Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has handed a first time call up to young Brentford defender Benjamin Fredrick, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Fredrick who was recently voted the best player in the Brentford U21 was a part of the Ladan Bosso led U-20 team of two years ago, who were knocked out of the World Cup in the quarter final by South Korea.

He turned 20 yesterday and today received the call to join the Super Eagles in training ahead of their final game of the ongoing Unity Cup in England taking place at the home ground of his team Brentford.

We can exclusively reveal that he was drafted in as a replacement for Chrisantus Uche of Getafe, who didn’t honor the call up to be a part of the team for the first time for reasons not yet known.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Six players picked from teams in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) played for the senior national team of Nigeria in yesterday’s 2-1 win over Ghana at the ongoing Unity Cup friendly tournament in England.

Three of them namely Sikiru Alimi, Ismaila Sodiq and Papa Daniel were on from the start while Ahmed Musa, Ifeanyi Onyebuchi and Collins Ugwueze were introduced in the second half.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman rates the players on parade for the Eric Chelle side with emphasis on the performance of the NPFL players, who were called up in response to calls for them to be given a shot in the team.

Ismaila Sodiq – Had an assist to his name and didn’t look much troubled defensively, although he was guilty of being caught out of position a couple of times. By far the best player among the local lads with a steady not spectacular performance…..7/10

Papa Daniel – Looked lost from the blast of the whistle, wasted opportunities to initiate a counter with side ways and backward passes. Lost the ball more than any player and it didn’t come as a surprise when he was subbed off by Chelle.He doesn’t look ready for this level …… 4/10

Sikiru Alimi – A surprise inclusion in the team largely due to his not too impressive performances this season, but didn’t look it. Covered lot of grounds and linked up well with Cyriel Dessers by acting as a decoy for the Rangers man , and sometimes winning duels to set the attack in motion. A solid performance…..6/10

Substitutes:

Ahmed Musa – Didn’t quite got involved but was always available for a pass or a run behind. Not the kind of return he would have hoped for, but didn’t looked worried the way he carried himself when he was subbed on……5/10

Ifeanyi Onyebuchi – He wasn’t involved until late into the game when his error of judgement almost helped Ghana to draw level if not for a spectacular save by Stanley Nwabali. Not enough to earn a rating.

Collins Ugwueze – Didn’t get involved enough to be rated.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle won’t be calling Getafe midfielder Uche Chrisantus to the team in the nearest future after he failed to honour the invitation to be a part of the team for the Unity Cup friendly tournament in England, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Uche was handed a first time call up by Chelle after an impressive debut campaign in the Spanish top division. He was signed from third division side Cueta in the summer and he found the transition really easy to make.

In the recently concluded season , he made a total of 33 appearances in the league scoring five goals and also six assists playing majorly as the main striker or just behind the main man in attack.

He was rewarded for his performance with a call up to the squad for the Unity Cup, but failed to honor the call up as he is the only player yet to arrive in the camp of the team , who got their campaign underway yesterday with a 2-1 win over Ghana.

Chelle who is big on team’s discipline and commitment was very disappointed in the attitude of the 22 year old, and sources say he might not get a look in anytime soon.

Already they have started plans to replace him in the squad before the team’s final game of the tournament against Jamaica in the final game of the tournament.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Not many will remember the story of a certain Nigerian Tenton Yenne who move to Armenian side Ararat-Armenia three seasons ago, but he has grown into a household name in the country, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Last season he was voted the best player in the league as a whole after hitting 16 goals with seven assists in 32 league games. He ended last season with a total of 17 goals in all tournaments with 8 assists from 40 games in all competitions.

In the recently concluded season where his team ended it with a 6-0 thrashing of Ararat yesterday , Tenton was among the goals netting his 17th of the season where he also has six assists.

The tally makes him the second highest goal scorer in the league , a huge feat considering that he majorly plays as a winger. Already top clubs have noticed his exploits and are lining up for his singing in a free with his contract due to expire in two days time.

” There is no player in the league as sought after like Tenton at the moment. He is just 24 and available for free but we are careful not to make the wrong decision owing to the fact that he is still growing and needs a team where he will get regular game time”, a member of his representative ProTeam Management told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” At the moment there are bids from teams in Russia, Austria, Germany and Belgium. We hope to make a final decision in the coming weeks out of respect for his present team because he still has a running contract”, he concluded.

Daniel Martins

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has explained why the team ran out of steam in the second half of their 2-1 win over Ghana at the Unity Cup, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles took a commanding 2-0 lead into the second half, but failed to match the performance in the second half allowing Ghana to pull a goal back and had to rely on goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to not draw the game.

Reacting to a question on why the team collapsed in the second half, something that cost them a point in the world cup qualifiers game against Zimbabwe when they conceded late to draw 1-1. The coach blamed it on his style of play which the players are still getting used to.

“My philosophy is I want to make some high pressure on the pitch but the system is very difficult for the players. My dream is that I want my team to make some high pressure in 90 minutes. But, I think it’s impossible. So, we need to work and improve”, he said at the post match conference.

“But, like I said a few minutes ago the reality since I became the a coach of this team. I work, maybe seven or eight training sessions. So in reality we played three games two wins and one draw, so we need to improve. We need to work.

“The players need to to know What I want? And. I think we, we made a great first half, and then second half we were tired, but the reality. My guys! I’m so proud of them because they fight, they fight. It was difficult, but I think we deserve this victory”.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Ghana Otto Addo says his team lost the game against the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the ongoing Unity Cup due to a sloppy first half display, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ghana fell behind 0-2 to Nigeria in the first half before rallying back with a better performance in the second half, but it only gave them a goal which ended as a mere consolation.

Nigeria won the game 2-1 to progress to the final, and Addo while explaining the defeat blamed it on a poor start to the game, which helped the Nigerian team to go two goals up.

“We were not really in it. I think the goals were too easy. The second one was a little bit lucky, but the first goal was way too easy, actually it was not a good cross from Nigeria but we did too clear”, he explained.

” Yeah, we are not compact in defense and didn’t stop the cross. And yeah, I think we slipped also in the middle and that shouldn’t happen. At the same time Nigeria were more aggressive in the first half”.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabiyio has cleared the air on playing for the senior national team of Nigeria after winning the Europa Conference League with Chelsea, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Tosin was an unused substitute as Chelsea recover from a goal down to trash Real Betis 4-1 in the final. It ended a fantastic season for the Blues who also qualified for the UEFA Champions League by finishing 3rd.

Nigerian journalist Oma Akatugba asked the 27 year old about his international future which has been in the news since 2018 , with Nigeria reportedly keen on adding him to their squad.

Reports were that he initially accepted the offer but later declined saying he will rather wait for his chance with England. Tosin however sought to clear the air.

“Yeah, so both of those pieces of news were pretty false. I’ve never, I’ve never turned down Nigeria and I’ve never had any, any conversations with them to say that I will be going to Nigeria”, he started by saying.

” At the point of last season where there was a little bit of conversation and I told the club, obviously I had to focus on club football. I was in the last year at Fulham and I just wanted to have a solid run at Fulham. And now I’m at Chelsea, it’s my first year, which I wanted to concentrate on again. And I think now is going to be the time that I need to make a decision”, he concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman