Young Brentford defender Benjamin Fredrick will start for the Super Eagles of Nigeria in today’s Unity Cup final games against Jamaica, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The recently voted Brentford U23 player’s player of the year did enough in two training session to convince head coach Eric Chelle to hand him a start in the heart of the defence of the Nigerian team.

Fredrick was drafted in as cover to make up for the absence of some players notably captain Ahmed Musa who left the team’s camp after the 2-1 win over Ghana. Getafe midfielder Uche Chrisantus also arrived late and took part in just one training session.

It will be his first game for the senior national team of Nigeria and it’s coming two years after representing Nigeria at the U20 World Cup.

He is a graduate of the prestigious Simoiben Football Academy in Kaduna, which is owned by the wife of established Nigeria international winger Moses Simon, Mrs Ibukun Moses Simon.

Nigeria XI vs Jamaica: Nwabali; Benjamin, Ogbu, Sodiq, Felix; Wilfred, Nathan, Onyeka; Simon, Chukwueze, Dessers

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

English Premier League side Brentford have granted permission to young Nigerian center back Benjamin Fredrick to play for the Super Eagles in the upcoming Unity Cup final match against Jamaica later today, the club has announced.

The tournament which is taking place at the home ground of his club Brentford involved four nations in Nigeria, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Ghana.

Fredrick was called up by head coach of the Nigerian team Eric Chelle after the 2-1 win over Ghana in the first game three days ago. He was included as an emergency cover due to the absence of Uche Chrisantus and the departure of captain Ahmed Musa.

“Congratulations to Benjamin Fredrick on his first call up to the SuperEagles . Benjamin is eligible to play in the Unity Cup final at the Gtech against Jamaica on Saturday”, the club announced on their social media handle via their academy.

It means he is now free to play for the team in the final, if he is selected by Chelle and it will be a dream come true for the defender, who recently turned 20 and represented Nigeria at the U20 World Cup two years ago.

He was voted as the club’s U23 player of the season with many already tipping him for a breakthrough in the first team next season.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has made as many as four changes to the starting lineup of the senior national team of Nigeria for today’s final match against Jamaica at the ongoing Unity Cup, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Chelle started three players from teams in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) in their first game against Ghana at the tournament, which they won 2-1 courtesy of goals from Cyriel Dessers and Semi Ajayi.

Today’s game the coach will hand a start to the duo of Moses Simon and Nathan Tella with Kelechi Iheanacho likely to start. All three started from the bench in the win over Ghana three days ago.

Newly invited Felix Agu will also make his debut today, but the coach hasn’t made a decision on handing him a start or playing him from the bench against Jamaica.

Stanley Nwabali who started in goal against Ghana will likely start from the bench with Maduka Okoye getting the nod for today’s game. However that could likely change with the non arrival of Amas Obasogie due to visa issues.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahmed Musa on Friday married his 4th wife in a wedding ceremony which took place in Kano, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

He got married to Asmau Moriki in a simple but classy wedding ceremony, adding to his number of wives which includes Juliet Ejue and also Miriam, whom he married in 2021. He married all three of his present wives after divorcing his first wife Jemila in 2017.

Like we exclusively reveal it was why he left the camp of the Super Eagles at the ongoing Unity Cup in England, after the first game against Ghana where he played his first game in close to two years for the team.

Musa played for over 30 minutes as a substitute in the 2-1 win which sealed their spot in the final against Jamaica, but he won’t be available for the game later today with a post wedding dinner planned for on Sunday in his honor.

A practicing Muslim, Musa has made the most of his career by investing in real estate, oil and also recreational centers across Kaduna, Abuja, Kano and Lagos. He also owns a property in the United States of America (USA) where his second wife Juliet stays.

Players of the senior national team of Nigeria say they have been told that FIFA will deduct three points from World Cup Qualifiers rivals South Africa for fielding an ineligible player in their 2-0 win over Lesotho, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Teboho Mokoena was supposed to be suspended for the win over Lesotho after picking up two previous bookings, but played for over 80 minutes in the win, before sitting out the win away to Benin Republic.

That action has proved costly with FIFA slamming a three points deduction on them, which has reduced their lead at the top of the group to one over Lesotho, who will be handed three points and three goals from the game.

Crucially Nigeria will move to within three points of the leaders giving them a glimmer of hope towards picking the sole ticket from the group, with a game away to South Africa shaping up to be the group’s decider.

