Former Nigerian forward, Victor Ikpeba has made a startling revelation that the Super Eagles is not the best team in African football at the moment.
He made this known during Monday Night Football Program on Supersports, where he blamed the team’s loss in the first at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos as a result of individual play in the part of the players.
Leon Balogun and Victor Osimhen scored a goal each as the Super Eagles beat the Central African Republic on Sunday to avenge their shocking loss to the Les Fauves in the reverse fixture of the 2022 World Cup qualifier.
The Atlanta Olympic gold medalist also stated that the Super Eagles now have their destiny right in their own hands against Cape Verde if they are to qualify to the final knockout stages.
Read Also: Ex-Eagles Midfielder Fuludu: Rohr Is Not A Good Coach
“I have always said that this team can win the Nations Cup but we are not the best when it comes to African Football right now. At this point we have to beat Cape Verde because the destiny is in our hands.”
“We don’t have the team to dominate African football but we have the team to qualify for the World Cup.”
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COMMENTS
Senegal it is.
Well said Ikpeba! Atleast we fit waste our data for achievers and ex super eagles great like this not some fuludu abi fufudu of a guy…my only problem is that we are not clicking as a team yet. Na individual quality dey help us for now.
Ikpeba isn’t an abused supreme leader so very free to state his opinion. Well said, we are not Africa best. God bless Nigeria.
This isnt news. Unless for those who chose to deceive themselves.
Goal.com listed the current top 20 African defenders, no Nigerian made it.
If they should list the top 20 Goalkeepers, Im not sure if we will have any Nigerian on the list (maybe Okoye – based on his performance for Sparta last season).
If a list of top 20 midfielders (DM,CM, AM) should be released, maybe only Ndidi will make it (and that will be behind the likes of Gueye, Anguissa and Kesie). Iwobi might just, just maybe sneak into the list at the brink.
It is only in attack we can get a good few to make a top 20 compilation from the African continent.
So who/what is giving us the illusion that we are the best team in Africa…?
“Based on the ‘calibre’ of player Nigeria has, we have no business not winning the next AFCON”…..Have you checked the caliber of players other contenders have…??? Otherwise we wouldnt even win bronze if its solely based on ‘calibre’ of players.
We had better rolled up our sleeves and start working really really hard from now if we really want to get to the top.
I know you so well “with the calibre of players” but remember, a local coach like Keshi, won AFCON by beating an Ivorian team parading Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, the best in their days while parading a team made up of both foreign and locally based players.
In fact, it was a home-based player that scored the winning goal at the AFCON final. Only Mikel and Moses where playing in Chelsea at that time, a top team. So as you keep defending FAILURE ROHR, think well. FAILURE ROHR IS THE WORST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO NIGERIAN FOOTBALL. LOOKING DOWN ON OUR QUALITY PLAYERS.
FAILURES GIVE EXCUSES, WINNERS WIN.
That is to show dumb “coachees” like you (who does not even know what a setpiece is in football, talk more of knowing football as a whole is) that it takes more the “calibre of players” to win an AFCON.
The same Keshi’s team that won AFCON already had its flight back home booked by the NFF before the qfinal match vs CIV. People like you had condemned him (same way you are condemning Rohr today) even before he committed any crime, but God exalted him and today you have the guts to open your filthy mouth to praise Keshi.
I am glad you yourself confessed that I am one of the few who supported Keshi when shallow minded ones like you and your twin omo9ja were up in arms against him back then. Even we that supported him till the end back then are not praising him as much as his Judases and Barabases liek you are now priaising him. Shame on all of you. And God will still shame you all come February 2022. It will be like a dream in your eyes just like it was in February 2013.
Rohr is the worst thing that has happened to Nigerian football…thank you very much…just like the Keshi you condemned back then, let him continue to be the worse thing to happen to Nigeria football with such a handsome scorecard of 70% till he wins the next AFCON. God will exalt him to great heights the way he exalted Keshi and prepared a banquet before him in the presence of his enemies like you.
