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Former Nigerian international Osaze Odemwingie has advised the Super Eagles to be more tactical in their approach and learn from past mistakes for the team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
South Africa remain top of the group with 13 points after defeating Benin 2-0 while , Nigeria sit fourth after been held to a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe, barely keeping their qualification hopes alive with four matches left in the series.
Speaking with Brila FM, Osaze stated that the current Super Eagles are finding it difficult to secure victories.
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“I’ve been following Nigeria’s results closely. We’re struggling to secure victories, and we’re learning the hard way. It would be embarrassing to miss out on two consecutive World Cups. Watching the national team, I see that we’re not playing the kind of football we’re known for. We need to be more tactical and learn from our mistakes,” the 43-year-old said in an interview with Brila.
“We were dominating the game, leading at one point, but the players became fatigued. When that happens, it’s important to make changes, close the gaps between the lines and hold onto the lead.
“This is something big teams must know how to do if they want to qualify for major tournaments like the World Cup. We shouldn’t underestimate our opponents, even if they don’t have star names,” the former West Bromwich Albion forward concluded.
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“. . . When that happens, it’s important to make changes, close the gaps between the lines and hold onto the lead.” These are the golden words; Chelle, note please.
I would strongly advise coach Eric Chelle to invite Chrisanthus Uche of Getafe to the next Super Eagles team as he continues the rebuilding process for the team. He is consistent, versatile talented and focused as a player. In a thrilling Spanish La Liga match I was watching today, he has already assisted with two first half goal assists for Getafe against Valladolid. He has shown he can play in many positions, as a striker, attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder and full back if necessary. This is the kind of serious minded and focused player that the Super Eagles needs now as a lot of the current players seem to have outlived their usefulness to the team. Please take note, coach Eric Chelle and the NFF.
No o…..it is Papa Daniel or no one……LMAOoo.
They say he is better than all the rest combined.
At a time when we should be beating the drum of inclusion of the likes of Uche, Ojediran, Akinsanmiro, Tijani or the other young midfielder playing in the Austrian Bundesliga, even Onyedika has shown consistency at the highest level in the UCL this season, but no, it is Papa Daniel who has been trialling without success in backwater leagues that is the messiah.
@Dr.Drey… bro… dont be thinking just any player abroad is better than folks in the local league. If you like it or not… the solution to the current average showing characteristic of the SE that they have become just a mediocre team is because of overdependence on foreign-based players with weak mentality. Some of the local players just need opportunity to show what they can do… you are mentioning Tijjani Samson… when last did you see that dude appear in any serious football game? Ojediran isn’t even a regular at Lens… I still remember when you kept clamouring for Ahmed Musa and Iheanacho on this forum until white men showed you that they no longer have it… Akinsanmiro yes. Uche Chrisantus yes and Papa Daniel yes.
Hahahahaha……So a player who has not recorded any success in all the trials everywhere he has gone, after earlier failing to impress in the Turkish 2nd division is better than a la liga, or ligue 1 or UCL regular….?? LMAOooo.
As they say in local parlance, you go explain this one taya o…..LMAOOoo.
Yes, I intentionally mentioned Tijjani, cos we all saw him and his consistency in Europe upt ill when he got injured late last year, and hell he’s young and still under contract in the Austrian Bundesliga….not someone being hawked all over Albania, Macedonia and the Carthage region like roasted corn, yet not attracting any interests….LMAOOoo
How much of Papa Daniel have you too seen apart from him playing against Ghana’s home-based players who are as wakk as their Nigerian counterparts or even “wakker”. Apart from Dreams FC who made it to the group stage of the CAFCC last year or 2 ago, pls tell us how many Ghanaian clubs make it to the group stage of CAF competitions……LMAOOoo….for 1 performance vs Ghana’s home-based players to be your benchmark…..LMAOOo
So on what basis are you building your assessment of his abilities apart from 1 game you saw him playing against low-quality players like himself, as compared to a Tijjani whom we even saw in Europe…??? You are berating me for rating Tijjani, yet hyping a Papa Daniel who has been on trial for the entire part of the year 2025 because you saw him play 1 game last year…..LMAOOoo…is that not hypocrisy….??? LMAOOooo.
Helloooo….Tijanni is a 22yr old (MRI-certified) Red Bull Salzburg-owned player, currently on loan to a Norwegian top division club, Ojediran is a 21 yr old (MRI certified) RC Lens player with 15 Ligue 1 appearances this season alone…..both of them didn’t just wake up one morning, pack their boots and go to those clubs……LMAOOoo. They have not been on trials in Albania, Moldova or North Africa since the turn of the year yet will no deal. So yes, I have EVERY REASON to think Tijanni and Ojediran are 100 miles better than Papa Daniel.
Your home-based players with their “Strong Mentality” needed 3 months of camping to qualify for ordinary CHAN for the first time in 6 years…..LMAOOoo…..meanwhile CHAN qualifiers aren’t even A-grade football o…..LMAOOoo. But they are the ones the SE need for the WCQ (which are classed Grade A by FIFA) which gets executed after barely 3 full training sessions……..LMAOOOoo. Papa Daniel will fit into the SE like fish in water, roast all competitors for his position and dominate the midfield in Grade A matches after 2 training sessions in the SE because you have seen him do that consistently for Niger Tornadoes in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup vs Orlando Pirates, Esperance, RS Berkane and Al Ahly right…..LMAOOoo
Yes, I used to clamour for Ahmed Musa (not Iheanacho as you have lied) and for 5 straight years, he shut the mouths of folks like you up, with his strong leadership presence. Coach after coach of the SE has always had Musa’s name on their lips. He was still our substantive captain to the last AFCON the last time we checked and like I predicted 5 years ago, no coach (both local and foreign) has been able to kick him out of the SE just like that. He is even currently playing in the NPFL at old age and still rubbing your wakk NPFL “strong mentality” home-based players in the mud with goals and assists for Kano pillars with his tired legs. Even Chelle listed him in his preliminary squad and only fitness issues prevent him from being listed in the final 25. And will Ahmed Musa not give a better performance on the right wing of the SE than Chukwueze has given over the last 3 years……LMAOOOo??? So my clamour for Musa has always been met by an equal desire by every coach of the SE to date. Isn’t that interesting….?? Musa would even give more to the SE today than Papa Daniel……LMAOOoo…take it or leave it.
Can same the said of the “better than everybody” players you always clamour for who then end up in 3rd divisions or perpetual relegation with every club they join…??
So you knew there was someone called Chrisantus and Akinsanmiro before now, yet Papa Daniel was your messiah……LMAOOoo. You see how you always contradict yourself…..?? The player in question is not even an Enyimba player, nor a Rangers, Rivers Utd, Remo or Kano Pillars player, teams that practically sign all the best players in the local league in readiness to play on the continent……..LMAOooo. He’s a fucking Niger Tornadoes player and I am wrong to think, after failing trials in the backwaters of Europe and North Africa, he’s not better than a consistent French Ligue 1, La Liga or Austrian Bundesliga player (those are the “ANY player abroad” according to you) ….?? LMAOOOo.
Is it not better to think “just any player abroad is better than folks in the local league” than to (like you always do) believe “just every NPFL player is better than folks balling consistently in the big leagues abroad……??? Cos any NPFL you just see after 1 game is ALWAYS better than all our foreign-based players, until they themselves move abroad to water backwater leagues they are good enough to play in after their agents have used the SE as their marketing platform and subsequently fade into oblivion…….LMAOOooo
So biko leave me with my beliefs o. And feel free to hang onto yours. The last midfielder to be better than all SE midfielders including Mikel according to your belief now sits on the bench in the 3rd division in England at the ripe age of 26 (his supposed peak).
Once again, biko leave me with my beliefs ehn……LMAOooo. They don’t defy logic, objectivity and common sense.
…Hahaha. When Lesotho and Zimbabwe ambushed you in your house with all your super stars… you needed Agbo-jedi to stop runny-stomach. Hahaha… Coach Stephen Keshi showed you’ll how it’s done way back in 2013.
Hahahaha….just like CAR ambushed us in Lagos yet finished bottom of our WCQ group that year…..LMAOoo. The last time I checked, it is both Lesotho and Zimbabwe who are bringing up the rear in our group in 5th and 6th position respectively and would more than likely remain there till the end of the qualifiers…..LMAOoo.
