The hot favorite for the title of the Africa Player of the Year Ademola Lookman showed his level in training yesterday with the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of tomorrow’s game against Libya in Uyo in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Lookman who scored two of the team’s three goals in the series so far following his brace in the 3-0 win over Benin Republic at the same venue for Friday’s game , was a handful for the defenders he was up against with his quick feet and finishing catching the eyes.

Up against some of the defenders who are expected to start against Libya , Lookman found the back of the net four times with Moses Simon also hitting a brace to show their readiness fot the game which will see them move a step closer to qualifying for the AFCON with a win.

Another player who also caught the eyes was Sevilla winger Chidera Ejuke who is staging a comeback to the team after an almost two years absence. He showed why he is top of the dribbling statistics in Europe’s top five league with mesmerizing runs leaving his defenders for dead.

The senior national team of Nigeria will likely ditch the 3-4-3 formation for a more attacking one in the 4-2-4 style per what we exclusively gathered after two training sessions in preparation for the game against Libya tomorrow.

Nigeria used the 3-4-3 formation in the first two games of the qualifiers for the 2025 AFCON, picking a 3-0 win over Benin Republic and a 1-1 draw away to Rwanda in Kigali. Both results took them to four points and summit of the group.

However with the team two games away from booking a spot in the tournament, if they are able to secure victory over Libya in both legs there are indication that the coaches have decided to opt for a more offensive approach.

Interim coach of the team Austine Eguavoen expects Libya to play an ultra defensive style to frustrate Nigeria as they aim to battle their way out of the bottom of the group, hence his decision to ensure that the Super Eagles come all guns blazing from the blast of the whistle.

Ademola Lookman and Victor Boniface are favourite to start in a two man attack with Moses Simon and Samuel Chukwueze providing the width from the flanks. A two man midfield of Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi is top of the plans which is expected to be decided on later today after their final training session.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says there will be no further approach to 27 year old Chelsea defender requesting him to play for the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Eligible for Nigeria due to his Nigerian descent, he has however represented England at various youth levels rising from the U-16 to the U-19, where he last played in 2015. He hasn’t been able to make the step up to the senior team.

Reacting to news that he was approached by ex coach Jose Peseiro, a member of the NFF said the Portuguese was the third coach to reach out to the former Fulham defender with a view of trying to get him to play for the Nigerian team.

” Peseiro is as a matter of fact the third Super Eagles coach to reach out to him. Gernot Rohr started was the first and subsequently Austine Eguavoen in his role as technical director, those two happened before Peseiro approached him”, he said.

” It’s now three coaches in a row. So there is no need for any further approach and if he wants to play for Nigeria like Eguavoen said he knows what to do. We can’t beg any player to play for the Super Eagles if it’s not his wish”.

Coach of English Premier League champions Manchester City says Nigeria international midfielder Alex Iwobi is playing in a form that he has never witnessed before, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Iwobi was on from start to finish for Fulham who were beaten 2-3 by the champions, but he did enough to earn praises from Pep Guardiola after the game, which was the last before the international break.

“Fulham have a lot of weapons and speed,” Guardiola noted. “I have never seen Iwobi in the form he is playing.”

Presently in the camp of the senior national team of Nigeria, the expectation will be for him to show the same form for the Super Eagles in their back to back AFCON 2025 qualifiers games against Libya scheduled for the 11th and 15th of October respectively.

In the last game away to Rwanda which ended in a 0-0 draw, he was an unused substitute, and he will be hoping for a change in Uyo on Friday to build on his performance at the same ground in the 3-0 win over Benin Republic last month.

The first choice goalkeeper of Italian Serie A side Udinese Maduka Okoye has opened up on the reported summer interest in his services from Italian Serie A side Inter Milan.

Champions Inter Milan were reportedly keen on signing the 25 year old Nigeria international who made his mark in the second half of last season, helping the team to beat the drop to the second division.

Okoye was asked in an interview about the interest in his services from the Italian giants and he revealed that talks were held between both teams, but Udinese asking price was a bit too much for the champions. He ended up by ruling out a January move when the window opens after signing an extended contract with his present team.

