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

[Alphakilo]

Congratulations to the Super Falcons for making qualification for the Paris Olympics after not being in the competition for sixteen years. The victory was not beautiful, but was enough for us to have our female football team representing us.

Yes they are reaching new heights, Super Falcons of Nigeria with these their qualification for the 2024 Olympics. South Africa was a strong team , their coach during their press brief said it was a do-or-die affair. Happy no one died  . It is historic for us as this is our first Olympic participation in women's football since 2008.  It was a team work but the credit goes to the goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie too. If we can make improvements on our scoring ability, my confidence in the team during the Olympics games will go up higher than it is now.

[Jessie2121]

The way NFF are handling the managerial position is no good for the super eagles with how we're having young players that are doing well in their leagues is something that should consider, the boys do turn up when they're called upon and now they're playing politics with their dedication to this nation. Why I'm saying this is because the earlier they decide who will be the permanent coach the better, so that they can understand each other I mean the coach and the players better before the qualification for the WC begins even the nations cup too and they shouldn't bring someone that doesn't have the experience and a title to his name.

[Rruchi man]

I'm saying this is because the earlier they decide who will be the permanent coach the better,

Finidi George has been handed the job as the coach of the Super Eagles.

“The Board of the Nigeria Football Federation on Monday approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to appoint former ace winger Finidi George as Head Coach of the Senior Men National Football Team, Super Eagles.”

Who knew that Finidi George was an assistant to the former coach Jose Poseiro for 20 months?

source

[Marykeller]

I'm saying this is because the earlier they decide who will be the permanent coach the better,

Finidi George has been handed the job as the coach of the Super Eagles.

“The Board of the Nigeria Football Federation on Monday approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to appoint former ace winger Finidi George as Head Coach of the Senior Men National Football Team, Super Eagles.”

Who knew that Finidi George was an assistant to the former coach Jose Poseiro for 20 months?

source

I think many of us don't know. The time we began to know that Finidi George was the assistant coach to Jose Poseiro was when he was asked to lead the Super Eagles in their friendly match against Ghana and Mali, before then Jose Poseiro had resigned by himself to be the head coach of the Super Eagles.

This time around, he is currently the newly appointed head coach of the Super Eagles, many responsibilities are now placed on him to guide the Super Eagles to victory in the 2026 World Cup qualification against South Africa and Benin Republic since the Super Eagles are slacking behind at the third position in the Group C table.

I think, much is expected of Finidi George this time around since NFF has handed him over the mantle of Super Eagles head coach. He will no longer be sidelined as before(as of when assistant coach) for not taking the blame and being less responsible for how the Super Eagles perform. He will now be responsible for how the Super Eagles perform henceforth and he will take the heat and blame that comes with it cos being the coach of the Super Eagles is never an easy job.

Within five weeks the Super Eagles will have a home match against South Africa in Uyo and also an away match against Benin Republic in Abidjan. All we Nigerians want is their victory so that they will qualify for the 2026 World Cup

[Hewlet]

I'm saying this is because the earlier they decide who will be the permanent coach the better,

Finidi George has been handed the job as the coach of the Super Eagles.

“The Board of the Nigeria Football Federation on Monday approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to appoint former ace winger Finidi George as Head Coach of the Senior Men National Football Team, Super Eagles.”

Who knew that Finidi George was an assistant to the former coach Jose Poseiro for 20 months?

source

it's a good development to see that we're now working with our local coach and not always relying on external person's to do all our coaching work for us. With the experience he has hard with jose poseiro and the fact that he knows the kind of football Nigerian players are used to, I think he deserve the chance he has received now and I only wish the government will give him the needed financial support that will help him carry out his coaching responsibility very well.

Although his first two games as an interim coach against mali and ghana was below what was expected with a very casual play against Ghana that saw them having a narrow win against Ghana and and then loosing 2:0 to Mali, he has a huge responsibility to prove a point that he has what it takes to coaching the supper eagles.

[Dailyscript]

it's a good development to see that we're now working with our local coach and not always relying on external person's to do all our coaching work for us. With the experience he has hard with jose poseiro and the fact that he knows the kind of football Nigerian players are used to, I think he deserve the chance he has received now and I only wish the government will give him the needed financial support that will help him carry out his coaching responsibility very well.

Although his first two games as an interim coach against mali and ghana was below what was expected with a very casual play against Ghana that saw them having a narrow win against Ghana and and then loosing 2:0 to Mali, he has a huge responsibility to prove a point that he has what it takes to coaching the supper eagles.

Its a welcomed development. I could remember the last time when we had a Nigerian coach and not an outsider coaching the super eagles. I think his name is Stephen Okechukwu Keshi. The super eagles played well during the world cup his tenor as the manager of the team. We won big countries that other countries  could not, almost at the end of beating Argentina. When Musa gave it hard on Messi in the game. What am trying to say here is that having a Nigerian manager helps with in easy communication between the players and their manager. Using the experience of the super eagles and the Nigerian pattern of football.

[SatoPrincess]

Its a welcomed development. I could remember the last time when we had a Nigerian coach and not an outsider coaching the super eagles. I think his name is Stephen Okechukwu Keshi. The super eagles played well during the world cup his tenor as the manager of the team. We won big countries that other countries  could not, almost at the end of beating Argentina. When Musa gave it hard on Messi in the game. What am trying to say here is that having a Nigerian manager helps with in easy communication between the players and their manager. Using the experience of the super eagles and the Nigerian pattern of football.

https://www.nairaland.com/2433597/stephen-keshis-history-super-eagles

Nigerians have a short memory. You’re forgetting the backlash and criticism Stephen Keshi had when he was the manager of the Super Eagles so much so that he resigned as manager multiple times. We can look back at history and have a different perspective on what happened but at the time, Stephen Keshi was made a villain. Yes it’s great to have local managers but that doesn’t mean that the job will be any easier. Nigerians are hard to please, one loss and the whole country turns its back on you.

[Rruchi man]

Yes it’s great to have local managers but that doesn’t mean that the job will be any easier. Nigerians are hard to please, one loss and the whole country turns its back on you.

It is not a characteristic peculiar to only Nigerians, humans generally are difficult to please. Foreign coaches even in other leagues and competitions still get heavy criticism.

I remember the Stephen keshi incident and I think that as a coach and the manager of a team, you just have to grow and develop a tough skin because supporters of the club or team will always criticize any action you take that does not end up with a favorable result.

[Marykeller]

Yes it’s great to have local managers but that doesn’t mean that the job will be any easier. Nigerians are hard to please, one loss and the whole country turns its back on you.

As we all can say, it's great to have a local manager heading the Super Eagle but have we come to the realization or have a thought of their salaries, why the foreign coaches are paid much higher than the local coaches?

I overheard it as a debate on a radio station last week when the radio presenter talked about what is agreed by the NFF to pay any Super Eagle coach $18k per month, reaching Finidi George's turn, NFF decided to pay him $11k. Why? Is it because he's a local coach or what? Because I do know that each of our coaches has been receiving $18k as a salary. Why pay Finidi George less($11k)? I want us to look into whether it is right or not because I so much believed that NFF has the option for signing a big coach as a super Eagle coach for $18k. Or is it that Finidi George agreed to accept the less pay?

[SatoPrincess]

As we all can say, it's great to have a local manager heading the Super Eagle but have we come to the realization or have a thought of their salaries, why the foreign coaches are paid much higher than the local coaches?

I overheard it as a debate on a radio station last week when the radio presenter talked about what is agreed by the NFF to pay any Super Eagle coach $18k per month, reaching Finidi George's turn, NFF decided to pay him $11k. Why? Is it because he's a local coach or what? Because I do know that each of our coaches has been receiving $18k as a salary. Why pay Finidi George less($11k)? I want us to look into whether it is right or not because I so much believed that NFF has the option for signing a big coach as a super Eagle coach for $18k. Or is it that Finidi George agreed to accept the less pay?

The truth is that we do not know what went down during the negotiation process so we cannot accuse the NFF of wanting to pay local coaches less than what they pay foreign coaches. When coming into any role, you are supposed to do your background checks on the salary range of that role so you know how to negotiate yours. Everyone cannot be paid the same salary, if you negotiate for more/less that’s what you will get.

[Marykeller]

As we all can say, it's great to have a local manager heading the Super Eagle but have we come to the realization or have a thought of their salaries, why the foreign coaches are paid much higher than the local coaches?

I overheard it as a debate on a radio station last week when the radio presenter talked about what is agreed by the NFF to pay any Super Eagle coach $18k per month, reaching Finidi George's turn, NFF decided to pay him $11k. Why? Is it because he's a local coach or what? Because I do know that each of our coaches has been receiving $18k as a salary. Why pay Finidi George less($11k)? I want us to look into whether it is right or not because I so much believed that NFF has the option for signing a big coach as a super Eagle coach for $18k. Or is it that Finidi George agreed to accept the less pay?

The truth is that we do not know what went down during the negotiation process so we cannot accuse the NFF of wanting to pay local coaches less than what they pay foreign coaches. When coming into any role, you are supposed to do your background checks on the salary range of that role so you know how to negotiate yours. Everyone cannot be paid the same salary, if you negotiate for more/less that’s what you will get.

However, thinking of it. I feel like that's what he willingly wants to collect as monthly payments to beat other prominent coaches aiming for the same position as Super Eagle coach. Maybe in his reasoning, to him, "this kind of opportunity will not arise again". Let him accept the offer since he acted as the assistant coach to Jose Paesiro tenure as Super Eagle coach

[Rruchi man]

Which African footballer do you think is most likely to win the next award for the best African player of the year?

Victor Boniface, who helped Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga trophy in their 120-year history, won the rookie of the season award in the league.

Ademola Lookman, who scored a hat-trick in the Europa finals against Leverkusen, helped Atlanta win the Europa, setting a record in the process by being the first player to score three goals in a Europa final, and he also had the best performance for the Super Eagles in the AFCON.

Or will it be Sébastien Haller, who helped Ivory Coast win the AFCON and is also in the finals of the Champions League with Dortmund?

[SatoPrincess]

However, thinking of it. I feel like that's what he willingly wants to collect as monthly payments to beat other prominent coaches aiming for the same position as Super Eagle coach. Maybe in his reasoning, to him, "this kind of opportunity will not arise again". Let him accept the offer since he acted as the assistant coach to Jose Paesiro tenure as Super Eagle coach

Right! And he’s not complaining so I don’t see why this has to be an issue. If he proves his worth at the club, he can renegotiate his salary and get a new contract.

Which African footballer do you think is most likely to win the next award for the best African player of the year?

Victor Boniface, who helped Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga trophy in their 120-year history, won the rookie of the season award in the league.

Ademola Lookman, who scored a hat-trick in the Europa finals against Leverkusen, helped Atlanta win the Europa, setting a record in the process by being the first player to score three goals in a Europa final, and he also had the best performance for the Super Eagles in the AFCON.

Or will it be Sébastien Haller, who helped Ivory Coast win the AFCON and is also in the finals of the Champions League with Dortmund?

It’s a tough one because they all did fantastically well in their clubs. I think Victor Boniface will get the award because his accomplishments trumps the successes of the others. Bayer Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga was celebrated more than Manchester City winning the premier league for the forth time in a row.

[Oluwa-btc]

Which African footballer do you think is most likely to win the next award for the best African player of the year?

Victor Boniface, who helped Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga trophy in their 120-year history, won the rookie of the season award in the league.

Ademola Lookman, who scored a hat-trick in the Europa finals against Leverkusen, helped Atlanta win the Europa, setting a record in the process by being the first player to score three goals in a Europa final, and he also had the best performance for the Super Eagles in the AFCON.

Or will it be Sébastien Haller, who helped Ivory Coast win the AFCON and is also in the finals of the Champions League with Dortmund?

Sad to see Victor Oshime not in the list, but it's all good. I'd say, Ademola Lookman has been involved in three different finals, Victor Boniface should be playing his second finals in a couple days ahead after a successful Bundesliga League Campaign. Meanwhile, this would be the second finals for Sébastein Haller in the Champions League finals after a successful African Cup of Nations Competitions.

I will reserve my comments for now honestly, I would want to see how the Champions League Competition finally ends and see what work rate and team rate this guy Sebastian Haller has to give his side. It's not just about qualifications and stuff but has been them contribution to the success of their various clubs?

I will want to say Ademola Lookman, not because he is Nigerian, but because he had a better work rate in the African Cup of Nations Competitions, and UEFA European Europa League Competition. For the Copa Italia, I didn't see that game but knew they lost. I will be voting for him if I had the chance too, he deserves it fully.

[Davidvictorson]

Which African footballer do you think is most likely to win the next award for the best African player of the year?

Ademola Lookman and Victor Boniface are like my two favourite African players right now. They are stars in their own right and if the African Footballer Award can be given to two players, I'll certain pick the both of them. However, that is not the case so I will bring in my own bias just like those who will vote will do too. My pick will go to Victor Boniface because even though he was absent from the AFCON due to injury (I hope the judging criteria will not include this), he has had impressive stats in his own league and club. Lastly, because he is witty and has a great sense of humor. Have you seen his tweets. Dude would have been a very successful comedian if football didn't work out for him.

[Marvelockg]

It’s a tough one because they all did fantastically well in their clubs. I think Victor Boniface will get the award because his accomplishments trumps the successes of the others. Bayer Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga was celebrated more than Manchester City winning the premier league for the forth time in a row.

it would normally have been an easy ride for victor Boniface considering his overall contribution in Bayern Leverkusen wins and the number of goals scored but due to the fact that he wasn't available for the AFCON, it's going to be very deficult for him to win the African best player  of the year. If we factor other possible players that deserve the award, then we should be talking about Sebastian hallar and ademola lookman.

Sabastian hallar did obviously well in the AFCON and because he won the AFCON and currently at the champions league finals, there is every possibility that he might be one of the possible options to consider but in terms of individual contribution both at AFCON and in his club Dortmund, he hasn't been as exceptional and consistent as lookman has been. Was benched almost throughout the champions league and in most of his club matches and you have lookman that is directly at the centre stage delivering both for his club and country and seeing this hatrick he scored in the yesterday encounter against Bayern Leverkusen, it's almost clear that this time, the African best player of the year awad will be going to Ademola lookman

[Pokapoka124]

Which African footballer do you think is most likely to win the next award for the best African player of the year?

Whether it is Ademola Lookman or Victor Boniface, my joy is that a Nigerian footballer will be wining the award. Nigerians are proud of Lookman and you can see their excitement on X. We have a new weapon in our arsenal we can use to banter Ghana and other African teams.
It will be good if you can dm OP to make a voting poll, I don’t know if that can be done at this point.

[Slow death]

My country's football federation has already released the list of players who were called up for the game against Somalia on June 7th. Based on the list of players who were called up, I must say that it is still not a list of players that will allow my country's national team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, for the next game our opponent will be Somalia who hasn't beaten anyone in this group yet, in 2 games Somalia hasn't beaten anyone and only managed to score just 1 goal and conceded 4 goals, while my country had 1 win and 1 loss



It could be a good chance for my country to come out of this game with a victory and improve its position in this table if the other teams lose points, but I'm thinking if it's really worth betting on my country's victory in this game, because I can't find it. record of how the past clashes between my country's national team against Somalia went, it seems to me that this will be the first game involving the national team of these two countries, I will wait for the stake to show the odds for this game and if I see that there is an odd very high in favor of my country, so I will bet on my country's national team to win this game, I will only bet on my country's victory if the odds are above 1.70

[Uhwuchukwu53]

Congratulations to the Super Falcons for making qualification for the Paris Olympics after not being in the competition for sixteen years. The victory was not beautiful, but was enough for us to have our female football team representing us.

Yes they are reaching new heights, Super Falcons of Nigeria with these their qualification for the 2024 Olympics. South Africa was a strong team , their coach during their press brief said it was a do-or-die affair. Happy no one died  . It is historic for us as this is our first Olympic participation in women's football since 2008.  It was a team work but the credit goes to the goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie too. If we can make improvements on our scoring ability, my confidence in the team during the Olympics games will go up higher than it is now.

That is it, we need serious improvement in our scoring strategies, though I love the super falcon there game is always impressive it make me feel more relaxed compared our Men though despite not carrying the nation cup they still do some level of impressive work which me never expected of them. I strongly consider this your improvement as as something to look into for best results.

[Rruchi man]

That is it, we need serious improvement in our scoring strategies, though I love the super falcon there game is always impressive it make me feel more relaxed compared our Men though despite not carrying the nation cup they still do some level of impressive work which me never expected of them. I strongly consider this your improvement as as something to look into for best results.

This post will be considered spam because it is not in line with the ongoing discussion, and if you could not contribute to what is being discussed, you should not have brought back a discussion from April 10th to May 23rd.

Which African footballer do you think is most likely to win the next award for the best African player of the year?

Whether it is Ademola Lookman or Victor Boniface, my joy is that a Nigerian footballer will be wining the award. Nigerians are proud of Lookman and you can see their excitement on X. We have a new weapon in our arsenal we can use to banter Ghana and other African teams.

Aside the banter, we have important world cup qualifier games against South Africa on June 7th, and if we have the trio of Ademola Lookman, Victor Boniface and Victor Osimhen in attack, is there any reason for us not to win that game?