Former England international John Fashanu says Inter Milan latest acquisition Theophilus Awua is by far the best local prospect he has seen in Nigeria the past years.

The Football Academy Abuja trainee caught the eyes of Fashanu during a tournament in Abuja, and the sweet talking former Wimbledon captain said he saw in him qualities that are rare in a midfielder.

Awua was yesterday signed up by Inter-Milan on loan from Serie B side Spezia for a fee in the region of €200,000, with an option of €2m outright purchase embedded in the contract.

” I watched him during a 6-aside- tournament in Abuja, he was voted the best player at that tournament, he is by far the best the best local prospect have seen in Nigeria in a while”. He told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” He is a midfielder who has the ability to score, pass,dribble and shoot. He is not scared of putting his body on the line and putting his head where it hurts, am so sure he will be a very big hit in Italy with Inter-Milan”.

On loan HNK Rijeka forward Theophilus Solomon scored his second goal in three games to help his loan side Istra avoid defeat against to Cibalia.

20 year old Solomon found the back of the net on his debut for Istra before going off injured and missing their subsequent game. He marked his return with a goal against Cibalia in the 56th minute to help Istra draw 1-1.

The pacy forward who was the second highest goal scorer in the Croatia league last season during his loan spell with second division side NK Sibenik is finally showing the potential that made Juventus push to sign him when he was 16 years old.

He was close to joining Hadjuk Split and Hapoel Ra’nana of Israel were also keen on him during the summer, before he extended his contract with Rijeka where he asked to be loaned out.

Former Nigeria youth international Kehinde Fatai scored his first goal for his Russian side UFA but ended up on the losing side as they fell 1-3 to Terek Grozny.

Kehinde was introduced for his debut by coach Viktor Goncharenko , one week after Owngoalnigeria.com dropped news of his signing by the Russian side and the prolific forward wasted no time in opening his goal account.

20 minutes after he was introduced, he drew UFA level but they suffered two more goals which condemned them to a 1-3 defeat despite the strike by the debutant.

26 year old Kehinde was a member of the Nigeria Under-20 team to the 2009 Under-20 World Cup in Egypt but he currently holds a Romanian passport after he was granted citizenship by the European country.

Enugu Rangers and Nigeria Under-23 goalkepper Emmanuel Daniel says Nigeria premier league team Shooting Stars thought he was a striker three years ago when they invited him for trials.

Daniel told Owngoalnigeria.com that he played as an outfield player for Ranchers Bees in a league game at the end of the season after they were relegated in a game against Shooting Stars in Ibadan.

“In Ibadan I played for Ranchers Bees against Shooting Stars as a striker and after the game they invited me for trials without knowing am a goalkepper” He said

“We were short of players after our relegation as most of them refused to travel for the game,I wasn’t first choice I was second to George Michael (now at El-Kanemi) so I dressed as a player.

“It was when I arrived for trials that I told them am a goalkepper and they were shocked but still they let me try out and the rest as they say is history”.

On his future following a spectacular outing at the recently concluded Africa Under-23 championship,Daniel said he is still committed to Enugu Rangers for the time been.

Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi got a brace on his debut for his new side Trabzonspor to help them beat Kasimpasa 2-0 in a Turkish Super Lig game.

The former Lazio ace grabbed his brace in the 20th and one minute of time added on after regulation time to hand Trabzonspor all three points in their first game of the season.

Known for his hardwork in the middle the 23 year old has broken his inglorious record of not scoring more than once in a season since moving to Europe in 2012, where he turned out for Italian Serie A side Lazio for four seasons.

His move to Turkey was one of the shock of the transfer window in Italy but going by the way he has taken to life in his new surrounding, he could be a bargain buy for the Turks.

Nigeria Under-23 team clinched the bronze medal of the men’s football event at the Rio 2016 Olympics with a 3-2 win over Honduras.

Owngoalnigeria.com in it’s usual way brings to you how the Nigerian players fare during the course of the game.