Your Guadiolas who couldnt qualify for AFCON and sank us to 70th in the world the the best thing to have happened to Nigerian football…..LMAOooo
Whether you like it or not, I meant free kicks so take it out of context as you like. Corner kicks and Free kicks, throw-ins are set pieces but what I meant was free kicks if you like, remain in that spot like your Rohr
GREECE had no Calibre of players and won Euro 2004, Denmark had no calibre of players except the Laudrup brothers and won Euro 1992 even though they did not even qualify in the first place.
Keshi won AFCON with players from NPFL. Keshi used to say in those days, the Nigerian players don’t need to be motivated as their Togolese counterparts. What you need in Nigeria is tactics. Remind your Rohr about the above so that as your drink in your bear parlour together his brain can be re-formatted to concentrate on tactics and not saying gibberish.
Thank you @Dr Drey, let these people continue to wallow in their fallacy thinking they have the best players in the world.
Osimhen is a striker with a great potential but can he be mentioned as equal to Salah, Mane, Mahrex, Aubameyang?
Our wazza-dazzler Chuckwueze was seen as the best talent in the wings but Danjuma got to Villareal and showed us in a short time how a winger should play to help a team better.
Anguissa and Gueye will always command the midfield better than Ndidi anyway, that guy Anguissa is highly underrated, I have watched him in Villareal, Fulham and now Napoli and I can’t hide my admiration for his style of play.
Obviously non of our defenders are worthy enough to make top 20 in Africa but we believe our team is the undisputed Champion of AFCON who simply need to show their presence in Cameroon and stroll over all other accomplished teams to bring the cup home.
Guys we need to be realistic, work and pray hard so that we can go there and show our true 9ja spirit to get the cup back to Abuja IJN.
@Dr Banks Nigeria may not be listed for having the best defenders but if you go through the first team list of most African teams which I have taken time to study in this world cup playoffs,Nigeria and Senegal have the best all round team in Africa.
Some countries have two world class defenders but the rest plays in Turkey,Finland,Belgium and middle east in midfield and attack.
Morocco has four solid world class players in their first team but others plays for clubs in Hungry and other small leagues across Europe and the middle East,same applies to Ghana and others.
But the likes of Nigeria and Senegal have big all round players in every position,Senegal too are not spared they have first team players at Stoke city,Watford and few others who plays for small clubs but Nigeria has solid players who plays for good clubs most in the top 5 European league in the elite divisions.The few who plays outside the top five are employed at sides like Glasgow Rangers and FC Porto with rich history in European football.
My take is Senegal,Nigeria in that order have the biggest squad in Africa.
IF TRULY THIS IS DR DREY THIS IS HIS FIRST COMMENT WITHOUT ABUSING ANYONE. NIGERIA NEEDS TO ROLL THEIR SLEEVES AND START WORK IMMEDIATELY. THE ERA OF THINKING NIGERIAN HAVE THE BEST LEGS ARE GONE, NOW THESE FRENCH SPEAKING NATIONS ARE FAR BETTER THAN OUR PLAYERS NOT NECESSARILY IN SKILLS BUT IN PASSION AND COMMITMENT. I OBSERVED THE MOMENT ANY NIGERIA GUY BLOW UP AND THEY GET MONEY THEY GET COMFORTABLE NOSE DRIVE. IF NIGERIA WERE TO BE STABLE ECONOMICALLY LIKE ADVANCED COUNTRIES I BET YOUTHS WILL EVEN CHOOSE FOOTBALL,REASON WHY YOUTHS GO FOR FOOTBALL IS TO BECOME RICH AND ONCE THEY GET THE MONEY THE DRIVES TO BE THE BEST IN THEIR CHOSEN FIELD DISSIPATE. PLAYERS LIKE MANE, SALAH ARE TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF WHAT AM SAYING EVEN THE GREAT YAYA TOURE STATED FROM A MODEST CLUB AND ATTAINED GREATNESS. OUR PLAYERS LIKE LUXURY CHECK IHENACHO AND CO ON SOCIAL MEDIA STUFFS FLAUNTING LUXURY.
