Owngoalnigeria.com caught up with Super Eagles and Gent of Belgium star Moses Simon for an exclusive interview on his future with his current team amid talks of a move to West Brom, and his new hairstyle.

OGN – Congratulation on the fine showing of your team in the Play-Offs

SIMON- Thanks a lot, but we are obviously targeting a better finish as a team.

OGN- Your new hairstyle Marouanne Fellaini inspired I guess?

SIMON – Not really, I just want to look a bit different, it’s also a sign of how confident I am as the season draws to an end.

OGN – Talking about the season coming to an end, are you aware of reports of West Brom interest in you services in the summer?

SIMON – I read about it on the pages of newspapers just like you. I must confess it is my goal to play in England someday, and if at all there’s any contact or interest from West Brom or any club only my club and agent can speak on it, my focus is on Gent for now.

OGN – How confident are you that Nigeria will be at the World Cup 2018 in Russia?

SIMON – We are four points ahead of Cameroon that alone should give me confident about our chances of making it to the World Cup, but we have games to go before the qualifiers comes to an end, so we have to stay focus and not give other team the chance to put us under pressure or catch us.

OGN – What will you say is the secret behind the Super Eagles newly found form under Gernot Rohr?

SIMON – I can’t really say but I believe we are stronger as a unit now and more experienced. Even the senior players we have in the team have also played a part. You see most of us in the team have played together at various youth level for Nigeria in the past as well, That has also helped cohesion both on and off the pitch.

OGN – Thanks for your time

SIMON – You’re welcome

Osas Mahawi

Hard as nail out of Favour Super Eagles midfielder Anderson Esiti has once again earned a spot in the team of the week in Belgium after his strong showing for Gent in their 0-0 draw against Club Brugge in the Champions League Play Offs.

Esiti was rated as one of the best player on the pitch for Gent, who also had two other Nigerians in Moses Simon and Samuel Kalu taking part in the game as well. Known for his hard tackles and strength in duels, the former Estoril of Portugal man neutralized the threat of Club Brugge going forward.

It is the third time he has made the team of the week in Belgium this season, a sign of how well he has settled down to life in Belgium following his switch from Portugal, where he spent four years following his move from Nigeria.

However despite his fine form , he has failed to convince coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr who has not called him up since the 2-1 win over Zambia in Ndola in the Super Eagles first World Cup 2018 Qualifiers game.

* Osas Mahawi

Former Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Sunday Oliseh narrowly escaped the scene of the blast which rocked the bus of Borrussia Dortmund few hours before their UEFA Champions League game against Monaco.

Oliseh who played for Dortmund during his playing days is a regular at the stadium during key games especially UEFA Champions League game, where he acts as one of the Technical Study Group the UEFA Champions League.

Yesterday was no different for the Fortuna Sittard coach as he was due to be at the Signal Iduna Park for the game, and was according to a statement from him 200 metres away from the scene of the blast.

“Thank God! I Was just 200 meters from the Dortmund stadium when D bombs struck Dortmund team Bus! Really Scary day but grateful to be safe!”, he posted on his official Twitter handle.

The game was moved to later today following the blast, which left Dortmund defender Marc Batra injured, with some reports claiming he underwent surgery to remove debris from his arm picked up from the blast.

* Daniel Martins

German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg have received a timely boost to end the season on high following the return of Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen , who has been battling injuries and fitness issues since the start of the year.

Osimhen underwent minor surgery in February to find a lasting solution to the injury that has delayed his debut for the German side after his pre contract signed shortly after his display at the U-17 World Youth Championship metamorphosed into a permanent deal.

The highly rated 18 year old returned to training and was pictured jogging with some of his teammates as he approaches the final phase of his recovery from the surgery he underwent.

He will most likely make his Bundesliga debut before the end of the current season, if he doesn’t suffer another set back in his bid to return to full fitness.

*Daniel Martins

Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says he will honour his contract by quitting his role as coach of the team, If Nigeria fails to qualify for the World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Rohr took over as coach of the Nigeria team last year on a two year deal, which is tied to ensuring that Nigeria qualifies for the World Cup 2018 in Russia. Qualification also means an automatic extension of his contract by another two years.

Failure to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup will leave his future as coach of the team in the hands of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) , but the coach says he will leave the team if they fail to qualify regardless of what the NFF decides.

Although Nigeria currently lead their World Cup 2018 qualifiers group with four points ahead of their closest challengers Cameroon, the coach was asked on cable network television Supersports Monday Night Football about his future if Nigeria fails to qualify for the World Cup.

” If we fail to win the ticket to be at the World Cup, for me I’ll say goodbye, but at the moment we are hopeful of getting a result against Cameroon, it is a challenge am willing to take. However , if I fail, I’ll leave”, Rohr stated on SuperSports review show Monday Night Football monitored by Owngoalnigeria.com.

* Ade Emmanuel

Super Eagles fringe left back Stanley Amuzie did his chance of making his first team bow for Sampdoria with a strong showing for their Primavera side in a League game against Spezia.

Signed in the summer after starring for Nigeria at the Olympics in Rio, where Nigeria won bronze, the nearly six feet tall left back has failed to progress at the Serie A side as expected.

Amuzie is yet to play for the first team, although he has made the bench for some of their games. He has however grown into one of the main stay of the Primavera side in the Campionato Primavera Girone A.

Last weekend he earned a rating of 7 out of 10 in their 1-1 draw against Spezia, after a commanding performance at left back, where he was a link for his side in turning defence into attack.

Very noticeable with his headband on, he twice delivered pin point ball across the goal of the opponents but none of his teammate was close to turn the ball in.

However, Spezia’s Nigerian midfielder turn central defender Tahir Maigini was rated the best defender on the pitch, with the former Rijeka trainee earning a rating of 7.5.

*Ade Emmanuel

Super Eagles right back Tyronne Ebuehi was rated the best defender by whoscored.com as his team ADO Den Haag edged a seven goal thriller 4-3 against FC Groningen in the Dutch Eredivisie.

The highly rated 20 year old is expected to make his debut for Nigeria next month, in a friendly game against a yet to be announced team pledged his allegiance to Nigeria ahead of the Netherlands where he was born and brought up.

Ebuehi got a rating of 7.5 over 10, the highest among all the defenders on the pitch for both sides, a further confirmation of his improvements the last 12 months.

Overall he was rated as the fourth best player on the pitch, in the game which he won three tackles, completed one dribble and also made vital interceptions when providing cover for the full backs.

So far he has made 25 league appearances for ADO Den Haag, three games short of double the amount of game he played last season, and he has a goal to his name as well unlike last season where he had none.

* Daniel Martins

Manchester City have reminded followers of the club about the goal scoring abilities of out of favour striker Kelechi Iheanacho following the selection of his goal as goal of the day.

Iheanacho’s goal against Southampton in 2016 when he broke into the first team of the Etihad outfit was picked as goal of the day in the game which Man City lost 2-4.

The goal was a magnificent curler into the top corner of Fraser Forster goal, leaving the shot stopper with no chance 12 minutes to the end of the game.

City posted the video of the goal on their official website after a comment which reads ” It was a wonderful goal that offered further evidence of Iheanacho’s goalscoring ability”.

* Prince Michael

The future of Eupen Nigerian forward Henry Onyekuru will be decided by his club and advisers according to the player in an exclusive interview with Owngoalnigeria.com.

A failed target for Scottish side Celtic during the January transfer window, he is also high on the priority list of Russian side CSKA Moscow as exclusively reported by this portal last year.

However, we gathered English Premier League giants Liverpool have pulled out from the race to sign the forward cum winger as manager Jurgen Klopp wants to strengthen other areas of his team.

Onyekuru was asked by our correspondent if there’s substance to talks about a move to Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, and the 19 year old who has 14 goals in the league this summer failed to deny or confirm the rumours.

” Summer is around the corner, so no need to confirm or deny any story. For now my goal is to help Eupen achieve their goals this season via the play-offs. I’ve heard about interest from Germany but it’s not for me to speak or decide”, Onyekuru said.

” My club and my advisers will decide on the best offer for me, if am to leave Eupen in the summer. For now I am fully settled here but you never know. Things can change quickly especially in football”.

* Daniel Martins

The chances of MFM forward Stephen Odey getting a call up to the Super Eagles has been played down by coach of the team Gernot Rohr.

Rohr watched the Nigeria League top scorer last weekend when his side defeated El-Kanemi Warriors 3-0, with Odey scoring a penalty in the game for his 14th goal of the season.

However Rohr has suggested he has better players in his team right now, and Odey needs to improve to stand a chance of breaking into his team due to the quality of options at his disposal.

” The door is always open for the best players. The players based in Nigeria must prove themselves with the CHAN team first”, Rohr said.

” I hope Stephen Odey can get better because I have a Manchester City striker ( Kelechi Iheanacho) in my team”.

* Osas Mahawi