Nigeria became the first African qualifiers for the World Cup in Russia. They defeated strong Argentina 4-2 in friendlies last night. There is distinct optimism around a generation of players that looks their best hope of a last eight spot in some years. Victor Moses, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi. Such many young talented players in this team.
In your opinion, will Nigeria be a dark horse in the coming World Cup? And why?
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Experts of last DAILY TOPIC: Is Zlatan Ibrahimovic not as good as he thinks he is?
Well,I think Zlatan ibrahimovic to some extent,is not as good as he thinks he really is,not anymore. Zlatan,without doubt, could be likened to the great Christopher Columbus who traveled around the world,seeing as ibrahimovic has taken a successful tour of Europe,emerging a champion in virtually all the clubs he played for.but now,with his current performance so far,one could only be right to raise eyebrows and wonder if the potency of zlatan's football has not dwindled a bit.
Zlatan,is not really as good as he has been before with both club and country,which can be narrowed down to the following reasons; his past average statistics, his age factor and his recent below par performance at Manchester united.
On his past average statistics, Ibrahimovic has spent most of his career recognized as one of the world's best goal scorers. His first season with PSG had done nothing to cancel out this view.
With 27 goals in 32 Ligue 1 games, Ibra had delivered. He also demonstrated his all-around ability by tallying seven assists. In Ligue 1, Ibra of cause, played in a more advanced position and looked to be a finisher. In Europe we saw him in a more withdrawn role: holding the ball up and setting up others. having scored 50 goals in 51 games in his final season in France,he then joined Manchester united in the summer.in his first season for the red devils, he however,managed 23goals in all competitions,with 17 in the premier league under 28appearances,coming on as a substitute in one, while averaging a value of 0.61 goals per match,which is quite lower than that of his first season with French giants.
Secondly, his age factor,even if the large-egoed zlatan will not openly admit it,is a major pointer as to why he has not been that superb as compared to his younger days as a footballer.At the current past-his-peak age of 36 years,it is, well,much obvious to every tom,dick or harry that zlatan should definitely be thinking of hanging his boots soon,if he is a really honest forward that knows that the age factor massively affects the gameplay of players,more so forwards like him,unlike the lucky goalkeepers who can stay between the sticks for as close to their forties while still keeping the goals out efficiently too.
More so,his recent below par performance for Manchester united,only goes further to show that zlatan might be sinking in deep waters much sooner than he expected.the clash with Anderlecht in the Europa league,can be used as an instance."The Europa League became the Champions League since I put my foot there",was what Zlatan Ibrahimovic said ahead of Manchester United's quarter-final tie with Anderlecht.but his timing of the statement was just too wrong.he led an average squad of attackers against the Belgian side, and was with all justice,rightly criticised by Jose after the full-time whistle. He has never been dropped from United's starting line-up, rested only on a few occasions, and has never been substituted, even if being outperformed by other creative players.but Jose decided to play rashford in the place of zlatan against Chelsea,considering what had happened in the return leg with Anderlecht. and rashford delivered,shined and sparkled against the league leaders.
Ibrahimovic is now above his peak in age. His game is not as beautiful as Lukaku's and it is a far cry from the youthful exuberance of Rashford. His game is goals, but he has missed a hatful or perhaps, a sackful of big chances and doesn't offer much else to United's overall game.Sweden too,to the surprise of all,have done well without him,with zlatan claiming that the time he played with the national team,was a different time,when all pressure was him and the team to perform,and that the time in which sweden now plays without him,is not so much filled with pressure on them.but then,one can only imagine the pressure placed on a national team to qualify for a world cup, and come to the ultimate conclusion that there are no fewer forms of pressure in football greater than that,just like the one that was on argentina to also qualify for the world cup.
As the Liverpool legend Robin fowler puts it, 'It’s all part of getting older. You just become less dynamic, less threatening in the role at the sharp end, so you want to drift to find a bit of space.'Zlatan ibrahimovic,to set the facts straight, is truly a Legend of the game,globally recognized by all but just as it is with time,all legends do come and go,and its just as ok for his performance to reduce with time,and also very much ok too, if zlatan eventually realizes that he is really,not as good as he thinks he is.
Its like saying Argentina are better off without Lionel Messi just because they haven't won a World Cup with him. Same goes to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Lets face it...this guy has made more than 100 appearances for the Swedish national team. He is the country's all-time leading goalscorer with 62 goals. He represented Sweden at the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, as well as the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 UEFA European Championships. He has been awarded Guldbollen, given to the Swedish player of the year, a record 11 times, including 10 consecutive times from 2007 to 2016. Had he not been injured last season at Manchester United who knows maybe he would have not announced his retirement and have been part of the Swedish players going to the World Cup. So yes he is an influential player on the pitch and the team plays around him more and they were better with him on it. These WCQ were a bit different from those in 2014 when a Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Portugal knocked them out of the 2014 World Cup nonetheless Ibrahimovic name was all over the scoresheet. This time around Italy were just utterly shambolic and a shadow of their former selves and Sweden managed to take their chances and dedended well thats all. Nowhere has it made them better than Zlatans Sweden period.
Is Zlatan not as good as he thinks he is? In what sense because Sweden have qualified for the world Cup without him. Sweden's qualification has been generally attributed to Italy loosing the game and not them winning it as it can sadly be in some matches but let's not forget they had qualification games to through without him and last time they made it to the play off for Euro 2016 they lost to the eventual champions and man of the match was the eventual Ballon do'r winner who scored an incredible hatrick. Does any team with a big star play differently when their star player isn't available? Yes and did Sweden play differently since Zlatan retired from international football? Yes That already tells you he is a star player but let's get deeper into this. Any team would miss a player off his quality power, composure, good link up play and a bigger than anything persona to go with the incredible football abilities which have with stood the test of time that many star players don't survive just ask his Idol Original Ronaldo, Owen, Vanisteroy, Henry and many others degenerated with age retiring in lower leagues like MLS and Brazilian Seria A however Zlatan statistics have gotten better with age and if not for his injury last season he was on course to finish the season with 30+ goals and at least 20 in the premier league and unlike very few players in world football alone Zlatan's personality can take pressure off his teammates and his coaches if you ask me Sweden would be wise to get him to return for the world Cup. So is Zlatan's as good as he thinks he is? No HE IS BETTER!
Ajmal7
69
Nigeria can become the dark horse of the World Cup 2018 . They are strong forces in every department . There are many young players who are playing for big clubs . Moses for Chelsea , Ndidi and Iheanacho for Leicester City and Alex Iwobi for Arsenal . They can become the dark horse of this WC with pace and stamina . They are having great youth team blended with some experience players like John Mikel Obi Nigeria became the first African qualifiers for the World Cup in Russia.There is distinct optimism around a generation of players that looks their best hope of a last eight spot in some years. Victor Moses, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi. Such many young talented players in this team.
SoumoAnki
45
May be.It all depends on their hard work,practice and determination.We don't know how much they are working hard?
TrajkovskiH
34
Nigeria shows great game against Argentina, great comeback and win too.they are playing 5-3-2 more defensive,but they score 4 goals. Nigeria have great young talents like iheanacho and Alex Iwobi.I think they will play good in World Cup but they can win World Cup football is football we don't know what will happened
Nigeria1110427
22
We should not deceive ourselves. Nigeria is currently far behind in Fifa ratings. To that extent Nigeria might be considered as one of the two or three dark horses there might be in the next world cup. What will greatly help is the determination of the players to excel. They must have belief in themselves and play together as a team. The Manager must still go out on talent hunt and bring all our good players into the fold and trained. NFF must make maximum use of the windows by arranging top rated friendlies and build up their confidence before the WC.. The NFF must do all the needful to avoid the perennial disputes between them and the team over bonuses and allowances. On a note of warning no one should think that Nigeria will be taken for granted as it was in 1994. Friendly or no friendly what they did to Argentina yesterday was an eye opener and will be a pointer for teams in our group to be determined on December 1 to take Nigeria seriously. It happened in 1998 and we were all eye witnesses to what Denmark did to us in France as the kill joy Denmark brought our dreams to a dead end. Such pitfall must be avoided by thinking ahead that other teams will prepare for us specially. All I can say for now is that with the qualities of the boys currently on parade Nigeria has a prospect of doing well at the next WC if Nigeria is serious about achieving such high heights or potentials .
realEddy
21
well,the prospect of Nigeria becoming the dark horse at Russia 2018 is really promising to the African continent.and Nigeria does fit the description very well,a dark horse being a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in some kind of competition or a contestant that seems unlikely to succeed.and in the upcoming world cup in Russia, with the kind of other,strong, titanic countries racing for it,it does seem "highly" unlikely,quite high in fact. But to be sincere, it is quite possible for the African country to become the dark horse of the prestigious tournament,with the following reasons being major pointers; their current world rankings,their past history in other major tournaments,past close range attempts in the world cup and current overall team strength. To begin with,Nigeria,who officialy joined the FIFA governing body in 1960,in the most recent world rankings by FIFA ,were placed at the tenth spot on the list,with Germany,Brazil, Spain,France,Belgium, Portugal, Argentina,Poland and Mexico occupying the top spots from one to nine accordingly. they beat Cavanni's uruguay to it,who are currently making do with the eleventh spot.they have indeed come a long way and making it to the Top Ten indeed calls for great celebration. Their past history in other major tournaments only goes further to suggest that Nigeria could be the surprise package of the Russia 2018 world cup.Being the hosts also,Nigeria won the African nations cup in 1980,then in Tunisia in 1994.it was another 19years before they were again crowned continental champions in south Africa.The eagles have been runner ups a record of four times,three of those close shaves being against perennial rivals Cameroon(1984,1988 and 2000).this talented team also boasts of finishing in third place on seven occasions. Their past close range attempts on the world cup have been quite commendable too.The Golden Age for the country's football was in the 90s,when after winning the 1994 African cup of nations in Tunisia,they made a big impression on their world cup debut that same year by reaching the knockout stage,before they landed an historic Olympic gold in 1996.these exploits were the direct result of managerial stability and continuity that built a talented and disciplined side.the five-year stint of Dutchman Clemens westerhof,between 1989 and 1994,marked a time when astute planning saw the eagles flying high.the Nigeria super eagles have qualified for five world cups and won the African cup of nations three times. Looking at the overall strength of the team,one can positively deduce that the team is a promising one.their key player,captain John Mikel obi,the most experienced member of the squad with 80caps,will be a key figure for the super eagles in Russia.this will be the former Chelsea midfielder's second world cup,the-30-year-old helped the team reach the knockout stages in 2014 for the first time since 1998.he now plays in China with Tianjin Teda.the eagles team also has a lot of good premier league talents,the likes of which include Alex iwobi from arsenal,victor moses from Chelsea,kelechi iheanacho and Ahmed musa from Leicester city,and Ola Aina on loan at Hall city from Chelsea.Other promising talents from around the world include Paul onuachu from Fc Midtjylland,who has scored 13 goals in 15appearances while providing 5 assists so far this term for the Danish club,henry onyekuru from Anderlecht,Emmanuel Dennis who plays for club brugge kV,Vincent enyeama,the ace goalkeeper from Lille and so many others.the boss,the capable coach or manager, Gernot Rohr,has managed all over the world.From Nice to Gabon, Burkina Faso to Nigeria,the 64year old has extensive knowledge of the beautiful game,he, whom in his youthful days played for Bayern Munich and Bordeaux, and later ending up as coach of the latter club. having all of this in mind,one could only be right to a great extent if one speculates that Nigeria can be the surprise package of the next world cup.and if fortunately for the African continent, Nigeria comes out of the blue and surprisingly achieves the impossible, then Nigeria without knowing it,will have proved they were not just the dark horse, but that they were a really dark one indeed.
chasesunny
14
Nigeria dark horse in Russia yes i think they're considering how they've improved since the german tactician took over as the head coach of super eagles , gernot rohr has done wonderfully well and i can see Nigeria pulling some weight in russia next year 'repeat of Olympic 96 is not impossible !
tanbcinrsy
13
THIS SET OF SUPER EAGLES MIGHT OFF SET THE WC HISTORY NEXT YEAR IN RUSSIA GOING BY THE COMPOSURE OF THE NFF TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT, THE COACH & THE ZEAL AMONG THE PLAYERS, I THINK WITH THEIR OVER THE ARGENTINA YESTERDAY, ANY COUNTRY LOOKING DOWN ON THEM MIGHT BE MAKING A VERY BIG MISTAKE. FROM THEIR FIRST MATCH THEY SENT OUT A VERY STRONG SIGNAL THAT THEY MEAN BUSINESS THANK YOU.
Nigeria1110427
12
All things been equal, if the Eagles do not wallow in self deceit and the illusion of beating Argentina in a friendly and then play to the gallery, but if they shall remain focussed and play with maturity, it is most likely they will go far in the next world cup notwithstanding the fact that they appear to be a dark horse noe.
tencopuz
12
There is normally 1 r mayb 2 favourites.in a WC..then u .possible 4 countries who r strong contenders...then mayb 2 r so possible contenders....then u have something like 2 dark horses...I.,.dont c nigeria in tht group....havent really seen them play as a team recently...but z players mentioned ....at their disposal ...in my opinion r not world beaters ...and u ofto have world beaters to win wc...z likes of a mane aubeyang.sallah...so to me egypt r senegal wud b more inclined to make a push.for it