” We are aware of the saga and also the expected punishment. So it’s nothing to be worried about. It’s now left for us to take advantage of the situation because failure to do so will mean we don’t deserve to go to the world cup”, a senior player in the team said in London where they are campaigning in the Unity Cup.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The decision of one of the most lethal strikers in the Belgium top division Promise David to switch his international allegiance from Nigeria to Canada has put the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in bad light.

23 year old Promise who was born in Canada to parents of Nigerian descent was a part of the Nigeria U23 team, that failed to qualify for the last Olympics but he has since brushed that aside with a stellar campaign for Union SG in the Belgium top division.

In the just concluded season where he fired his team to their 12th league title, he found the back of the net 24 times in 41 games, but more crucial was his tally of 8 goals in ten games in the league title playoff.

” We saw his request and there is nothing we can do about it. No one in the NFF can stop a player from deciding against playing for Nigeria. You can’t blame Chelle because this the breakthrough season for Promise. We wish him all the best with Canada and I don’t think he will be a big miss considering the options we have in his position”, a chieftain of the NFF told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The goalkeeper trainer of the senior national team of Nigeria Jean Daniel Padovani says the late save by Stanley Nwabali in the team’s 2-1 win over Ghana at the Unity Cup made his proud, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nwabali made a late save in the 2-1 win that could easily have seen Ghana draw level by initially pushing the ball away from goal, before making another quick reaction to gather the ball.

Reacting to the save by the Chippa United man , Padovani posted a video of the save on his Instagram page with a caption revealing how proud he is of that moment in the game, which seals Nigeria’s spot in the final of the tournament against Jamaica.

“When you’re a goalkeeping coach, whatever level you’re coaching at, seeing your goalkeeper make that kind of save in the final minutes is bound to make you proud and happy”, he posted.

“Here, Stanley Nwabali, of the Nigerian national team and chippa United in South Africa, during the international match against Ghana”, he concluded.

The coach who was appointed by Eric Chelle upon his appointment in February will be hoping for more of the same when Nigeria play in the final on Saturday from any of the goalkeepers who will be in goal.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Out of contract Super Eagles defender Semi Ajayi is currently mulling over two offers from teams in the English Championship following his departure from fellow Championship side West Bromwich Albion upon the expiration of his contract, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ajayi announced he will be leaving West Brom with reports saying he turned down the option of a fresh two year deal with reduced terms. The 31 year old isn’t short of suitors according to his agent.

His agent, Larry Oban said Ajayi is still in talks with City and League One side Reading over where his next destination will be, having spoken previously about the Tigers’ potential interest.

“He’s already in talks with Reading and Hull, who admire his versatility and experience. An assessment will take place in the coming weeks, but he’ll be there somewhere next season,” Oban told the Express and Star.

In total, the midfielder has amassed a double century of Championship appearances, scoring 18 times while he’s played 33 times in the top flight after coming through the ranks at Arsenal.

Daniel Martins

The 2-1 secured by the Super Eagles of Nigeria over Ghana at the ongoing Unity Cup in England has drawn a reaction from the technical director of Ghana Football Association (GFA) Winfried Schäfer, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria secured their spot in the final with the win and will now play Jamaica on Saturday, while Ghana take on Trinidad and Tobago in the third place off to round up the tournament.

Both African teams are using the tournament to prepare for the resumption of games in the world cup qualifiers in September. Ghana are well placed to qualify as they need two more wins from four games unlike Nigeria who need to win all of their games to be at the tournament.

Speaking after the defeat which was widely celebrated by Nigerians. Schäfer mocked the Super Eagles saying while Ghana are sure of making it to the world cup, the Nigerian team can’t say the same

” We have good players around. We have a player in Auxerre, we have a player in Bilbao and we have a player West Ham. If we win two matches, we can go to the World Cup, I don’t know about Nigeria”, the German said.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The dream of Singida SC goalkeeper Amas Obasogie making his debut for the senior national team of Nigeria has suffered a huge setback due to visa issues, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Obasogie was supposed to be with the Nigerian team at the ongoing Unity Cup in England, but failed to make the trip from Tanzania meaning he won’t be available for the final on Saturday, after missing yesterday’s 2-1 win over Ghana.

Head coach of the Nigerian team Eric Chelle planned using him in one of the two games, with Stanley Nwabali the first choice set to be rotated after being completed left out of the team for the June friendly game.

Chelle will likely play Maduka Okoye in Saturday’s final against Jamaica, paving the way for Obasogie to be in goal against Russia on the 6th of June, after a successful visa application.

The coach picked only Obasogie and Okoye for the game against Russia, with the aim of giving one of the duo a chance to push for the number one spot which is currently occupied by Nwabali.