I THINK THE KEY TO SUPER EAGLES GREATNESS IS TO CHANGE THEIR ORIENTATIONS TOWARD PERSONAL HARD WORK. IN THE PAST, PLAYERS ARE HAPPY TO WEAR THE NATIONAL JERSY FOR PRIDE BUT LATELY PLAYERS REJOICE WHEN THEY ARE INVITED INTO NATIONAL TEAM BECAUSE THEIR MARKET PRICE INCREASES WHICH MEANS BETTER PAY OR HAPPY BECAUSE A BETTER CLUB WILL APPROACH THEM.
DR DREY YOUR FACTS ARE ON POINTS AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT INSULT PEOPLE FOR HAVING A CONTRARY OPINION.
You’re a great progressive thinker. Your comments have been very consistent and straight to the main point of concern. The mentality and education of the players has everything to do with their end result and these are one of the problems hindering the nation at large. We pray for leaders who will think outside the box and fix this loopholes.
I disagree with you on ndidi Behind kesie and gueye, ndidi is sure among top 3 African midfielder.
Ndid is in the top 10 Defensive midfielders in the world. Look it up and easily Top 3 in Africa.
https://www-sportbible-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.sportbible.com/football/53021-best-defensive-midfielders-in-the-world-20210712.amp.html?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16340807238075&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportbible.com%2Ffootball%2F53021-best-defensive-midfielders-in-the-world-20210712
Eya, so everyone is hitting on Rohr now. I see people like Victor are trying to hoodwink nff into sacking SE coach and in his place a local coach employed. That will be a bad decision. Apart from late Steve Keshi, no other local coach has done us proud. We had Siasia, Oliseh, late Amodu, what did we get from them? Soccer was just like lock down back in the days.
Thanks for your inputs Mr. Ikpeba. Only the wise ones would understand what you mean by this statement.
“We don’t have the team to dominate African football but we have the team to qualify for the World Cup.”
When you said we don’t have the team to dominate African football, this shows that we have the players but we don’t have a team under the current coaches of the team. That is more clearer.
In one word, we can’t continue that way. We have to find a solution to the problem and the only solution is to remove Amaju from his post and put one of the ex players in that position. Then, Oga Rohr also will vacate his position to another department because NFF doesn’t have money to pay him.
I believe the gaffer is very good at scouting and scouting for Super Eagles new coaching crew should be the next thing that Oga Rohr should be doing from now on.
If NFF failed to do this before the next match, Nigeria may not qualify to the world Cup under Oga Rohr ooo. God forbid.
It is not about pitch or owing the gaffer but it is all about his inability to read game, early subs and wrong tactics.
I omo9ja believe that Amunike and the rest of our own can do more than than Oga Rohr and Oga Agu.
Did you hear from Pinnick since yesterday? That man is the big problem of our football.
The man that decided to send our world class coach to a refresher course why we have Amunike Egbo that are better than him?
NFF even suggested that Amunike should help Oga Rohr but the wise man turned the offer down because he, Amunike knew that NFF wanted to play politics game with him.
We played CAR and we were celebrating as if we played against Senegal and Egypt. That means we don’t know our pedigree in football. It is a shame if we don’t know.
Cape Verde and other smaller teams will believe that they can come to Nigeria and beat Nigeria at home. The door is wide open.
It started from Madagascar, Sierra Leone and now CAR.
* First Super Eagles team to loose 4 goals lead to an African opposition.
* First Super Eagles team that failed to win a single match last year 2020.
* The first coach to tell Nigerians that our players are not good enough to win the world cup?
Fellow Patriotic Nigerians, do you want to fold your arms doing nothing while Super Eagles may not be able to qualify to the next year world cup? It is coming and we should be fully prepared.
Fingers crossed. God bless Nigeria!!!
A fool
Who is a fool? Omo9ja, Rohr, Pinick or Ikpeba?
You are just a dishonorable mediocre.
You are not in any way close to whoever you called a fool in terms of achievement.
Can’t people just discuss sports here without being derogatory?
Thank you very much @Felix for asking Frank that question. I am waiting for his response.
Nigeria @61 and we Nigerians are still deceiving ourselves.
Shall we keep deceiving ourselves till eternity?
Well, the time will tell. God bless Nigeria!!!
OMO9JA IS SOMEONE I LOVE AND CHERISH NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF HIS DOGGEDNESS BUT FOR HIS MANNER OF NOT DISRESPECTING EVEN PEOPLE THAT GO AGAINST HIS PHILOSOPHY. IT IS TRUE WE NEED A COACH BUT FOR AMUNEKE OR LOCAL COACH TO TAKE OVER WILL SPELL DOOM IN THE SHORT RUN OR LONG RUN. NO NIGERIAN COACH CAN EFFECTIVELY MANAGE SUPER EAGLES FORGET ABOUT WHETHER THEY ARE TACTICAL OR NOT. IT TAKES EGO TO BE A COACH , NO NIGERIA COACH HAS THAT , THEY WILL BE BULLIED BY THE BILLIONAIRE PLAYERS, INTIMIDATED AND HARASSED BY THE NFF AND THE POWERS THAT BE AND FINALLY BE ATTACKED BY THE NO NONESENSE AND FIX-THINGS-QUICKLY FANS.
@RESPCT IS RECIPROCAL, thanks for your love. I love you and everyone on this platform as well.
You know, “Football” is like daily meals for us Nigerians. We can’t do without it and more so, it unites us. This is why I am doing the talking for the sake of our beloved country, Nigeria.
This our country is a great opportunity for you and I to excel but our leaders/rulers/politicians have spoiled the future of Nigeria for their own interests.
If you have the opportunity to travel abroad or even in African countries here, you will understand that we are blessed in Nigeria but the only problem Nigeria is facing are the Nigerians themselves because Nigerians are the problem of Nigeria period.
The only thing that putting smile on our faces, NFF is trying to take that from us, shall we fold our arms looking at them as if we don’t have any role to play?
Nigeria is the only country on earth that can change the world if God willing.
We have the capacity to do so my dear brother.
We did that at the last year world cup.
We have changed the world at the last world cup in Russia.
Look at the jerseys nowadays. Both locally and globally. Club football and national teams in each country since the last world cup 2018 in Russia, they are still copying our evergreen jersey design that we worn against Iceland.
That should tell our government/leaders/kings and politicians that we have the power and capacity to become number one in the world.
We are building cars in Nigeria. Aircrafts and smart phones and what else we can not do? We really good at everything.
It is a big shame if NFF can not boldly enough to produce the world class coaches among our ex footballers.
Moreover, we still have a lot to do in terms of sports most especially, in football.
If we are struggling to beat CAR, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Algeria, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, when we have these quality of players under Oga Rohr, I don’t think we have a point to go to the next year world cup in Qatar and Afcon tournament in Cameroon.
That is my point. NFF should do something before something do them.
One love brother. Ire o. God bless us all. Nigeria!!!
NO ARGUMENT HERE V
It doesnt take ego to be a good coach. That is complete fallacy. But to know your formation (system) and also know how to select your players to play that system. The ego part you claim comes by instilling confidence in players.
Let me ask you this, are coaches like Carlo Ancelloti, Pep Guardiola, or Raphael Benitez ego driven???
The answer is no.
Even Jose Mourinho is not ego driven, you may say he is. But he is not. An ego driven coach will not listen or talk to his players, because he needs them on his side to succeed.
Lampard was ego driven, where did that take him to.
Nice one
Rapheal onyedika is maturing into a fine central midfielder.
The boy might just be a major assest for Nigeria.
I watched some of his video clips and I was impressed.
He has good height, good ball control, great passing especially long passing, good skills. All he needs now is experience and exposure which he is getting at his Norwegian club.
But I tell you if he continues to improve he will be sold to a bigger club in no time at all.
Folks,
The seriousness with which Senegal and Algeria dispatched their “minors” today was super impressive.
…but our so called avalanche of stars (snippets of our imaginations) struggle to put goals pass CAR.
Well, AFCON is almost here, we go see who be who
The best team currently in Africa now by my own rating is Senegal. They have already qualified to the final round of the qualifier with two matches to go! They won all the four matches with 12 points. The second team is having 4 points. Give the remaining two matches to the second team they will only stop at 10 points. Senegal is the only team that have qualified now. Our remaining matches should be moved out of Lagos to Uyo. Nff should stop politicizing super eagles venue for the wc or else we will continue shooting ourselves in the foot.
Morocco have also qualified for the next round with 2 games to spare, having secured the maximum 12 points from 4 matches.
While we are struggling at home to beat the likes of CAR and Liberia, thanks largely to NFF ineptitude!
The next round of African world cup qualifiers will be a blood bath.
This unserious attitude and lack of professionalism we have been showing needs to be brought to a screeching halt! There is fire on the mountain!
As it stands, these are the countries on top of the 10 qualifying groups:
Algeria
Tunisia
Nigeria
Ivory Coast
Mali
Egypt
South Africa
Senegal
Morocco
Tanzania
I don’t for sure how the 10 group winners will be paired. But it will likely be according to ranking. So the top ranked Senegal will likely be paired with the least ranked Tanzania. If the pairing is done according to ranking, and the group leaders remain the same, the final round fixtures will likely be:
Senegal vs Tanzania
Tunisia vs South Africa
Algeria vs Mali
Morocco vs Ivory Coast
Nigeria vs Egypt
If we are struggling to beat CAR, Liberia and Cape Verde, we better get our act right when it’s time for the next round!!!
The tougher they come, the easier they fall, trust the eagle to deliver when the stage is high, I know this a long time and any fervent follower of the round leather game will agree with me that big team usually struggle with minor or less fancy side, you right though that the guys need be professional and put on the business like attitude because Africa soccer have really come of age, for me it’s next to Europe now.
You are seeing what am seeing now @Pompei. I took my time to watch top teams in Africa and if we meet one of them, we stand no chance in terms of coaching crew I think.
Nigeria have one of the strongest team in Africa at the moment but Nigeria can’t win a tea cup with the coaching crew.
The reason why I said this.
N01, no competition in the team.
N02, the coaching department is very weak.
N03. No play maker and the team does play as a team.
N04. No seriousness in the team and determinations to win big things for Nigeria because the coaches always putting the team down in front of their opponents.
N05. The gaffer have no confidence in the team. The coaches do not plan big and also wasting the talents of our players.
N06. Man management, that is the only thing that keeping the team going.
N07. NFF. The Nigeria Football Federation do not care for our image. That may hurt our chances of qualifying for the world cup and that also may affect our chances of winning the Afcon trophy in Cameroon. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
I like your optimism. I hope Egypt and Mo Salah “fall easy” when we meet them at the Afcon and potentially at the final round of world cup qualifiers!
Omo9ja, talking about competition, we need Dessers and Sadiq in the team to help Osimhen. We also need a deputy for Ndidi. And while it’s great that we now have Ejuke in addition to Iwobi, we need another playmaker. I think Ejaria is a possible solution to that problem. Akinkunmi Amoo is another guy that can provide that creative spark and possibly perform in the number 10 role.
Regarding the coach and his crew, this remains the bone of contention between us. I have always said Rohr is not the best thing since sliced bread. The man has some significant problems. But he has not failed us. Rohr has actually been a big bonus for us. And the reason I say this is very simple. N1,000 and N10,000 can never produce the same quality of soup. We’re talking about BUYING POWER. At the moment, thanks to the incompetent, inept NFF ONIGBESE, we don’t have enough money to even pay coaches’ salaries, talk less of hiring a quality coach! So we have no CONTRACTUAL OR MORAL BASIS to demand anything from Rohr.
So a world class coach is not a possibility because money no dey. Additionally, I’m sure we both agree that having Rohr at the helm is much better than any African Guardiola. The Amunike and co. you keep mentioning, ideally, these guys should work under a world class coach first before we can entrust the national team to them.
For now, we have a coach we’re owing, under whom we haven’t missed any major tournament. An unpaid coach who has a record of 22 wins, 6 draws and only 6 losses. That to me is a splendid return, even for a coach who is getting paid regularly!!!
So omo9ja, our biggest football problem is not Rohr and/or his crew. It’s NFF ONIGBESE. They have been sabotaging our football with incompetence and corruption. And they will likely be the culprits if we fail to qualify for the world cup.