Bafana Bafana of South Africa are likely to play their final home game in the world cup qualifiers series against Rwanda at the Mbombela Stadium, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Their last game against the Super Eagles of Nigeria was played at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, a pitch that is synonymous for hosting rugby games much more than football games, and was in a horrible state for the game that ended 1-1 on Tuesday.

Criticism trailed the state of the playing surface with coach of South Africa Hugo Broos calling the idea to play the game there a stupid decision. Players of the senior national team of Nigeria were also quick to point out the poor state of the pitch.

They have now decided to return to a proper football pitch not just for the home game against Rwanda, but also their final game against Zimbabwe who are playing in South Africa following the disapproval of their stadium by FIFA from hosting games.

Head coach of the senior national team of Benin Republic Gernot Rohr says the chances of his team making it to the world cup is well and truly alive after a 4-0 thrashing of Benin Republic, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Rohr’s team consolidated their second spot behind South Africa with the win after the group winners 1-1 draw against Nigeria. The coach said with the impending point deduction expected to be meted out to South Africa for fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho, his team will go level with the leaders at the top of the table.

“If everything goes well, we’re level on points with South Africa, who should lose three points according to the regulations, because of that player who wasn’t eligible to play. So I don’t understand why FIFA hasn’t made a decision yet, but it’s very clear. The regulations are very clear on this. At that point, we’ll be level with South Africa, and anything is still possible”, he said after the win against Lesotho on Tuesday.

Speaking further he revealed that they will approach the remaining two games of the series with a positive mindset against Rwanda and Nigeria, who will be their final opponent and possibly decide their spot at the 2026 World Cup.

“We know Rwanda and Nigeria well, the latter of which we’ve already beaten. As for them, we don’t know if they’re still in a position to qualify. If they’re not, maybe it’ll be less difficult.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has taken a stand on the future of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle after the 1-1 draw against South Africa in the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles needed to beat South Africa to reduce their lead at the top, but they fail to do coming from behind to draw 1-1 after falling behind via an own goal from team captain William Troost-Ekong.

Calvin Bassey drew Nigeria level with a powerful header in the box. The result meant Nigeria still sit six points behind the leaders, making qualification for the world cup a difficult one with two games left to play.

Chelle who took over in February with a mandate to rescue what was left of the campaign with just three out of a possible 12, picked up eight points out of the 12 available and above all he is yet to lose a game.

” His ( Chelle) future won’t be decided by Super Eagles qualifying for the world cup or not. We all know the situation we were in before he was appointed. So far he has done better than the previous two coaches who started the campaign in Jose Peseiro and Finidi George respectively”, a member of the technical committee of the NFF told Owngoalnigeria.com in an exclusive conversation.

” The first part of his contract ends in October, which is at the end of the qualifiers. We (NFF) will analyse the manner which we made it to the world cup or not before taking a decision. But qualifying for the world cup will trigger an automatic extension of his contract for two more years”.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

English Premier League side Brentford have issued a warning to teams intending to sign Nigeria international defender Benjamin Fredrick that the 20 year old is not for sale, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Fredrick has become the toast of all fans of the senior national team of Nigeria, after his back to back top notch performance in the world cup qualifiers for Nigeria.

He showed no nerves in his first competitive start for Nigeria at this level with a performance bigger than his age in the 1-0 win over Rwanda. He followed it up with another one away to South Africa in a game which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Voted as the player’s player of the year for the U21 of Brentford, the 20 year old who is on loan to Belgium side FC Dender was a subject of interest to so many clubs in the recently concluded transfer window, but Brentford made it clear that he is not for sale.

As a matter of fact they ensured that his loan deal carries no option of a permanent signing, as he is expected to return back to the club at the end of the season after signing a five year permanent deal from Kaduna State based football academy Simoiben, owned by Mrs Sarah Ibukun Simon, the wife of Nigeria international Moses Simon.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has made three changes to the team that started the 1-0 win over Rwanda for today’s world cup qualifiers game against South Africa, Owngoalnigeria.com reports.

Chelle dropped left back Bruno Onyemaechi and brought back captain William Troost-Ekong who will pair with the new kid on the block Benjamin Fredrick.

In the midfield Frank Onyeka dropped out for Fisayo Dele-Bashiru while Cyriel Dessers who replaced the injured Victor Osimhen against Rwanda starts as the main striker.

The team will play in the coach’s preferred diamond 4-4-2 formation from the start.

Goalkeeper: Stanley Nwabali

Defenders: Ola Aina, Benjamin Fredrick, William Troot-Ekong, Calvin Bassey

Midfielders: Wilfred Ndidi, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Alex Iwobi

Forwards: Cyriel Dessers, Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman

Bafana Bafana are on a 16 match unbeaten run as they head into today’s world cup qualifiers game against the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com.

