The search for a new coach for the senior national team of Nigeria will resume in earnest following the conclusion of the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Austine Eguavoen led the team successful bid to be at the next AFCON in interim capacity, and he is expected to revert to his role following the conclusion of the series.

One of the coaches who was initially billed to take over the job following the axing of Finidi George in June was Swedish coach Janne Andersson. However a disagreement over his resumption date and other terms of the proposed deal led to a breakdown in talks over hiring him.

Andersson whose last job was with the senior national team of Sweden is currently linked with the a job in the Swedish league with Djurgarden IF, and while he stayed silent about reports of his interest in the job he revealed he has turned down proposals from Nigeria and Latvia.

“There have been several hot assignments, but it’s just that I haven’t chosen to comment on them,” the 62 year old told Fotbollskanalen.

“Latvia and Nigeria talked about it, and then I felt I could comment on those. There have therefore been others that have come to nothing.”

Coach of the senior national team of Benin Republic Gernot Rohr says the Super Eagles of Nigeria can still make it to the 2026 World Cup despite their precarious position behind his team, South Africa and Rwanda respectively in their group, OwnGooalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria are 5th in the six team group without a win in their opening four games of the series, they are four points behind leaders Rwanda and South Africa who are separated by goal difference.

The qualifiers will resume in March with the Super Eagles travelling to Rwanda before hosting Zimbabwe. With six games left in the qualifiers Rohr whose team are also on 7 points, four more than Nigeria is refusing to rule the Super Eagles out of the race.

“They (Super Eagles) cannot afford to miss out of two consecutive FIFA World Cups and that is why I believe strongly they can still bounce back in the race for the 2026 World cup,” Rohr, who led Nigeria to her last Mundial appearance at Russia 2018, told NationSports after helping Benin to qualify for the AFCON for the first time since their last appearance in 2019.

He went ahead to explain what the team will have to do in order to be at the word cup citing their superior player quality as an edge, but says they have to show a fighting spirit and hopefully get a result in South Africa.

“Of course, the Super Eagles can still do it (qualify for World Cup 26),” the former Bordeaux coach further said.

“There are six more games to play for each of the teams in our group and that means anything is still possible, because you have to be the first team to automatically qualify while being second can still give you a chance.

“Nigeria has the best collection of players out there but they should really be focussed if they want to qualify.

“They must have the good fighting spirit to be able to do that … they still have to go to South Africa and other difficult countries and it is not going to be easy there.

“But I think they can still do it.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The head coach of the Bafana Bafana of South Africa Hugo Broos says the team will pick the sole ticket available from their group in the race to be at the 2026 world cup, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

With the qualifiers set to resume in March, South Africa are currently second in the group behind leaders Rwanda on goal difference as both teams have seven points each. Four more than Nigeria who are on three points and 5th in the group.

Nigeria were expected to be the favorite from the group, but that hasn’t been the case with the Super Eagles yet to win a game since the start of the qualifiers. A situation that has left them in a difficult position to qualify.

Broos who led South Africa to an impressive campaign in the recently concluded AFCON Qualifiers, where they finished top of their group without losing a single game says their attention has now shifted to the world cup qualifiers.

“It doesn’t mean that we have to now think that we are where we have to be. No. But little by little we are becoming a very good team.

“And that will give us the confidence that we need for the next thing we have to do, which is qualify for the World Cup.

“But I’m confident that we can do it. I think, if SA can qualify for the World Cup it is now because we have quality; we have a good team. We can do it. But we still have to do it.”

They will resume their campaign against Lesotho at home while Nigeria travel away to Rwanda when the games resumes in March. Broos however expects a different Nigerian team from the one that were beaten 1-2 by Rwanda on Monday in the final game of the AFCON Qualifiers in Uyo.

The medical team of German side Bayer Leverkusen are unhappy with the decision of the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen for not resting Victor Boniface in Super Eagles final AFCON Qualifiers game against Rwanda, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria secured a spot at next year’s AFCON before taking on to the pitch in their penultimate game against Benin Republic which ended in a 1-1. They rounded up their campaign in the tournament at home in Uyo, where they were beaten 1-2.

Boniface played in both games, starting the last game at home against Rwanda, which the club feel he shouldn’t have played because he ended up aggravating a thigh injury that he is been managing for a while.

He is now set for a lengthy spell on the touchline with reports that he could be out for almost three months, if it’s found out to be more severe than initially feared.

It will be the second major injury the 23 year old who is yet to score for the senior national team of Nigeria will suffer, after missing most of the games of the second half of last season with a thigh injury picked up while at the Super Eagles camp for the AFCON.

Sources in the camp of the Super Eagles said Boniface hid the injury to play against Rwanda due to the pressure he is facing over his goal drought. The injury was why he wasn’t at his best in the game, dropping one of his worst performance ever in a Super Eagles shirt.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The interim head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen has revealed how he was able to convince Auxerre defender Gabriel Osho to pledge his international future to Nigeria ahead of England, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osho made his debut against Benin Republic in the AFCON qualifiers, the game that sealed the Super Eagles spot at the tournament. He was also on from start to finish in the final game of the qualifiers where they were beaten 1-2 by Rwanda in the dead rubber tie.

He was one of the few players who one could say had an above average performance on that day, and Eguavoen has taken pride in the fact that he lured the 26 year old to the Super Eagles, rendering him ineligible for England where he was born.

” I have outmost faith in him (Osho) because I tracked him for one year. Even before both games I already told him he will play from the start. I see him like someone who will have a brilliant career with his club and also the Super Eagles”, he said at the post match conference of the 1-2 loss to Rwanda.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Super Eagles delicate position in the world cup qualifiers could see them miss out on a spot at the 2026 tournament as they are currently 5th in the six team group, four points behind the leaders Rwanda, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

As a matter of fact the team is yet to pick a win in the series drawing with Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa before losing 1-2 to Benin Republic in their last game in the series, which will resume in March.

Looking ahead to their games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe on a proposed date of 17th and 24th of March respectively. A player of the team has looked back at their campaign and blamed it on their poor start partly due to the poor start under former coach Jose Peseiro.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the player told our correspondent after the post match conference of the 1-2 loss to Rwanda in their final AFCON qualifiers game that the rift between Peseiro and captain William Troost-Ekong played a huge part in the poor start.

” We (Super Eagles) started the last two world cup qualifiers set of games with back to back wins. This time around we started by dropping four points. So we started playing catch up from the get go. You have to look at issues this way. The rift between Ekong and the coach (Peseiro) meant we played an unfamiliar pair at center back in two straight games. Ekong didn’t even make the squad”, he stated.

” Ekong patched up with Peseiro before the AFCON and the result was clear for all to see. He was the MVP at the tournament. Sadly he hasn’t played in any world cup qualifiers because he became injured after the AFCON. We hope to have him around for the games in March”.

Ade Emmanuel

Former Nigeria international defender Emeka Ezeugo says five players who are currently in the setup of the senior national team of Nigeria should be dropped over a lack of commitment to the course of the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ezeugo who was a part of Nigeria’s maiden appearance at the world cup in 1994 made this known in an exclusive interview shortly after the Super Eagles 1-2 loss at home to Rwanda in their final game in the AFCON qualifiers.

Although the loss was inconsequential with the team already through to the tournament with two games to spare, Ezeugo however said he has seen enough over the time to call for Bayer Leverkusen forward Victor Boniface to be dropped from the team for future games.

” It’s clear that Boniface doesn’t commit himself when he plays for Nigeria. When you see him play for Leverkusen he chases everything down but for Nigeria he strolls on the pitch. You can’t keep calling a player like that if you want to progress”, he said.

” Outside Boniface, I wonder why Benjamin Tanimu in the English 3rd division is in the team. You also look at Francis Uzoho and I hope we don’t get to see him again. Then there is Kelechi Iheanacho who for the past two years have added nothing to the team”, he concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The current interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen will be part of the setup in the event that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) succeed in their quest to hire a new coach for the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Eguavoen steered the team through the AFCON qualifiers leading them to the tournament in Morocco with two games to spare, but it ended on a sour note with the team losing 1-2 at home to Rwanda in their final game of the series on Monday in Uyo.

Super Eagles will resume their international engagement in March when the world cup qualifiers resumes, but it could be under a new coach if the NFF are able to get a sponsor who will pick up the bill for the proposed coach.

We exclusively gathered that Eguavoen will be in the setup to guide the new coach in his role as the technical director of the football house. He will however not be among the assistants but as a director who will be permitted to sit on the bench during games.

Already top coaches around Europa have been sending their CVs to the football house to indicate their interest in the job. A decision is expected before the end of the year.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The purported appeal by Libya to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) against the decision by CAF to hand a win to the Super Eagles over their botched game, could end up as a ruse because the sports arbitration body didn’t list the case for hearing, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Libya claimed they have filed an appeal against the decision by CAF to award the Super Eagles three points, three goals for the botched AFCON qualifiers billed for in Benghazi, challenging the decision of CAF’s disciplinary committee which ruled that their act of leaving the Super Eagles stranded at the airport for over 18 hours violates it’s statues.

They claimed to have filed an appeal against the judgement and the $500,000 fine based on several reports, but according to veteran Nigerian journalist Kunle Solaja their case isn’t on the list of what CAS will hear before they end of the year.

“It is not among the 46 cases listed for hearing up till 19 December 2024. The only listed cases involving African litigants are that of Algeria Football Federation versus CAF which is about last season’s Confederation Cup semi-final duel of RS Berkane and USM Alger”, he wrote for Sportsvillagesquare.com.

“The case is listed as “TAS 2024/A/10528 FAF & Club USM Alger c/ CAF & FRMF & RS Berkane.”

Furthermore even if CAS rule in favour of Libya by going as far as awarding them three points , three goals it will still not be sufficient enough for them to qualify for the AFCON. The Mediterranean Knights would have eight points, like others, and a minus one goal difference which will not be enough to threaten any of the two qualified teams.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman