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  • Keshi’s Eagles not ripe for Confederations Cup – Oliseh

    Keshi’s Eagles not ripe for Confederations Cup – Oliseh

    Former Super Eagles Captain Sunday Oliseh has said it loud and clear that the Nigerian league players paraded by Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, in the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup were not ready and also not ripe for such big tournament.

    Oliseh made this revelation while commenting on the performance of the Super Eagles in Nigeria’s 3-0 humiliation in the hands of World and European Champions Spain that sent Nigeria packing in the tournament.

    The former Eagles skipper on Super Sport programme on Sunday said the home-based Eagles’ performance in the tournament did not meet up to the tournament required high standard.

    According to him, “the home-based players need fine tuning with many matches to be able to compete favourably with the oversees based ones despite having the potentials to be great players.”

    The former Juventus midfielder, however, blamed the low quality of the performance of the local players in the Eagles on the quality of players produced by the Nigerian Premier League.

    “During our time in Nigerian elite league we attracted large turn-out of fans into Nigerian stadia who trooped out on weekends to watch us play. But now it is no longer so. Fans prefer to watch English Premier League matches involving Manchester United, Chelsea and the rest. “If you ask these Nigerian fans to mention some Nigerian local league players they won’t be able to do so unlike EPL clubs.

    “So we need to revive as well as improve on the quality of our league to be able to produce quality player,” Oliseh lamented.

  • EAGLES VS SPAIN Enyeama, Mikel rated best

    EAGLES VS SPAIN Enyeama, Mikel rated best

    •Gambo bags worst rating

     •Others settle for average

    Despite Super Eagles defeat and subsequent crash out of the ongoing Confederations Cup in Brazil, performance of the duo of goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and midfielder John Mikel Obi continues to be the talk of town and toast of analysts.

    Aside from submissions from a cross section of fans who spoke on the match that saw the Keshi lads go down 3-0, rating according to MTNfootball.com indicate that the duo scored 8 points out of 10 in the tie which saw strikers in the team wasting chances with recklessness.

    The Eagles safehand, who has literally colonised the goal since Keshi took over the mantle in the national team, was at his best posting a man-of-the match performance, making no fewer than five point blank saves.

    Mikel on his part showed a lot of courage and marshalled out the midfield with all seriousness. Aside from impressive dribbles from the Chelsea ace, he made water-tight passes with a shot on goal to garnish his overall performance for the night.

    The post of poorest player on the pitch with just two points out of ten, meanwhile, went to 71st minute substitute Gambo Muhammed who failed to convert begging chance created by Ahmed Musa and just awaiting delivery.

    While Elderson Chiejile and Ahmed Musa got 7 points for their efforts, six players Oboabona, Efe Ambrose, Brown Ideye, Fegor Ogude, Mba and Egwuekwe scored a point above average with the duo of Akpala and Ogu sealing the average 5-point score. Despite their performance adjudged impressive,virutally all the players got a bit of knocks for squandering chances that from all indications would have altered the result of the tie on one hand and shown that the Eagles indeed put up a good fight.

  • Jordi Alba: Eagles made life difficult for us

    Jordi Alba: Eagles made life difficult for us

    Unlikely hero Jordi Alba admitted he was still getting used to the role of match-winner after helping Spain defeat Nigeria 3-0 in their final Confederations Cup Group B game.

    The Barcelona left-back struck twice in Sunday night’s victory in Fortaleza as the world and European champions ensured they finished top of the pool, and in the process doubled his international tally.

    He told FIFA’s website: “This is clearly new to me, particularly because of the quality of the forwards in this squad. If it’s odd for me to score just one…

    “Of course I’m pleased, but I’m also happy we kept a clean sheet and beat a team like Nigeria, who made life difficult for us for the whole 90 minutes.”

    Alba’s first senior goal for his country came in last summer’s Euro 2012 final, when he scored the second in their 4-0 triumph over Italy.

    The two sides will meet once again in Thursday’s semi-final, although the 24-year-old is not sure there will be a repeat this time around.

  • Fans scramble for Eagles autographs

    Super Eagles squad  members and officials departed the team’s Seara Praia hotel camp in Fortaleza, Brazil Monday morning at about 11.30am local time for Sao Paulo enroute Lagos, Nigeria after failing to progress to the semi-final of the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup in brazil, no thanks to Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Spain’s La Roja.

    The squad who had earlier in the day presented the hotel management with souvenir jerseys signed by both players and the technical crew were cheered on by the hotel football fans alongside tourists present at the gate of Seara Praia hotel as they made their way to the team’s bus.

    The fans who were also screaming “Nigeria! Nigeria!! Nigeria!!! broke protocol by asking some of the Eagles stars to sign autographs for them before joining the bus.

    Speaking with SportingLife moments after the team had departed, a fan who simply gave his name as Carlos stressed that it was sad to see Nigeria leave after failing to progress to the semi-final of the on-going FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, even as he was quick to add that he’s looking forward to seeing the Eagles return for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

    “Nigeria should not have gone home today if they scored goals against Uruguay and Spain. Your team is young and are very good at ball play. Painfully, they don’t score goals that win matches,” he added in not too English language.

    Interestingly, Eagles skipper, Vincent Enyeama in presenting the team’s autographed jerseys to Seara Praia hotel management and staff thanked them for the hospitality during their three-day stay at the five-star hotel.

    “Words are not enough to show our appreciation for the way we enjoyed out stay as we look forward being here again next year,” he said.

    Nigeria, it would be recalled, finished third in Group B with 3 points from 3 games after garnering a win against Tahiti with two losses to Uruguay and Spain.

     

  • Bring Osaze, Ike Uche, Anichebe, others back to Eagles – Iroha begs Keshi

    Bring Osaze, Ike Uche, Anichebe, others back to Eagles – Iroha begs Keshi

    Former Super Eagles left back Benedict Iroha has sent a passionate pleas to Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi to please bring back into the team experienced players like Osaze Odemwingie, Victor Anichebe, Ikechukwu Uche, and Kalu Uche to further strengthen the team.

    Having followed the Eagles performance in the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup before the Nigerian team was eliminated Iroha disclosed that it was high time for Keshi to recall these players.

    “I don’t think it is a difficult issue for Keshi to bring back Osaze Odemwingie, Victor Anichebe, Ikechukwu Uche, Kalu Uche to complement the good work of Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Moses and others to further strengthen this team.

    “I know Keshi is gradually working on this team so that we can blend the young and talented players that have doned well so far in this team. I am so sure that Keshi will recall them to the team. We need Osaze and others back and I am happy that Osaze himself said it on his twitter page that he wants to play for the Eagles again. So this a good omen,” the former Eagles left back observed.

    Iroha also defended the performance of the Super Eagles in Brazil as he believed that the Nigerian team was not disgraced in the competition despite being ousted by world and European Champions Spain which they lost 3-0 in the last group match played on Sunday.

    “To be honest with you I am very impressed with the performance of the boys in the Confederations Cup. They were never disgraced in all the three matches they played before being eliminated.

    “They played a good match against Tahiti and also played beautifully against star studded Uruguay. They could have even won the game if not for poor marksmanship most especially in the first half. This was later repeated in the third group match against Spain.

    “Eagles could have wrapped up things in the fIrst half but couldn’t convert the begging chances created against the world Champions. So in all I think Nigeria played impressively and showed the world that we have got quality. As we know Team Coach Stephen Keshi is still building this team and the Eagles can only get better with time,”

    Iroha told SportingLife in Abuja yesterday.

     

  • Eagles hit Lagos Tuesday

    Eagles hit Lagos Tuesday

    Super Eagles players and official will this morning head back to Nigeria via Sao Paulo after failing to progress to the semi-final of the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup by losing 3-0 to Spain.

    Camp sources at the Eagles’ Seara Praia hotel here in Fortaleza Brazil revealed that most of the squad members have already concluded the packing of their belongings after the team failed to progress to the semis.

    ‘We are leaving for Nigeria today after we failed to progress to the next round of the competition.

    “Hopefully, we should be in Lagos by Tuesday night because we are passing through Sao Paulo,’ a top member of the glasshouse told SportingLife on Saturday night.

    Nigeria failed to progress to the semi-final after they lost to Spain to finish third in Group B with 3pts.

  • Super Eagles dare unbeaten Spain

    Super Eagles dare unbeaten Spain

    NIGERIA’S Super Eagles are underdogs going into the last leg of their group game at the FIFA Confederations Cup against World and European champions, Spain, tonight.

    Group B of the Confederations Cup in Brazil was wide open following Uruguay’s 2-1 win over the Super Eagles at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Bahia on Thursday.

    Stephen Keshi and his team know that they have a mountain to climb against the tiki-taka-playing Spaniards at the Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza. Spain has been in cruise control of Group B after two wins out of two including the 10-0 mauling of minnows, Tahiti.

    Vincent del Bosque’s men have not lost a competitive game since their 0-1 loss to Switzerland at the 2010 FIFA World Cup while the African champions just had their 18-match unbeaten run truncated by Uruguay bringing to an end a 13-month streak.

    Keshi will lead his men into this tie with two of his key players, Nnamdi Oduamadi and Ahmed Musa, doubtful.

    Both players suffered knocks in the loss to Uruguay, though Musa could still feature in the tie while Oduamadi has a 50-50 chance of making the squad for the match.

    But Spain could recall the core of their first-team players that includes the like of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Roberto Soldado and Iker Casillas.

    Nigeria has a mathematical chance of reaching the last four but will have to beat Spain to give them that chance.

    However, the odds are heavily stacked against the African champions, though they will draw inspiration from their predecessors in 1998 which stunned Spain 3-2 at the FIFA World Cup in France – the only head-to-head meeting between both nations at the senior level in competitive football.

    In January this year, the Super Eagles played against Catalonia in a friendly that ended 1-1, but Spain will offer a different opposition when the game gets underway from 8p.m. Nigeria time on Sunday.

  • Eagles, Spain game sold out

    Eagles, Spain game sold out

    TODAY’S Confederation Cup group game between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Spain has been sold out totally according to the FIFA Coordinator for Fortaleza, Marc Andreas Harold.

    “As we speak over 50,000 tickets have already been soldfor the 55,000 capacity stadium and people are still requesting for more. In fact the tickets have become very scarce and I think it’s because of the quality of the two teams”, he said moments after Super Eagles boss Stephen Keshi and Skipper Vincent Enyeama addressed the world press ahead of the game.

    Harold said he expects a very tight game that is almost impossible to predict and wished Nigeria well against the double champions. “You have no reason to lose the last game but it happened now there is an opportunity to correct that and I know that Spain too will be looking for victory. It’s going to be very tight for the two teams”, he said.

  • Eagles rose to the occasion — Owolabi

    Eagles rose to the occasion — Owolabi

    As Super eagles get set to tackle World champions Spain in their last group match of the Confederations Cup on Sunday in Fortaleza, former international Felix Owolabi has declared that the Stephen Keshi tutored side cannot be said to have performed below par in Brazil, no matter the outcome of the showdown.

    The team, according to him, lived up to expectation by all standards and deserve the commendation of all Nigerians. He dismissed insinuations in some quarters that goal-crazy Spain who on Thursday demolished Tahiti 10-0 will extend their cruise control against Nigeria.

    “There is no need for anyone to be pessimistic and lose hope. I don’t expect Spain to just run over the Eagles. The team I watched that played Tahiti and put up a good display against Uruguay is not one that can be pushed aside. Eagles as far as I’m concerned performed brilliantly well in Brazil and deserve commendation irrespective of the outcome of their final match,” he said.

    The former Nigerian league board member described this year’s Confederations Cup as a good platform that has exposed the nation’s players to better challenge on one hand and given opportunity for Nigerians to better assess the national team on the other.

    “The Confederations Cup has once more served as a good avenue for us to assess the team, note our shortfalls and strong points, this we can definitely build upon,” he added even as he dismissed suggestions that initial squabbles over wages and late arrival of the team affected performance.

    “The money issue was over taken by the euphoria of the competition. It did not affect the team in anyway, if it did, they wouldn’t have put up the kind of impressive effort we noticed, they indeed rose to the occasion,“ he told SportingLife in a chat Friday.

  • Eagles, Spain clash hold 8.00pm Nigerian time

    Nigeria’s Super Eagles will clash with Spain’s La Roja in the final game of the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup at the Estadio Castillo in Fortaleza, Brazil by 4.00pm local time (8.00pm Nigerian time).

    The encounter in theory still have everything to play for as both sides could still qualify for the semis and both could still make an early exit. However, in reality, it is going to be an herculean task for the Stephen Keshi tutored side to qualify despite occupying second spot in the group log.

    Spain on the other hand need a point while the Eagles need to win and pray that South American champions, Uruguay don’t beat Tahiti by a significant margin.

    Interestingly, the last meeting for both sides was in the France 1998 World Cup. Fernando Heirro and Raul had twice given Spain the lead, but goals from Mutiu Adepoju, Garuba Lawal and Sunday Oliseh helped Nigeria to a 3-2 win over the current world and European champions.

    Meanwhile, the Eagles who arrived Fortaleza yesterday are expected to have a feel of the Estadio Castelao, venue of the all important Sunday cracker later today.

    A top official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) told SportingLife that despite the loss to Uruguay  the boys are rearing to go.

    “I want Nigerians not to lose faith with the boys as they have promised to give Spain a good match on Sunday,” he assured.