They cruise through the AFCON qualifiers without losing a game and continued with that trend upon resumption for the world cup qualifiers, sandwiched between friendly game played in the off season international break.

The 3-0 win over Lesotho stretched the run to 16, and also help consolidate their position at the top of their group in the race to be at the 2026 World Cup, despite the threat of a potential three points, three goals deduction for fielding an ineligible player in the 2-0 win over Lesotho in March.

Although they were defeated by Nigeria in the semi final of the AFCON on penalties, but that wasn’t in open play. In open play the last defeat came against Mali at the same tournament and it was a 0-2 defeat.

Eric Chelle the present coach of the Nigerian team, was the man on the touchline for the Malians and will be hoping for a similar feat when he lead his boys out for the game today at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.

His result has strike fears into the mind of the fans of the club, and to a large extent the coach and players who are largely unchanged from the team that were defeated by Chelle.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The decision of the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) to move the world cup qualifiers game against the Super Eagles of Nigeria to the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein have been made known to OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Criticism have greeted the decision with the coach of South Africa Hugo Broos terming it a stupid pitch. He openly rejected the idea of the pitch saying it’s not suitable to host a game of such magnitude in a country with so many good playing pitches.

His sentiment is shared by players of the Nigerian team who were left disappointed by the state of the pitch, when they turned up for training yesterday at the pitch ahead of today’s game.

The decision per what we exclusively gathered by some media practitioners in the country was taken because of the fact that any other stadium in the country is located in an area, which will see a host of Nigerians living in the country turn up for the game.

Bloemfontein has very few Nigerians residing there, hence the decision to take the game there despite the fact that the playing surface isn’t the best in the country.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle will stick with largely the same starting lineup that defeated Rwanda 1-0 in Uyo in today’s world cup qualifiers game against South Africa, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Chelle explained after the nervy win against Rwanda on Saturday that his team started with a 4-4-2 diamond formation, before switching to a flat 4-4-2 without the diamond in the second half using traditional wingers.

For today’s game Chelle will maintain the diamond formation using almost the same set of players who prosecuted the second half, with Tolu Arokodare who was introduced as a substitute in the win starting as the arrow head in attack.

Crystal Palace new signing Uche Chrisantus is pushing to start but face stiff competition from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, who had an above average performance when he was introduced as a substitute.

Other than the two who are pushing for the same spot, Chelle is expected to start with the same back four, but has reservation over playing Bruno Onyemaechi against high flying South Africa winger Mohau Nkota.

Stanley Nwabali will start in goal despite reports of death threats sent to him by some South Africans, where he ply his trade with top division side Chippa United.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Players of the senior national team of Nigeria have been backed by the coach of South Africa Hugo Broos on the poor state of the Toyota Stadium, which will host today’s world cup qualifiers game between both countries, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria will be up against the group leaders on a pitch that handles more rugby games than international football matches, and players of the team have been left shell shock by the poor state of the pitch.

Right full back Ola Aina made a video of the pitch after they arrived for training, lamenting the decision by FIFA to accept a pitch of that nature to handle a high profile game.

Broos was also vocal about the abysmal state of the pitch. ” “I have said already before, I am not happy with the pitch either,” Broos told reporters about the venue for Nigeria vs South Africa game.

“There were people that blamed me that I didn’t want to play here [Free State Stadium], this is stupid. This is nonsense, we would like to have a very good pitch like we had before.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Players of the senior national team of Nigeria have voiced their unhappiness over the poor state of the venue for today’s world cup qualifiers game against South Africa, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The game will be played at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, a pitch that is not among the top five in the country and its synonymous for hosting Rugby games, more than that football matches.

Players of the Nigerian team were shocked upon arriving at the stadium, with Ola Aina leading the call to FIFA on the poor state of the pitch with a video on his social media handles. ” FIFA approved this stadium for a game like this ?. They know what they are doing”, he said.

Defender Chidozie Awaziem was also not left out saying it’s unthinkable that a world cup qualifiers will be played on a bad pitch like this ” In a FIFA organised tournament. How is this pitch suitable for games?”.

Reigning Africa player of the year Ademola Lookman was seen in a video lamenting a patch on the pitch, saying it’s enough to cause an ankle injury if any player mistakenly steps his foot there.

Head coach of Nigeria’s host South Africa Hugo Broos was also vocal about the abysmal state of the pitch. ” “I have said already before, I am not happy with the pitch either,” Broos told reporters about the venue for Nigeria vs South Africa game.

“There were people that blamed me that I didn’t want to play here [Free State Stadium], this is stupid. This is nonsense, we would like to have a very good pitch like we had before.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman