Nigerians missing from FIFA shortlist

Mikky jaga · Oct 30, 2009 , 03:14 PM

Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o and Michael Essien are the only Africans named as world football governing body FIFA released a 33-strong shortlist of the best men and women players in the world ahead of the 2009 FIFA Player of the Year Gala. Unsurprisingly, no Nigerian made the shortlist, which is headlined by current holder Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

However, Barcelona's Lionel Messi is widely expected to claim the top prize this year.

The women's list has current holder and three-time winner Marta of Brazil, along with former winner Birgit Prinz.

A total of 23 men and 10 women were selected by members of the FIFA Football Committee and the Committee for Women's Football and the FIFA Women's Football World Cup.

The winners will be voted for by coaches and captains of national teams from FIFA's member associations, with the proviso that they may not vote for players from the national team they coach or play for.

FIFA will announce the names of the final five players with the most votes at the beginning of December, with the winner to be unveiled at the 19th FIFA World Player Gala on December 21 in Zurich.

Nominees

Men
Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Diego (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Côte d'Ivoire), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Kaká (Brazil), Frank Lampard (England), Luis Fabiano (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Carles Puyol (Spain), Franck Ribéry (France), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

Women
Nadine Angerer (Germany), Sonia Bompastor (France), Cristiane (Brazil), Inka Grings (Germany), Mana Iwabuchi (Japan), Simone Laudehr (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Kelly Smith (England) and Abby Wambach (USA).

Mikky jaga · Oct 30, 2009 , 03:22 PM

And some people are comparing the present Eagles with the 94 set where Nigerian players ranked among the best in the world

Nigeria does not have what it takes to be world beaters for now. The fault is not in our coach that we are struggling to qualify for WC. We have not got the right materials yet.

Bunch17 · Oct 30, 2009 , 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by Mikky jaga

And some people are comparing the present Eagles with the 94 set where Nigerian players ranked among the best in the world

Nigeria does not have what it takes to be world beaters for now. The fault is not in our coach that we are struggling to qualify for WC. We have not got the right materials yet.

Absolute Tosh!

Who were the world beaters Onigbinde took to the finals of the African Cup of Nations 1984? Onigbinde is by far the only Nigerian coach of our generation, all others are pretenders.

Dapxin · Oct 30, 2009 , 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by Bunch17

Absolute Tosh!

Who were the world beaters Onigbinde took to the finals of the African Cup of Nations 1984? Onigbinde is by far the only Nigerian coach of our generation, all others are pretenders.

And It is usually forgotten that it was Onigbinde that assembled a team within 3months pre-Korea/Japan 2002 for Nigeria ? saving the beginning of the ongoing joke of a sports sector?

Isn't Nigeria itself missing from the world sef ? I dont like delusional headlines even if delusion itself is evil.

AnotherLevel · Oct 30, 2009 , 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by Bunch17

Absolute Tosh!

Who were the world beaters Onigbinde took to the finals of the African Cup of Nations 1984? Onigbinde is by far the only Nigerian coach of our generation, all others are pretenders.

Come on. That team didn't even qualify for the World Cup.

Bunch17 · Oct 30, 2009 , 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by AnotherLevel

Come on. That team didn't even qualify for the World Cup.

Yes but which players did we have?
There was a time there was a glut of star players in Nigeria. These players were so good that which ever manager they had even without know how was successful with them. There was little coaching input hence the term "tactically naive" was used to describe Nigerian teams.

Onigbinde on the other hand was Nigeria's equivalent of Jose Maurinho. His teams were disciplined, tactically astute but did not play attractive football right from his time at Water board.

Go and look at his team of 1984 cup of Nations and tell me which of them were stars.

Dapxin · Oct 30, 2009 , 09:23 PM

Jose Maurinho

I thought it was mouri$$ho

Mikky jaga · Oct 31, 2009 , 11:33 AM

Good coaches all over the world look for good players to work with. That is why transfer windows are always busy and good players attract premium offers during this period.

Now Bunch is saying a good coach can turn ordinary players into world beaters!! Well, Santana could not do it in South Africa. Let's see what Alberto Carlos will do now that he is returning.

My take is that Nigeria is where it is today in world football rankings because of our caliber of players. Our hope may eventually lie in our local league, if the Eagles handlers will be given enough time to groom the talents that will bring us glory.