Africa Football Discussion || Current Topic: Worldcup qualifiers - CAF.

[Alpha Marine]

As much as I am also happy for the super eagles for having their first win in the AFCON 2023 tournament, let's not forget that there win today was as a result of a penalty they played against ivory coast, I personally assume this match would have also ended in a draw (goalless draw) if not for the penalty the referee awarded the super eagles.

Aside from the penalty, I guess one thing that gave Nigeria the win today was that Ivory Coast did not play well. If they had played well they could have won.
Although Ivory Coast did not play well they played better than Nigeria. Nigeria couldn't keep the ball down and play amongst themselves.

What I can say the Nigerians did well was that they were compact. They defended well and did not allow Ivory Coast to have many chances.
Now Ivory Coast needs to win Equatorial Guinea to qualify. The hosts find themselves in a very difficult situation right now.

[Chilwell]

At the moment it looks like Nigeria is going to walk away with the one goal record the currently hard with CIV whi is already at extra time and the player are doing everything possible to protect their 18 line from every possible penetrations.

I think if Nigeria is able to away with this match against the host nation in this round, this will be alot of motivation for the Nigeria team ahead of the whole round.

Indeed, this is exactly what am also thinking because even when they scored still my mind wasn't at rest, assuming they are playing against any other team that are not the host I will say there is hope, but seeing the match ended like this, definitely Nigeria are ready for any team that comes their way. Nigeria as just escape the dangerous zone now they are in second position in the table, what Nigeria need now is to increase the performance to win their last match to qualify for group stage.

Egypt vs Ghana
This match is going to be tough, Ghana had lose their first match and Egypt draw their first match too, this two teams hopes lay on the match because this match will point out who is qualifying, so let see what will happen.

[Zanab247]

At the moment it looks like Nigeria is going to walk away with the one goal record the currently hard with CIV whi is already at extra time and the player are doing everything possible to protect their 18 line from every possible penetrations.

I think if Nigeria is able to away with this match against the host nation in this round, this will be alot of motivation for the Nigeria team ahead of the whole round.

Infant, Nigeria really play well from the beginning of the first half to secured one goal that reduced the strength and energy of the Ivory coast and to give Nigeria citizens confident that there is a hope for them to win the game and achieve 3 points from Ivory coast home.

As it stand now in the extra time, I don't think Ivory coast can equalize the game because they have missed so much opportunity that would have make them to equalized the game, but right now Nigeria players are playing defending game to ensure the game end up 0:1 for the favour of Nigeria.

[Wiwo]

At the moment it looks like Nigeria is going to walk away with the one goal record the currently hard with CIV whi is already at extra time and the player are doing everything possible to protect their 18 line from every possible penetrations.

I think if Nigeria is able to away with this match against the host nation in this round, this will be alot of motivation for the Nigeria team ahead of the whole round.

Nigerians will be pleased with the outcome today, having gained three points in this match. However, based on the match statistics, they were extremely fortunate to win today. The host nation dominated possession of the ball, shots on goal, and passes, while Nigeria relied solely on a penalty goal awarded to them in the second half of the game. Nigerians have a lot of star players in their squad, but they're not using them to their full potential. If they don't improve their performance and keep up this pace, I doubt they'll make it to the tournament's finals.

There is nothing impressive about this match honestly. Nigeria is not supposed to win by one goal in this match. Many fans from all over the world expect Nigeria to have won by 2 or more goals. I am very confused till now why Nigeria would be so weak to the extend of winning the match by a small chance. I even see the goal as a luck because Nigeria is a big country with a great team, why would they have to win by slightest chances.

 The most annoying thing about this match is that many of the fans of Nigeria are in great loses. Most of us bet on this match with over 1.5 thinking the match is going to end with more than 2 goals. Nigeria team had so many opportunities to win this match but still could not meet up with the ability to score. My money is gone...holy shit!

Well for me, I think winning the match with one goal is something that we need to celebrate at the moment considering how poor our team have being performing previously at least we have to celebrate this goal because is still better than 0:0 draw games or losing the match, it could have been worst than this if the goal have come earlier than when it was recorded in the match.

And from the look of things, the Nigeria team are going to finish this tournament strong compared to previous season's, at the moment Egypt Vs GHANA game highlights are on and I think the match is goin to win Ghana sure that my predictions.

[Marykeller]

Ivory Coast 0 - 0 Nigeria
So far so good and finally Nigeria has meant a strong team that can ginger them. Today match interesting and Ivory Coast is on the highest ball possession. Uncle Osimhen has missed another face to face goal again. Lolz I was thinking that Nigeria would score a goal in the first half but I don't think so again because the opponent are playing very well. Nigerian goal keeper is good if not they have scored him. If Nigeria wins this match then they will win the match because Ivory Coast players are very smart and likely to score now in the first half.

Which team do you think will win today match? Let have fun here.

Nepa have f*cked me up, and I totally forget the time this match was scheduled to be played, I should have fueled my generator on time so as to be able to watch this match, now, I've missed it and totally sad about it.

Anyways, I am following the scores online, and the first half just passed a couple of minutes ago, there are no goals yet, but I am happy that some of us here are praising our super eagles for their well play, and are also believing we have a chance at winning the games tonight, this is exactly what I was saying in the morning on this thread, I personally believe the super eagles will not disappoint us, this game will rather end in a draw instead if the super eagles don't win.

Edit: Nigeria 1 : 0 Ivory coast

It wouldn't have been a good result if Nigeria had their match against Ivory Coast a draw because that would have been the worst mistake for them and it would have made them lose their chance of qualifying out of the group stage. But thank goodness luck shines on the Super Eagles today, to have their first win, after a draw that brought them to the second spot of the Group A table with 4 points.

Assuming it was a draw match for the Super Eagles, instead of a win. Where do you think, Super Eagle would find themselves after Equatorial Guinea dealt with Guinea Bissau by 4-2?

All I can say about this match-winning by Super Eagle is, they had a lucky win. If not for that penalty, they wouldn't have won.

[Sim_card]

As much as I am also happy for the super eagles for having their first win in the AFCON 2023 tournament, let's not forget that there win today was as a result of a penalty they played against ivory coast, I personally assume this match would have also ended in a draw (goalless draw) if not for the penalty the referee awarded the super eagles.

Aside from the penalty, I guess one thing that gave Nigeria the win today was that Ivory Coast did not play well. If they had played well they could have won.
Although Ivory Coast did not play well they played better than Nigeria. Nigeria couldn't keep the ball down and play amongst themselves.

What I can say the Nigerians did well was that they were compact. They defended well and did not allow Ivory Coast to have many chances.
Now Ivory Coast needs to win Equatorial Guinea to qualify. The hosts find themselves in a very difficult situation right now.

Three points is three points, no matter how it was achieved. I will say that it is better not to play well but win the game, than playing very impressive, and still lose the game. Nigeria was very lucky today for them to win the host, because the host played better than them. However, what I admire in the super eagle is their strong defense, which was what helped them not to concede any goal even when Ivory Coast was mounting pressure. Where I got mad was when the new substitute has the opportunity of passing the ball to his team mate for a second goal inside the host 18 yard box but he selfishly held the ball to himself and that opportunity was lost. If any country cannot penetrate Nigeria defense in the tournament, it means that Nigeria will go far. The problem that I see is that the midfield is not working at all, and Nigeria coach needs to work on this for improvement.

[Richbased]

At the moment it looks like Nigeria is going to walk away with the one goal record the currently hard with CIV whi is already at extra time and the player are doing everything possible to protect their 18 line from every possible penetrations.

I think if Nigeria is able to away with this match against the host nation in this round, this will be alot of motivation for the Nigeria team ahead of the whole round.

Infant, Nigeria really play well from the beginning of the first half to secured one goal that reduced the strength and energy of the Ivory coast and to give Nigeria citizens confident that there is a hope for them to win the game and achieve 3 points from Ivory coast home.

As it stand now in the extra time, I don't think Ivory coast can equalize the game because they have missed so much opportunity that would have make them to equalized the game, but right now Nigeria players are playing defending game to ensure the game end up 0:1 for the favour of Nigeria.

Regardless of the fact that the super eagles of Nigeria isn't really playing the way the fans expected, they also deserve some accolades as it wasn't really easy for them to win Ivory Coast though the Ivory Coast side didn't also played well if not this match would have ended in another draw but however, I applaud the Super eagles of Nigeria for this win because regardless of the fact that Nigeria hasn't been performing well in AFCON competitions for some years now, Nigerians are still happy whenever the Super eagles win a match in the AFCON.

[Pokapoka124]

This game exposed how poorly the super eagles are playing in the AFCON. Our strikers are so so weak, more work needs to be done on the attacking side. Z. Sanusi was quite impressive in the first half before he fizzled out in the second half. Our star player, Victor Osimhen was given Man of the match, but for me I think Troost-Ekong should have been given the Man of the match. He scored the winning goal, so why not him?

There is nothing impressive about this match honestly. Nigeria is not supposed to win by one goal in this match. Many fans from all over the world expect Nigeria to have won by 2 or more goals. I am very confused till now why Nigeria would be so weak to the extend of winning the match by a small chance. I even see the goal as a luck because Nigeria is a big country with a great team, why would they have to win by slightest chances.

[Miles2006]

As much as I am also happy for the super eagles for having their first win in the AFCON 2023 tournament, let's not forget that there win today was as a result of a penalty they played against ivory coast, I personally assume this match would have also ended in a draw (goalless draw) if not for the penalty the referee awarded the super eagles.

Aside from the penalty, I guess one thing that gave Nigeria the win today was that Ivory Coast did not play well. If they had played well they could have won.
Although Ivory Coast did not play well they played better than Nigeria. Nigeria couldn't keep the ball down and play amongst themselves.

What I can say the Nigerians did well was that they were compact. They defended well and did not allow Ivory Coast to have many chances.
Now Ivory Coast needs to win Equatorial Guinea to qualify. The hosts find themselves in a very difficult situation right now.

The performance of both Nigeria and Ivory Coast looks poor today and I'm impressed with Ivory Coast cause they really surprised me and I never expected much from Ivory coast. The wrong passes is really affecting the team and If Nigeria continue with this poor performance always they will not go far and seeing their first performance against Equatorial Guinea although the match ended draw but it doesn't change the fact that Nigeria has zero skill when ever they're playing, let's wait and watch if they'll change but I'm rooting for Nigeria but if they continue with this performance next time then it shows they're not prepared and I hope they bring out their best in the next match

[AYOBA]

At the moment it looks like Nigeria is going to walk away with the one goal record the currently hard with CIV whi is already at extra time and the player are doing everything possible to protect their 18 line from every possible penetrations.

I think if Nigeria is able to away with this match against the host nation in this round, this will be alot of motivation for the Nigeria team ahead of the whole round.

Infant, Nigeria really play well from the beginning of the first half to secured one goal that reduced the strength and energy of the Ivory coast and to give Nigeria citizens confident that there is a hope for them to win the game and achieve 3 points from Ivory coast home.

As it stand now in the extra time, I don't think Ivory coast can equalize the game because they have missed so much opportunity that would have make them to equalized the game, but right now Nigeria players are playing defending game to ensure the game end up 0:1 for the favour of Nigeria.

Nigeria gave a strong showing. Because all of my predictions came true, I must say that today's battle was quite interesting. The Nigerian performance went well in both the first and second half. People thought I was merely making incorrect predictions when I said that Nigeria would win today. Some people's say that Nigeria won today match by penalty, but we don't care about that because at least they worked hard to score their first goal and get three points.

Ivory Coast think say Nigeria will perform similarly to their previous encounter against Equatorial Guinea, they are unaware that Nigeria's coach devised a successful strategy against them. As it stands now, Nigeria is in the 2nd position, and they will soon take over the top standing from Equatorial Guinea.

[Stepstowealth]

This game exposed how poorly the super eagles are playing in the AFCON.

Nigeria missed many good chances, they were two very good chances, one for Chukwueze to pass the ball to lookman to shoot, and then Simon to pass the ball too, but the two players showed that they are stingy and chose to try on their own which wasted the chances. They need to be cautioned. The coach played 3-4-3 when Nigeria were attacking, and then 5-4-1 when Ivory Coast which made it difficult for Ivory coast to pass and made them to start playing shots from outside.

Victor Osimhen was given Man of the match, but for me I think Troost-Ekong should have been given the Man of the match. He scored the winning goal, so why not him?

Man of the Match for me would have been Aina, Onyeka or even lookman, because they really played what was impressive. It was not a convincing win for Nigeria against Ivory Coast, more work need to be done with trying to improve scoring because we waste too many chances that we get.

[gabbie2010]

At the moment it looks like Nigeria is going to walk away with the one goal record the currently hard with CIV whi is already at extra time and the player are doing everything possible to protect their 18 line from every possible penetrations.

I think if Nigeria is able to away with this match against the host nation in this round, this will be alot of motivation for the Nigeria team ahead of the whole round.

Nigeria game plan really worked perfectly I think their game plan is to sit back and defend while launching counterattack taking the advantage of pacy Victor Osimhen, of course it's not easy playing the host country and equally with good players and it's obvious the Ivorians dominated and took most of the possessions including 3 shot on goal against Nigeria with only 1 shot, though Nigeria had a clear chance wasted by Osimhen in the first half and now with the look of things Ivory coast is now in a precarious situation now because they have a tough match against Equatorial Guinea who had 4 points and would aim for draw to qualify for the next round.

[Franctoshi]

nothing impressive about this match honestly. Nigeria is not supposed to win by one goal in this match.
 I am very confused till now why Nigeria would be so weak to the extend of winning the match by a small chance. I even see the goal as a luck because Nigeria is a big country with a great team, why would they have to win by slightest chances.

Though their performance was not that impressive judging from their overall performance in the game but I must admit, their performance towards the end of the game was really entertaining.

Many fans from all over the world expect Nigeria to have won by 2 or more goals.

For me, in today's game the goal margin did not matter because they needed the 3 points to stay alive in the competition more than any other thing, after that, Ivory Coast picked up 3 points in their first leg game while the Equatorial Guinea team picked 3 points in their second match, while leaving the Nigerian team behind.

[Dzwaafu11]

~~snip~~

Nepa have f*cked me up, and I totally forget the time this match was scheduled to be played, I should have fueled my generator on time so as to be able to watch this match, now, I've missed it and totally sad about it.

Anyways, I am following the scores online, and the first half just passed a couple of minutes ago, there are no goals yet, but I am happy that some of us here are praising our super eagles for their well play, and are also believing we have a chance at winning the games tonight, this is exactly what I was saying in the morning on this thread, I personally believe the super eagles will not disappoint us, this game will rather end in a draw instead if the super eagles don't win.

Edit: Nigeria 1 : 0 Ivory coast

The Nigerian electric company just somehow, if not, could have guaranteed all the citizens a single day of light so that everyone would enjoy watching the match in their various homes, but they won’t do that. Because the company is private, and even if the Nigerian electricity company turns private, I think that’s when we're even supposed to get more light on the fact that we are paying for the Nepa bills.

Again, the super eagles have not shown any sign that will make us expect more from them if Nigeria continues. Okay, this way, I don't think we will go forward after this group because they are doing something different and not what we expect. However, I think the coach still gets to show how professional he is, and the players, who boost the squad's performance, are also misbehaving. I just hope the Super Eagles do much better in these competitions.

[Smartvirus]

The Nigerian electric company just somehow, if not, could have guaranteed all the citizens a single day of light so that everyone would enjoy watching the match in their various homes, but they won’t do that. Because the company is private, and even if the Nigerian electricity company turns private, I think that’s when we're even supposed to get more light on the fact that we are paying for the Nepa bills.

This is something that I find very unsettling and it’s often the case when we have Nigeria playing. Just why is that? It’s something that shouldn’t be, it’s one means to show patriotism and support for the super eagles but, it seems they just don’t give a damn about it. Either way, we still get to watch somehow but, it would be some means to make citizens appreciate themselves in there country.

Again, the super eagles have not shown any sign that will make us expect more from them if Nigeria continues.

Evidently, this is true. I watch Nigerian games and I see a team full of talents and potential but somehow, they don’t play to their full potent. Maybe it’s because, they don’t have any rivals to be competing for spots and they are doing there most to avoid injury so they could return and play there club football but, they are a better team than advertised.
I’ve got zero expectations on them and they really need to step up their game.
V. Osimhen is missing way too many chances, one on one for that matter. Nice one they got to win there game today but, they can do better.

[BitcoinHunt3r]

Nigeria game plan really worked perfectly I think their game plan is to sit back and defend while launching counterattack taking the advantage of pacy Victor Osimhen, of course it's not easy playing the host country and equally with good players and it's obvious the Ivorians dominated and took most of the possessions including 3 shot on goal against Nigeria with only 1 shot, though Nigeria had a clear chance wasted by Osimhen in the first half and now with the look of things Ivory coast is now in a precarious situation now because they have a tough match against Equatorial Guinea who had 4 points and would aim for draw to qualify for the next round.

I think this is just luck for Nigeria because they don't make much effort and as we see Ivory coast dominates the match but yeah any effort can be defeated by luck. It seems that competition in Group A is getting fiercer at least 3 teams are competing for 1st and 2nd place and Ivory Coast as one of the favorites certainly doesn't want to lose the opportunity they will make every effort to get through to the next stage. Next week Ivory Coast will face Guinea as group A leaders  it won't be easy but Ivory Coast are targeting at least one point.

By the way a live match is happening today between Egypt vs Ghana the match has been running for 80 minutes with the score 2-2 interestingly, in 5 minutes both teams had scored 3 goals 69' 71' and 74'  apart from that we see a fight between 2 players from the Premier League Moh Salah and Moh Kudus and Moh Kudus has scored 2 goals while Salah has not scored.

[Onyeeze]

What Nigeria played today the win this match based on lock and without the penalty I don't think that it would have at least call one go the players of Nigeria they would have scored one goal before the first half so that is why I don't believe in Nigeria football team and I cannot say that they did well in this month because they are supposed to score at least three goals I don't know for others prediction I will do this method of their playing team I don't think that Nigeria will make this game because it is over yours that what they are playing cannot take them to highest level

[Stable090]

Aside from the penalty, I guess one thing that gave Nigeria the win today was that Ivory Coast did not play well. If they had played well they could have won.
Although Ivory Coast did not play well they played better than Nigeria. Nigeria couldn't keep the ball down and play amongst themselves.

Why did you think if Ivory Coast played well, they would have won? I will also say Nigeria didn’t play well today, if they had played well, they would have been able to score more than one goal in the match. If I were to be honest about today's match, the two teams' performance wasn’t really good. They both performed averagely in the match, and they both had some good opportunities that should have been converted into goals in the match, but we all saw how the two teams wasted the goal chances that they had. Today’s win is really a nice one for Nigeria, if they improve in their performance, they have chances of qualifying for the next round.

What I can say the Nigerians did well was that they were compact. They defended well and did not allow Ivory Coast to have many chances.

Nigeria's defence was really good today. Ivory Coast had it difficult to break their defense in the match. I see their defense to be a better one in today's match compared to when they played their first match, which was against Equatorial Guinea. Let’s hope there will be improvement in Nigeria's performance generally in their coming matches.

[Sakanwa]

What Nigeria played today the win this match based on lock and without the penalty I don't think that it would have at least call one go the players of Nigeria they would have scored one goal before the first half so that is why I don't believe in Nigeria football team and I cannot say that they did well in this month because they are supposed to score at least three goals I don't know for others prediction I will do this method of their playing team I don't think that Nigeria will make this game because it is over yours that what they are playing cannot take them to highest level

You are very correct,was watching the Ghana vs Ivory coast game,and I must say that those two teams play beautiful football more than Nigeria by far.Nigeria,even if they have a striker that all eyes are on in the competition,they have struggled to get goals,and according to one of the super eagles striker,that Nigerian pitch is bad,that is why they have been struggling infront of goals, therefore,they need to look for a way to adapt to this new field and try to play on it, thesame way other players in the tournament will be complaining.If Nigeria continue to play like this,they will not get to anywhere.

[nelson4lov]

What Nigeria played today the win this match based on lock and without the penalty I don't think that it would have at least call one go the players of Nigeria they would have scored one goal before the first half so that is why I don't believe in Nigeria football team and I cannot say that they did well in this month because they are supposed to score at least three goals I don't know for others prediction I will do this method of their playing team I don't think that Nigeria will make this game because it is over yours that what they are playing cannot take them to highest level

Agreed. Nigeria is playing at the level that is expected of the team. Judging from the two games played so far, the team hasn't played in sync and it has just been disappointing to watch a team of such quality to struggle. But I still have faith in the fact that as long as they keep moving forward with each round of the tournament, the team performance is bound to improve. I'd say Nigeria played slightly more better and confident than the first game with EQ Guinea.

Holding the host at bay even if the penalty was the only differential, it's still 3 points and a good thing for the team. We stay in the Afcon to fight another day.