Werder Bremen defender Felix Agu has made it clear to the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle that he is interested in playing for the team in the upcoming world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Chelle will handle the Nigerian team for the first time in the games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively, where they will be looking for their first win after four games in the world cup qualifiers.

The games in March is crucial to the chances of the team qualifying for the 2026 tournament, hence all hands is on deck to ensure that both games are given proper attention with all eligible players who are regulars with their clubs in frame for a call up.

Agu spoke with Chelle last month making it clear to the coach that he is available for selection for both games. Despite representing Germany at U21 level he won’t be needing a one time switch of nationality as he only played in friendly games.

This season operating as a full back he has played in 11 games in the German Bundesliga, and it could have been more if not for injury and fitness concerns that made him miss a couple of games.

A final decision on his inclusion in the list of players for both games now lies in the hands of Chelle, who is already set to be without regular center back Semi Ajayi and midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The recent news ruling Semi Ajayi out of Super Eagles world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively has opened the door for a replacement in the team’s squad for both games, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ajayi suffered a relapse of the hamstring injury that has kept him out since November during West Bromwich Albion’s game against Oxford United. He is now expected to be out until at least April, effectively ruling him out of the games of the senior national team of Nigeria.

A replacement for the 31 year old is said to have been picked by head coach Eric Chelle, but the identity still remains a mystery with two different sources contradicting themselves on if the player in question is Leon Balogun.

Balogun hasn’t played for Nigeria for almost two years, and he is tipped to be handed a route back to the team by Chelle owing to his fine form for Scottish side Rangers. He only recently returned to training after missing the last seven games of the team in all competitions, due to a knock picked up in the Europa League game against Manchester United on the 23rd of January.

” I know Balogun was in the provisional list but I am not certain if he is in the final list of players. Last time I checked he hasn’t played for over a month and won’t likely be fit enough for a spot in the team, when the list is out”, a team source revealed when asked about the 36 year old.

His thought was however dismissed by another source who said the former Brighton and Hove Albion defender wasn’t named in the final 23 man list for the games.

” He (Balogun) wasn’t contacted by Chelle. That is a sign that he isn’t in the final list of players for the games. Maybe the injuries have will force him into a rethink but I am sure he didn’t make the initial 23. He is 36 and not sure if he can handle two games within a space of three days”, he concluded.

Ade Emmanuel

23 players have been picked by the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle to play in the upcoming world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Chelle who will be in charge of the team for the first time during the games in March sent out provisional invitations to around 35 players, and with around two weeks to go before the first game in Kigali he has trimmed the number to 23.

We can exclusively confirm that players who are in the 23 man list have received air tickets and travel plans arrangements coordinated by the team’s secretary Dayo Enebi. All invited players will fly directly to the Rwandan city of Kigali.

A chieftain of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed the decision for the players to fly directly to Rwanda ahead of the first game, saying the idea is to ensure that they have at least three training sessions with Chelle before the game.

All invited players are expected to be at the team’s camp on the 17th of March ahead of the first game against the group leaders on the 21st. They will return to Nigeria for a game against Zimbabwe four days later in Uyo.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Top division Belgium side Antwerp have concluded the signing of Nigerian duo Gabriel Jesus David and Orseer Achihi from Nigerian academy P Sports, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The club announced the signing of the duo on their official handle on social media, but they came on separate terms with Achihi who is a winger signing a permanent deal which will run for the next five years. That isn’t the case with David.

David who is 18 year old like Achihi was signed on loan with the option of making his signing permanent at the end of the season.

Both players are represented by Nigerian agent Atta Aneke, and they will be hoping to follow in the steps of fellow Nigerians Childera Ejuke and Alhassan Yusuf who were on the books of the club last season.

They both made a good impression and secured moves away with Ejuke heading to LaLiga side Sevilla while Yusuf settled for a move to MLS side New England Revolution.

Daniel Martins

The Young Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire fully avenged their earlier defeat by Nigeria’s Flying Eagles, when beating the two-time FIFA World Cup runners-up 2-0 in the second of two friendly games in Abidjan on Friday evening.

Aliyu Zubairu’s charges were deserved 2-0 winners over their hosts in the first match on Wednesday, but the Young Elephants rose from that setback to impose themselves at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny.

Playing without most of the players who secured the 2-0 win two days ago, the Nigerian team were no where near their best and got punished for their lack of cohesion very early into the game.

The game’s temperament and general flow was in sharp contrast to Wednesday’s session, with the Young Elephants dominating play and keeping the visitors at bay for most of the encounter.

The hosts were in front after only 17 minutes, with Tape Yaya Kader scoring from open play, and doubled the advantage eight minutes after recess from a penalty kick taken by Isaac Cisse. On Wednesday, Nigeria had scored from a penalty kick converted by Captain Daniel Bameyi and then made it 2-0 from open play through Divine Oliseh.

