World Cup Special

By Azeez Said In this section, we would be looking at which players should and should not be on the plane to Brazil for their respective countries to reach their highest goal possible. NIGERIA The African champions qualified for the World cup event in Brazil after defeating Ethiopia over a two - legged tie, needing two goals from Emenike to defeat Ethiopia away from home with the game ending 2-1 in favour of the African giants and a 2-0 win at home with goals from Moses and Nsofor guaranteeing them a place at the show piece in Brazil. The super eagles have got their own problem too, seeing majority of their star players seeing limited playing time at their club, the likes of Moses, Mikel, Echiejile have been reduced to substitute appearances at their club. So to reach their target, or get to the semi finals like I predicted, Stephen Keshi has to get his squad selection right.  Read more > Nigeria Is Going To Be The First African Nation To Reach The Semi Finals In The World Cup Firstly, there has to be an alternative to Mikel Obi. Mikel is already known to be Nigeria's main man and his absence in Brazil due to injury or any unforeseen circumstances is unthinkable. Teams just come and try to choke him up then Nigeria struggles as we saw in the friendly match against Mexico. This is where Lukmon Haruna comes in. With his experience, he would be a good addition to the Super Eagles midfield and a midfield trio of Mikel, Onazi and Haruna is mouth watering to say the least. I expected him to try out something new in midfield against Mexico, though he did with Ramon Azeez (with respect to the young lad) but the World cup is not a place for starters so Haruna would do. Another aspect of the team that needs some addition is the attack with their profligacy in front of goal most evident in the Confederations Cup, with Ahmed Musa and Brown Ideye the main culprit. With Ik Uche and Osaze flying at their club, a recall for both at this stage won't be a bad idea. Though Osaze's record of indiscipline or whatever you like to call it with previous coaches is well documented, it is high time Stephen Keshi forgive him and give him a recall. With the right mix of players,the Super Eagles can get to their target and they can dare to dream of winning the World Cup in Brazil. BRAZIL Brazil who are hot favourites to host and win the World cup go the competition having won the Confederations cup which was also hosted by them. They won the Confederations cup in convincing fashion defeating the current World and European champions, Spain, by 3 unanswered goals and they have nit looked back since, winning 7 out of 8 friendly matches. The World cup is a different ball game entirely and to win it they would obviously play more matches than they did in the in the Confederations cup, they would also have to step up their performances than in some of their friendly matches. Brazil has also got an experienced coach in Felipe Scolari who is one of the best national team coaches you can find around at the moment and he led Brazil to winning the World cup in Germany 12 years ago. Though Scolari has made it clear that he already knows majority of the players that he would be taking along with him to the competition, with only few touches left for him to have a squad capable of winning Brazil a record 6th World cup title. Barring injuries, players like Thiago Silva,Dante,Luiz,Gustavo, Paulinho, Oscar,Cesar, Neymar, Fred, Jo to mention but a few are sure to be in Brazil this summer but this squad still lack some experience and they can find that in either or both of Ronaldinho and Kaka. Though they are not the best performing Brazilian out there but I suggested the both of them cos they are the last of the Brazil World cup winning squad and they would sure know how to replicate that again. At right back too, Scolari has got a decision in hand to make. He is to decide which two out of the 3 of Maicon, Rafinha and Dani Alves to take with him. He could decide to go with the three of them for tactical reasons but in order not to reduce his options in other areas, he has to go with two. You would not find many right backs better than Alves these days so I believe the competition is directly between Maicon and Rafinha. Since Pep started giving Rafinha opportunities in Bayern, he has not looked back since but Maicon has not been able to reach his performance level of 2010 so I'd go for Rafinha. With this little additions, Brazil could win the World cup come June. Do you agree with my opinions or you have better options? Please leave them in the comment box below.