Three Nigerian players have been given the all clear by FIFA ahead of Nigeria’s semi final game against Germany, after it was confirmed that the cautioned they picked up against Denmark has been wiped out.

The trio of Muenfuh Sincere,Usman Muhammed and team captain Mikel Obi had their caution wiped out, hence will approach the tie against Germany without any fear of a possible booking that will see them miss the final if they beat the Germans.

FIFA amended it’s tournaments rules few years ago, canceling single yellow cards picked up during quarter final games to stem the tide of key players missing final games due to accumulated bookings.

Going by the rules, only the deputy captain of the Nigerian team Azubuike Okechukwu is suspended for Wednesday semi final clash against Germany, as the booking he picked up against Denmark was his second of the tournament.

Former Manchester United star Paul Parker has reservations about Manchester United record signing Paul Pogba, believing that he’s not even as good as Chelsea Nigerian midfielder Mikel John-Obi.

Mikel made a sly dig on Pogba shortly after his record breaking move to Old Trafford by posting a video on his Twitter handle of an incident at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where he nutmegged the French midfielder during Nigeria’s game against Brazil, side by side with a message welcoming him to the English Premier League.

“Can he be as good as Roy Keane or Bryan Robson? I wonder about him playing that midfield role,” Parker said, speaking to 888Sport.

“I worry about him making tackles and getting across to close players down because he is rangy. He doesn’t have quick feet and his game is about going to ground.

“That’s going to be a problem. In a holding position it would be a waste because he’s not a (Claude) Makelele or even a John Obi Mikel because one thing Mikel can do is close people down.

Top scorer at the ongoing Rio 2016 male football event, Serge Gnabry believes Germany know exactly what to do to beat Nigeria in Wednesday semi final clash.

Gnabry who has six goals has been one of the revelations of the tournament, scoring from set pieces and open play clearly justifying why manager of Arsenal Arsene Wenger rates him highly.

The 21 year old forward, admitted that the Nigerians are unpredictable but with their knowledge of the West Africa nation, he is confident they will get the job done and progress to the final.

” We have studied past clips of their game, we know their weak spot and what we need to do to exploit it although they can be unpredictable” the Arsenal forward said.

“They are so quick on the break, and strong in duels, we are on a high as well and Nigeria will need to do more than what they have done in previous games to stand a chance against us”.

Head coach of Nigeria Under-23s Samson Siasia has refused to rule out team forward Ogenekaro Etebo from Wednesday semi-final against Germany, despite the hamstring injury he picked up in their final group game against Colombia.

Etebo scored four goals in Nigeria’s first game against Japan, but the CD Feirense star was substituted in Nigeria’s final group game against Colombia due to an injury that has now been revealed as an issue with his hamstring.

He missed the quater-final victory over Denmark and despite reports stating that the 20 year will miss Wednesday’s semi final game against Germany, Siasia rates his chances of making the squad for the game as 50-50.

Owngoalnigeria.com did a check on the team final training session, and the former Warri Wolves forward trained separately from the rest of the squad.

” Etebo will undergo a late fitness test, at the moment we are confident he will play some part against Germany, it’s all down to our medics and the last time I checked, I was told he has a 50-50 chance of playing” He said.

Germany Under-23s forward Julian Brandt says it would be great if he gets on the scoresheet against Nigeria in Wednesday semi-final of the ongoing Rio 2016 male football event.

Brandt,who presently tops the assist chart at the Rio 2016 Olympic told the official website of Bayern Leverkusen, that he would love to score against Nigeria even though all he wants is for his team to progress.

“I’m looking forward to finding out all about them in the pre match analysis. But I don’t think we need to be afraid of them” He said.

“It would be great if I could score too but I’m happy with my role so far. I definitely want to beat Nigeria and I don’t care how we go through whether it’s a goal from me, my assist or even an own goal from the opposition if it has to be.

Despite winning almost all there’s to be won at club level and lifting the Africa Cup of nations at national level, captain of the Nigeria Under-23s Mikel John Obi says it would mean more to him if he wins the Olympic gold with Nigeria at the Rio 2016 games.

Nigeria will on Wednesday take on Germany in the semi-final of the male football event and the Chelsea star who has been inspirational for Nigeria since the start of the tournament wants nothing but the gold medal.

“One step at a time. To be honest, I haven’t thought about it yet. I don’t see past Wednesday. The Germans are a very good side, so we have to make sure we do our job, if we are to secure progression and win the Olympic men’s football tournament gold.

“It’s going to mean a lot. It’s going to mean the world to me. It’s going to be the icing on the cake. As much as anyone, I want to win. This is what it means to me no matter what I’ve won. I think winning with this team is going to be amazing. I’m hoping and praying for that” He told FIFA.com.

There was no spot for Nigerian teen forward Kelechi Iheanacho, as a hattrick from Sergio Aguero propelled Manchester City to a 4-0 win over Romanian outfit Steaua Bucuresti in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

Manchester City played a three man attack of Nolito, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Kun Aguero which left the Romanian stunned with few answers to City’s fearsome trio.

Iheanacho,19, was left on the bench for the entire duration of the game even though City manager Pep Guardiola used all three substitutes during the course of the game.

He will be hoping he gets the attention of the manager when the reverse tie of the fixture is played next week at the Etihad following their healthy 4-0 win in Romania.

Last week, he was given a look in by the Spanish manager in his first English Premier league game against Sunderland, which City won 2-1.

Newly appointed Super Eagles coach Genort Rohr has asked the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to draft Samson Siasia, the coach of the Nigeria Under-23s to the senior team as part of his coaching set up.

A source at the NFF secretariat said, Rohr asked for the former Super Eagles coach to be a part of his set up during a meeting with some members of the NFF technical committee last week, before one of the games played by the NPFL All Stars team in Spain.

Rohr has been overtly impressed by the tactics and quality of play of the Samson Siasia lead Under-23s who will face Germany in the semi-finals of the football event of the Rio 2016 Olympics on Wednesday.

As part of the German’s plan to re-build the Super Eagles he want most of the players in Siasia’s Under-23s as the base of his squad in his early game due to the understanding they have struck up during the course of the Rio 2016 Olympic.

“He has made it known that he wants Siasia as part of his coaching set up, the NFF are yet to give him an answer, but for obvious reasons he wants Siasia to help out when he resumes as coach due to his plans of wanting to use the Olympic team as the base of his team” a source told Owngoalnigeria.com

He also believes Siasia’s experience as the last coach to have handled the Super Eagles in a competitive game, will aid his plans of blending players of the Olympic team with other Super Eagles players.

Bayern Leverkusen Winger Julian Brandt has warned his teammates to be wary of the unpredictable nature of Nigeria in attack,when both teams meet at the semi finals of the Rio 2016 male football event.

The German number 11 anticipates a very difficult game against Nigeria, terming the Nigerians as unpredictable and positively crazy.

“They are positively crazy because they take big risk. I conside Nigeria as offensively strong and very fast” he told DFB-TV.

Brandt, who featured the last time a German team beat Nigeria at youth level during the knock out round of the 2015 Under-20 World Youth Championship in New Zealand,has so far been involved in close to half of his side’s 19 goals so far.

He has been at the centre of almost everything for the German team at Rio 2016 racking up seven assists, with two more goals coming from his shots rebounding out abd being slotted home by team-mates.

Captain of the Nigeria Under-23s John Obi Mikel says he expect Nigeria’s opponent Germany to play a style similar to that of Sweden and Denmark, when Nigeria trade tackles against them in the semi-finals of the male football event of Rio 2016 Olympics.

Nigeria defeated Sweden 1-0 in their second group game before seeing off Denmark 2-0 in the quater-finals, the Chelsea star is tipping tomorrow’s semi final opponents to play like their fellow European counterparts.

He however warned his teammates to be on the alert against the Germans and do exactly as they have been told by coach Samson Siasia, who he terms as amazing when it comes to tactics.

“Maybe they will be a bit similar to the Swedish or Danish teams we faced. We have to make sure we’re ready. We have to make sure we play well and hopefully we do exactly what coach Samson Siasia asks us to do”

“He’s been absolutely amazing with his tactics and with the he wants us to play”.