The Flying Eagles’ contingent will return to Abuja on Saturday.

Ade Emmanuel

Head coach of Udinese Kosta Runjaic says Nigeria international goalkeeper Maduka Okoye is not back in training with the team despite his recent post on social media, which suggests that he is back after a wrist injury.

Runjaic is facing a crisis in goalkeepers with Okoye out injured since the beginning of December and also battling an allegation of his involvement in betting, where it was claimed that he deliberately picked up a yellow card in their game against Lazio.

The police are currently investigating the claims and even raided his house and locker room. According to his lawyer they found no trace to suggest that the 25 year old is guilty of what he is being alleged of.

Udinese’s second choice Razvan Sava is also out injured with a fractured finger leaving Runjaic with just 39 year old Danielle Padelli as his only option ahead of games against Parma, Lazio and Verona respectively.

Asked if it could hasten the incorporation of Okoye a lot earlier than planned , the coach said contrary to training pictures posted by the Nigerian he is not back in training yet with the team, but it could change in a week or two weeks time.

“Okoye is not training with the team yet, I think he will be able to take part in training again in a week or two”, he said.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle will be without the first choice regular duo of midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and defender Semi Ajayi in their upcoming World Cup Qualifiers games.

Chelle will hand the team for the first time in March when they take on Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively in the world cup qualifiers, seeking for their first win after four games in the qualifiers. A poor run that has seen them fall four points behind the leaders Rwanda dropping to 5th in the six team group.

Ahead of the games, Chelle has been told he will be without the services of Dele-Bashiru and Ajayi who have been confirmed injured by their respective teams. Their absence will no doubt alter the plans of the coach.

Ajayi’s absence as we first reported will no doubt hit the hardest as it was hugely felt when he missed the final games of the AFCON qualifiers, where the team drew with Benin Republic and lost to Rwanda at home in November last year.

Captain William Troost-Ekong is another injury doubt in the build up to both games after missing the last two games of his club Al-Kholood in Saudi Arabia. He is in a race against time to be fit for both games due to a muscular issue.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria and Africa football legend Austine Okocha has fired at the disrespectful comments made by former footballer turned pundit Jamie Carragher on the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Carragher has come under serious attack for his comments after downplaying the AFCON saying it’s not a major tournament, while discussing the impact of Mohammed Salah this season and if winning the AFCON will help him lift the best player in the world attack.

His statement hasn’t gone down well among past and present African footballers and Okocha , who won the tournament in 1994 with Nigeria and also played in four different editions has weigh in on the matter.

Speaking in a video made available to our editorial team, the former Bolton Wanderers midfield maestro said Carragher doesn’t deserve the attention he is getting because of the kind of career he had.

“There are some players that will say some things. You just overlook them. If you look at their career and the type of football that they played you can understand. I mean you won’t want your son to be like Carragher. So he can never appreciate African football or the talents that come from Africa”, he said.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria made a move to convince 22 year old Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu to switch his nationality from Germany and play for Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Atubolu has been in fine form this season with eight clean sheets in 20 games, which includes not conceding in the last four games totalling 400 minutes. He has also stopped four penalties this season.

His fine form made our editorial team to make a check with the NFF on approaching the shot stopper who has Nigerian descent to play for the Super Eagles, as he is still eligible despite representing Germany at various youth levels.

” Atubolu is a closed chapter for now. You can go and verify we made overtures to him for a year and even in December. However he seems to be very confident of making the grades with Germany. We have to respect his wishes”, a chieftain of the NFF told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” The reason why we kept pushing for him is because he is young and could be the first choice for a very long time. He feels Nigerian and talks about loving the culture but it’s not in our hands for him to play for Super Eagles”.

Sami Abdullahi

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has picked two players who he feels are the most important to the team ahead of the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Rohr who is now in charge of Benin Republic handled the Super Eagles of Nigeria for almost six years, and finds his team in the same world cup qualifiers group with Nigeria. They were also in the same group for the AFCON qualifiers and both team made it to the tournament.

They will return to world cup qualifiers action with Benin Republic who are joint leaders with Rwanda going away to Zimbabwe before hosting South Africa at home. Nigeria on the other hand will be up against Rwanda in Kigali before welcoming Zimbabwe to the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo

Speaking ahead of his team’s game, Rohr emphasized on the need to have his best players available, using the Super Eagles as an example of a weak team without the duo of Moses Simon and Ademola Lookman.

” For games like this you need your best players available. It is the same for most teams because some players make the difference. If you look at Nigeria for instance despite having so many quality players, they hardly play well without the duo of Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon”, he said.

He said the duo make the team thick in the final third with Simon’s ability to create chances complementing the ability of Lookman to bury them.

” You see Simon can create dangerous situations while Lookman can score from the tightest of spaces. It’s the same for many teams around the world”.