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

[Nheer]

That’s football, it’s either you win or you lose in a final match.
The players did their best from the beginning of the tournament till this stage, they all played with their heart to represent the nation, and it ended like this, it is not a bad one in my opinion.

It is always hard for against a host team that is also the best loser in a tournament, Ivory Coast deserves the victory because they played well throughout the tournament.

But some players in Nigeria did not play well today especially Iwobi, and Ola Aina but we can’t do anything about it.
In the end, Kudos to the coach and his team, they did well.

Congratulations to Ivory Coast 🇨🇮, and goodbye AFCON.

Congratulations to Ivory Coast they were far better than Nigeria they controlled the game throughout and they showed they were well prepared for the final, the players were well composed and didn’t give up despite going a goal down. Nigeria on the other hand lacked composure and played like an underdog despite having the lead before half time they couldn’t define their play and I didn’t see any style of play in their game.

I feel they have been lucky all through the competition because their style of play have not been convincing enough as all teams they face easily outplayed them but they usually get lucky to win one way or another. Nigeria lacks midfield and that was their major weakness and it cost them the game because Iwobi was totally careless and was useless throughout the game, Ola Aina was also very poor and allowed Adingra to exploit him and assisted two goals all from his wing.

Ivory Coast deserved to win because they were clearly the better team, they had more goal attempts and created more chances.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

This is one of the saddest days of my life. As a Nigerian, I’m shattered. I truly hoped that this wouldn’t be the result. In the beginning, not many (Nigerians) gave the Super Eagles a chance to make it to this point but we did. I’m proud of what we have accomplished this far. We will try again next year. Congratulations to Ivory Coast. They were really good today, a victory well deserved.

It is indeed a sad night/day for all Nigerian, as we thought we were winning and finally saw ourselves losing the game. But to me, I think the Super Eagles players are to be blame for performing poor in today's game due to over-confidence, and the spirit of laziness just immediately after we did score our first goal at 32', and then the Super Eagles started playing a defensive game, instead of playing an attacking game, because if only the Super Eagles had continues with the very energy they played 10 minutes into the end of the game that they continued, nothing would have made us not to win this game. But all the same, 2nd position isn't that bad as such.

[Frankolala]

That’s football, it’s either you win or you lose in a final match.
The players did their best from the beginning of the tournament till this stage, they all played with their heart to represent the nation, and it ended like this, it is not a bad one in my opinion.

It is always hard for against a host team that is also the best loser in a tournament, Ivory Coast deserves the victory because they played well throughout the tournament.

But some players in Nigeria did not play well today especially Iwobi, and Ola Aina but we can’t do anything about it.
In the end, Kudos to the coach and his team, they did well.

Congratulations to Ivory Coast 🇨🇮, and goodbye AFCON.

Congratulations to Ivory Coast they were far better than Nigeria they controlled the game throughout and they showed they were well prepared for the final, the players were well composed and didn’t give up despite going a goal down. Nigeria on the other hand lacked composure and played like an underdog despite having the lead before half time they couldn’t define their play and I didn’t see any style of play in their game.

I feel they have been lucky all through the competition because their style of play have not been convincing enough as all teams they face easily outplayed them but they usually get lucky to win one way or another. Nigeria lacks midfield and that was their major weakness and it cost them the game because Iwobi was totally careless and was useless throughout the game, Ola Aina was also very poor and allowed Adingra to exploit him and assisted two goals all from his wing.

Ivory Coast deserved to win because they were clearly the better team, they had more goal attempts and created more chances.

Ivory Coast deserves to be the new Africa champion. They were determined to win and they stayed focus on their goal without allowing the goal scored by Ekong to be a distraction for them.

Nigeria couldn't put in their best performance due to some reasons best known to them alone. I believe that the Ivorians came with a different game pattern, compared to that in which they used in playing Nigeria in the group stage.

Congratulations to the Ivorians for making their country proud.

[Ndabagi01]

This is one of the saddest days of my life. As a Nigerian, I’m shattered. I truly hoped that this wouldn’t be the result. In the beginning, not many (Nigerians) gave the Super Eagles a chance to make it to this point but we did. I’m proud of what we have accomplished this far. We will try again next year. Congratulations to Ivory Coast. They were really good today, a victory well deserved.

This is a sad day for many Nigerians, but congratulations to all of the players for coming this far to make their country proud of them. After the match, I just had to analyse the game and observed that Simon Moses should have even started the match because he is good in moving the ball forward than Chukwueze who started ahead of him. Nigeria's main problem was that they were defensive the entire game and had no one to move the ball for them to attack. They learned a lesson.

Ivory Coast outplayed Nigeria and deserved the win tonight; if Nigeria had won today, I would assume they won by luck, not by what they've shown on the pitch today against Ivory Coast. They took the final not too serious and they had to face defeat in the most important match of the tournament. Hard luck to Nigeria congratulations to Ivory Coast.

[vennali]

This is a sad day for many Nigerians, but congratulations to all of the players for coming this far to make their country proud of them. After the match, I just had to analyse the game and observed that Simon Moses should have even started the match because he is good in moving the ball forward than Chukwueze who started ahead of him. Nigeria's main problem was that they were defensive the entire game and had no one to move the ball for them to attack. They learned a lesson.

Ivory Coast outplayed Nigeria and deserved the win tonight; if Nigeria had won today, I would assume they won by luck, not by what they've shown on the pitch today against Ivory Coast. They took the final not too serious and they had to face defeat in the most important match of the tournament. Hard luck to Nigeria congratulations to Ivory Coast.

Stanley Nwabali did a great job in keeping the scoreline close. Nigeria's attack just didn't come together today, partly thanks to Ivory Coast's defence. Nigeria had just 1 shot on target, their only goal coming from their defender. Congrats the Ivory Coast for winning AFCON 2023. Ivory Coast improved as the tournament went by as they started with a few hiccups including losing to Nigeria early on but by the time it came to the finals, they played like Champions.

[Amphenomenon]

This is one of the saddest days of my life. As a Nigerian, I’m shattered. I truly hoped that this wouldn’t be the result. In the beginning, not many (Nigerians) gave the Super Eagles a chance to make it to this point but we did. I’m proud of what we have accomplished this far. We will try again next year. Congratulations to Ivory Coast. They were really good today, a victory well deserved.

I believe your expectations from Super Eagle was high before the match unfortunately they really disappointed all their fans honestly Nigerian doesn't deserve to win with the kind of abysmal performances from their attack to their midfield and their defence was shaky not as solid like their previous matches, it was obvious the Ivorians were more determined they were all over the field and dominated from the start from finish thus they really deserve the Cup and congratulations to the Ivorians for achieving the feat having qualified as a best loser luckily rose up to win the trophy.

True, Nigerian midfield and attack was a mess today, our keeper was the man of match to me, the last goal was totally defensive fault.

I had a feeling this would happen, that if Nigeria meet ivory Coast in the final they will lost it, my reason for this was from the fact that Nigeria defeated them in the group stage and for that reason The team will not be really prepared against Ivory Coast who are the underdog, coming from being the best loser to win the tournament amazing.

Oshimen probably might have won this Afcon if he played for Dr Congo my reasons for this is clearly seen if you watch South Africa vs Dr Congo Match

[Agbamoni]

Noone was thingkin about Ivory Coast.

I was thinking about Nigeria at this point but the home owners won.

That’s football for you; the better team won tonight
It was a fanstastic atmosphere; loud supporters, great tactics, story line goal as haller beats cancer to come back and score the winning goal

The best afcon in years; more to come I believe  in the next Afcon

Indeed, the better team won. Both teams had a very tough game in the final competition. Though it wasn't an easy game for both teams. The worst thing that Nigerian did was to start relying on defending the goal they score. This draws the other team to come close to their 18-yard box. And we all know that anything can happen. This is the reason why Ivory coast was able to score the two goals during the second half. Also, i heard these rumors that whenever Ivory coast equalize a game, they end of winning the game. That is what we saw yesterday, they equalized with the same pressure and momentum they took the chances and scored the second goal.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Needless say that the AFCON 2023 finals match between Nigeria and ivory coast which was played yesterday night was a very disappointing one for the super eagles and Nigerians at large, and with honesty and all humility, I gotta say that the ivorians played a way better game than the super eagles, the Nigeria supers eagles formation was just too poor, and that lead to their underperformance all through the game, and who else can we blame if not the coach.

But all in all, congratulations to the super eagles and Nigerians at large, for we, atleast, reaching the finals, it's not easy, it was never easy, so we still gotta celebrate, just that losing the cup to ivory coast is rather too disappointing for many Nigerians, but all the same, we gotta move on, the AFCON 2023 was fun while it lasted.

[QueenVera]

Congratulations to Ivory Coast they were far better than Nigeria they controlled the game throughout and they showed they were well prepared for the final, the players were well composed and didn’t give up despite going a goal down. Nigeria on the other hand lacked composure and played like an underdog despite having the lead before half time they couldn’t define their play and I didn’t see any style of play in their game.

I feel they have been lucky all through the competition because their style of play have not been convincing enough as all teams they face easily outplayed them but they usually get lucky to win one way or another. Nigeria lacks midfield and that was their major weakness and it cost them the game because Iwobi was totally careless and was useless throughout the game, Ola Aina was also very poor and allowed Adingra to exploit him and assisted two goals all from his wing.

Ivory Coast deserved to win because they were clearly the better team, they had more goal attempts and created more chances.

Well Congratulations to the hosr, they had everything in their favour yesterday. Yes they were the favorites, probably one reason Nigeria came into this match as underdogs with a certain fear or tension. The coach’s patter for Nigeria wasn’t what was needed as they didn’t need to just sit back defending even after staying a goal up; they could have tried to double up their lead. This pattern brought them this far but at least it could have been changed when you saw it wasn’t productive in that match.

 The midfield player, Iwobi was under performing in this match and should have ben off this match since the first half, because he was lacking in his duty as Nigeria needed a creative midfielder to help feed the attackers. Aina on his own end, I think he let the praises get to him as his feets were too weak to be able to hold on Adingra who gave the assist for the winning goal from that end. The host played good football and deserved the win and I must give it to them as they real played well to get the trophy.

[Gozie51]

and who else can we blame if not the coach.

But all in all, congratulations to the super eagles and Nigerians at large, for we, atleast, reaching the finals, it's not easy, it was never easy, so we still gotta celebrate, just that losing the cup to ivory coast is rather too disappointing for many Nigerians, but all the same, we gotta move on, the AFCON 2023 was fun while it lasted.

It was a disappointing final match where Nigeria would have come out smoking especially after they managed to get a goal from the centre back, Paul Ekong. The coach was not very smart in any way when he was suppose to have made substitution early as calls where made for nwobi to be removed. My question was why were they attacking at the end of the match whilst they were suppose to keep the attack on when they were ahead. It is a poor final match from the Nigerian team.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

and who else can we blame if not the coach.

But all in all, congratulations to the super eagles and Nigerians at large, for we, atleast, reaching the finals, it's not easy, it was never easy, so we still gotta celebrate, just that losing the cup to ivory coast is rather too disappointing for many Nigerians, but all the same, we gotta move on, the AFCON 2023 was fun while it lasted.

It was a disappointing final match where Nigeria would have come out smoking especially after they managed to get a goal from the centre back, Paul Ekong. The coach was not very smart in any way when he was suppose to have made substitution early as calls where made for nwobi to be removed. My question was why were they attacking at the end of the match whilst they were suppose to keep the attack on when they were ahead. It is a poor final match from the Nigerian team.

Really poor indeed, I can't explain with words; how disappointed I am since yesterday night up until this morning, my only happiness is still that, I didn't not bother myself watching the match, it was like something in me knew Nigeria would lose and watching them lose would have really broken me down, so, what ever it was or is just made me lose total interest in watching the game.

I think what killed super eagles was our coach, and what killed the coach was over confidence, possibly due to the previous outcomes of the super eagles encounters, but he possibly forgot this was the finals, a football finals game is not the same as games played in the knock out stage, not even the quarter or semi finals, the coach completely ruined our chances of winning the cup, coupled with other hiccups and drawbacks from the ref and all that, according to what a friend of mine who watched the match told me.

[Strongkored]

Stanley Nwabali did a great job in keeping the scoreline close. Nigeria's attack just didn't come together today, partly thanks to Ivory Coast's defence. Nigeria had just 1 shot on target, their only goal coming from their defender. Congrats the Ivory Coast for winning AFCON 2023. Ivory Coast improved as the tournament went by as they started with a few hiccups including losing to Nigeria early on but by the time it came to the finals, they played like Champions.

It seems that Ivory Coast have learned the cause of their first defeat in the group phase to Nigeria so that when they faced the same team in the final they were more alert and implemented a more accurate strategy, and Nigeria's victory in the group phase looks like luck because in fact they also experienced problems in penetrated the Ivory Coast defense because in this match there was only one shot on target so it was the same as the final match this time.
Ivory Coast's defense was the deciding factor that made them succeed in beating Nigeria because they managed to play better in this match and they deserved this title.

[Alpha Marine]

Really poor indeed, I can't explain with words; how disappointed I am since yesterday night up until this morning, my only happiness is still that, I didn't not bother myself watching the match, it was like something in me knew Nigeria would lose and watching them lose would have really broken me down, so, what ever it was or is just made me lose total interest in watching the game.

I don't think you should be disappointed at all. I never expected Nigeria to get this far in the tournament. They did not play very well. They have very lethal wingers that the coach should have used right, but he prefers to use them as defenders instead.

In the group stage, Nigeria scrambled through, and then they got better in the knockout stages, but still, they were hell-bent on defending instead of constantly attacking their opponents.
I know a team should defend well, but playing defensive tactics for 90 minutes just puts so much pressure on you. That pattern of football works, but you have to be very disciplined for it to work against an attacking team. You have no margin for error because a single error may lead to your loss and that is exactly what happened.

The coach might have gotten to the final, but he's not good enough in my opinion. He's too traditional.
See how fluid Ivory Coast became after they got a new coach, they play very well and keep the ball to themselves. They press hard and try to win the ball back immediately they lose it.

[udidrone]

Stanley Nwabali did a great job in keeping the scoreline close. Nigeria's attack just didn't come together today, partly thanks to Ivory Coast's defence. Nigeria had just 1 shot on target, their only goal coming from their defender. Congrats the Ivory Coast for winning AFCON 2023. Ivory Coast improved as the tournament went by as they started with a few hiccups including losing to Nigeria early on but by the time it came to the finals, they played like Champions.

It seems that Ivory Coast have learned the cause of their first defeat in the group phase to Nigeria so that when they faced the same team in the final they were more alert and implemented a more accurate strategy, and Nigeria's victory in the group phase looks like luck because in fact they also experienced problems in penetrated the Ivory Coast defense because in this match there was only one shot on target so it was the same as the final match this time.
Ivory Coast's defense was the deciding factor that made them succeed in beating Nigeria because they managed to play better in this match and they deserved this title.

I didn't watch this match and I was really surprised to see the Ivory Coast as the champion this year we know that most of us support Nigeria as the winner including me but what happened was the opposite. I just checked statistics and it was really impressive for Ivory Coast they can control the match from all sides and I didn't expect Nigeria to play that bad by only having one shot on target. Luckily I didn't bet in this match, because maybe I would be trapped by betting on Nigeria, I suspect you also favor Nigeria right?

[Justbillywitt]

Really poor indeed, I can't explain with words; how disappointed I am since yesterday night up until this morning, my only happiness is still that, I didn't not bother myself watching the match, it was like something in me knew Nigeria would lose and watching them lose would have really broken me down, so, what ever it was or is just made me lose total interest in watching the game.

I don't think you should be disappointed at all. I never expected Nigeria to get this far in the tournament. They did not play very well. They have very lethal wingers that the coach should have used right, but he prefers to use them as defenders instead.

In the group stage, Nigeria scrambled through, and then they got better in the knockout stages, but still, they were hell-bent on defending instead of constantly attacking their opponents.
I know a team should defend well, but playing defensive tactics for 90 minutes just puts so much pressure on you. That pattern of football works, but you have to be very disciplined for it to work against an attacking team. You have no margin for error because a single error may lead to your loss and that is exactly what happened.

The coach might have gotten to the final, but he's not good enough in my opinion. He's too traditional.
See how fluid Ivory Coast became after they got a new coach, they play very well and keep the ball to themselves. They press hard and try to win the ball back immediately they lose it.

The coach of the super eagles is to be blame for the loss of the eagles in this tournament. He was too defensive minded and I don't know why. If the eagles were coming out to play this game the way they should, I don't think things would have gone this way. They were totally lost and ivory coast took control of the game and punished them. If the eagles were coming out to play the game, ivory coast wouldn't have had much time with the ball and they wouldn't have been penetrating the eagles half the way they did.  Congratulations to ivory coast they deserved the victory.

[knowngunman]

It is indeed a sad night/day for all Nigerian, as we thought we were winning and finally saw ourselves losing the game. But to me, I think the Super Eagles players are to be blame for performing poor in today's game due to over-confidence, and the spirit of laziness just immediately after we did score our first goal at 32', and then the Super Eagles started playing a defensive game, instead of playing an attacking game, because if only the Super Eagles had continues with the very energy they played 10 minutes into the end of the game that they continued, nothing would have made us not to win this game. But all the same, 2nd position isn't that bad as such.

Super eagle surrendered the trophy cheaply. They played extremely poorly and messed up the final. Not only the players are to be blame but including the couch himself. How can you use one pattern of play for the whole tournament? Playing a final match with a defense mentality right from the beginning of the game is very wrong. We understand that we play without reliable midfield from the beginning of the tournament but is the defense really necessary in this final even at the early stage of the game? What are you defending? It's painful to say it, but the better side won. I really pity our goal keeper Nwabali and captain Ekong for their wasted efforts. If I should blame them individually, I don't think I will finish typing today when I get to Aina and Iwobi part because those two cost Nigeria the march yesterday but it's well, as you said, second best is not too bad. Congratulations to Ivory coast by the way.

[Zigabel]

The coach of the super eagles is to be blame for the loss of the eagles in this tournament. He was too defensive minded and I don't know why. If the eagles were coming out to play this game the way they should, I don't think things would have gone this way. They were totally lost and ivory coast took control of the game and punished them. If the eagles were coming out to play the game, ivory coast wouldn't have had much time with the ball and they wouldn't have been penetrating the eagles half the way they did.  Congratulations to ivory coast they deserved the victory.

For a Final game such defensive mind was not needed but then the coach of the eagles taught it was semi finals where with one goal he's opponent will become weak and he will dominate, even after the equalizer the eagles still had a chance to take over the game and make sure to still win but the slacked and became too defensive which led to exarting too much pressure on the defense of the eagles and it's normal that when so much pressure is exarted on any defense, at a time it will be penetrated, the eagles had a chance but messed it up by been too careful and didn't come out to face the ivorians heads on, they allowed the ivorians do most of the playing while they did the defending.

The ivorians actually deserved the trophy going by their final performance, they did out played the eagles at some point and dominated most of the times in the games, even with they poor performance from the eagles they would have probably ended the game in an extra time if they were able to maintain the draw but then the ivorians were the better side at the end of the day.

[emrecemsan]

Such a disaster for Nigeria... I mean they didn't lose by a big goal difference maybe. But the performance level was just terrible. Nearly every single player in Nigeria lineup played very badly individually.

Cograts to Ivory Coast on this huge success! To tell the truth I would never expected them to bring things to this point. Especially after I saw their huge loss (4-0) against Equatorial Guinea in the group stage I mean. This is a big progress made since then. It is sad to see Nigeria like this on the other hand because they were my favourite to win AFCON. This defeat must be a big lesson for them.  

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Really poor indeed, I can't explain with words; how disappointed I am since yesterday night up until this morning, my only happiness is still that, I didn't not bother myself watching the match, it was like something in me knew Nigeria would lose and watching them lose would have really broken me down, so, what ever it was or is just made me lose total interest in watching the game.

I don't think you should be disappointed at all. I never expected Nigeria to get this far in the tournament. They did not play very well. They have very lethal wingers that the coach should have used right, but he prefers to use them as defenders instead.

Well, you are very correct, and I guess not very many people actually expected Nigeria to get to the finals, and to prove this, if you did paid attention at the very beginning of the tournament, while the game was still in the group stage, you know what not very many Nigerian citizens gave AFCON any attention, almost everybody was up and about their personal businesses, it was until Nigeria qualified for the quarter finals, played and won and qualified for the semi finals that most Nigerian citizens started paying attention and become interested in seeing where the AFCON leads us.

So, you rightly have said/and I included that not very many people expected Nigeria to reach the finals, but I will also say that, since the super eagles have fought their way to the finals, beating south Africa which were a stronger team that ivory coast in the quarter finals, we had a chance at winning the AFCON for sure, but like I said before, the formation the team is what brought the super eagles down, just as you said in your subsequent comment which I snipped out, the super eagles went overboard with defending, we scored the first goal, we could have pushed to score the second goal while tension was still high, but the team went into full defensive mode, alot of errors that lead us to losing the cup.

[Oluwa-btc]

Congratulations to the Ivory Coast team

I have said it at the beginning of the tournament, Nigeria cannot keep playing terrible football and expect to win every game. At some point, systems like that will fail. 1-0 lead is too narrow to stay that deep and that cost the team the afcon title.

In football, sometimes the best defence is more offense. I got to say though, this was the best afcon I have watched till date. Hopefully the next one will be interesting as the just concluded ones.

Congratulations to Ivory Coast and Commiserations Nigerian Football Federation.

Weldone boys the didn't do well yeah, but you just have to give them flowers, if you play football you'll know it's never easy and also you'll not want to criticize these players.
At times all you need is to be a good losers before you can definitely win. We go again inthe next year's ahead. Some players dull ad fatigued but we can't say too much.

Shout out to Trust Ekong who was awarded player of the tournament yesterday. Congratulations once again to them Ivorians, Bye AFCON!