Victor Osimhen has named the player who is the fastest in the senior national team of Nigeria as well as the most skilful as the team get set for the 2025 AFCON qualifiers game against Rwanda tomorrow, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen marked his return to the team after missing their last four games through injury with a goal in their 3-0 win over Benin Republic on Saturday at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo.

The team is presently in Rwanda for their second game of the series, and Osimhen who recently joined Turkish side Galatasaray on a season long loan deal from Napoli was asked questions about his teammates.

He minced no words when he was asked about the fastest players in the team. ” The quickest, first of all, Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman, and Samuel Chukwueze,” he told the counter attack podcast before naming the most skilful in the team.

“In match situations, the most skillful: Boniface, Ademola, and also Kelechi Iheanacho.”

Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel has praised the addition of Fisayo Dele-Bashiru to the midfield of the team as a solution to the team’s long search for a creative player, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Fisayo who has four caps for the senior national team of Nigeria announced himself in a competitive game for the Super Eagles with a goal in the 1-1 draw against South Africa in the world cup qualifiers three months ago.

On Saturday he was introduced in the second half of the Super Eagles 3-0 win over Benin Republic with scores at 1-0, and he instantly lifted the team with his direct play, which was very evident in the way he started the move for the second goal scored by the Super Eagles.

Mikel who wore the same number for Super Eagles during his playing days says the newly signed Lazio man deserves to inherit the number which was made legendary by another former captain of the team in the legendary Austine Okocha.

” He is a good player and I saw he plays at Lazio. You must be good to be at a club like that in a top league. His inclusion has improved the midfield of the team to a great extent judging by how well he moves the ball in attacking transition. His football education is very good”, he said.

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Torsten Spittler says he reached out to former coach of the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr on how to beat the Nigerian team in tomorrow’s AFCON qualifiers game, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

A fellow German like Rohr, the coach who saw his team start their run in the series with a 1-1 draw away to Libya reveals they had talks ahead of the game as he hope to get a good result against the star studded Nigerians.

Rohr’s team bowed to the superior powers of the Nigerian attack over the weekend losing 0-3, but Spittler believe the coach who was at the helm as coach of Nigeria still remains the best to get information about the Super Eagles.

“For Libya, information on them is very scanty but for Nigeria we know a lot about them and their world class players. Yes, It is true I asked my friend Gernot Rohr (Benin head coach) on how to beat Nigeria,” he told the press.

“Every team wants to qualify but I cannot promise anything. My target is to win every game in the qualifying phase and if those wins can take us in Morocco, we will be glad,” Spittler told the press.

“We have been performing well and I hope we get the perfect start we need by getting the needed results against Libya and Nigeria”.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says there is no shame in his team Benin Republic losing 0-3 to the senior national team of Nigeria due to the star studded nature of the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Rohr’s team were blown away by the Super Eagles in Uyo in the AFCON qualifiers, just three months after they defeated Nigeria 1-2 in the world cup qualifiers. He said his team were beaten by a team that has some of the best players in Africa at the moment.

“I am not surprised by the result as I know the talent and potential of this team. They played with confidence and flair, and Ademola Lookman was unstoppable.”

Reacting to criticism from the media in Benin Republic, the 71 year old said conceding late in the first half and the introduction of Moses Simon and Victor Osimhen changed the game for the Super Eagles.

“It is a hard result for us. We conceded the first goal in the first additional minute of the first half, and it was a bit of a shock for my team, I think. Then the Nigerian team could start the second half strong”, he explained before sounding a note of warning to the Super Eagles opponent for tomorrow’s game.

” When you have Simon, Lookman and Osimhen playing that way they can wreck any team in the world.

“This victory over us is without any doubt. When I see players coming in like Moses Simon, Osimhen, and Dele-Bashiru, the bench you have here in Nigeria is fantastic, and we don’t have that. But my young team is learning, and we showed that against the Super Eagles in June. We are full of potential, and we must learn from the mistakes we made in the game”.

Interim head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen says the team can play in different styles and not just the 3-4-3 formation that worked to good effect in the 3-0 win over Benin Republic on Saturday in the AFCON qualifiers.

Eguavoen reverted back to the team’s shape and formation that took them all the way to the AFCON final in February, but ahead of their second game of the series he has hinted that he will likely switch formation, primarily to counter whatever Rwanda will come up with.

‘We have quality players who can play in different formations and styles of football, different systems. So, whatever style or formation Rwanda comes up with tomorrow (Tuesday), we have the personnel who can deal with it,’ he said at the pre match presser.

While the Super Eagles started their campaign on a sound footing with a 3-0 win, Rwanda were held to a 1-1 draw away at Libya, but Eguavoen said they won’t approach the game with disrespect for their host.

‘Nigerians are expectant, they expect us to win no matter who we play. We have come here, we give people (teams) respect but we will get the result. We respect them (Amavubi). You don’t look down on teams these days because football has changed.

‘You can get shocked if you look down on any team and any country that plays against Nigeria always raise their game, so we have to be ready,’ said the former Nigeria defender and captain.

Ademola Lookman says a good understanding with Moses Simon has helped him to find his scoring range for the senior national team of Nigeria after his brace against Benin Republic in the AFCON qualifiers on Saturday, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Lookman scored a header in the second half to complete his brace in the 3-0 win, further enhancing his chances of winning the next Africa Player of the year award after an impressive showing at the AFCON and also in the Europa League final where his hattrick powered Atalanta to a 3-0 over Bayer Leverkusen.

The Balon d’or nominee refused to take all the credit for the brace against Benin, rather praised his teammates for the feat and named Nantes winger Simon as someone who picks him up with ease when they are both on the pitch.

” It’s a team sport so you need the support of your teammates. I think I have some of the best teammates in the Super Eagles, because we play for each other”, Lookman told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Speaking on his goals in the game against Benin, he said the first one was a long ball behind the back which he said was straight from the training ground, while the second one was a show of his understanding with Simon.

” The first goal was what we trained on which is putting the ball behind for the runners and when Semi Ajayi did that I had to make it count. The second goal shows how well Simon understands me and he knows where to find me when we play together”, he concluded.

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen will make changes to the starting lineup of the senior national team of Nigeria from the team that defeated Benin Republic 3-0 at the weekend in the AFCON qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Eguavoen started his reign as interim coach with a resounding win in Uyo to put the team on a strong footing heading into their second game against Rwanda tomorrow, the coach however have some concerns on his starting lineup for the win.

We can exclusively report that Victor Boniface will be dropped from the starting lineup after a below par performance with his spot going to either Taiwo Awoniyi or Victor Osimhen. The latter was introduced for Boniface and scored in the win, but there are doubts over his fitness level due to his limited match practice opening the door for Awoniyi to likely start.

The back four will remain the same including the position of the goalkeeper but they could be a little tweak in the midfield with Wilfred Ndidi, who asked to be subbed off moments before he assisted Osimhen for the second goal nursing a knock.

Raphael Onyedika will likely take his place, while in attack Moses Simon who assisted Ademola Lookman for the third goal is prime to start ahead of Samuel Chukwueze on the right side of attack.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George says Victor Osimhen refused to apologize to him over his verbal rant even after he reached out to him, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen lashed out at the coach following a report that his commitment was questioned after his missed the team’s world cup qualifiers games against South Africa and Benin Republic due to a knock.

It was said that Finidi told the hierarchy of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that Osimhen should have played in at least one of the games. Osimhen reacted angrily to the report by going to his Instagram handle to hit back at the coach in a disrespectful manner using a live video.

There were calls for the 25 year old to apologize for his rant , after plans by the NFF to suspend him from the team was halted by the minister for sports senator John Enoh.

According to Finidi, he still hasn’t received any apology from Osimhen who scored for the Super Eagles in their 3-0 win over Benin Republic on Wednesday in the AFCON qualifiers.

“I sent him a message that it was not the best way, just someone telling you that coach said that and you’re taking about me like I said it in an interview,” Finidi told Nigeria Info FM.

“From that point I didn’t hear from him, I moved on and I wish everybody well, only God will judge”.

Caretaker coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen has explained why the team reverted to a 3-4-3 formation in the AFCON qualifiers game against Benin Republic, which they won 3-0.

Nigeria proved to be too strong for their West African neighbors who defeated them 1-2 three months ago in the world cup qualifiers. This time around a brace from Ademola Lookman sandwiched in between a Victor Osimhen handed Super Eagles a comprehensive win.

The one key determinant was the decision of the coach to revert to 3-4-3, the same formation the team used to good effect at the AFCON where they went all the way to the final before losing 1-2 to the host Cote d’Ivoire.

Explaining the decision to go with the formation, Eguavoen said the quality of players at his disposal made it easy for him to decide on the style, knowing fully well that they can interpret it to good effect.

“Formation is only information . We have players with quality we can decide to play any formation. It is something we discussed and I also observed and I slept over it and I know with the kind of players we have, we can decide to play any formation and be successful because the players are always there”, he said at the post match presser .

“When much is expected from Nigeria that is when you see performance. We have been getting a lot of backlash and the boys know we have the calibre and quality to beat any team, but we respect teams. So anybody can come in and do the same job. We have the mindset, we have the potential and it’s how you check out your opponents and give information and they will go out and do the job”.

The coach of Benin Republic Gernot Rohr says the 3-0 mauling his team received in the hands of the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the AFCON qualifiers showed the gulf in class between both teams, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Rohr’s team inflicted a first ever defeat of Nigeria at this level with a 2-1 win three months ago in the world cup qualifiers, but they were put to the sword by a rampant Super Eagles team in Uyo led by Ademola Lookman.

Lookman opened scoring for Nigeria just before the half time break , after which substitute Victor Osimhen doubled the lead with around 15 minutes left to play. There was however still enough time for Lookman to grab his brace to complete a comprehensive 3-0 win.

Reacting to the manner which his team collapsed against the Nigerian team said it’s clear to see that the Super Eagles were the better team and deserve to win the game, largely due to the star studded nature of the team as against his team.

“What didn’t work is that we don’t have the same resources as this Nigerian team. When you see the Nigerian squad, they are very high-level players who play in their clubs. And us on a different level with young players playing at less glamorous teams. We can’t compare the two squads.”

Asked if the absence of star defender Mohammed Tijani played a role in the defeat owing to how he performed when they defeated Nigeria, the coach who was in charge of the Nigerian team for almost seven years said it did have an effect, but praised the effort of the players who replaced him.

“Of course! We missed Mohamed. But Olivier Verdon who replaced him was not bad. He held up well until the 47th minute (…) We had found our marks together with Cédric Hountondji. And there, “We had to change. But well, we don’t have a large enough workforce where we can replace some or others without losing quality.”