Some people want to pollute our national team with their low-quality players and reduce the SE to a team that gets occasional away draws but perpetually finishing bottom of their group, failing to qualify for anything…..LMAOoo.
Go get your facts right, Keshi camped home-based players for over 8 months and exposed them to about 7 Grade A international friendlies before blooding them into the main SE team. He still relied heavily a lot on foreign-based players and could eventually only start 1 or 2 out of the over 60 home-based players he worked with in those 8 months….a Godfrey Oboabona who got to the Semifinals of CAF CL and CAF CC in back-to-back years and Sunday Mba who also campaign with Enugu Rangers on the continent.
Keshi started having problems when he became more daring with his home-based nonsense and started adding 3 and above in SE starting XIs……LMAooooo. The man was fooled into believing home-based players gave him AFCON so he can now start using them indiscriminately…….LMAOOoo.
The end-result, the defending champions of AFCON failed to qualify for the next edition……LMAOOoo…finishing 3rd in a group where the top 2 would qualify…..LMAoo. And who were our opponents, South Africa, Congo Brazaville and Sudan……LMAOoo
Homebased my foot…….!!! LMaoOO
Go and tell your Papa Daniel to pass trials and get signed in Libya first, before ever dreaming of playing 1 minute for the SE…….LMAOoo
Sometimes I wonder how we see the Super Eagles.
Do we understand the pressure of playing for the Super Eagles? How do one compare playing for the CAN Eagles with the Super Eagles?
Is the benchmark that low that we believe the saviour lies in an inconsistent Local league player with only experience in the international front is against the local based Ghana team (not even a good one)?
Papa this Papa that. Please let’s rest for Mama’s sake. Football is all about consistency. And Papa Daniel is unproven. At this stage in our dying qualifier and beyond, we need top level tested and consistent players. And we got them. We should be clamouring for names like Chrisantus Uche, Ojediran and even dual nationals like Ugochukwu, Carney, etc. We are not even done given a fair chance to Onyeka, Fisayo and Onyedika to consistently show their craft as they do in their clubsides.
Papa Daniel might be talented but right now, I can’t trust an inconsistent ‘talented’ player from the local league. I need now and ready. In the future if he proves his worth, why not? He will get his chance. ı will be one of his vocal supporters for his inclusion.
My problem is not with the fact that Papa Daniel plays in the NPFL – I couldn’t care less where any of our players ply their trade.
My problem is that he appears to be inactive, for an extended period – the Super Eagles is not for inactive players, even if they are in the books of Real Madrid!
Papa Daniel needs to start playing ball again, then we can beat the drum of his inclusion to the Super Eagles.
At this rate, I won’t even clamour for Papa Daniel to be included in the homebased Super Eagles if all he is doing is auditioning for mediocre foreign clubs with no success or breakthrough.
This guy had one set of games; ONE SET OF GAMES ONLY, with the home based Super Eagles where his performance was lauded and warmly received by fans and critics. Rather than sit tight, stay focused and enhance his NPFL career, he wanted to use a flash-in-the-pan brilliant performance against a woeful Ghana to join the European bandwagon, only to find that oppisition division 2 clubs in Malta, Lithuania and Latvia are harder nuts to crack than the Ghana he played against that won him acclaim.
If he is finding it tough going in Guatemalan or Nicaraguan second division leagues, is this the kind of player we want to entrust the Super Eagles’ midfield?
Listen, I am not anti-Papa Daniel, far from it.
I want to see him in the Super Eagles and I want to see him shine. But, to do that, do what Ahmed Musa, Shehu Abdulahi and Brown Ideye are doing: burn the NPFL to the ground with an inferno of rip-roaring performances week in, week out, then no fireman in this world will be able to put out the flames of calls for his inclusion for the Super Eagles.
For now, he is just coming across like another Anayo Iwuala: A cap with the Super Eagles, A lifetime career in the backwater leagues in Europe. North Africa or Asia!
Touche@Deo
Hehehehe…..I’ve just finished watching the CAF CL game between Esperance and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, ahead of watching any UEFA CL match…and for obvious reasons. I wanted to see if I can reassure myself that the SE would be able to defeat SA in Johannesburg since most Bafana players are from Mamelodi Sundowns.
But that isn’t even my addendum to your nicely put-together comment. It is about the young Nigerian midfielder Onuche Ogbelu who was a beast in the midfield for Esperance. The boy reminded me of prime Ogenyi Onazi…….the one you nicknamed “the angry wasp” back then in the days of KON…..before Blaise Matuidi happened to Onazi. I recalled the Ogbelu boy moved straight from an academy in Nigeria (FOSLA academy if my memory serves right) about a year or two ago and walked straight into Esperance…..yes…..ESPERANCE SPORTIF DE TUNIS. An academy player from Nigeria walked straight into the first team of Esperance and in a matter of weeks was already featuring even in the CAF CL for a club that massive not only in Tunisia but the whole of Africa.
But Onuche isn’t even knocking on the SE door yet…not when the likes of Onyeka and Onyedika are still “fringe” players more or less, and Getafe’s Chrisantus or Inter Milan-owned Akinsanmiro not even getting called up yet.
But it is a guy (whoever he is) who is still hobnobbing from one backwater country to the other for trials without success that we must anchor the destiny of the SE on, simply because he dazzled in a match he played against players like him who wouldn’t pass trials even in backwater leagues…..LMAOoooo.
And they say “….just any player abroad is not better than folks in the local league…”….LMAOooo…..as if just any player packs their boots on a bright good morning, flies abroad, walks into any club of their choice and starts playing……LMAOooo
@Dr.Drey… I watched the full game between Esperence & Sundowns also. Onuche had a decent game… if your memory serves you right, I did state on this forum that he was Nigeria’s best player in the U-20 AFCON that qualified us to Argentina but was mysteriously omitted by Bosso for the world cup proper. Yes… with what Sundowns showed… I doubt if Super Eagles can overcome South Africa in September… those lads who play for Bafana Bafana from the Sundowns squad are a gritty bunch… however I still maintain “go Papa Daniel MUSTAFA”. Again… Ndidi ahead of Onyeka, Onyedika these days is purely error of selection… Wilfred is over-the-hill now…
Congratulations. When Papa Daniel finally manages to pass trials in a decent club in Europe or a CAF CL semifinalist like Sundowns or Esperance, kindly let us know…….LMAOOoo
For now, we have tons of foreign-based stars like Onuche Ogbelu who are miles better and are already playing Grade A football CONSISTENTLY, yet sadly can’t find space in the national team yet. Even Daniel Daga with all his hype and talent consistently looked sub-par each time he featured in CAF club competitions for Enyimba.
Just like everything in life, there are levels in this game of football….LMAOooo
It makes absolutely no sense to assert that a player whose highest football difficulty level ever faced being the level of Ghana’s home-based team, is the messiah that will deliver our WCQ hopes……..LMAOOooo.
…so, it goes without saying that the talents in the home front are now found in the academies.
Even if ı feel a functioning academy by passing the league is a deathblow to the latter, we can take some positives from this. If we can’t churn out talents from the underage national teams like we used to do, at least we got vibrant academies that could be of good service to the national teams.
If the body running football cares less about fixing the league, why should we.
In all honesty Mr Hush, I don’t understand the fixation of these fifth columnists on bullying SE coaches into deploying NFPL players when all the facts on the ground show that our academies produce far better players who usually need just a few weeks of acclimatization before being ready for the deep end of the highest level of football.
Take a rough statistics of the career progression of players who have transferred from academies in Nigeria and those who have transferred from the NPFL in the last decade and the picture becomes even clearer. How many Nigerian-born and raised players who are balling at the top levels in Europe today can we say were products of the NPFL (i.e. had a professional contract with an NPFL club and featured for more than a season) before moving abroad…..?? Those who we can refer to in this context as NPFL products, where are they….? What is their demography…?
From Victor Boniface to Tolu Arokodare to Zaidu Sanusi to Bruno Onyemaechi to Frank Onyeka to Ralph Onyedika to Moses Simon, Osimhen, Chukwueze, Moffi, Sadiq, Akor, Chrisantus etc….how many of these players can we beat our chest in affirmation that they made their names playing in the NPFL before moving to Europe. Looking at their career growth and progression after moving to Europe, it generally is of an ascending trajectory with the players making bigger moves after bigger moves.
Juxtapose that with the so-called “many talents” in the NPFL….first of all, where do they even move to…….Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia…..gone were the days when you would watch the CAF CL or CAF CC and find 3 Nigerian players in Al HIlal, 4 Nigerians in Etiole de Sahel, 2 Nigerians in Wydad Casablanca, a Nigerian in Zamalek, another in Orlando Pirates…and so on and so forth.
And if that isn’t painful enough, from Ethiopia or Tanzania or Albania or Malta or whatever backwater leagues they always move to, where do they move next….?? A few to Bahrain, Kuwait or Oman…another few to Kazakstan, Vietnam or Cambodia and the larger chunk (like Papa Daniel) run back to the NPFL…mostly after a season or 2. Papa Daniel is still a home-based player because he hasn’t tried the Tanzanian League……LMAOooo…..he should stop wasting time and resources trialling in Europe and North Africa….he should try trialling in Tanzania and come back to thank me later………LMAOoo.
Benjamin Tanimu moved from Tanzania to the 3rd division in England and can’t even make the matchday squad consistently. Please what does that say of the level of the NPFL and then Tanzanian Leagues…..? Isn’t that something any sane person who truly has Nigerian football at heart should be concerned about…….rather than trying to force these inferior-quality players down the throat of the SE with senseless quota decrees….? Whereas Benjamin Fredrick a Simoben academy player now makes the matchday squad of Brentford in the EPL.
We have all these pointers to look at, yet some people would still come in public to try to prove what logic, records and statistics clearly disprove.
It is as shameful as it is laughable…….LMAOoo
Like you said, If the body running football cares less about fixing the league, why should we?
Normally I am not a fan of Nigerian league players because of their lack of success in the continent and Chan respectively.
We have had recruitments over the years from the academies which have supplied basically the most of youth internationals which also serves as recruitment ground for the super eagles..
I have seen many home-based players in recent times getting the applaud only to see one game enough to know this one is not built for stardom..However,I needed just one game to be convinced Papa Daniel Mustapha is a star.I saw a lot of attributes qualities that defines a world class player and I’m positive he will get a club worthy of his industry incisive passes thunderous shots and sweet left foot very soon.
I careless what the media is putting out there and making many to believe and rubbish all the potentials of this enormously quality footballer,I don’t buy to cheap blackmail this is Nigeria where anything goes,we’re yet to hear from the player or know the true situation as regards his glory hunt in search of a club in Europe..
The Ghanaian local team has suddenly become a quack team all because to rubbish the performances of Papa Daniel and to win an argument which is very unfair. A Ghanaian team that won games convincingly before trading tackles with their Nigerian counterparts suddenly a bad team wow unbelievable..
The truth is the Nigerian local team under the current unbiased coaches Fidelis and Ogunmade are very good with quality players..We know if Nigeria shuns tribalism and other factors and put merit first,we are always going to get results because the talents are plenty..This time we got it right and we could all see the quality in display which made our opponents look quack,but that’s how it should be if we chose to be meritorious!
The last has not been heard of Papa Daniel Mustapha I’m sure about that..He’s a budding talent and no flash in the pan player.
He was successful in the local league and did fantastically well over two legs against Ghana,convinced Eric Chelle to get a super eagles invitation after seeing him dazzle for the home team in a friendly against Sunshine stars,hell no!He’s no flash in the pan footballer!Eric knows a talent when he sees one to select Daniel at first glance to represent the super eagles!
Simply put the boy is good!Our league is bad does not mean there are no few shinning stars playing there,these two local coaches have opened our eyes to the qualities we have in our league because they chose merit in selection which has been our bane!
Totally concur with you@Dr Drey
I stopped taking the Nigerian league serious when we stopped getting past or even qualifying for the group stage the continental competitions.
If we can’t go pass an Angolan or a Malian team, that even the defunct Ocean boys could ease pass, where is the home-based quality for the national team?
Our ‘champ’ Enyimba has turned into a yo-yo team on the continent.
Observedly, even the Management of the well-run Remo stars are keener on their academy, sending their best legs abroad with ease hence the reason the parent club don’t have the quality to perform on the continent. Financially buoyant and progressive but sad.
I sincerely believe we have talents on the home front, it is just unfortunate it is not in the league rather in the academies.