The head coach of the senior national team of Benin Republic Gernot Rohr has made changes to his team ahead of their AFCON qualifiers games against the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Libya respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Rohr picked a pool of 25 players for both games starting with the game against Nigeria at their adopted home ground in Cote d’Ivoire, before their tie away to Libya.

While Nigeria will head into the game looking for a point to seal a spot at next year’s tournament, Benin Republic need to avoid defeat to keep their chances of qualifying alongside Nigeria alive before their final game against Libya.

Ahead of both games Rohr handed a recall to Serge Obassa who plays for Nigeria Premier Football League side Remo Stars as his third goalkeeper, with David Kiki of Romanian side FC Steaua București coming in after making a full recovery from a knock that has kept him out for a while.

Ryan Adigo from FC Lokomotiv Leipzig and Lenny Pirringuel from France Championnat National club Quevilly-Rouen where both handed first time call up to boost the attack of the team.

The Squad:

Goalkeepers : Dandjinou, Allagbé, Obassa

Defenders : Fassinou, Kiki, Moumini, Ouorou, Roche, Tijani, Verdon

Midfielders : Ahlinvi, Ahouangbo, Ahoudo, Amoussou, d’Almeida, Dokou, Hassane, Olaitan

Attackers : Adigo, Dossou, Hountondji, Pirringuel, Mounié, Tosin, Traoré

The list of players called up to the senior national team of Nigeria for their AFCON qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively generated a lot of buzz over the inclusion of certain players in the squad, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Interim coach of the Nigerian team Austine Eguavoen handed out a call up to Auxerre defender Gabriel Osho, who was first invited for the friendly games against Ghana and Mali respectively but couldn’t make it due to injury.

His first invitation came while he was at English Premier League side Luton Town FC, but he left them for Auxerre on a free transfer following their relegation to the English Championship. He has been a regular at his new side until he got injured two weeks ago.

Now back to full fitness and hoping for his first game later today against Marseille, he is expected to depart for the camp of the Nigerian team in Cote d’Ivoire for the first game against Benin Republic after the game.

Explaining the decision to hand him another chance to stake a claim in the team, one of the assistant coaches of Eguavoen Daniel Ogunmodede explained in an interview on NFF TV that he was called up because they feel he is good enough for a spot in the team.

“The head coach has come up with a list, discussed with us as his back-room staff and I think they are competent and capable to represent the country. They are all familiar faces apart from Gabriel Osho who is new in the setup now because he had an injury and had to undergo surgery”, he explained before going further to defend the inclusion of Sadiq Umar and also a first time call up to Victor Collins of Nasarawa United.

Umar hasn’t had the best of season with Real Sociedad in Spain and Collins can pass as an unknown name in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).

“Sadiq had been in the team for a while and was also out due to injury now he’s back and the coach felt we needed a left foot centre back and presently in the league, we have Victor Collins that has proven his worth.”

Nigeria international and Udinese first choice goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has been rated among the best African goalkeepers in the African continent, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Okoye has made the number one spot of Napoli his since the turn of the year and this season he has so far played in all of their games. A remarkable rise for the 25 year old who struggled to get game time at English Championship side Watford around two years ago.

Former Nigeria international goalkeeper Alloy Agu, who was with the team as trainer when Okoye had his breakthrough said his faith in Okoye didn’t subside even when he was having a difficult time at some point. Rating him as one of the best in Africa.

“It is difficult to take a starting spot at top European clubs, but Okoye has made it easy. However, Maduka cannot afford to relax, he must continue to work hard. I have always known about his talent since his time at Dusseldorf. I saw his potential and brought him to the national team, despite not everyone believing in him. It is not a stroke of luck that he has risen through the ranks. I think he is one of the best African goalkeepers, not only because of his talent but also because of a combination of factors such as age and height”, he was quoted as saying by SportsBoom.

On if Okoye has done enough to displace Nwabali who has been first choice since the AFCON in January, where the team went all the way to the final before losing 1-2 to host Cote d’Ivoire, Agu said it’s a good headache for any coach to have two very good goalkeepers.

” I brought both him and Nwabali to the national team. Nwabali made his debut against Mexico in Los Angeles, while Okoye against Brazil. I coached both of them. Having two quality goalkeepers for Nigeria is important. At the moment, Nwabali is doing well and Okoye has to bide his time. Maduka must play regularly and do well with Udinese, so that he will be ready when he gets the chance to play for Nigeria too”.

Respected Turkish football journalist Kaan Bayazit has warned Galatasaray against the permanent signing of Victor Osimhen when his loan deal from Napoli expires in the summer, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen has taken to life at Galatasaray with ease and scored a brace yesterday in the Europa League 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur to take his goal count to six goals in eight games across all competitions this season.

His loan deal carries a break clause in the January transfer window, but the 25 year old has ruled out any potential exit for now and will rather weigh his options in the summer, with Napoli not open to allowing him a way back into their squad.

Galatasaray are thought to be considering a permanent deal but according to Bayazit in an interview with the BBC, it is also a question of finances and squad balance for Galatasaray.

“If I was an accountant I would say, ‘don’t do it’,” he says when asked if Galatasaray will aim to keep the striker beyond his loan.

He suggests Napoli “will want 50m euros bare minimum” as a transfer fee. Galatasaray’s record signing is midfielder Gabriel Sara from Norwich last summer for 18m euros.

“Galatasaray have Mauro Icardi, so they should spend that money on a different position to centre forward,” adds Bayazit. “One reason it was a really surprising move was that they have great strikers but no star wingers.

“Fans were very critical before Osimhen happened as there was no star winger. They are now happy, but as a puzzle piece fitting in, it doesn’t make sense.”

Super Eagles will round up their campaign in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers with games against Benin Republic and Rwanda on the 14th and 18th of November respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

They will play as visitors to Benin at their adopted home ground in Cote d’Ivoire before returning home to round up their campaign against Rwanda at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo. They need a point from both games to seal a spot at next year’s tournament.

The Nigerian team is under the guidance of interim coach Austine Eguavoen for the qualifiers and have remained unbeaten so far. However he is expected to return to his role as technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after the final round of games.

Speaking ahead of the game Moses Simon who is one of the leaders of the team said he would have loved the coach to stay for a longer period, because of his knowledge of the players which brings out the best in them.

“You will have the team with a clear goal,” he told BBC in an interview.

“The coach knows the ability [and] the character of the players. He knows how he can attack the game.

“But when today is this and tomorrow is different, it’s a little bit more complicated. We all want someone that can be there longer.”

The coach of English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur Ange Postecoglu says their 2-3 defeat against Galatasaray in the Europa League was largely due to the performance of Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen fired a seven minute brace in the 31st and 39th minute with scores at 1-1 handing his team a two goal lead which proved to be decisive at the end of the game, with Dominic Solanke goal ending as a consolation with 19 minutes to play.

He said: “In the first half we gave the ball away too much. We lacked composure and we allowed Galatasaray to get a foothold in the game and we paid the price for that”, he said while speaking on his team trailing by two goals very early into the game after Osimhen’s brace.

Postecoglu lamented the fact that they played a lot better when they were reduced to ten men following the sending off ofWill Lankshear card than they did when they were playing without a man down.

“It just felt it was self-inflicted. We had really simple solutions out there to keep the ball. It wasn’t that hard. We showed it with 10 men. We just needed to be stronger on the ball and play the kind of football we play every week.

“Maybe it was a little bit the changes I made and the environment and atmosphere, but the moments that stick out to me was giving the ball away. We were playing through them quite easily with 10 men but with 11 men we had nowhere near that conviction and that was disappointing.”

The organisers of the 2024 Obasa Games have unveiled the draws for the multi-sport event on Tuesday, November 5, at the Agege Local Government.

The draw, held at 11am on Tuesday inside the multipurpose hall of the local government for 32 teams across the Lagos West Senatorial District, with eight groups of four teams each in a group.

The draw revealed the opening day fixture of the football event between Lion Hearts FC and Ajegunle United as well as the paring of other teams.

The opening ceremony will take centre stage on November 15, 2024 at the Anwar-Islam Secondary School, while Diary Farm Secondary School in Agege will serve as second venue for the football games.

The chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the Obasa Games, Alhaji Ganiyu Obasa, urged the participating teams to present a formidable team as he announced the various cash prizes for the top teams and individual award to exceptional players during the event.

The ceremony, which lasted for about 40 minutes, had top dignitaries from the football and political space in attendance.

The Chairman Lagos State House Of Assembly Service Commission, Otunba Richard Akin Oshungboye, Chairman House Committee on Sports, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Abiodun Orekoya, SSA on Sports to the Lagos State Governor, Damilare Orimoloye.

In addition, two Ex-Internationals from the Lagos West Senatorial District were also in attendance; Waidi Akanni and Haruna Lookman alongside the General Secretary of Lagos State referees Association, Dele Atoun

As the name implies, the Obasa Games is a multi-sports event consisting of football, boxing, table tennis, chess, and scrabble strictly for Under-19 male and female within the Lagos West Senatorial District.

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ibrahim Gusau says the football body has already commenced the process of hiring a foreign coach for the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles will conclude their AFCON 2025 qualifiers campaign with games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively, with interim coach Austine Eguavoen taking them to within a point of qualifying for the tournament.

Eguavoen is expected to return to his role as technical director of the NFF after the conclusion of the games, as he has made it clear that he isn’t sold out on the idea of continuing as coach of the team on a permanent basis.

NFF have moved swiftly to begin the process of getting his replacement, which will be a foreign coach but according to Gusau the football body is keen on solving the issue of payment of whoever gets employed as the coach.

He said they have already opened talks with some private entities in Nigeria to foot the bill of the coach when appointed as salaries have always been an issue with previous foreign coaches of the team.

“We are currently in discussion with Dangote Group, BUA, MTN, Baba Ijebu and others on the payment of foreign coach. Though, Eguavoen is doing well, but if we must engage a coach, we must make sure that the issue of payment is sorted. Until last February, the Federal Government did not pay the salary of our former coaches leading to 18-month debt of Jose Peseiro before President Tinubu led government cleared the debt.

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen has handed a recall to Sadiq Umar of Real Sociedad and Auxerre defender Gabriel Osho ahead of their AFCON qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles need a point from the two games to seal a spot at next year’s AFCON following the decision of CAF to hand them all three points after the botched game against Libya.

There was also a first time call up for Nasarawa United defender Victor Collins, who is expected to challenge Bruno Onyemaechi for the left full back squad. Osho replaces the injured Semi Ajayi while Sadiq takes the spot of Taiwo Awoniyi who was left out.

Goalkeepers:

Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa), Maduka Okoye (Udinese, Italy), Amas Obasogie (Fasil Kenema, Ethiopia)

Defenders:

Gabriel Osho (Auxerre, France), Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Bruno Onyemaechi (Boavista FC, Portugal), Victor Collins (Nasarawa United, Nigeria), Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England), William Troost-Ekong (Al Kholood, Saudi Arabia), Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest, England)

Midfielders:

Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England), Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium), Alhassan Yusuf (New England Revolution, USA), Frank Onyeka (Augsburg, Germany), Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England), Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (Lazio, Italy)

Forwards:

Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray, Turkey), Kelechi Iheanacho (Sevilla, Spain), Sadiq Umar (Real Sociedad, Spain), Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France), Ademola Lookman (Atalanta FC, Italy), Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan, Itay).