German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen have placed Nigeria international striker Victor Boniface under a strict fitness regime drill that involves extra sessions after the usual training, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Boniface hasn’t contributed much to the team he joined on loan from Bayer Leverkusen this season due to his poor fitness levels, but rather than give up on him they have introduced a way of helping him get back to shape.

Like we first flagged in our reports after seeing him in the Super Eagles training, the club believes if he loses weight he will be near his best form that saw him win the best young players in Germany award three seasons ago.

To ensure Boniface is back to his level they are making him work an extra session after training, by doing an extra sprint session under the supervision of athletic trainer Günther Stoxreiter.

Boniface had eight 90-meter laps on the schedule. A strenuous program for the 24 year old whose body weight is a hot topic around Werder Bremen.

But the club are satisfied that he is working hard to improve himself so he can soon be of more help to the team than he has been so far.

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle is a huge admirer of Pisa of Italy based midfielder Ebenezer Akinsamiro, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The coach has already ran the rule on the 20 year old, who is having his debut season in the Italian top flight with the newly promoted side on loan from Inter Milan.

He has so far played in six games in the Serie A and Chelle watched his last four games on television. He is also expected to do the same thing tomorrow when Pisa take on AC Milan.

Akinsamiro was recently picked among the top five U21 midfielders with the highest amount of ball progression in Europe’s top five league by data collecting website DataMB.

Top 5 League U21 Midfielders : Progressive action rate

E. Poku (Bayer Leverkusen, 21) — 37.5

A. Wharton (Crystal Palace, 21) — 34.26

S. El Mala (Köln, 19) — 32.33

E. Akinsanmiro (Pisa, 20) — 29.37

K. Yıldız (Juventus, 20) — 28.58

Chelle’s admiration could see him get a spot in the Super Eagles team for the world cup qualifiers playoff in November, where they will be up against Gabon for a spot in the final against either Congo Dr or Cameroon who will be up against each other in the other semi final.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Coach of the senior national team of South Africa Hugo Broos says the Super Eagles of Nigeria had no knowledge that they needed to beat Benin Republic 4-0 to finish among the best four runners up in the world cup qualifiers playoff, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria defeated Benin 4-0 in Uyo to book a spot in next month’s playoff, with South Africa securing the sole ticket in the group as winners to make it to the 2026 tournament with a 3-0 win over Rwanda on the final day.

South Africa were however hit with a three points deduction after fielding an ineligible player in Teboho Mokoena, and Broos admitted that it almost rocked their campaign.

He cited Nigeria’s win over Benin Republic as the result that help seal their spot at the tournament.

“I said a year ago or maybe more that Nigeria should help us and they helped us a little bit by doing what they had to do.

“But I was a little bit afraid because they were not really convincing during the qualifiers. They were convincing against Benin, but they started with three draws and a defeat.

“That was not Nigeria. I was a little bit afraid that Benin should not win. That was my fear, not that we shouldn’t win. Even with a victory against Rwanda, we were not sure to be qualified.”

The coach said it was clear that the Super Eagles didn’t know what the number of goals they needed finish among the best four runners up in all the groups.

“They did not know it before the game. We looked at all the scenarios and in certain cases we had to win with two goals difference.

“I said to the players before the game, ‘Don’t look too much, try to score two goals’. After five minutes we scored the first goal, and I knew we could score the second.

“At half-time the score in Nigeria was 2-0, and I said, ‘Okay, things done now’.”

Nigeria international goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali isn’t having the best of times with relegation threatened Premier South Africa League side Chippa United, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Chippa United are currently bottom of the league table in South Africa, with Nwabali who is the current captain of the team having a season to forget so far.

Nominated for the best goalkeeper in Africa by CAF,  the 29-year-old has kept only two clean sheets for the side,  conceding a whopping 17 goals in just 10 matches this season.

Nwabali who earns more than any player in the team is also not certain of keeping his spot with the senior national team of Nigeria, following the return of Maduka Okoye from a betting suspension last week.

Already there are calls for the Udinese shot stopper to be handed the number one role for the world cup qualifiers playoff next month, after Nwabali’s error in the 2-1 win over Lesotho.

It almost proved costly as it meant the team had to score four goals against Benin Republic to be able to finish among the best four runners up. A feat they laboured to achieve with a late minute goal from Frank Onyeka.

In that game head coach of the Nigerian team Eric Chelle was visibly frustrated and angry with the time wasting antics of the shot stopper with scores at 3-0. Nwabali was also involved in a bust up with Calvin Bassey at the half time break over an incident in the box toward the end of the first half.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

17 year old winger Wisdom Mike made his bow in the UEFA Champions League for German giants Bayern Munich in their 4-0 win over Belgium side Club Brugge, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Mike played the final nine minutes of the win, a follow up to his league debut in September, where he played the final six minutes of the 4-0 win over Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga.

Head coach Vincent Kompany rates the winger highly and has ensured that he trains regularly with the first team, and he has been on the bench for a couple of games in the league.

He is expected to grow into the Bayern main team before the end of the season and it could spark a tug for his international future owing to his dual nationality.

Born in Germany to parents of Nigerian descent, he  has already represented Germany from U15-U17 level but still remains eligible for Nigeria at senior level, but that doesn’t seem to be like an option at the moment.

21 year old Nigerian midfielder David Moses has caught the attention of head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle with his performance against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Moses was on for 68 minute of the game and was saved by the video assistant referee (VAR) after a penalty incident was called against him. VAR overturned the decision.

In what was his first game in the tournament for the Czech Republic side, he didn’t look out of place in the middle with passes that kept his team going in the game that ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

He played from the right side of midfield and got a very good rating after the game. His performance caught the eyes of Chelle who watched the game that also had Ademola Lookman on for Atalanta.

Chelle was heavily impressed by his performance and will continue to monitor him in view of a first time call up to his team, most likely during preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations which begins in December.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Former coach of the Nigeria U20 team Ladan Bosso has called on coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle to give Esperance midfielder Onuche Ogbelu a chance in his team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Bosso picked the 23 year old in his team for the WAFU tournament and also the U20 AFCON two years ago, after discovering him from his secondary school team FOSLA football academy.

Now at Tunisian giants Esperance Bosso feels he is now playing at a level that requires the attention of the head coach of the Nigerian team, especially with his performance in the club world cup in the summer.

” I think another player that was in my team and is ready to play for the senior national team is Ogbelu. He was really good at the club world cup and in the CAF Champions League”, Boss said.

” When you see that the Tunisian team has qualified for the world cup and he plays in the same league with many of the players in the team. It’s only normal for him to be given a chance. He can be the next Benjamin Fredrick”,.

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle will make public his list of invited players for the world cup qualifiers playoff next month, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

However the coach has an idea of the players who will be part of his team for the mini tournament, which will take place in Morocco, where the winner gets a ticket to represent Africa at the Intercontinental playoff in Mexico next year.

Nigeria will begin their campaign with a game against Gabon, and if they go through they will face the winner between Congo Dr and Cameroon who will play in the other semi final of the tournament.

We can exclusively reveal that Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye is back in contention to make the list following his return from a betting related ban over the weekend. He could replace Adebayo Adeleye in the squad.

Birmingham City defender Bright Osayi-Samuel is also back in the picture after recovering from the injury that kept him out of the squad for the last round of games. It’s the same for Club Brugge midfielder Raphael Onyedika who is also back in action.

Lanky forward Paul Onuachu is expected to be handed another chance in the team with Terem Moffi out injured for the tournament. He has so far scored 7 goals in nine games for Turkish side Trabzonspor.

Bayer Leverkusen winger Nathan Tella is also back in the team with Chelle a huge fan of his regular run of games with the German side. He is expected to make the list after missing out due to injury last time out.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen etched his name into the record books of Turkish side Galatasaray with his brace in their 3-1 win over Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen wasted no time in getting off the mark in the game netting in the second minute. He added his second of the game in the 33rd minute, and in the process became a the first ever player of the club to score 9 goals in his last seven European games.

It started with his brace against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League last season, before his strike against Dutch side AZ. Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv. There was another goal against AZ.

Ajax were the last team he scored against last season. This season he opened his account against Liverpool before his brace in today’s game setting a new record for the Turkish side in European games.

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has been forced to drop three players from the list of players who will be in action next month in the world cup qualifiers playoff, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The coach who has already started preparation for the games against Gabon next month in Morocco has already drawn up the list of players who will be at the mini tournament.

Chelle will be without the trio of Terem Moffi, Felix Agu and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru who are expected to be back from injury in December. He is now set to plan his team without the trio.

Meanwhile Birmingham City defender Bright Osayi-Samuel will return to the team following his recovery from injury, which kept him out of the last round of games.

He was on for the entire duration of his team’s 1-0 win over Preston in the English Championship yesterday. A sign of his return to full fitness in the build up to the November international break.