Former Super Eagles captain Nwankwo Kanu has backed the team to bounce back from Sunday’s shocking 2-0 loss to the Barea of Madagascar and perform better at the ongoing AFCON 2019 in Egypt, reports Completesports.com.
The three-time African champions were the overwhelming favourites to beat the debutants but were second best for most part of the encounter.
It was the first time Madagascar will record a win against the Super Eagles in five attempts.
The defeat also ended the Super Eagles’ run of nine games without defeat at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Kanu, who represented Nigeria at six AFCON finals advises the players to look beyond the defeat and focus on the task ahead.
“We win some, we lose some, but we know what we want, so let’s be united and go for the Cup. We look forward to the next game and together you all will win it. Unlucky for this game, but better one ahead. You all are champions, so we go down and we bounce back. Good luck in your next game,” Kanu tweeted on his Twitter platform.
Gernot Rohr’s charges will face Group F’s runners-up in the Round of 16 on Saturday at the Alexandria Stadium.
By Adeboye Amosu
Got what it Takes?
Predict and Win Millions Now
COMMENTS
Oga Kanu I ask you how??? How will they bounce back?? Is it by the coach fielding the same Formation of Attackers in Musa, Ighalo or Moses Simon?? Never.
Or maybe god will do us a facour and rewind the years and give you boots so you can come and show Ighalo dem how it is really done
Oga Kanu I ask you how??? How will they bounce back?? Is it by the coach fielding the same Formation of Attackers in Musa, Ighalo or Moses Simon?? Never.
Or maybe god will do us a favour and rewind the years and give you boots so you can come and show Ighalo dem how it is really done.
It is hightime we stop thinking we will win if we don’t change something. the definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.
The Coach needs to understand that super Eagles has the biggest Support base in Africa based on population. If he fields the same wretched combination of Musa, Ighalo and Moses Simon in the knockout. Then it will be clear he is insane and deserves stoning.
He has been warned, Enough is enough Rohr you have had too many chances 3 games and if you can’t see that then you are a fraud
Oga Kanu im sorry this team is too weak to win trophy. It’s the most weakest team among those called favorite. selfish strikers,no communication in play, wrong selection, no style of play and mistakes too. Nothing and nothing from this Super Eagles. the best players among them are Ndidi, Etebo, chukweze and Omeruo all the rest are seriously not good so how can we win you agree now. the second team is worst than the first even we can lose but not like that this is so shameful and painful prove me wrong i beg if not I don’t see this team pass the round of 16 at all. you are very disappointed you SE players except those am citing up and those who are didn t gave time to play. Hors merde Super Eagles why ? apart from that defeat look at the way you play of course we win but the game is always poor like unprofessional footballers. You didn t see Algeria Cameroon Ghana Egypt Maroc and others favorite the way they play with heart commitment passion determination hungry style compact apart the SE pleaz raise your game prove us wrong oh I hope if not you will not deserve again to wear our jersey
I always respect Kanu. He is Indeed a true LEGEND n definitely spk as one. When we start condemning a team n players that just had 1 bad day in d office, it only goes to show what such elements are made of. I certainly cant regard such people. We condemn when failure become consistent n not when it’s a one off. Imagine pouring all kinds of insult on Balogun because of 1 mistake despite this same guy saving our blushes in d game against guinea when a player was almost having that same one on one with Akpeyi. It’s absolutely ludacris to discredit this guy Balogun. It defines a people who deserves nothing good. Hence no surprise how politicians are treating Nigerians because they too might hv come to realise Nigerians are not worth sacrificing anything for. The language majority of Nigerians understand is “punish us OH LORD’. Whether anyone likes it or not, Balogun remains SE eagles best defender in terms of calmness n understanding/ reading of d game. Sad he gets injured quite often, this happens because he gives everything when going for d ball n this is even why he needs our encouragement n support. Pls this is not to take anything away from a superb Omeruo n Baba Troost Ekong. We should just stop this stupid, senseless n negative comments about players giving their best under a most unfavorable weather conditions. What many are not brave enough to say to criminal politicians, they come here to spill against patriots.Very shameful. God bless SE.