Emmanuel Daniel: Produced three top draw save to deny Honduras from scoring early, but was at fault for the second goal Nigeria conceded as he was caught in no man’s land after he failed to read properly a high ball into the box….7/10

Shehu Abdullahi: Had a far better game than he did against Germany, but still didn’t do any enough in an offensive sense of view, lost his man who headed in Honduras second goal of the game….6/10

Stanley Amuzie: Another off day for the former Sampdoria target who was very poor defensively although decent going forward, lost his man on numerous occasion and allowed too many crosses from his flank….4/10

William Troost Ekong: The tank at the back for Nigeria, towering in aerial duel and strong in physical contest, need to work on his pass out of defence though but overall covered himself in glory not just against Honduras but all tournament long….8/10

Sincere Seth: Was no where near his best against Honduras, lost most of his duels and was poor in terms of his positional awareness, lucky to have a player like Ekong next to him who did most of the mopping up for him….5/10

Usman Muhammed: Rediscovered the form that made him a hit with FC Taraba in the Nigeria Premier League few seasons ago, dovetailed nicely with Mikel and Okechukwu in the middle….7/10

Azubuike Okechukwu: Returned from suspension and immediately brought stability to the Nigerian midfield, covered up lots of grounds, robbed Honduras off the ball severally, left many wondering if Nigeria would have beaten Germany if he wasn’t suspended for the tie….8/10

Mikel Obi: Captain fantastic, didn’t put a foot wrong all game long, had a hand in all of the goals scored by Nigeria. Honduras had no answers to his dominance in the middle….9/10

Imoh Ezekiel: Struggled to hit the heights that has made him defenders nightmare during the course of the tournament, failed to get among the goals but gave the Hondurans a torrid time with his strength and endless running….7.5/10

Aminu Umar: Scored his second goal of the tournament and unlike against Germany put in a shift defensively for the team and appeared to have struck some form of understanding with Sadiq….8/10

Sadiq Umar: Big, strong and skillful, he silenced his critics with a brace and was only denied a hattrick by some fantastic goalkeeping, proved Siasia was right in sticking with him against Honduras after the criticism that trailed his display against Germany in the semi-final….8.5/10.

Substitutes:

Kingsley Madu: Came on for Ezekiel and appeared lost in an advanced role, didn’t do enough defensively as well despite been brought on to shore up the backline….4/10

Saturday Keigo Erimuya: Finally had some minutes at the Olympics ironically on a Saturday, the day he is named after, but bar a neat steal at the edge of the Nigeria box to deny Honduras a shot at goal didn’t have enough time to warrant a rating.

AS Roma teen forward Sadiq Umar showed why he is so highly rated by scoring a brace that helped Nigeria beat Honduras 3-1 to claim the bronze medal of the men’s football event of Rio 2016.

19 year old Sadiq opened scoring for Nigeria in the 35th minute, with a far post tap in after good work from Mikel from the right of Honduras box.

Aminu Umar increased Nigeria’s lead after the half time break to 2-0, before Sadiq grabbed his second with a calm finish after wrong footing his marker for Nigeria’s third goal of the game.

Honduras reduced the deficit before the 80th minute mark and ensured a nervy finish for Nigeria with a second goal but Nigeria hanged on for a 3-2 win with Sadiq missing a glorious chance to score a hattrick.

The victory give Nigeria her first medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic and further more confirmed Nigeria’s dominance of the men’s football event of the Olympics.

Nigeria won gold in 1996 and followed it up with a silver at the 2008 Olympics before their current feat at Rio 2016.

U-17 World Cup Champions Nigeria won’t be defending their title at the next World Youth Championship following a 1-3 loss to Niger Republic, which saw them crash out of the qualifiers on a 2-3 aggregate score.

Niger took the lead before the Nigerians replied minutes later and hanged on to their score until the half time break.

Few minutes after the restart, the Nigeriens retook the lead via the penalty spot after they were awarded a debatable penalty by the referee.

Manu Garba and his boys failed to recover from going behind and conceded a third goal that saw them crash out of the qualifiers at the first hurdle.

Next year, Nigeria won’t be at the U-17 and 20 Africa Youth Championship as well as the Africa Cup of Nations, further compounding the woes of the country’s football at the moment.

Head coach of the Nigeria Under-23 football team Samson Siasia, has changed his mind on his proposed plan to field a weakened side against Honduras, in today’s Bronze medal match against Honduras.

Siasia had plans of fielding some of the players who have not gotten enough game time, but pressure from superior powers has forced him to have a rethink and field his regulars against Honduras.

The Nigeria team are under pressure to help Nigeria win her first medal at the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympics, but still Siasia has plans of giving some players game time.

Emmanuel Daniel (GK)
Shehu Abdullahi
Stanley Amuzie
Sincere Seth
William Troost Ekong
Azuibuike Okechukwu
Usman Muhammed
Mikel Obi
Aminu Umar
Imoh Ezekiel
Sadiq Umar