One of the earliest arrival in the camp of the Super Eagles for the upcoming world cup qualifiers games is newly invited midfielder Papa Daniel Mustapha who plays for Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) side Niger Tornadoes, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

He is among the six players in the team’s camp in Kigali ahead of Friday’s game against Rwanda with Victor Osimhen, Kayode Bankole, Bruno Onyemaechi, Tolu Arokodare and Amas Obasogie completing the number.

Among the outfield players in camp Papa is the only one who hasn’t been involved lately forcing many to question his inclusion in the team with some suggestions saying he is a project of someone in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Technical director of the football house Austine Eguavoen denied that he was forced on new coach Eric Chelle saying the coach saw him at the CHAN Eagles camp in Ikenne, before deciding to include him in the list for the games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively.

However Since playing for Niger Tornadoes against Plateau United on the 9th of February, he has missed six consecutive games against Insurance, Heartland, Lobi Stars, Enyimba, Enyimba, Rivers United and Katsina United over the weekend.

So the big question is if watching a player during a training session is enough to earn him a spot in the senior national team of a country that is trying to breathe life into what has been a very poor campaign, where they are currently without a win in four games.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The father of former Nigeria U20 goalkeeper invitee Owen Goodman has shut down reports of his son’s interest in playing for Nigeria after a visit to the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ibrahim Musa Gusau.

Goodman who was invited by former Nigeria U20 coach Ladan Bosso but didn’t make it due to logistics reasons is out on loan to League One side AFC Wimbledon. He is eligible for Nigeria, England and Canada.

For now he has only been capped by England at U20 level , and his form at Wimbledon where he has 18 clean sheets in 37 games has opened another fresh round of talks about his international future with his father revealing his son’s preferred option.

“CANADA ALL DAY LONG… I THINK HE’S ALREADY MADE THE DECISION… HE TELLS ME HE FEELS MORE CANADIAN THAN NIGERIAN. HIS PREFERENCE IS CANADA, BUT THE ONLY WAY THAT CAN HAPPEN IS IF HE GETS HIS CITIZENSHIP. HE WANTS TO BECOME A CITIZEN ANYWAY AND IT GIVES HIM A BETTER CHANCE OF A CALL-UP’, Phil Goodman told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

It brings to an end any talks about the senior international career of the 21 year old who visited the NFF headquarters in June last year and gave the president Gusau his signed shirt. He was in the company of his mother.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The camp of the senior national team of Nigeria for the first of their two world cup qualifiers game , which will be the game against Rwanda on Friday has come alive with as many as eight players in the camp, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

As at the time of this report Victor Osimhen who is the team’s top striker has arrived at their base in Kigali alongside his others in Bruno Onyemaechi, Papa Daniel Mustapha, Kayode Bankole, Amas Obasogie and Tolu Arokodare.

More players are expected to be in the team’s camp before noon ahead of their first training session under new coach Eric Chelle. Their third since the start of the world cup qualifiers following the exit of Jose Peseiro and Finidi George respectively from the role.

Chelle will put the players through light training to shake off the stress of travelling, before their first full session expected to be tomorrow when all of the invited players would have been in the camp of the team.

Meanwhile, fans of the host are worried about the state of their team going into the game with new coach Adel Amrouche hoping to keep their position as group leaders after the game. They fear that playing Super Eagles in the first game of the coach could proved costly.

Although Rwanda defeated Super Eagles 2-1 in Uyo in November in the AFCON qualifiers, the departure of coach Thorsten Spittler who has been credited with organizing the team in a formidable shape and style has left fans of the team worried ahead of the games against Nigeria.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has received assurances from Nantes forward Moses Simon that he will be available for the upcoming world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively.

Simon was widely reported to be suffering from a knock that could see him miss the crucial games for Nigeria in the world cup qualifiers, after coach of Nantes Antoine Kombouaré lamented his inability to train for a couple of days.

However the reports that he suffered a knock is wide off the mark as he is fully fit and will start today for Nantes against Lille in the Ligue 1, after coming off the bench in their 0-1 loss to Strasbourg last weekend.

All talks of a possible replacement has been cancelled after he communicated to Chelle, that he will leave for the camp of the team in Kigali immediately after the game, and will be among the first to be around for the game on the 21st against the group leaders Rwanda.

The main reason why he didn’t train for three days was due to the fact that he was asked to rest in a bid to caution the effect of the pains he is feeling since having the screw taken off his broken ankle that happened a year ago.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen ensured that Galatasary go into the international break on a high with a hattrick which powered them to a 4-0 win over Antalyaspor, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen opened scoring in the 30th minute before Spanish forward Alvaro Morata doubled their league from the spot. Osimhen claimed his brace in the third minute of time added on after first half regulation.

He picked up where he left off seven minutes after the break claiming a hattrick that also took his goal count to 20 for the season, he was subbed off seven minutes after the hour mark.

Named in the squad of the Nigeria national team for the upcoming world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively. He is now expected to leave for the camp of the team in Kigali ahead of the first game on the 21st against Rwanda.

The games will be his first in the qualifies after missing the first four games of the team in the qualifiers due to injury and fitness concerns. In his absence the team has struggled to win any of their games.

Head Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle stirred a lot of controversy with his decision to include Niger Tornadoes midfielder Papa Daniel in the list of 23 players for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Chelle made public the list via an announcement by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after reducing the 39 man provisional list to 23. He made a bold decision to include Papa who plays in the Nigeria Premier Football League. His inclusion has generated a lot of debates.

After a failed stint in Turkey with the youth team of second division side Adanaspor, Papa caught the eyes playing for the B team of the senior national team of Nigeria popularly referred to as CHAN Eagles. He was key to their successful qualification for the tournament.

The major talking point about his inclusion is that he hasn’t played in five weeks in the NPFL, because he is out of the country in search of greener pasture abroad and recently tried out with Czech Republic side Karviná.

He was with their B team who are in the 3rd division and played in the 2-0 win over a regional side Havířov. A game which was reported by the club on the 22nd of February before their decision not to offer him a deal.

Reports say he later tried out with another top division side Slovacko but suffered the same fate, and he has now taken his search to teams in North Africa per several sources, who we spoke with on his inclusion in the team.

While defending the Inclusion of Papa, a backroom staff said it was Chelle’s call after watching him play while he was doing a review of the CHAN Qualifiers game against Ghana , and also at the team’s camp in Ikenne during training and a test game.

According to the source, he fits the manager’s idea of possession based football, something that led to the decision to pick him ahead of Augsburg midfielder Frank Onyeka in the final list of 23 players.

However another source said Papa is being backed by a very powerful member of the NFF, who was key to the appointment of Chelle as coach. We gathered he told Chelle that he will win a lot of enthusiasts over if he includes a player from the NPFL, and suggested Papa despite the fact that he hasn’t played a game in five weeks.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has been forced into making a change to his list of 23 players called up for the team’s upcoming world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Chelle pruned his 39 man provisional list to 23 players and it was made public two days ago. That list has now been changed due to one player deciding to opt out of the game due to injury.

Bayern Leverkusen forward Nathan Tella who was listed in the list of attackers pulled out of the squad citing a knock. He has been replaced by Belgium based defender Jordan Torunarigha.

It is the second time that Tella has opt out of representing the team since his debut. In May last year he rejected the invitation to be a part of the team for the world cup qualifiers games against South Africa and Benin Republic respectively citing family issues.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The top striker of the senior national team of Nigeria Victor Osimhen has revealed the content of his discussion with the newly appointed head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle ahead of the world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen will be making in his debut in the qualifiers after missing the first four games of the team due to injury, and in those games they failed to win. A run that saw them drop to 5th in the six team group.

Nigeria will head into the games which are crucial to their chances of making it to the tournament in 2026 needing maximum points, and according to Osimhen it was largely the discussion he had with Chelle when they spoke following his appointment.

He will be the third coach of the team during the qualifiers taking over from the duo of Jose Peseiro and Austine Eguavoen who started the qualifiers handling two games each.

“I’ve spoken to him couple of times and clearly understand the objectives he has set for himself and for the players,” the Galatasary man said in an interview with BBC.

“It takes more than a coach to win football matches. Players must also be at their best, show commitment and bear in mind that we can all fly together to reach our goal.”

Ade Emmanuel

Italian Serie A side Lazio have triggered the mandatory purchase clause contained in the contract of Nigeria international midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Fisayo joined the team on a season long loan deal from Turkish side Hatayspor with an agreement that the Italians will sign him permanently at the end of the loan deal, if he meets certain conditions.

A product of the youth team of Manchester City, Fisayo who is currently out injured has impressed in his debut season at the club, with five goals and two assists in 23 games in all competitions, making himself a key member of the Marco Baroni led team.

According to La Lazio Siamo Noi, the 24 year old has met the conditions leading the club to sign him permanently for a fee of €5.4 million as contained in their recently released half-yearly report.

In the report it was also confirmed that €15.9 million was spent by the club in making the signing of Tijjani Noslin permanent from Hellas Verona. The Dutchman was named after former Nigeria international winger Tijjani Babangida.

Daniel Martins

Getafe star Uche Chrisantus has dismissed as false reports saying he asked to be left out of the squad of the senior national team of Nigeria for their upcoming World Cup Qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively.

Uche who has been ever present for Getafe this season was conspicuously missing from the list of 23 players made public by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). He was in the initial 39 man provisional list that was earlier released two weeks ago.

His exclusion led to talks in some quarters that the Owerri born midfielder, who has played more as a striker this season isn’t open to representing Nigeria, and asked to be left out of the team for both games.

” That is a lie that I don’t know where it started from. How can a full blooded Nigerian like me, who was born and raised in Nigeria say no to represent the Super Eagles?”, he asked with a look of surprise in his face.

” I really don’t understand when people say I was born abroad. I wasn’t and only came here two year ago to pursue my dreams of playing football at the highest level. I can only continue to work hard and my chance will eventually come. I can’t wait to play for the Super Eagles and hopefully the team will win both games”, he concluded.

Ade Emmanuel