Jordon Ibe and Nigeria’s cognitive dissonance

Caveat: I wrote this piece in 2015, when Ibe’s star looked to be on the rise. It never got published in this exact form though. It is quite embarrassing to read now, not just for the horrid style, but following the player’s development in the…

The Boys ate Rohr Eagles tonight

So, now that we know Nigeria are not going to win the World Cup, let’s get down to understanding what…

#CAN2017 Team of the tournament

First, I will state some caveats that should be obvious.

1. I am not CAF, and do not purport to be an authority. I did however see almost every game at CAN 2017, so I have some idea what I’ll be rambling on about here.

How to stop Senegal

Watching the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, it is clear that Senegal have been the outstanding team so far. They’ve scored more than anyone else, kept two clean sheets, and have the competition’s joint-top scorer in Liverpool’s Sadio Mane.

Nigeria ignoring real lessons from South Africa defeat

At the core of the Nigerian worldview is a complete lack of introspection. The inability to critically consider one’s own self, mining the lessons both from defeat and victory, is almost congenital.

#CAN2017 Final — Tactical match-up

The key to this final for me will be whether Cameroon are willing to take a risk.

#CAN2017 Quarter Finals — Tactical Match-ups (1)

Senegal vs Cameroon

#CAN2017 Quarter Finals — Tactical Match-ups (2)

DR Congo vs Ghana

#CAN2017 Semi-finals — Tactical match-ups

We could have been having a rip-roaring semi-final between Egypt and Tunisia tonight, but the Carthage Eagles picked the worst possible time to be unimpressive, losing to Burkina Faso in the quarter final.