“Yes, it was a concrete thing and it also caused quite a stir. Udinese wanted €15 million. There was a bit of coming and going. I felt ahead for a while, but, in the end, the choice fell on Genoa’s Josep Martínez.

“Martínez’s release clause obviously facilitated the negotiation from Inter’s point of view.”

“I’m not sad about this, I’m happy to continue to be at Udinese,” he continued.

“Surely Inter would have been a dream, but I don’t stress and I will continue to look ahead.

“With hard work and consistent performance, something like this can definitely happen again. However, I don’t see myself at another club in January.

As many as 15 players who turned up for assessment in the camp of the Nigeria U20 team with the intention of making the team were sent home by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on account of age falsification, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The players were sent packing from the camp despite the fact that some of them were very impressive, and could easily have helped the team at the WAFU tournament in Togo , where they are in the same group with Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

Already the team have relocated to Ogun state, where they are having the final leg of their preparation without the affected players as they were dropped from the camp of the team in Abuja.

A team source said the idea is a further testament of the willingness of the NFF to eradicate the menace of age cheats at youth level in Nigerian football. He said although some of the players were victims of poor documentation or registration.

In their first test game at their new camp base in Ikenne, the team defeated Seamoriow FC 4-1 with top striker Ariehi Kparabo scoring a brace. While Kenneth Igbokwe and Ayooma scored from the spot.

Former Nigeria U17 winger Charles Agada has sealed a deal with English Championship side QPR after turning 18 a few weeks ago, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

A member of the Nigeria U17 team of coach Nduka Ugbade that failed to make it to the U17 AFCON, hence missing out on a chance to be at the world cup despite winning the WAFU B championship.

Agada who is presently a member of the Nigeria U20 preparing for the WAFU B Championship in Togo, where they are in the same group with Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

However there are doubts over his availability for the tournament as he is currently nursing an ankle knock picked up during one of their test games in preparation for the tournament last week.

For QPR, he is expected to be officially unveiled by the club in January in due time for him to be registered for their youth team, where he will be assessed for a future promotion to the first team.

Daniel Martins

The camp of the senior national team of Nigeria for their upcoming AFCON 2025 qualifiers games against Libya is gradually coming to life with around seven players now in the camp of the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles will be looking to consolidate their top spot in the group when they take on Libya on the 11th and 15th of October respectively, two games which could see them seal their spot at the next year tournament, if they pick all six points on offer.

Ahead of the camp, 23 players were called up and nine have arrived in the camp of the team as of the time of this report, with the rest expected to hit the camp before 4pm when they will have their first training session.

The players in the camp as at the time of this report are Wilfred Ndidi, Samuel Chukwueze, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Frank Onyeka, Raphael Onyedika, Benjamin Tanimu and Victor Boniface. Two of the three invited goalkeepers in Amas Obasogie and Stanley Nwabali complete the list in camp.

Already the technical crew led by interim coach Austine Eguavoen is already on ground to put the players through their paces for Friday’s game in Uyo.

The newly appointed head coach of the senior national team of Libya Nasser Al-Hadiri says his team doesn’t have what it takes to beat the senior national team of Nigeria in the AFCON qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Libya who are bottom of the group will take on leaders Nigeria in back to back games scheduled for the 11th and 15th of October respectively. The first of the two games will be in the Nigerian city of Uyo at the Godswill Akpabio stadium.

Looking ahead to the game , Al-Hadiri who was announced as the coach two weeks ago said they are not in anyway prepared enough to beat the Super Eagles in Uyo, and said they however hope to pick at least a draw in the reverse tie in Tripoli on the 15th.

He said, “We have not yet reached the required readiness to face a strong opponent the size of Nigeria. The team suffers from the absence of a number of players in the first training sessions, which led to difficulty in imposing a comprehensive tactical vision for the match. This lack of preparation represents an additional obstacle for the team that needs to exert double efforts to achieve a positive result away from home and return with at least a draw point to renew the hopes of qualification.”

“The challenge is not only in facing Nigeria, which has world-class attacking names, such as Victor Boniface and Ademola Lookman, but also in facing influential absences among the ranks of the Libyan national team, which may hinder the team’s chances of achieving a positive result in this fateful confrontation,” Al Hadiri informed Libya News 24.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman