Africa Football Discussion || Current Topic: AFCON 2025 Qualifiers - CAF.

[Pokapoka124]

You don't expect most of our top African stars to play well for thier nations when they don't get the kind of facility and support players receive at the Euros and Copa America. When you're called up to play for England or Spain, you're certain that you will receive the same kind of medical treatment and welfare you're used to at the club level but that's not same with African football and particularly AFCON. I know we're still growing and evolving and from the look at last AFCON, we can't deny the growth and level of effort that has been put out in that tournament. Honestly, I don't even notice any difference between the atmosphere at the last finals of the AFCON between Nigeria and Cote devoir and what played out between England and Spain at the Euros. In terms of pattern of play, we know that most African players are very aggressive and likes to play energy football which is one reason why you might not see them playing the regular tiki taka you see at the Euros and Copa America and that's just the uniqueness of the different continent and how thier style of football is. At the coming AFCON at Morocco, we will see alot of improvement and with time African football will get close to what's happening at the Euros and Copa America.

I expect the players to be passionate about winning trophies for their country. We give too many excuses for the poor performances of our players. Medical treatment is not the reason why the players are not playing as good as they should. When you watch the games, do you see the players avoiding physical contact? They are not scared to play, the problem with the Super Eagles in the last tournament was poor tactical formation and decisions from the coach.

As for the style of play in African football, you do not expect every country to have the same style of play. Each country has its own unique style, Brazil is known for their “Samba Football”, France is known for their ability to counter attack, Germany is known for their physicality, and so on. Some coaches are now adopting the Tiki Taka style because of Pep Guardiola but it’s not working for them. Not everyone can manage such football. 

[Frankolala]

Renard is one foreign coach that is well acquainted with the African football games, and following his profile as the only foreign coach that have won the African cup of Nations twice, may be , he can bring back some hopes if he eventually takes up the job.

Tactical experience was seriously lacking in the Super Eagles squad, Finidi George could not fill that vacuum. The super eagles are in a desperate position and need to keep winning all their games. What I expect our football federation to do is to not sack him as quickly as they did to Poseiro, we need a coach that will remain with the team for a long time so that he can properly build our team to standard if we make to the world cup and next AFCON.

I don't know why Nigeria is always having problems with coaches to be perfect for the Super Eagles everytime. They keep on changing from one coach to the other, it is enough to affect the performance of the team because which tactics will they learn and play with when different coach comes with his own football pattern.

Even if it is a club, it most affect the performance of the team because for a team to improve in performance gradually, they must have one coach that will spend time to know about the players potential and how to make the players understand themselves on the field through the game tactics.

[SatoPrincess]

I don't know why Nigeria is always having problems with coaches to be perfect for the Super Eagles everytime. They keep on changing from one coach to the other, it is enough to affect the performance of the team because which tactics will they learn and play with when different coach comes with his own football pattern.

Even if it is a club, it most affect the performance of the team because for a team to improve in performance gradually, they must have one coach that will spend time to know about the players potential and how to make the players understand themselves on the field through the game tactics.

The managers for national teams do not usually have the time to bond or build a relationship with the players like club managers do. They only get to be in the same space when international tournaments are on. And this is one of the factor that affects the dynamics of the national squad. If a team is lucky, they get to have some players who play together in the same club and are well acquainted with themselves.

This chemistry between players gives the squad an advantage over other teams. I don’t think the Super Eagles do not have any of their players in the same club level, they all play in leagues from different parts of the world and so they are unfamiliar with each other's style of play, strengths, and weaknesses. This is one of the reasons why we saw Alex Iwobi looking lost and uncoordinated in the just concluded AFCON.

[Rruchi man]

~

Herve Renard is a nice coach and for the fact he has won the AFCON with Zambia and Ivory Coast means he can handle the job for the super eagles but is 2 million Euros not too much as salary?

Rumors of Herve Renard taking over the job have been pushed aside; the money he demanded is too high, and NFF cannot afford it.

The new trending names for the job are

former Gambia coach, Tom Saintfiet who is head coach of the Philippines, Steve McClaren, a former England coach and Eric Chelle,who until recently was head coach of the Mali national team.

source

The entire process is taking too much time, it is important that they settle this quickly so the team can move forward and the coach can start preparing for the important games that the Super Eagles have.

[Pokapoka124]

Source

“The FA has formally advertised the England men's manager vacancy on its website as the search for Gareth Southgate's successor continues.”

When the NFF put out an advertisement on their offices website for the job opening of the Super Eagles manager position two months ago, it was met with heavy criticism from fans who thought it was inappropriate for the NFF to make an open. They argued that the right thing to for the NFF to do was to scout for a manager and not make a open application for anybody to apply.

 The argument seemed logical then but what of England who are currently doing the same thing now. I don’t hear anybody criticizing them. Nigerians are too quick to judge and criticize the NFF and the Super Eagles  over everything and we wonder why the team is underperforming.

[Hewlet]

The Olympics games is up and running with African football teams heavily represented. For the men's category we have representatives of the African teams which are;
1. Guinea,
2. Morocco
3. Egypt
4. Mali
While for the female category we have two African teams;
1. Nigeria
2. Zambia.
From the results of the first leg played at the group stage,  Guinea which is in the group comprising of France, New Zealand and USA lost her first match and is currently at third place in the group A while  while Morocco won against Argentina and secured all three point standing on the second place of the group B, Egypt had a goales draw against the Dominican Republic which they should have made effort to win considering that Spain is in same group with them while mali had a 1:1 draw against Israel at group D.

It's a fair start for the male African team and it's good that some of the teams are doing well and are at the top of their respective groups. For the female teams, it appears as though they are both at the group of death with both teams currently lying bottom of thier respective group's. Zambia suffered a 3:0 defeat  in favour of the USA while the Nigerian supa falcons lost 1 nill against Brazil and still have Spain and Japan upfront.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

The Olympics games is up and running with African football teams heavily represented. For the men's category we have representatives of the African teams which are;

Was about updating this but you beat me to it, well I have changed the thread title so we can include (discuss) all the sports that will be featured in the Olympics with African countries participating to be able to discuss all the sport and not just football. I hope the nations representing the continent can make us proud and we can win as many gold medals in all the sports and not just the ones we're known for.

What's your prediction for which country (in African) will get the biggest gold and combinations of all the medals. Kanye, South Africa and Nigeria are my picks what about you guys?

For Results, Medals, Schedule etc you can stay up to date through Supersport: https://supersport.com/olympics

Current Discussion: Africans at 2024 Paris Olympics

[Zlantann]

The Olympics games is up and running with African football teams heavily represented. For the men's category we have representatives of the African teams which are;
1. Guinea,
2. Morocco
3. Egypt
4. Mali
While for the female category we have two African teams;
1. Nigeria
2. Zambia.
From the results of the first leg played at the group stage,  Guinea which is in the group comprising of France, New Zealand and USA lost her first match and is currently at third place in the group A while  while Morocco won against Argentina and secured all three point standing on the second place of the group B, Egypt had a goales draw against the Dominican Republic which they should have made effort to win considering that Spain is in same group with them while mali had a 1:1 draw against Israel at group D.

It's a fair start for the male African team and it's good that some of the teams are doing well and are at the top of their respective groups. For the female teams, it appears as though they are both at the group of death with both teams currently lying bottom of thier respective group's. Zambia suffered a 3:0 defeat  in favour of the USA while the Nigerian supa falcons lost 1 nill against Brazil and still have Spain and Japan upfront.

A win, two losses, and one draw is in four games is a poor performance. Africans are known for excelling in the Olympic football tournament as Nigeria won the competition in 1996 and Cameroon in 2000. I was not privileged to watch those games, but if they continue this way, only one country, which is Morocco, might qualify for the next round. It looks like Morocco is becoming the main powerhouse of African football because they showed class in the games against Argentina.

The female African teams showcased a very poor performance based on the result. But there is still hope that the Super Falcons will put up a good fight to qualify in the group. Their next game will determine how long they will stay in the competition. If they can be lucky to get three points in the game against Spain, they will at least get the hope of qualifying if they can also win the game with Japan. The goal margin in the game between the USA and Zambia is making me feel that the Copper Queens might be eliminated early. However, in football, nothing is impossible. They can still win more games and qualify.

[Hewlet]

What's your prediction for which country (in African) will get the biggest gold and combinations of all the medals. Kanye, South Africa and Nigeria are my picks what about you guys?

south Africa has a lot of representative at the Olympics and we know that in sports like Skateboarding, hoacky and rugby, it's something they've been proven to be good at and I will want to see what they can do at the international stage. I had a lot of relief after Tobi amusan was cleared on the doping case and set to represent Nigeria in the 100m huddle race and we all hope she sets a new record yet again.

The female African teams showcased a very poor performance based on the result. But there is still hope that the Super Falcons will put up a good fight to qualify in the group.

the task the super falcons have at hand isn't a small one. They are in a group that comprise of teams that are all better than them in the FIFA world ranking. Brazil is ranked 9th, Spain is ranked 1st while while Japan is ranked 3rd.  Nigerian supa falcons lies on 26th on the least which typically means that they are by default playing against a deficult opposition and Brazil might be to least tough team they will encounter.

I believe so much in the super falcons and I know regardless of what stats say, they can still find a way of coming out strong from the group but if it will ever happen just know that it won't come on a platter of gold. They will literally have to work for it.

[Stepstowealth]

When the NFF put out an advertisement on their offices website for the job opening of the Super Eagles manager position two months ago, it was met with heavy criticism from fans who thought it was inappropriate for the NFF to make an open. They argued that the right thing to for the NFF to do was to scout for a manager and not make a open application for anybody to apply.

 The argument seemed logical then but what of England who are currently doing the same thing now. I don’t hear anybody criticizing them. Nigerians are too quick to judge and criticize the NFF and the Super Eagles  over everything and we wonder why the team is underperforming.

Maybe Nigerians have not heard about this yet, and they know that criticising it will not make any difference. Also, if something is okay to be done in England, it does not make it okay to be done in Nigeria, we are a different continent and we have to do our own things.

What's your prediction for which country (in African) will get the biggest gold and combinations of all the medals. Kanye, South Africa and Nigeria are my picks what about you guys?

Nigerians are really dominant in African sports, and can extend that dominance to the world stage. I expect more Gold from Nigeria from the sport events that they will participate in.

I had a lot of relief after Tobi amusan was cleared on the doping case and set to represent Nigeria in the 100m huddle race and we all hope she sets a new record yet again.

12.12 seconds was the record she set in the world championships two years ago in Oregon, she will be focused on beating her personal best and setting a new world record.

[Ruttoshi]

The female African teams showcased a very poor performance based on the result. But there is still hope that the Super Falcons will put up a good fight to qualify in the group.

the task the super falcons have at hand isn't a small one. They are in a group that comprise of teams that are all better than them in the FIFA world ranking. Brazil is ranked 9th, Spain is ranked 1st while while Japan is ranked 3rd.  Nigerian supa falcons lies on 26th on the least which typically means that they are by default playing against a deficult opposition and Brazil might be to least tough team they will encounter.

I believe so much in the super falcons and I know regardless of what stats say, they can still find a way of coming out strong from the group but if it will ever happen just know that it won't come on a platter of gold. They will literally have to work for it.

I call the Falcons group, a tough one because all the three nations are stronger than the Falcons. I will be happy if they can manage to qualify from the group stage because losing their first match to Brazil who is ranked 9th means that it will be a difficult match for them against Spain who is on the 1st position.

How I wished that they were able to draw Brazil, that would have motivated them when they will be playing their second match against Spain. We can still see some surprises but a lot of work needs to be done by the super falcons because this group is not in their favor at all.

[Rruchi man]

I call the Falcons group, a tough one because all the three nations are stronger than the Falcons. I will be happy if they can manage to qualify from the group stage because losing their first match to Brazil who is ranked 9th means that it will be a difficult match for them against Spain who is on the 1st position.

How I wished that they were able to draw Brazil, that would have motivated them when they will be playing their second match against Spain. We can still see some surprises but a lot of work needs to be done by the super falcons because this group is not in their favor at all.

The super falcons are already at the bottom of the group, and even though I like to remain positive about their situation, I don't see them being able to beat Brazil or Spain to qualification. The quality of football from Brazil and Spain is better than what we play as a country.

I expected to see Asisat Oshoala start in that game, but she did not even get a minute to play due to lack of fitness. We have not been in the Olympics for a very long time, more than a decade, it will be embarrassing to just crash out now even without getting to the knockout stage.

[Die_empty]

The game between the Super Falcons of Nigeria and the La Roja of Spain is currently on. The first half ended in a goalless draw and the second half might determine the outcome of the game. So far, the Spanish side is dominating the game with most of the ball possession and goal attempts. But the Nigerian Female team is not a side to push aside because they are aware that this match will determine their fate in this competition. It was nice to see Asisat Oshoala starting the game, and I hope she will replicate her wonderful performance in her club in this all-important Olympic football game. The Nigerian goolie Chiamaka Nnadozie has been active in this game making some important savings.

The Spanish side seems not to be taking advantage of their opportunities. The Nigerian girls might be fortunate to get a goal and manage to hold this powerful side for the next forty-five minutes. The Spanish side won their last game, so a win will make them qualify, while a loss will make their next game against Brazil a must-win. But the games ends this way, the Nigerian girls will be in danger.

[Pokapoka124]

Today Spain showed us the reason why they are the world champions. I think the score line doesn’t do justice to the overall game played. The quality of the two teams are on two different planets. The Super Falcons struggled to create chances against Spain. Those chances would have been the turning point for us if we had converted them. We also had problems with holding on to the ball and making good passes. Obviously we stood no chance in the match. The only thing I can commend about the Super Falcons performance is their defense.

[Zigabel]

Today Spain showed us the reason why they are the world champions. I think the score line doesn’t do justice to the overall game played. The quality of the two teams are on two different planets. The Super Falcons struggled to create chances against Spain. Those chances would have been the turning point for us if we had converted them. We also had problems with holding on to the ball and making good passes. Obviously we stood no chance in the match. The only thing I can commend about the Super Falcons performance is their defense.

Thw falcons literally weren't able to possess the ball long enough, their passes weren't even completing at some point, the Spanish side did exercise a good form of superiority that the falcon's couldn't over ride at any point but then the Spanish team were much better.

Like you said the falcon's stood no chance but there were times they managed to create chances only that they had very poor and bad conversion which cost them the goals they could have gotten at the end of the game, maybe they would have gotten an equalizer but then I want to commend the falcons, they were able to hold the Spanish side to just a goal and not conceding any further even with all the dominance from the Spanish side.

[nelson4lov]

Super Falcons are simply running the same playbook that super eagles used for the afcon and that playbook worked until it stopped working. You can't go into a highly contested game like that and just let your opponents hustle and attack you round the clock hoping to get one breakout counter and score a goal from it. It's a terrible strategy really. Spain attacked all game and all the super Falcons did was to sit deep and try to absorb all of those attacks. I knew that if the attacks kept on coming, sooner or later one would go in and it did.

[Rruchi man]

The only thing I can commend about the Super Falcons performance is their defense.

The only thing that was surprising about the game is that Spain were only able to score one goal. Not surprised that they won the game, IMO, the super falcons were already defeated from the first game. The next focus for the super falcons after this competition should be how to raise their game to world standard because currently against the top teams of the world in female football they are not a match.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

South Africa has a lot of representative at the Olympics and we know that in sports like Skateboarding, hoacky and rugby, it's something they've been proven to be good at and I will want to see what they can do at the international stage. I had a lot of relief after Tobi amusan was cleared on the doping case and set to represent Nigeria in the 100m huddle race and we all hope she sets a new record yet again.

South Africa are second with the most amount of medals won at the Olympics (for Africa countries), still second for amount of Gold won at the Olympics, same as silver and bronze just behind Kanye so your prediction isn't far from what is likely to happen. Having a high representation also increase your chances of winning more medal so we wish them luck as a win for them is a win for Africa in general although we know they're our biggest rivals but is better a brother wins right lol.

Nigerians are really dominant in African sports, and can extend that dominance to the world stage. I expect more Gold from Nigeria from the sport events that they will participate in.

We are just dominate in football and not sports, in ranking we aren't among top 5 in sports, countries like Kanye, South Africa, Egypt etc are better. In football we're still losing our dominance as countries like Morocco, Senegal has been picking up momentum. Super falcons just lost and now they'll be heading home (that's another medal we just lost an opportunity to add to our collection, I wasn't even hoping for gold but the least bronze would had been appreciated).

[Moreno233]

The only thing I can commend about the Super Falcons performance is their defense.

The only thing that was surprising about the game is that Spain were only able to score one goal. Not surprised that they won the game, IMO, the super falcons were already defeated from the first game. The next focus for the super falcons after this competition should be how to raise their game to world standard because currently against the top teams of the world in female football they are not a match.

Even before they played their first match, I was not expecting them to go too far in the competition. Even though Spain won by a lone goal, they outplayed Nigeria by every standard. They had better ball possession, had more goal attempts and all other indices use to measure a team that played better. It is good they won because they deserve to. The Nigerian team were demoralized by their first match loss just like you noted. Their next match against Japan is just insignificant and the outcome will not change anything.

[Hewlet]

The only thing I can commend about the Super Falcons performance is their defense.

The only thing that was surprising about the game is that Spain were only able to score one goal. Not surprised that they won the game, IMO, the super falcons were already defeated from the first game. The next focus for the super falcons after this competition should be how to raise their game to world standard because currently against the top teams of the world in female football they are not a match.

Even before they played their first match, I was not expecting them to go too far in the competition. Even though Spain won by a lone goal, they outplayed Nigeria by every standard. They had better ball possession, had more goal attempts and all other indices use to measure a team that played better. It is good they won because they deserve to. The Nigerian team were demoralized by their first match loss just like you noted. Their next match against Japan is just insignificant and the outcome will not change anything.

when you're playing against an obviously stronger  and more experienced opposition, you don't expect stats to be in your favour cause the mentality they will come up with against you will be that they have to win the match regardless of what it is going to take. The supper falcons even tried to defend and had a goales first half and played the second half till the moment Spain scored through free kick. Like I've said earlier, it's deficult for you to do well in a group that compromise of teams that are better than you in all ramification. Spain has grown to become one country that stands tall in the current football map and wether you're playing against their male or female team, you're certainly going to get it hot from them cause they have a strong, energetic and complete team.

I wouldn't say the match against Japan is not necessary, it wouldn't look nice that they would go all the way to the Olympics and come back without scoring a single goal or winning a single match till their exit from the tournament. Remember that these are still part of the indices that are considered when updating the FIFA ranking and winning Japan would also give them a good position that they are still a good force to be reckoned with.