Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has provided an update on the injury suffered by stand in captain Eddy Ogenyi Onazi during the 1-1 draw against Senegal.

Onazi was stretchered out of the pitch in the 25th minute after receiving a knee kick in his back from a Senegalese midfielder in the friendly games decided at The Hive.

The Trabzonspor midfielder was subsequently replaced by Hapoel Be’er Sheva John Ogu after receiving medical attention on the pitch which lasted for close to five minutes.

He later appeared on the bench of the Super Eagles in the second half, but his condition according to Gernot Rohr appears to be serious.

” He suffered a serious back injury. He’ll have a scan to ascertain the extent of his injury. We’ll observe Musa too before our next game against Burkina Faso”.

*Michael James reporting from London

Nigeria forced Senegal to a 1-1 draw in a friendly game played in London at Barnet’s home ground popularly referred to as The Hive.

Senegal started the game brilliantly with Moussa Sow hitting the woodwork early into the game after some clever play in the midfield set him loose as Nigeria struggled to get going.

The miss galvanised the Senegalese as they went in search for a goal to rattle the Eagles, but their momentum was badly hit when Super Eagles captain Eddy Onazi was taken off after receiving a kick from the back.

Onazi was replaced by John Ogu and his introduction immediately swung the momentum the way of the Nigerian team, and his combination with Wilfred Ndidi unsettled the Senegalese.

Nigeria failed to register a shot on target in the first half as both teams head into the break level at 0-0, although Super Eagles goalkepper Akpeyi made two good stops to stop Senegal from taking the lead.

Akpeyi was however beaten on the hour mark after Nigeria failed to deal with a corner kick, leaving Akepyi badly exposed to Moussa Sow who drilled home the opener for Senegal.

The introduction of Isacc Success and Olarenwaju Kayode sparked the Eagles to life, with Success direct play causing Senegal defenders all sort of troubles.

However it was Iheanacho who leveled scores for Nigeria with nine minutes left to play when he coolly slotted home a penalty, awarded to Nigeria after he was fouled.

Nigeria had two good chances to win the game late on but Kayode and Iheanacho wasted what would have been a morale boosting victory for the Super Eagles against a very strong Senegalese side.

Newly called up Super Eagles of Nigeria forward Noah Joel Sarenren Bazee is a major doubt for today’s friendly game against the Teranga Lions of Senegal.

Bazee is yet to take part in full training since arriving the camp of the team, as Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively report that the 20 year old missed training yesterday again.

He missed their first session alongside goalkepper Carl Ikeme, but while Ikeme has been ruled out due to illness, Bazee also appears to be ruled out of the game as well.

The German-Nigerian forward is reportedly recovering from a knock he suffered during Hannover 96 game over the weekend, and could have his Super Eagles debut delayed until on Monday when they play Senegal in their second friendly game in London.

*Michael James reporting from London

Trabzonspor of Turkey midfielder Ogenyi Onazi will captain the Super Eagles in tonight’s friendly game against Senegal, according to reports exclusively gathered by Owngoalnigeria.com.

Ahmed Musa is the regular stand in captain of the Super Eagles in the absence of John Obi Mikel, but coach of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr has decided to name Onazi as captain ahead of the Leicester City man.
Former Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh named Ahmed Musa as captain in his time as coach of the team, after falling out with former captain Vincent Enyeama, who later retired from the team.

Musa was demoted to the role of deputy captain by Samson Siasia, the immediate past coach of the Super Eagles during his reign as the interim coach of the team during their ill fated attempt to qualify for the last Africa Cup of Nations.

Siasia named Mikel as captain shortly before the Super Eagles Nations Cup 2017 qualifiers clash against Egypt last year, an announcement made by Musa himself during the pre match conference.

Rohr maintained Mikel as captain, with Musa acting as deputy captain in his absence but Onazi will wear the skipper band against Senegal in tonight’s friendly.

*Osas Mahawi

Kelechi Iheanacho’s lack of game time at Manchester City appears to have little or no effect on his fitness level as he has been one of the fittest player in the Super Eagles training.

Iheanacho has been struggling to get games at the Etihad since the arrival of Gabriel Jesus, a situation that didn’t change much even after the Brazilian picked up an injury that ruled him out for three months.

However, his fitness and sharpness has been one of the highlight of the Super Eagles training session with the forward clearly distinguishing himself in yesterday’s session.

The forward took on the defenders who were up against him with ease, with his combination with Arsenal star Alex Iwobi particularly eye catching with the way they linked up with each other.

He is set to lead the Eagles attack in tonight’s friendly game against Senegal at Barnet’s stadium The Hive by 8pm Nigerian time.

*Michael James reporting from London

Owngoalnigeria.com Michael James who has been covering the Super Eagles training session has given his report about yesterday’s session, which was their ahead of tonight’s game against Senegal.

In yesterday’s session John Ogu’s fitness was very clear to see as the Hapoel Be’er Sheva midfielder performed all the drills assigned to them by coach Rohr with ease, and also gave a good impression during a practice game.

Leicester City Wilfred Ndidi did expeceptionally well driving the team he played for during the session with ease, He also displayed some leadership qualities as he was constantly barking out instructions to his teammates in the middle with him.

Newbie Tyroone Ebuehi has a very calming influence when in possession, and loves to take on his man as opposed to most full backs who are mostly looking for a pass even when they can venture forward.

Kelechi Iheanacho runs behind defenders and finishing prowess was also very much noticed. The Manchester City forward was a thorn in the flesh of the players he was up against with some nice piece of skills, flicks and clever turn.

Super Eagles and CD Feirense of Portugal midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo has arrived the camp of the Super Eagles of Nigeria ahead tonight’s friendly game against Senegal.

Etebo arrived London in the early hours of this morning, no thanks to visa hitch which delayed his departure from his base in Portugal.

His arrival will no doubt gladden the heart of Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr, but he may likely not hand the highly rated forward a start as he missed all of the training session of the team in the build up to the game.

Already English Premier League champions Leicester City have posted scouts to watch the 22 year old, who is heavily tipped to depart newly promoted CD Feirense this summer.

Leicester City scouts will most likely wait till Monday to see him in action against Burkina Faso, as Rohr is yet to make up his mind about playing the forward in tonight’s game.

*Michael James reporting from London

The goalkepper crisis rocking the Super Eagles of Nigeria is no longer an issue following the arrival of two of the invited goalkeppers ahead of tonight’s clash against Senegal.

First choice goalkepper Carl Ikeme has been ruled out of the game through illness, and following doubts about the arrival of other invited goalkeppers Peckham Town shot stopper Tope David Okeowo was hurriedly drafted in by coach Gernot Rohr as exclusively reported by Owngoalnigeria.com.

However the two invited goalkeppers Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Daniel Akpeyi both arrived the team camp , with Ezenwa arriving last night while Akpeyi breezed into the team’s London camp few hours ago.

Ezenwa is highly favoured to start in goal, with Akpeyi likely to be his deputy as he battles to recover from jet lag following his trip from South Africa to London. Reports has it that Okeowo stands an outside chance of sitting on the bench as well.

The decision on who will man Nigeria’s goal against the Teranga Lions will be taken by the technical crew, during the team’s meeting later in the day where the starting line up will be revealed by coach Rohr.

*Michael James reporting from London