Enugu Rangers opponent in the next round in the CAF Champions League Zamalek will come up against the Nigerian champions with two Nigerians in their team.

Stanley Ohawuchi who played for Enugu Rangers bitter rivals Heartland FC of Owerri before his sojourn to Europe, and Moruf Yusuf are the two Nigerians who will be on parade for Zamalek against the Nigerians.

24 year old Yusuf has made himself a main stay in the Zamalek team since his transfer from El-Shorta in 2014, and the tie against Rangers could be the perfect chance to gain international recognition.

While former junior international Ohawuchi stands little or no chance of catching the interest of the Super Eagles handlers due to his position as a forward, where the Eagles are well stocked, Yusuf is a left sided midfielder who can also play as a left back.

The left full back position of the Nigeria team is one of the areas where coach Gernot Rohr has lamented his lack of options, and a strong showing for Yusuf could earn him a recommendation from Rangers coach Imama Amakapabo who also doubles as one of the assistant coaches of Rohr.

Soon to be called up Super Eagles defender Tyroone Ebuehi got top ratings for his performance for ADO Den Haag in their 1-1 draw against FC Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Ebuehi dominated the right flank of his team formation, combining his primary job as a defender with forays upfront to set up attacks by threading passes or whipping in crosses.

The 20 year old also made two key intervention that stopped Twente from getting a chance to trouble the goalkepper of his side, a sign of how well his defensive awareness has improved.

Tipped to play for Nigeria in their next friendly game against Senegal, the Dutch-Nigerian has so far made 21 appearances in all competitions for ADO Den Haag.

He has played 19 times in the league, and twice in domestic cup games. He has already surpassed his last season’s appearance total with over 12 games left to go in the Dutch championship.

Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh guided his Dutch team Fortuna Sittard to a 3-2 win over Emmen to extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Oliseh’s team are yet to taste defeat in the month of February starting from the 2-2 away draw against Dordrecht, which was followed by a 5-2 win over Ajax II before another away draw with Cambuur.

However they have picked up back to back wins in their last two games under Oliseh with victories over Utrecht II and the latest win over Emmen.

The victory also moved them further away from the drop zone as they are now 16th on the second division table, with 30 points after 27 games.

Since taking over the troubled second division side as coach of the team, they have only suffered one defeat under Oliseh, which was the 0-2 loss to Almere City in January.

Former Nasarawa United and CA Bizertin of Tunisia forward Aliyu Abubakar has joined Norwegian side IK Start, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Abubakar spent two weeks on trials with the Norwegian side before finally putting pen to papers on a deal in the region of three years according to reports gathered by Owngoalnigeria.com editorial staff.

23 year old Aliyu was a part of the Nigerian team to the CHAN 2014 tournament in South Africa, where he made five appearances for the Super Eagles B team.

Known for his explosive pace, skills and goal scoring abilities, the forward who is comfortable as a winger on both flanks or just behind the main striker joins fellow Nigerian Iduak Idemokon on the books of the club.

The coach of German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg has provided an update on the condition of Nigerian teen forward Victor Osimhen, who is recovering from a minor surgery.

18 year old Osimhen was tipped to make his Bundesliga debut this year after reaching the professional age to play senior football as a foreigner, but injuries have so far denied him the chance to impress.

Top scorer at the last U-17 World Youth Championship, he recently posted pictures of his return to training for Wolfsburg, but it appears his injury situation is still a concern.

Ahead of their clash against Werder Bremen coach of the team, Valerien Ismael revealed that the forward was among three players who didn’t train ahead of the Friday night clash.

” Aside from Ashkan Dejagah, Ismail Azzaoui and Victor Osimhen ( He should be fit to join the squad next week) , the complete squad are in training”, the manager revealed at his pre match conference.

Former Leicester City player Roberto Mancini has reportedly turned down the chance to manage the Premier League champions according to various reports in England.

Mancini was heavily tipped to replace sacked manager Claudio Ranieri but the Italian reportedly told the club he is not interested in the job.

Even though he is without a club since leaving Inter-Milan last year, the former Manchester City coach is not keen on handling the club where Nigerian duo Wilfred Ndidi and Ahmed Musa ply their trade.

The Premier League champions are presently one point above the drop zone, and lost the first leg of their round of 16 UEFA League clash against Sevilla 1-2 in Spain on Tuesday.

More on this story as it develops.

Chelsea U23s suffered a heavy 1-4 loss to their Arsenal counterparts in a Premier League 2 game decided at the home of the Gunners.

Arsenal fielded a strong team with first team players like Danny Welbeck, Carl Jenkinson, Rob Holding and goalkepper Emiliano Martinez all starting for the Gunners.

Meanwhile Chelsea fielded two Nigerians in Ike Ugbo and defender Ola Aina, and the Anglo Nigerian duo endured mixed fortunes during the course of the game.

Aina failed to inspire the Chelsea backline as they conceded two goals in each half while Ugbo, who is well known for his goal scoring abilities didn’t disappoint when he had the chance to reduce the deficit for his team.

Ugbo poked home a rebound from a well hit drive from Musonda which Martinez  spilled into the path of the 18 year old forward, who now has 12 goals for the U23s of Chelsea.

Musa Yahaya fine performance for FC Porto B against Manchester United U23s didn’t come as a surprise to his fellow Nigerian and teammate Chidozie Awaziem.

Yahaya put up a man of the match display which helped Porto dump the English side out of the international Premier League Cup, and also qualified his team for the semi-finals.

While his performance took many by surprise, Awaziem says he is well aware of the abilities of the 19 year old, hence he wasn’t surprised that he was un- playable against Manchester United.

” Musa Yahaya will be a star at FC Porto, yesterday performance didn’t come to me as a surprise, as a matter of fact that is just half of what he can do”, Awaziem told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” In the coming days, weeks, possibly months the world will get to see more of him. All things been equal he won’t disappoint the club, coaches and supporters who have faith in him”.

According to reports exclusively gathered by Owngoalnigeria.com, Football Academy Abuja (FAA) coach Ahmed Lawal Dankoli has been contacted to handle the U-17 team that will represent Nigeria at a youth tournament in South Africa.

Known as Black Mourinho or Sir Leather by his players, his track record with the Abuja based FAA gave him the nod to lead the team, which is made up of players picked from the various youth teams of Nigeria League teams.

The team are expected to take part in a competition later in the year, but it could coincide with when the former footballer turned coach travel out with FAA for their annual tournament in Italy and Croatia.

If the timing of the tournament coincides with his team’s trip abroad, the Italian trained coach could be replaced by the League Management Company (LMC), who are in charge of the team with an ex Nigeria international.

He has groomed over 20 young players who are now based abroad including notable names like Dele Alampasu, Sadiq Umar, Nura Abdullahi, Theophilus Solomon, Orji Okonkwo and Kingsley Micheal.