one technical crew to another like a recurring decimal.
That Ghanaian goalkeeper was appalling at the Afcon, but did you notice how many pointblank saves he made both in Kumasi and Abuja – including a header by Balogun that was destined for the back of the net.
GET ALLOY AGU OUT!
He just hides in the background. Doesn’t grant interview but just occupying space. He can’t scout good goalkeepers and can’t improve the ones he calls. A fierce grounder/shots beats all his goalkeepers and every opponent has found out.
Ghana were good, but Nigeria was obviously better man to man. Technically, Ado and his crew seem better than Eguavoen though.
Elephant in the room. More like bull in a China shop.
@Adilo , what an awesome analysis from you. May God enrich your thinking faculty the more. Not unmindful brilliant analysis from @Glory as well
However, you missed the architect of the downfall of our soccer empire , the supper corrupt NFF who did not help matter , had their fraudulent mindset did not override collective interest of Nigerians , should the likes of an unambitious average Coach like Rohr be hired at all who was given over half decade making him the longest ever serving SE and the best he could burden on SE are these average kindergartens errors prone goalkeepers, with a benched warmer goalkeeper John Noble in Eyimba club
Let us accepted Rohr’s employment was fraudulently done for a coach that was dismissed in his last 3 Countries he coached with awful records that was as shamefully low as 27% & 13% ( what magic could they have expected from such coach who never had record of ever winning a tea cup in his coaching career, not even U15 local cup )
The question is , after Rohr was overwhelmed in WC bundled out in group stage that a local coach Keshi effortlessly passed; well tutored again in Afcon not by foreign Coach but a local Algerian local Coach Belmadi , as Rohr couldn’t have done above his capacity. NFF themselves came out with honest assessment and recommended that Rohr should immediately proceeded on refresher training ; till Rohr was hurriedly sacked 3 Months ago ; they never ensured Rohr embark on that retraining ( Could anyone be surprised except Rohr’s fans club why same Belmadi tutored Rohr agin 3 years after to prove to Nigerians that Rohr needed retraining badly as he has not improved after the likes of Mikel , Victor Mosses deservedly retired ) ;
They compounded Rohr’s technical deficiencies with accumulated of unpaid salary , otherwise Rohr could still have called up merited players into SE but of course , Rohr had to look up to the direction of Sunday-Sunday Saudi rich Igahalo who can help him outside football reason , bowed to the tribal sentiment and fraudulent call up of unmerited players like John Noble that was on the benched for good 6 Months in his local club of Enyimba ( Rohr could have managed to perform better , but for NFF ) ;
Same story with Eguafon who cannot be grouped in 1st to 3rd among our best local coaches ; as I remember when he was appointed some of us were against it , and I do refer to him as an upgraded local version of Rohr , which he never prove me wrong , as whatever you can accused Rohr for , you can also find it in Eguafon.
@Glory , you accused Eguafon of also being an accomplice in the fraudulent call up and usage of players ( did anyone bother to take on the useless corrupt NFF for given Eguafon a decent salary even 20% of Rohr’s salary ; how else could you have expected Eguafon to survive on the job without salary plus pressure of changes in status as SE Coach , without having to look into the direction of the likes of a retired Sunday-Sunday football player Igahalo? and other fraudulent call up ?
What an Oyinbo Rohr who received an uninterrupted salary for 4 years before NFF began to owe him , could not resist ; yet you want Eguafon to also resist
When Rohr could not stand against the pressure of imposition of players by his business partner Amaj Fraud-Pinick ; how could you have expected Eguafon to do otherwise?
Finally, some of the players did their best but for poor goalkeeper error
So Rohr is reason for eagles failure abi, as if he didn’t meet and surpassed all his targets. You are madman! No wonder Nigeria keeps moving backward at an alarming rate due to people like you. Spits!
Hahahaha…leave that deranged dog….LMAOOoo.
These are the fools who are begging us to engage in meaningful discussions with them when their mouths of filled with lies….LMAOoo
The worthless creature wrote 43 lines of 100% lies without shame….LMAOoo. People who God will reverse their lives backwards by 40 years the way they have set us 40 year back with their lies and evil conspiracy….LMAOooo
Rohr must have been the one who poured players on the pitch without instructions to go and be expressing themselves…LMAOoo
I warned after the AFCON disaster the If we try that express yourselves nonsense with Ghana we will cry……little did I know that their sensless and brain dead egua-failure and his 9 demoted academy scouts will go and do the same thing the same way and expect a different result…..LMAOooo
At least Rohr was Belmadi’s boy…..Pls whose boys shall we call these their 9 local failures now…?? Because apparently even tom jack and harry coach that has no profile but can assemble 11 players and make them clip wings can beat these useless coaches….LMAOooooo
Bunch of failures…..LMAOooo
2021 AFCON disaster was a better performance than 2019 AFCON
2022 WCQ calamity was better than 2018……LMAOoo.
So says the generational imbecile….LMAOooo
This dude’s strain of imbecility must be the sexually transmitted strain…….LMAOooooo
Awon were alaso gbogbo.
Eguavoen has just poured acid on the hearts of Nigerians and taken our football back to 1982 but born-liar is still spreading his lies about Rohr. Its like God has not dealt with you guys enough with this consecutive failure…..LMAooo..keep spreading your lies ehn…..LMAOoooo
May the pain of 200 million Nigerians be visited upon all of them in their liars united group
Oga you lie too much. If you employ a whiteman as a private teacher for you child who has not been doing well in school and all of a sudden that child came out third overall in his school despite not paying his salaries on time. Yet you are not satisfied with the teacher and you went ahead to sack the teacher and employ another one.This time a Blackman. Now your child performance and result started going south. Will you still be apportioning blame to the Whiteman or if it is Eguavoen who gave us bronze medal in 2019,and qualifying us to competition with games to spare but we sacked him and employ Rhor who has fail to deliver a WC ticket for us after second round exit at the NC will you be blaming Eguavoen??
My brother you don’t know football, Ghana coach was employed when sir, with Eguavouen, ROHR was the same when we played Algeria
Well spoken @DeSTAR. The root of this problem is Amaju Pinnick.He have to vacate his position.
Oga Rohr wasn’t a coach Nigeria should have hired but Amaju did that for his own interests.
How about Eguavoen? We have our own that better than coach Eguavoen but Amaju was looking for those he can controlled and he found coach Eguavoen/Agu.
If we have to enjoy football in Nigeria again, the current NFF members have to go then, the coaching department have to go as well. Then, our ex players should be the new sports minister and NFF president. We have to protest. We can’t continue this way.
You nailed this too well @DeSTAR.
I am calling on you patriotic Nigerians whenever you are, please let the protest continue. If Etoo can make Cameroon proud yesterday, Cisse also did the something why Nigerians can’t be honest with ourselves for once?
This is frustrating kę. By now,
am expecting Amaju/NFF members/Eguavoen/Agu to resign. That is the way to go. They have to go Shikena. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Individually GHANA was not better but their coach has good ball playing midfielders that can mark and hold the ball and the tactics worked for him and when you have good midfielders with good attackers the defense and the goalkeeper will be protected but we do not have good ones and NDIDI was missed and it was glaring so the coach could not scout for good midfielders from the local league or elsewhere that can just hold the ball and mark which was what we needed to avoid that goal.
We need sound match reading coach and tactical coach and what we have is only stars upfront let the coach work n locate good ball playing midfielders which was what helped us then during 2018 world cup qualifying where mikel and inform onazi then was playing and Mikel sprayed good passes and onazi marked so it was easy to spray passes to allow ighalo score goals but now no one can hold the ball and give defense splitting passes ,watch Nigerian Cameroun in 2018 IGHALO goal was a good pass from Mikel and it worked.
Please we should focus on dedicated, strong and ball playing midfielders no matter where they play and join with the team we can recover faster but disbanding the team will take us backwards.
no one is also talking about the introduction of Shehu Abdulahi in the midfield, what was his impact in the game, Shehu that is warming bench in a lowly league like Cyprus not making the match day squad at times. We have young and energetic Amoo on the bench and the coach refused to do himself anything good by bringing the young lad. It is only in Nigeria that we hear that a player in first team of an European club is too young to play in the nations team, look at how the LITTLE Felix of Ghana terrorized our defense. How old was Mbape when he started playing for France. Now I think Musa has retired.
If we are lookg for midfielder we must get them raw from the Nigeria league or even go to local areas like Ajegunle or other rural areas you will see them.then it comes down to the coach that is willing to work not on YouTube but will go round the training facilities round the country. And the so called NFF should be getting involved in organizing competitions with the collaboration of the states and local government authorities. Let us have age-grade completions within the country on regular basis.
We need to move on
So Amoo would have played defensive Midfield right…? Wow. Na you biko…..LMAoooo. Your raw midfielders from Nigerian League and Ajegunle, have they started helping Nigerian clubs reach the group stages of CAF competitions first, before we go and call them up to help us qualify for the world cup…?
Let local clubs spot those talents first, and let them show they are true talents via sterling performances in the league and on the continent first. That is how the production line works.
@DeSTAR.
your long and boring analyses only shows one thing. It shows THAT you have deliberately refused to give yourself sense. You should be chronically ashamed of your unfounded hate for Rohr. I don’t believe that you still have the disgusting guts to talk ill of Mr. Rohr. In all honesty, ask yourself ;At what level was Nigeria’s senior national team, The Super Eagles, before Rohr came to our rescue? Before Rohr came, was it not clear that Nigeria could not even qualify for ordinary nations Cup back to back? Did Nigeria not become super chickens, that even cockroaches were not afraid of eagles? Was it not Rohr that resurrected dead senior national team and gave it a life-line? Where was Nigeria on FIFA rank table before he came? Where were you when Rohr met and hit all the targets NFF maliciously gave him? What else was left for him t o meet before they wickedly sacked him? Was there any target he didn’t meet? Yet, they sacked him and brought in clueless and confused monkey post coaches. I actually taught that, they sacked him to bring in a coach that would give us the world cup trophy and AFCON trophy at first shot. But see the disgrace and disappointment you and your ‘sack Rohr advocates’ smeared on Nigeria. With all of these mess you and they, advocated for, you still have the reckless boldness to come here and vomit nonsense. Mad people everywhere.
Hahahahaha…those where the people who lied to the NFF that any coach can win AFCON within 2 weeks with the calibre of players we have……LMAOooo.
3 months later we have been blessed with not qualifying for ordinary q/finals of AFCON, our worst AFCON performance in 40 years and also not qualifying for the World cup, our worst in 16 years……LMAOoo.
All of a sudden they now say the boys are Rohr boys…..LMAOoo. Please help me remind them that yes, they are the same boys that Rohr used to win bronze in a 24 team AFCON, the only AFCON he was privileged to attend in 6 years, thanks to their black brained guadiolas….and also the same boys who were prosecuting qualifiers successfully and with flying colours, with 2 years owed bonuses, yet qualifying with games to spare…..LMAoooo
Yes games to spare for 6 years and losing and ridiculing themselves at the tournament proper. Am happy the ass you were licking was given 6 years to just win bronze. By now teams should have been on his tail seeking his services since he can help the qualify with games to spare. I think mauritius or so is seeking a new coach. Well Egypt too is looking for a coach. Imagine almighty querizos was also booted out, so whats all this noise. Abeg se you need some peanuts so we can have peace
We said it back then
We said it about luck back then.
Super Eagles, goalkeeping and luck
By Cosmas Odoemena
On October 7, 2021, African minnows, the Central African Republic (CAR) did the unthinkable: they defeated Nigeria 0-1 in a football match! After the game, I had to thank my family that vehemently stopped me from honouring a VIP pass to watch it live. I can imagine how Lagos fans felt at the Teslim Balogun stadium. I feared for those who watched that match with an underlying health condition like hypertension — in this coronavirus era!
We know that there are no longer “small teams” in African football, but I’m almost certain that any Nigerian who saw such a result in a dream might wave it off as a “malaria nightmare.” What makes it all the more painful is that this is the first time Nigeria has met the CAR at this level. What’s more, they are ranked far lower than Nigeria. And the most annoying is that the Wild Beasts of the CAR devoured the Eagles on home soil. Not just on any home soil but in Lagos, the slaughter ground of the Super Eagles — the first time in 40 years Nigeria has lost a home game in a World Cup qualifier.
The first excuse given for the loss was the absence of Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi. But if the duo are no longer playing for Nigeria does it mean the Super Eagles will not fly? The Super Eagles themselves have won some matches even after playing below their level. But the Super Eagles played fairly well by my judgement, but it was a day luck deserted them. True, when a team loses, the team members take the blame. But there is more to Nigeria’s loss than meets the eye!
Perhaps, a seed for Nigeria’s loss was sown a few days before the match. According to reports, Gernort Rohr, the team’s gaffer was not happy with the first-choice goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye because he arrived late to camp. Rohr, in order to show he was in charge, decided he was going to leave the Sparta Rotterdam goaltender out. The player did two training sessions or so with the team, one less than others. Moses Simon too arrived late, yet he played the match. But for Okoye, Rohr stuck to his guns. That singular act may have caused us that match! The role of a goalkeeper goes beyond catching balls. It’s not for nothing that they often wear the number one jersey. They have a leadership role. Apart from the captain, the goalkeeper can marshall the team from where he is, especially the players in the defence. And Nigeria has traditionally been gifted with not just good goalkeepers, but those their reign brought glory to their country. Think of people like Emmanuel Okala, Best Ogedegbe, Peter Rufai, Ike Shorunmu, and Victor Enyeama.
However, when Carl Ikeme left the Super Eagles on health grounds, it was difficult to get a fitting replacement for him. And this was just a couple of months to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Rohr eventually chose Francis Uzoho ahead of other goalkeepers who were more experienced and who helped qualify us for the event in the first place.
But in an article entitled, “Super Eagles’ goalkeeping dilemma”, published on 13 April, 2018, I warned against the choice of Uzoho as the first-choice goalkeeper at the Mundial. I sensed he lacked the experience, but I also doubted his luck because he seemed to be the one in goal in losses that mattered most. Nevertheless, I still conceded that with time he could mature and his fortune could change. But it seemed as if Rohr was fixated on taking a risk with Uzoho anyway.
Just before the tournament proper, I sounded the alarm again in another article, “Before Rohr ruins our World Cup”, published on 7 June, 2018. There, I said, “After several warnings from some quarters against the use of Francis Uzoho as the first-choice goalkeeper of the Super Eagles, the Franco-German manager, Gernot Rohr, seems hell-bent on using him.” The rest they say is history.
Now, as Okoye was not going to be used in the Lagos match, the lot fell on either Francis Uzoho or Daniel Akpeyi. Rohr went for the former! Uzoho has not kept for the Super Eagles in a long while, and Nigeria has been getting good results. But just the day he was given a chance Nigeria lost! It does not matter if Uzoho made some good saves. That’s his job as a goalkeeper. History will only judge him based on the final result on that day. Maybe Nigeria was destined to lose that match. But woe betides the person who stood between our goalposts on that sad day. Nigerians will never forget him.However, on October 10, 2021 Nigeria’s fortune changed! In the reverse fixture, the Eagles clawed the eyes of the same Beasts in their own backyard with a 2-0 victory. Don’t ask me what changed. Okoye just slid back into his position; the aura around the Eagles changed automatically. Whether some people agree or not, there are individuals who have luck, and there are those who are short of it. Great teams also need luck. There is always an element of luck in a game. It’s in the ball that ricocheted off the upright. It’s in the one that hit the cross-bar twice. It’s in an unintentional handball given as a penalty. It’s in an own-goal. It’s in that referee who makes the wrong calls that don’t favour your team. It can even be two of your best defenders miscalculating as happened on that awful day.
Talent, practice, and hard work are all important for a team to be successful. But they only serve to reduce the effect of luck, not to eliminate it. I don’t want a goalkeeper whose only “luck” is, “if not for him, we would have lost by a 6-goal margin.” I want one when he is in between the sticks for Nigeria, the lines fall unto him in pleasant places. It’s not only in football that an unlucky person can affect the whole team. Among sailors, the word or name “Jonah” is a long-held expression for a person who could be a sailor or a passenger that is considered to bring ill luck. This is based on the story in the Bible of the prophet Jonah.
Perhaps, it’s also time to review our contract with the coach. This was a World Cup qualification match and not a friendly. Rohr’s antecedents have been to take crazy risks. If we are thinking of a coach that will qualify us for the World Cup and take us to that seemingly elusive semifinal at least, he does not inspire much confidence. As for Uzoho, I feel very sorry for him. He had a chance to lay claim to the number one jersey and luck deserted him once more.
As we say it here, “na village people.” I am a scientist, but I know the world is deep. Just recently, Apoel FC his Cypriot club parted ways with him. Uzoho needs our prayers. But for now, he should be kept far away from the Super Eagles goalposts. Nigerian lives matter!
Dr. Odoemena, medical practitioner, writes from Lagos
Sir, I think with your experience in the game, you should know better. In a game of football a goal will be scored one way or other.
And I’ve read people calling out players name here, I don’t know some players were in the team because of bribe or tribalism, but all I know is we have the players to successfully execute this match.
It’s obvious some players will be left out and some people will not be happy, I believe Musa and Ighalo can still play football.
Then what is the problem?
I’ll say technically and tactically Nigerians are a ghost . There is no input technically, the match against Tunisia, you could see this, even with 11 players Nigeria will not score against the Tunisians even if they play one more hour but some still see the AFCON as a good performance.
Instead bringing in Amuneke, they should have ship an expect who will eventually take over from Egu , because it’s too obvious that he’s not up to the job, why would Ghana appoint Addo and then back him up with a coach years of international experience? because they are smart.
But what do you expect from us? Where someone with degree in Agricultural Science is working as police commissioner.