Tag: Nigeria

FIFA World Cup 2014 Group ‘F’ News [2]

Ashkan Dejagah , who played against Trinidad & Tobago yesterday and won a penalty , has suffered an injury after a collision with Williams, the Trinidad Goalkeeper.

Dejagah was substituted for the second half as the coaching staff elected to exercise caution pending further medical examination. On closer check by Team Melli medical staff and Corinthians doctors, it is deemed that the injury is light and Ashkan can return back to duty and training. Team Melli defeated Trinidad 2-0 with goals scored by Ehsan Hajsafy and Reza Ghoocannejad. If Nekounam did not miss the penalty , a 3-0 result would have been the same result Argentina achieved against the same opposition a few days earlier.

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Which Nigeria will turn up?

It is difficult to define exactly which Nigeria side will turn up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The reigning African champions have the potential to cause plenty of problems for their opponents but can just as easily be brushed aside as we saw four years ago in South Africa.

Nigeria recorded one solitary point in 2010, losing to Argentina and Greece, while drawing with South Korea in their final group stage match.

This time around, they come into the tournament on the back of their 2013 African Cup of Nations success which is sure to provide some sort of confidence.

Recent friendly results have thrown up a trio of draws with Mexico, Scotland and Greece, making it a tough task to analyse just how Stephen Keshi’s Super Eagles will perform.

There is plenty to like about the squad on paper but that does not necessarily mean they will be able to recreate the outcome of the 1994 and 1998 teams who both finished top of their group before losing out in the Round of 16.

Nigeria

Manager: Stephen Keshi

Fixtures: Iran – June 16 (Curitiba), Bosnia & Herzegovina – June 21 (Cuiaba), Argentina – June 25 (Porto Alegre)

Past outings against group opponents: Nigeria have played Iran once in the past, for a 1-0 friendly win in Hong Kong in 1998.

Nigeria and Bosnia have never met at international senior level.

Nigeria and Argentina have played each other six times previously. The Super Eagles have won just once, while drawing once and losing on four occasions. The Africans have lost three times to Argentina in the group stage of World Cups for three losses in 1994, 2002 and 2010.

Key players: John Obi Mikel (Chelsea), Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce), Vincent Enyeama (Lille), Victor Moses (Chelsea)

World Cup utopia: Making it any further past the Round of 16.

Doomsday scenario: Finishing bottom of Group F.

Qualified by virtue of: CAF play-off win over Ethiopia (4-1 on aggregate)

Best result at a World Cup: Round of 16 (1994, 1998)

tribal’s forecast:

Keshi has instilled in his side a belief that they can beat anybody they come up against.

Whether the Nigerian players actually believe that is another story but at least the boss has plenty of faith in his men.

Recent allegations of match-fixing, following goalkeeper Austin Ejide’s disallowed own-goal in the 2-2 friendly draw with Scotland, are sure to bind the players together but can they take the extra step?

The usually defensive-minded Mikel relishes his creative role in the national team and will be supported by the likes of Liverpool loanee Moses and Lazio’s Ogenyi Onazi.

The midfield will be where most of Nigeria’s influence comes from as they look to feed Emenike who had a decent season in Turkey, scoring 12 goals for Fenerbahce.

Other than Emenike though, it is hard to see exactly where the goals will come from. Peter Odemwingie hasn’t scored an international goal since August 2010, Ahmed Musa doesn’t have the best of strike rates,Shola Ameobi is noted more for his hard work rather than finesse whileUche Nwofor and Michael Uchebo are largely untested at this level.

Group F is something that Nigeria could successfully navigate when at their best but if they fail to make the most of the opening fixture against Iran, their chances of progressing to the knockout phase will decrease massively.

Sure, the talent is there but do the Nigerians have the mettle to mix it with the likes of Argentina and Bosnia?

Prediction: Group stage elimination.

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The Bosnia & Herzegovina team of 2014 are flying the flag for the tiny Balkan nation.

This is the first World Cup the Bosnians will compete in as a single entity after being a part of the Yugoslavia sides of the distant past.

Safet Susic’s outfit were more than solid throughout their qualifying campaign, finishing on top of their group, with a healthy goal difference of plus 24 having scored 30 goals in their 10 matches.

It will be a celebration of sorts for the Bosnian people who have so long hoped to see a team of their own represent them on the world stage, and in Brazil, they get the opportunity to look on with pride.