God bless you @Glory. That’s why politicians don’t give a blipp about Nigerians because they know Nigerians are not worth sacrificing for. If it was consistent mistake then they might have a point, but a one off losing one game to an African opposition in almost two years. It baffles me to see how myopic people are. I appreciate your insightful knowledge of the game and the SuperEagles will fly again and shame bunch of ethnic jingoists.
to be sincere this team is too weak. if its going to start musa Ighalo Moses again we are out bkoz we all know they style of play apart from musa who sometimes play with heart and hungry. He should start chukweze by force to change the attacking style if not we are already out and don’t start that ighalo even musa too try another style of attack if not bye bye Afcon so sad. you hav players like chukweze onyekuru osimen and you bench them and please don’t in samuel kalu in our match again is still yet to find a rythme of competition and Milfied Etebo Ndidi Iwobi défense Ekong Omeruo Collins in left and Aina in right drop Awaziem is not attacking treat that’s my view bkoz we don’t want to come home now oh it will be a big shame for us pleaz SE players try as much as possible you can
Semi ajayi should have taken John Ogu place and alapasu and ajiboye are better keepers than what we have at the nations cup. Golden eaglet midfielders can’t play that pass to balogun without watching and shortened pass to balogun. Balogun could be excused cos dude wasn’t expecting the amateur pass from ogu! Slow and defensive midfielder like ogu and mikel forced to attack play by defending? Learning how to play attacking football at the nations cup? Ighalo is a fair weather player! Today good tomorrow a disaster! Osihmen and onyekuru are mature but our amaju pinnick oga rohr is a Yemen and bottler low mentality and uninspiring and an ambitious coach impromptu!!! We all know before now! My verdict is Nigeria should prepare their hearts to be broken during the knockout stage! Our player’s are good enough to win this tournament but our Yemen coaches ain’t good enough Mentally and consciously and otherwise! Nigerians should enjoy it while it last. More sorrow and disasters on the way! Make una remove mind to win the cup o una hear??? Enough said enjoy it while you can!
The only thing with Nigeria and Nigeria football is we keep going in Circles because we self Destruct how will you tell me that from 2013 when we should have started to soar from the Afcon win we regressed.
Okay lets rewind and take it back a step to 2013.
Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (god rest his soul) wins the 2013 Afcon for Nigeria restoring some faith the Ever loving football fans of a Footballing Nation had that we have been deprived off for years through NFF Meddling in football. Rather than push up and grow from strength to strength the Big Boss Regresses. Over confidence sets in, he feels to big for the nation, it’s either his way or the highway and Dodgy factors comes into play, I.e Agents start having their say in team selections through unjustly means. Paving the way for a ripple effect that causes us to loose out on 2 Afcon places since we won. What a shame the defending Champions where not even there to defend their title. Also the same factors caused us to not fufil the potential we set out too at the 2014 World Cup because Keshi took a team of a Stron first 11 but Weak Bench due to players on the bench had Agents who paid for their tickets to brazil lets call a spade a spade. Because had Nigeria took a bench as strong as the first 11 to Brazil, France would not have beaten us and, who knows we may not have met France because we were good enough to win that group had Keshi Selected Nigeria’s Best. Yes we had it all. A yonger Mikel emenike on Form Vic Moses in full flight, Onazi at his best man the list goes on, players like Anichebe missed out and Imoh Ezekiel who was on the books of Tottenham and needed world cup exposure to push that deal through. Needless to say instead of creating our name we were happy with last 16 when we were good enough to match Senegal, Cameroon and Ghana’s feet. SAD!!!
Yet all fans kept saying is we will come back stronger we are building for the future. FOR HOW LONG WILL WE BUILD FOR THE FUTURE. HOW MANY CHANCES DOES NIGERIA NEED TO WAKE UP????
My People it is high time we stop getting used to underachieving and thinking there will be another opportunity. When there is, Will we grab it with both hands???. Thats a question or will the then Coach self destruct like coach Rohr is doing now. and give excuses. Then factions will say again we are building for the future. The Question we need to then ask ourselves after self introspection is will this future ever come if we carry on like this?
Okay now we have a chance to field some lethal players in the Early stages of their careers where they need this exposure to push them to bigger and brighter heights yet our coach is wasting it on players that have nothing left to offer and are not as talented. Did Senegal do that to Sadio Mane is Ivory Coast doing it to Nicolas Pepe is Morocco doing it to Ziyach? NO!!!.
Yet some factions of the Nigerian fans will say let the coach decide these boys will get their chance. Nigeria fans please wake up lets stop pushing for mediocrity and rather aim to be the best again it is high time enough is enough quite simply put.
This is Simply Self DESTRUCTION
Thank you
Excuse the typing Errors. I am currently at work and, cannot take enough time to punctuate properly but, I am sure you get the gist
Hmm,you’ve raised some interesting food for thought here.
Thanks
Yes Bros Kanu . I am in support, they will bounce back next game
Kanu, please go face your hotel business and stop hoodwinking Nigerians. Are you gaining from your bland support of this stupid coach or what is going on here? Westerof, who did not even believe in you enough to take you to World-Cup in US, just came out to blame Rohr for the incompetent way he manages the job he is doing. If you think Rohr would have given Kanu a chance to play in his line-up today, l think you are wrong.
Rohr is just incompetent in his managerial job.
For the world all over to regard Kanu, a black man. For Kanu to be held in awe even till today in England n Arsenal,to be precise,tells me n every sensible person thats his words have to be taken with utmost interest. God bless this great ICON of football KANU NWANKWO n God bless Gernot Rohr. I careless about anything d never do well will have to say. Ride on NIGERIA, RIDE ON SUPER EAGLES, RIDE MIKEL, yes I may not HV picked you in d team but you are here with them, so I stand firm with you n d rest. You are all brilliant ambassadors.
SOMEONE CANVASSED FOR PATIENCE WITH ROHR,AS IT TOOK PATIENCE FOR WESTERHOF TO EVENTUALLY PERFORM.
My take:
“@Ndubuisi,phaps they continued with Westerhof because,that particular FA team was willing to take a holistic view of things.
We recall a certain Phillipe Trousier they sacked for strange reasons. A lot of Nigerians liked the idea too. The man was just winning matches 1nil,and a lot of Nigerians including the FA,were irritated by the slim scorelines he ganered,eventho he qualified us for the WCup.
You see that’s the issue with our love for this game,many times we are not scientific. Football is science,ask Pep,ask Klopp, ask Mou. You sack a coach just because,he wasn’t winning big? Who does that?
Have you checked what he is building?Do you know he didn’t have much time to prepare for that qualifier,yet he delivered the ticket? Check his acumen,before you sack, not just results.So well,the “white wi*** doctor” was given the boot.
By the way Dennerby should be given that time they failed to give Trousier,he fits the bill.
Enter Mr. Rohr,o yes as u said,@Ndubuisi,people have come out of nowhere to speak because,of a loss. We can forgive their excesses because that’s how some of you overreact because of a win too.
Men like Omo9ja have been sounding the alarm,inspite of our two wins and we say he is a hater. Okay agreed,let’s call him a hater,does it mean he has been talking gibberish?I would answer for you,the answer is NO!
I don’t even agree with all he says,but I can’t doubt that he makes a lot of sense. If he says Ighalo can’t play 90mins,is that not sensible? And I acknowledge others who say similar things to Omo9ja’s.
The big issue is that we have been pointing Mr Rohr to his faults at the WCup,but he won’t listen.Eg,it is not clear to him that the issue against the Argies was that the midfielders,eg Mikel, were tired. He wanted to take off the hardworking Musa.Why?
We said test Ejide before the WCup. After the WCup,we said it’s clear Uzoho isn’t the best we have,some of you still argued.
We said before the Nations cup,that the midfield is too thin,some of you still argued. An attacker(Iwobi) has been converted to a midfielder,that’s our saving grace now. Chukwueze also now looks like the deputy to Iwobi in the middle of the park. All these won’t have been necessary if the coach listened to calls for people like Azubuike,even Nwakali,etc.
The Mikel who they say didn’t perform in the last match and first match,is it a surprise? Didn’t we see it at the WCup,infact many times at d WCup,Ndidi was farther up the pitch than Mikel and Etebo. Mikel wasn’t doing the attacking midfield duty well. We advised,let Mikel sit deep with Ndidi and push Etebo forward. Mr Rohr won’t listen,he kept playing Etebo as an assistant nmba 4,a position that doesn’t bring out the best in him. Siasia didn’t use him that way! Etebo kept loosing possession at the WCup because he was playing too deep for his characteristics. Etebo by calling and nature is a bundle-of energy-ATTACKING-MIDFIELDER for crying out loud.Infact,he’s of the ilk of Aaron Ramsey, now of Juventus,a box-box attacking midfielder,with plenty of goals in him. So ideally Iwobi and Etebo ought to be fighting for that slot in this nations cup.Is that not healthy competition?They can also play together.I hope we know there is no proper replacement for them on the bench,if they play together. Another reason we cried out concerning the midfield.
What am I saying? Ancelloti for example, is by far a bigger and better coach than Rohr,but Ancelloti is humble enough to admit salient faults and even take correction.Once Cristiano Ronaldo had to plead with him to alter his position and Ancelloti obliged and Real Madrid won the Champions league that season.It was not that Ancelloti was wrong in his original design,his design was working very well as a matter of fact,but Cristiano wanted a little bit more freedom and the coach gave him his wish and drafted in Di Maria to solve the defensive problem this Ronaldo freedom will create for the team.
What’s his own(Mr Rohr) sef? When I got irritated by Mr Rohr wasn’t even the defeats at the WCup. *See,defeat or victory should not becloud our senses. Football is a science.*
It was that after the WCup Rohr could not even SEE THE OBVIOUS flaws.What he was correcting was other things;that Musa politely refused to be substituted against d Argies,etc,things that were far from the core of the mistakes he made.
See,those mistakes are still evident at this nations cup from the first match. You see ehn,when people say,Mr Rohr we can’t see a defined pattern of play,we talk them down and class them as “haters”. We know a Siasia’s team(beautiful,attacking),we know an Oliseh team(sturdy,organised,measured attack).We know an Ancelloti team,Benitez team,etc.
Let me go back to skippo- I was glad he rejoined the SEagles but not so that Mr Rohr would play him out of position. Yes,during the WCup qualifiers he did brilliantly as an attacking midfielder the team had a fair level of identity,but during the friendlies b4 d WCup and the WCup proper,it was crystal clear that Mikel was something else(and I say this in a negative sense). In fact I told a friend of mine after the WCup, that China has taken away our footballers. You guessed right,Ighalo too was not it at the WCup,a shadow of what we saw at the qualifiers. You see ehn,I don’t like to say this but let me just say it: oyibo tell themselves the truth,that’s why they are ahead of us.
I don’t blame Professor Seedorf as he took the reins at Cameroon,he immediately declared that those playing in countries like China have disenfranchised themselves from the team.Nwannem,the beautiful captain of the Indomitable Lions was/is playing in China.Seedorf was aware.I’m not saying Mr Rohr must copy Prof,all I’m saying is that he should call a spade a spade.
So when some of you keep brandishing the impressive winning percentage of Rohr,I wonder why? It’s not as if his winning percentage is the best we’ve had ever. Then who says that people don’t appreciate his winning records?Who says? However,an impressive winning record doesn’t make you above correction. Even the best coaches in the world are criticized and they receive necessary correction. Our own coach,with all due respect, is such a stubborn fellow.
I think we should listen more,a lot of folks who lash out at Rohr are not haters;their words often betray them[which is a common fault I’ve seen among us,which we should work on],but look well there is a lot of sense in there.ROHR HAS BEEN IN CHARGE LONG ENOUGH FOR US TO SCRUTINIZE HIM THIS WAY.
If all Omo9ja was doing is so that Rohr will loose and so that we would all praise him,then ngwa Dr Drey take a look at Omo9ja’s post after the loss.
I thought he should have been doing “Christmas” dance with his comment and lavishly proving how correct his is, with a very lengthy message that will also rain shame and shame on those who opposed him,incuding proving and proving in great detail how Rohr is a catastrophe waiting to happen.That wud make for a good “Christmas” isn’t it?
Dr Drey,you can see Omo9ja didn’t write like I just described,he took it easy,he didn’t even rub it in much because,the issue is not about massaging our egos.
Our darling team is the subject matter here,no one really wants the team to fail or the coach to fail-his winning record is very well appreciated that’s why he is being corrected(free of charge even).He has the right to accept correction. It is also within his rights to reject and when he rejects we see matches like we saw at the WCup and the ones we’ve seen at this nations cup.
Mr Rohr,we are watching you.
All the very best SEagles.
@Oge I see lots of points in what you n even most others guys critising the coach are saying but the manner n use of language make a whole lot of gabbage about their points. I for one, I m not happy with certain decisions Rohr/ the entire coaching crew made and are making but they are the ones in charge at d moment. We can only wish them well n decide after the tournament, whether for them or against them depending on how the team perform to d end.Oge pls be rest assured that whilst some here criticise out of a honest desire to see SE play beautifully n win, many other critism here are just vindictive, simply because the coach refused to play ball with certain agents/ players/ media men etc while making his final list for d tournament. I personally,would HV loved to see certain players in the team, not to mention names but I would be selfish if because my fav players are not in d team, I start praying n celebrating that d team fails.
I dont think it is about the crop of SE players. I have a problem with SE when they concede first, there seem to be no way back into the match for them. Not just the SE team also the Super Falcons and the age grade team. In Rio 2016, when we lost to Germany and Colombia, it was the same kind of play. Teams no how to read SE’s play now.
There are things which we must change in our playing pattern.
1.) coordinated attack. Gernot Rohr being a defender in his playing days is a disadvantage to us attaching. The one thing he has brought to SE is core team stability. this means the defenders are abit more aware about not conceding goals. The SE have not played well in this AFCON but there is a sense of urgency when defending whether in set play or neutralising opponents attacking play. Now we must learn to attack more as a unit. Isolating our #9 or wingers doesn’t help anymore. No one plays a traditional #10 anymore or a traditional #7 and 11. That must change from the grass root to the top
2.) Attacking play movement practice; Nigeria’s SE must learn from Morocco. In certain situations what do you do when attacking. How do you move in a counter attacking situation. Which player cause the diversion. My problem with Ighalo is simple, right from the U-20 level, his movement in APP I never liked. Remember U-20 under siasia against Germany. Also, remember Nigeria vs Poland, first half around the 40 mins mark when Victor moses ran with the ball from the defense. Ighalo did not move properly. As a #9 you need to open space for yourself with your movement. Ighalo wasnt even anticipating the play from Aina against Burundi and if there was VAR, he would have been ruled offside. That is the reason I liked Iheanacho, because of his training at Man city, his technique in utilising space is much more better, but confidence in finishing is lacking
3.) Midfield Play; There is this Etebo-like attitude in Nigeria of wanting to play like an Okocha. Which most coached do not like. It takes you no – where. Etebo keeps the ball well but he is always keeping the ball to the wrong side of the pitch. Etebo for me is taking Mikel’s position of connecting DM to AM, meaning the expert in transition play. However, Etebo never release the ball early. Gone are those days when teams use that traditional no 10 role. Etebo must also overcome that and play quick to players even when the offensive player seem to be in a tight spot. Etebo should look at Luka modric playing for madrid and pattern his game after him.
4.) Attacking Midfield; Attacking midfield is not #10. it is the “3” in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The match against Burundi was the only time I saw a good attacking midfielder in Chukwueze. Thats how a modern winger inverts his game to play like a 10 or a 11 as you may know. Messi started out like that, Mahrez plays like that, Silva plays like that, Robben plays like that and Ozil started that way. Our wingers must understand that they need to invert their game sometimes to drop in the midfield and centre of the box and allow our #9 go wide so to create space for everyone else. This will allow our full backs push forward for those crosses into the box. Simon, Kalu and even Henry play too wide attimes when they play for Nigeria. Ighalo must also invert his game and go wide attimes allowing wingers comein, this will improve transition play.
5.) Full backs; Finally, this is a missing piece in the puzzle for nigeria. Our full backs do not know how to cross deadly crosses. the only full back that cross well in Africa is Serge Aurier but his defensive thinking is poor. The only time Aina came forward against Burundi, a deadly pass was given to Ighalo. When ever full backs come forward, it gives the wingers a chance to join the attack and invert their game. Then the full backs must learn to give the perfect cross and balls into the box. Remember Nig-Zambia world cup qualifier when Shehu pulled back that cross to Iwobi. Exactly what a full back must do
In conclusion, Rohr is rewarding loyalty and training well over performance. This I do not agree with, some players give their all in a match and they never train well. This season, Etebo’s coach accussed Etebo of not training well, but later admitted he is just a guy that gives all in actual game play. Yes footballers must train well in to prevent injuries but remember, this is the national team. They expect that you pick them based on what they ve been doing in Europe for their clubs where they play all season. Ighalo with all due respect to him, must always be staring from the bench. I do not feel Iheanacho should be dropped against popular back drop. Iheanacho has good technique and match doggedness sometimes. If there is a player that can start a comeback it is him. Onuachu will not score a goal in this AFCON, he is not the kind of attacker that is fitted to the africa’s game. Yes in any other team he will score, but there have been no service from the full backs, how will he score. Iheanacho has match doggedness and has played in more bigger games and scored, he is not scared anymore. Why the hell was shehu selected for AFCON, the only reason is quota. To please the North because Shehu gets injured and and missed training due to fasting. His value is different. He plays in Turkey and didnt even play much games this year I believe. Semi Ajayi will add aerial threat alongside Ndidi in those time when you need it most.
No one is reading this anyway and I hope the SE comes good against Ghana and then Egypt
can you amagine
can you imaging madagascar wining nigeria .
you talk true Mr. mista anything you sai wasn’t wrong at all and also you fallowing the best African teams matches, like moroc,Egypt, ghna,camroo,they were too much good when you watch their matches