High flying St. Pauli winger Dapo Afolayan has reached out to the national team selectors of the senior national team of Nigeria to voice out his willingness to play for Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Afolayan has been a revelation this year for the newly promoted German side with two goals and one assist. Beyond the numbers his all round play has been generally good.

Born in England to parents of Nigerian descent, the 27 year old is eligible for both countries, but he didn’t mince words when he was asked about his international ambition as he clearly stated that his dream is to play for Nigeria at the next world cup in 2026.

“I want to kick on again, play international football. Play for Nigeria at the next World Cup, and hopefully as long as my performances keep being strong and improving, then I’ll do that”, he said in an interview made available to out editorial team.

His open declaration will no doubt catch the interest of the interim head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen, who also doubles as the technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Eguavoen led the team in interim capacity to qualification for the world cup, but he is now expected to return back to his role with the NFF for a new coach to take over before the start of the world cup qualifiers in March.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has taken a decision to appoint a new coach for the senior national team of Nigeria before the resumption of the world cup qualifiers in March, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Interim coach of the team Austine Eguavoen is expected to return to his role as the technical director of the NFF after successfully leading the team to qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Sources at the NFF say the coach will be employed in January based on the recommendation of the technical committee of the football house, with Eguavoen expected to also be a part of the decision making body.

Per what we exclusively gathered, the new coach will be given a short term contract to cover the games of the world cup qualifiers which will round up in October next year.

A decision to extend the deal of the coach to cover the AFCON which will be played in December of the same year will be based on qualification for the world cup, where the Super Eagles are currently 5th in their 6 team group.

They are four points behind the leaders Rwanda, their next opponent when the qualifiers resumes in March. They will also host Zimbabwe in the same month as they go in search of their first win in the series.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleman

Head coach of Italian Serie A side Marco Baroni was left excited with his players after their 3-1 win over Napoli in the Coppa Italia which sealed their spot in the quarter final, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Tijjani Noslin stole the headline with a hattrick leading to praises from the coach, who also handed a second consecutive start to Nigeria international Fisayo Dele-Bashiru who joined the team in the summer on loan from Turkish side Hatayspor.

While singing the praises of Noslin, the coach was quick to point out the contribution of the Nigerian who lasted 73 minutes of the game, explaining why the ex Manchester City trainee hasn’t been a regular since his move to the team.

He explained after the moral boosting win over Napoli, that it is due to the complicated nature of how they play, which sometimes requires a bit of time before certain players get used to it. He was however silent on if the Nigerian will keep his spot against the same opponent when they meet in the Serie A this weekend.

“If we want to play, we have to take some risks. Today too, we could have handled some balls differently. I ask this of the team and sometimes we take risks, but for me, against Bologna, the exit I made led to Pobega’s expulsion. We’re continuing on this path. I’ve moved Noslin to the right or left, but I’ll continue to do so because he’s a modern player. We give him a role, but he’s a quality player and he has to open his mind for his path. I’m happy with the goals but also with the performance. Dele is also growing, he’s catapulted into a difficult and complicated style of football. In our football, players who took 1-2 years to get going have struggled.”

The coach of Spanish LaLiga side Real Sociedad Imanol Alguacil has opened up on the situation of Nigeria international striker Sadiq Umar at the club in the wake of reports of a fall out with the lanky forward, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Sadiq started for Real Sociedad yesterday in their 1-0 win over fourth division side Conquense in the Copa Del Rey and lasted the entire duration of the second round game helping the team to seal their passage to the next round.

Since returning from an ACL injury that kept him out for an entire season, the 27 year old has found it hard to reclaim his spot in the starting lineup leading to limited game time , as he battles to return to his physical best and shape.

Speaking on reports of a fallout with the forward, the coach dismissed the notion and explained that Sadiq is a model professional who is training well, but isn’t fortunate enough to play in lot of games because of the presence of other players in his position.

” I see him well, training without any complaints . It is true that he is not getting many minutes but because I understand that another player has to play. There is no more. Training like one more and trying to earn his place in training”, he said.

“Now if he does not play more it is because I am betting on other players , but it is not only his case, it is the case of many players who if they do not play it is not because they are not training well, but because I understand that the one who is playing is doing very well,” he said before playing him yesterday from start to finish.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Samson Siasia says Austine Eguavoen should officially resign from his role as interim coach of the Super Eagles, and focus on his primary job as the technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Eguavoen successfully guided the team to qualification for the AFCON next year in interim capacity, and the NFF haven’t made a statement on his status with the team ahead of the resumption of the qualifiers for the world cup.

Siasia who was a former teammate of Eguavoen in the Super Eagles said he should concentrate on his job as technical director because he can’t hold two positions in the same setup.

“As for Austin Eguavoen’s future with the Super Eagles, I will suggest that we wait a while to see how the team will be. It is a very young team. Eguavoen has a job already as the technical director. He should resign as Super Eagles manager and concentrate on his job. He cannot hold two positions at the same time. He should actually decide on which one to hold and leave the other,” he was quoted as saying by the online version of Nigerian publication The Sun.

The former coach of the Nigeria U20 and U23 team also dismissed the idea of a foreign coach for the Nigerian team. “We don’t want any foreign coach here because they are not coming to do anything. We have enough good materials at home that we should not be talking about hiring a foreign coach”, he concluded.

Head coach of English Premier League side Fulham Marco Silva has explained the reason behind the fine form of Nigeria international Alex Iwobi at the club , OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Yesterday the Nigerian scored twice to help them to a 3-1 win over Brighton which moved them to 6th on the table. Iwobi now has five goals and three assists in 14 games this season.

Silva who signed the Nigerian from Arsenal during his time as coach at Everton was key in ensuring that the Nigerian joined him at Fulham just before the start of last season. A decision that has paid off handsomely.

Speaking ahead of the game where he fired a brace, Silva said the happy nature of the 28 year old is largely responsible for his performance on the pitch.

“I call him a happy boy. When you are in a happy place, when you are so positive and people around you are positive, I think good things will come to you. You never see him panic in any moment of the game. He is going to be a top confidence player.”

He rounded up by sending a warning to Arsenal ahead of their game this weekend saying his team still has more surprises to pull in the English Premier League this season.

The commitment of the players of the senior national team of Nigeria has been called into question by the former vice captain of the team Ogenyi Onazi, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria will resume their quest to be at the 2026 World Cup in March when they take on Rwanda, hoping to pick their first win of the series after four games. They are presently 5th in their 6 team group, trailing the leaders Rwanda with four points.

Onazi who was a part of the team to the 2014 and 2018 world cup says the attitude of some of the players, when they play for Nigeria need to be questioned as it is largely why they are struggling in the qualifiers.

” The players in the team don’t seem to understand the pride that comes with playing for your country. Some of them even skip games. I also think they didn’t have that senior player who they feel is bigger than them. Everyone sees himself as a big player and teams that are like that don’t make progress”, he said on the sidelines of the novelty game organized for the chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) Shehu Dikko.

” I also think the coaches have to find a way of picking players who will give their all when they wear the Super Eagles shirt not just pick any player because he is doing well for his club. We have very good players in the team but sometimes you wonder if they are really willing to fight for the team”, he stated.

Head coach of Sevilla Francisco José García Pimienta has leaped to the defence of underfire Nigeria international striker Kelechi Iheanacho who has failed to sufficiently impressed since moving to the club in the summer, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Iheanacho joined the club on a free transfer from newly promoted English Premier League side Leicester City, with a reputation of a striker who need less chances to make his mark.

That hasn’t been that case at the Spanish side as he has struggled to get games and has just two goals, both coming in the Copa Del Rey game which won 3-0 against Las Rozas.

They will be up against Olot today and he is expected to play some part according to Pimienta, who went further to explain why the 28 year old wasn’t involved in their last LaLiga game against Osasuna.

“He was ready to come on, but Lokonga had a slight issue and Agoumé went out. He’s training very well, he hasn’t played more because I’ve considered that Isaac is doing well,” Pimienta explained ahead of today’s game.

“Tomorrow he will participate, and if you look at his CV, you can see he’s a great player, but in no case are we considering anything.”

Bayer Leverkusen forward Nathan Tella says his goal which eliminated Bayern Munich from the DFB-POKAL in the round of 16 is the most important of his career, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports .

Tella rose highest to place a firm header into the back of the Bayern Munich goal for what ended up as the winner for the defending champions of the league and cup in Germany. It was his first goal of the season.

The one cap Nigeria international has so far endured limited game time, but will likely get more game time with his fellow Nigerian Victor Boniface out injured and his deputy Patrick Shick also suffering an injury knock.

He was asked about where the goal against German giants ranks in his collection and he termed it as the most important of his career, thanking coach Xavi Alonso for his trust in bringing him on to make a difference.

“That was the most important goal of my career. It was in the [DFB Pokal] Round of 16 against Bayern. You always want to score, but scoring against teams like that is really good. We’re all very happy to have reached the next round. The coach trusted that I would come on and make the difference – that I could do something”.