The Zmajevi (Dragons) have a great chance to announce themselves to the world by qualifying for the knockout stages which would be a stunning achievement given the inexperience of the team at such a high-status event.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Manager: Safet Susic

Fixtures: Argentina – June 15 (Rio de Janeiro), Nigeria – June 21 (Cuiaba), Iran – June 25 (Salvador)

Past outings against group opponents: Bosnia have played the Argentines twice for two losses. The latest meeting was a 2-0 friendly defeat in November 2013.

Bosnia and Nigeria have met at international senior level.

The Bosnians have taken on Iran on five occasions for four losses and a draw. The most recent encounter resulted in a 3-2 friendly loss in Sarajevo in 2009.

Key players: Edin Dzeko (Manchester City), Asmir Begovic (Stoke City),Vedad Ibisevic (Stuttgart), Emir Spahic (Bayer Leverkusen)

World Cup utopia: Reaching the knockout phase would be a definite success while anything more would be seen as a massive achievement.

Doomsday scenario: Finishing bottom of the group below Iran.

Qualified by virtue of: Finishing top of UEFA Group G qualifying.

Best result at a World Cup: Debut World Cup

tribal’s forecast:

There are some seriously classy players within the Bosnian World Cup squad.

City star Dzeko will lead the line in attack and will be assisted by Ibisevic who knocked in 15 goals for Stuttgart last season. Those two will be heavily relied upon to hit the back of the net as was evidenced by the qualifying campaign when combining for 18 of the 30 goals.

Pulling the strings in midfield will be veteran Zvjezdan Misimovic, who plays his club football in China, while there will be support from the likes of Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic, Lazio’s Senad Lulic and Hoffenheim’s Sejad Salihovic.

The defence, which conceded just six goals in qualifying, is led by influential skipper Spahic who guides a well-organised and cohesive ‘team within a team’ which sits in front of talented goalkeeper Begovic.

National legend Susic has before him a well-drilled, discplined line-up who are underrated on the world stage and will take a power of beating in the group stages.

Bosnia are certainly capable of getting the better of both Nigeria and Iran, and making life difficult for Argentina, before looking on to a possible Round of 16 clash with France.

Prediction: Round of 16.

Jahanbaksh named amongst the young players to watch

Young Players to set the 2014 World Cup alight from Group F

Last Updated:
1
World Cup 2014, Group F
Here is a look at one young player from each of the four Group F teams most likely to make an impact for their respective countries at the World Cup

Argentina

Marcos Rojo

Rojo

Age

24

Club

Sporting Lisbon

Position

Defender

Int. Caps

21

Int. Goals

0

 

In an experienced Argentina side, Marcos Rojo is one of the younger and probably one of the most important players in the Albiceleste squad. The 24-year-old will be playing in the left-back position for Argentina at the World Cup and has emerged as an integral part for Alejandro Sabella’s side.

While his defensive qualities have been put into question at times, Rojo is a great threat going forward and will surely prove to be a useful outlet in the final third of the pitch for the South Americans.

 

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sead Kolašinac

Saed Kolasnic1

Age

20

Club

Schalke

Position

Defender

Int. Caps

4

Int. Goals

0

 

Sead Kolašinac has enjoyed a breakthrough season with Schalke this year. The young man established himself as an integral part of the German side and impressed many with his mature performance at the back.

A versatile player who is primarily used as a left-back, Kolašinac switched allegiance to Bosnia & Herzegovina after representing Germany at youth level and looks set to play a big part in the country’s debut World Cup campaign in Brazil.

 

Iran

Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Alirejza

Age

20

Club

NEC Nijmegen

Position

Midfielder

Int. Caps

6

Int. Goals

1

 

Alireza Jahanbakhsh is probably the most exciting young player to emerge from Iran recently. The 20-year old plies his trade in Netherlands for NEC Nijmegen and managed to impress with some fine performances for the Dutch side over the course of the campaign.

A tricky winger with a knack of scoring goals, Jahanbakhsh adds a bit of flair to a solid Iran side. While Ashkan Degajah and Javad Nekounam will most probably be preferred to Jahanbakhsh in the starting lineup at the World Cup, one cannot rule out the young man making an impact in the competition whenever afforded the opportunity.

 

Nigeria

Ogenyi Onazi

Onazi

Age

20

Club

Lazio

Position

Midfielder

Int. Caps

20

Int. Goals

1

 

Ogenyi Onazi’s meteoric rise to prominence has been phenomenal. Having picked up by Italian giants from a church-sponsored team in Lagos called My People two years ago, Onazi has gone on to become one of the finest young midfielders plying their trade in Europe.

The 20-year old has also established himself as a regular in the Nigerian national team and helped the Super Eagles to the African Cup of Nations triumph in 2013.

A tough tackling midfielder, Onazi possesses a brilliant temperament and he will surely be looking to impress at the World Cup by taming the dangerous Argentina and Bosnia attack.

Written by: Sarad Shrestha

Iran drops 6 places in FIFA Ranking of June 2014

Iran maintained top Asian ranking in the monthly list issued today (Thursday 4th Jun 2014) despite dropping a significant 6 places down  to 43 in the overall FIFA Ranking.

In the last ranking to be issued before the World Cup kick off, Iran tally of 641 points ranks it above Japan (626) Korea Rep (547) and Uzbekistan (539) in Asia. Australia is fifth with 526 points.

 

Interestingly enough , Nigeria , Team Melli’s first opponent at the World Cup maintained its position at 44  one rank below and one point less than Team Melli at 43.

 

There is a mix result for the other Group F with Argentina , the highest rank team in the group climbing two places to # 5 in the world while Bosnia also climbed 4 places as the best achiever of the group at 21.

 

Group F ranking – Comparison chart

FIFA-Ranking-compare-Jun14

Keshi dismisses Argentina, focused on Iran

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi focusing on Iran first

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi says his focus at the moment is his opening World Cup match against Iran.

Keshi’s team also play Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina, but most of the focus has been on the South American giants.

The Nigeria coach insists that the first game is the most important one of all. “The Argentina game is not important right now,” Keshi said.

“The most important game is against Iran and when I finish playing against Iran and Bosnia then I can have an answer to that.”

Keshi also dismissed injury concerns to his players, claiming he has spoken to them and received assurances.

“There are no injuries. I have called Austin Ejide and he made it clear that he was never injured.

“Ahmed Musa had a minor injury and l spoke to the club doctor who said in two or three weeks he would be fine.

“Musa played in the last minutes for his Russian club in a league game. I called Oduamadi and he dismissed the report of his injury. In fact he told that he had a match that same day, so I don’t know where all these rumours emanated from.

“But we will assess everyone very well when they come for the training camp.”

Nigeria announces provisional squad for the World Cup.

Nigeria FA announced a provisional list of 30 players for the FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil.

The list of 30 players has only 4 players based in Africa while the rest are all legionnaires in Europe and 2 playing in Israel.

The surprise pick is forward Shola Ameobi  (32 years) who has played 25 matches with only a few as a starter and scored 2 goals only for Newcastle United.

 

Provisional Nigeria squad:

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Lille FC, France); Austin Ejide (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel), Daniel Akpeyi (Heartland), Chigozie Agbim (Gombe United)

Defenders: Elderson Echiejile (AS Monaco, France); Efe Ambrose (Celtic, Scotland); Godfrey Oboabona (Rizespor, Turkey); Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves); Kenneth Omeruo (Middlesbrough, England); Juwon Oshaniwa (Ashdod FC, Israel); Joseph Yobo (Norwich City, England); Kunle Odunlami (Sunshine Stars).

Midfielders: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea, England); Ramon Azeez (Almeria FC, Spain); Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); Joel Obi (Parma, Italy); Nnamdi Oduamadi (Varese, Italy); Ejike Uzoenyi (Enugu Rangers), Nosa Igiebor (Real Betis, Spain), Sunday Mba (CA Bastia, France), Reuben Gabriel (Waasland-Beveren, Belgium), Michael Babatunde (Volyn Lutsk, Ukraine).

Forwards : Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Shola Ameobi (Newcastle United, England); Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce, Turkey); Obinna Nsofor (Chievo Verona, Italy); Peter Odemwingie (Stoke City, England), Michael Uchebo (Cercle Brugge, Belgium); Victor Moses (Liverpool, England), Uche Nwofor (Heerenveen, Holland).

Former Nigeria coach ” Iran may be Nigeria’s toughest challenge”

Former Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, has said that the Iranian national team, may be Nigeria’s toughest challenge in the group stages of the 2014 FIFA world cup championship in Brazil.

The Keshi-led team will play Iran in their first game of their campaign at the mundial in the summer.

Siasia expressed the need for the technical crew of the Nigerian national team to get a compilation of the videos of the world cup debutants so as to help with tactical strategies when they eventually clash.

“Now is the time for the compilation of videos and data that can truly reveal the Iranians” Siasia said in an interview with 365footballnews.com.

“I am not afraid of Argentina. We really don’t know much about Iran and if you are going to fight an enemy, then you should know the kind of enemy you want to fight. You have to know their strength and weaknesses but what we know about Iran is zero”.

“As far as I am concerned, that will be the most difficult game we are going to play because we don’t know them much”

Nigeria is in Group F together with Iran, Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina and Stephen Keshi is expected to navigate the team through to the knock-out stages.

Only 4,350 tickets sold to Iranians for 3 World Cup matches!

Marketing committee of the Football Federation announced that only 4,350 tickets has been sold for Iran matches in the 2014 FIFA World Cup so far.

The figures are from the official source of online ticket purchase system by FIFA and for the 3 matches against Nigeria, Bosnia and Argentina. Mohammad Derakhshan , the committee spokesman said that of the total of 4,350 tickets 1,400 was sold for the first match against Nigeria, 1,700 for Argentina and 1,250 for the last match versus Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Derkhshan noted that these figures are for the matches where the ticket buyer has registered as being an Iranian nationality or purchased from electronic addresses in Iran. “There has to be lots of dual-nationality Iranians that have purchased tickets who registered their names and tickets according to their current country such as Canada and USA”

FIFA has previously announced that the Iran vs Bosnia-Herzegovina was the least sold tickets in the entire World Cup matches program.

 

Why Team Melli stands a good chance against Nigeria?

The Nigerians have a great belief in their football team nicknamed “The Super Eagles” and are pretty confident of qualification to the next round to the extent of arrogance. Majority of the Nigerian experts and analyst dismiss Iran as a serious opponent, focusing instead on Bosnia and Argentina. The World Press seems to be following that inclination. With many of their players making their living in European leagues, Nigeria seems to be favored against the lessor known Iranians who have a handful of players. All The Iranian players in European league play in very modest teams, with every single one of them struggling against relegation. Even with such teams, Only Davari and Dejagah feature regularly in their teams while the other two are peripheral players.

So , it is no wonder that Nigeria is considered to be the favorite to beat Iran.

Here is one analysis to support the belief that Nigeria is one of the top 10 Dark Horses teams that might surprise the world:

This may be a slightly odd selection, especially since Nigeria will have to withstand Argentina and Bosnia/Herzegovina to have a chance at even making the Round of 16. However, the defending Africa Cup of Nations champions have a decent array of weapons at their disposal, with John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses expected to lead their midfield and Emmanuel Emenike as arguably their top striker, as well as Vincent Enyeama having put up solid goalkeeping performances for Lille this past year. Especially since their draw could have been a lot worse – just ask Ghana – don’t be too surprised if the Super Eagles put up more of a fight in Brazil than you’d expect.

However , Team Melli is much stronger than what the Nigerians think. The African Champions self-belief perhaps even over confidence, might nicely work for Querioz’s men. None of the star players mentioned in the above brief is a regular starter for their teams. Obi Mikel has only a handful of matches with Chelsea , so has Moses who seems to be a permanent sub at Liverpool. Emmanuel Emenike whose nickname is the Beast , has hardly set the Turkish League alight , although he did suffer some injury , yet his 3 goals in the season 2013-14 for Fenerbache, is hardly a record that can be frightening for his opponents.

Nigeria has some hard working midfield players and a good defense line, but they are not formidable as seen in the African Cup and the qualification rounds. The teams plays physical football and at times rough and reckless. They have weaknesses that Queiroz can work upon. One of which is if Nigeria falls behind, their players tend to panic. They have also shown traces of indiscipline tactically and on individual basis.

The squad itself is not at its ideal conditions with Head Coach Stephen Keshi, and his employer, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) having differences. Believes that Keshe needs the support of assistance coach with experience, while Keshi sees that as a threat to his authority. Such quarrels has already trickled into the camp. Some of Nigeria’s recent shortcomings were apparent during the match vs. Ghana in the CHAN semi-final match. Although the Ghanaian team was reduced to ten men, the Super Eagles could not find an answer to their power game and eventually lost to them. It was also alleged that during the CHAN match with Zimbabwe for the third place, the Super Eagles could again not find a way to convincingly overwhelm the team despite the fact that one of their players got a red card in the 17th minute of the game.

The strength of Iran against Nigeria will be in the tight defense that will not allow the Nigerians to breathe, a similar tactics that Carlos Queiroz deployed against a much organized South Korean team at home and away during the World Cup qualifiers. Iran has also several individual talented players who can produce some magic and surprise the Nigerians.

There are quite a few good lessons that Iran has learned from the defeat against Nigeria in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, mainly is the ability of the Nigerians to run tirelessly.

In brief, both teams have equal chances of winning. The so-called expertise who claim Nigeria as being superior to Iran, based such judgment on superficial information of Iranian football , and that is expected because of Iran’s low profile in European football scene.

Reality is something else. Iran has the strength in depth to defeat Nigeria. The onus is on Queiroz to use his expertise and motivational power to make his players believe in their ability and their capacity to surprise their opponents.

Fans take to streets, social media to protest for Carlos Tevez

It is hard to believe that Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella would exclude fan favorite Carlos Tevez, the leading scorer in Italy’s Serie A, from the World Cup team. But it looks like that is what he is going to do, and fans are so angry they are going to social media and the streets.

On Friday, they held a protest march in Buenos Aires, demanding that their beloved “Carlitos” get a spot on the squad.

Tevez is the leading scorer for first-place Juventus this season with 18 goals, and is tied for the league lead. He previously played at Manchester United and Manchester City, and has always been popular with fans because of his humble beginnings and his tough style of play. He is actually favoured by many fans over Lionel Messi, who is seen as a golden boy who left for Spain at a young age.

But Tevez fell out of favor with Sabella, and has not played for the national team since the 2011 Copa America.

“I’ve got confidence in the strikers that I have. They are all stars at the highest level,” Sabella said after Argentina’s 0-0 tie in a friendly on March 5 against Romania.

It is hard to argue that the Argentina roster is already loaded with Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. But Tevez is a world-class player who deserves a shot to make his nation’s World Cup team.

Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta is disappointed Tevez is being left out.

“Clearly Tevez is a man and therefore aspires to wear the jersey of his country, especially at a World Cup,” Marotta told Sky Sport Italia.

“He deserves it for his talents, but the coach makes his decisions. I think it is down to non-football situations we don’t know. As a professional, Tevez accepts this decision with disappointment, but understanding, realizing he can gain satisfaction elsewhere in his career.”

Argentina will be facing Iran , Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group F of the World Cup 2014.

Under Portuguese direction and modest ideals

Translated form the original article in Portuguese

POSTED ON 14/04/14 – 3:00 a.m.

VICTOR MARTINS
www.otempo.com.br

Asian team is led by Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz; in 2010 he coached Portugal

After three tries and three falls in the first phase of the competition, Iran hopes to do differently in 2014. To compete in the World Cup in Brazil, the Asian team includes coach who speaks Portuguese. Carlos Queiroz is born in Portugal and experiencing his second World Cup, although already he qualified three teams for the tournament.

After qualifying for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan as the head coach of South Africa , he was fired just before the tournament because of a dispute. With Portugal in 2010, Queiroz was eliminated in the quarter-finals to the eventual winners Spain. Now, the coach knows that the mission with Iran will not be easy.

“Iran will not be going  sightseeing, we will play our games with great competence, class and passion.” Carlos Queiroz

 

Many would have  complained of having Argentina in the same group, except for the Portuguese coach, who celebrated the fact that his players will face major players. Winning against Bosnia-Hezergóvina and Nigeria is possible and therefore Iran will engage.

“For us it is fantastic, wonderful. We came to play with the best in the world and we are together with Argentina, we could  not ask for more? We will fight to qualify for the second round. Will it be easy? Not very difficult, but it is in our hands to work to play competently and worthy matches, “said Queiroz.

Iran team has the will & the commitment, although Iran will have a hard time overcoming the other two group opponents. Especially for not having so many players playing in international football, as has Bosnia and Nigeria.

In 1998 the only victory of Iran in the World Cup occurred against the United States, a great political enemy, what the history wants now,  is to get a chance to rank with the quarter-final in the last round. Facing Bosnia, June 25, in Salvador, and chance of ranking is everything you’d expect the Iranian people to dream of.