Three months ago the Super Eagles of Nigeria suffered their first ever loss to Benin Republic in senior international when they were beaten 2-1 in the 2026 world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Both teams will once again clash in the qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations this weekend at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo with Nigeria gunning for a revenge against the team of their former coach Gernot Rohr.

A much changed Nigerian team with Austine Eguavoen now at the helm as interim coach will be hoping to go one step better than the Finidi George led team, who suffered that defeat at the adopted home ground of Benin Republic in Cote d’Ivoire.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru was among the players who played in the ill fated defeat coming on as a second half substitute, due to a knock picked up in the previous game against South Africa where he scored his first senior international goal for Nigeria.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s game, the newly signed Lazio midfielder reveals why they lost that game saying it’s highly unlikely for them to go down the same route again. ” I think we know why we lost the game in Cote d’Ivoire. Maybe we were complacent and taking the lead didn’t help us show them ( Benin) the respect they deserve”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” Our mindset is different now and also our approach will be better. I don’t see how they will beat us again especially in front of our fans. The AFCON is a prestigious tournament and like many African teams we want to be there”, the new number 10 concluded.

The senior national team of Nigeria had their second training session ahead of Saturday’s game against Benin Republic which will be their first game in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

A total of 22 players were involved in the session which was supervised by caretaker coach Austine Eguavoen, with only the first choice striker of the team Victor Osimhen missing due to the completion of his move to Turkish side Galatasaray.

We pick the five major things we noticed during today’s session which lasted for almost two hours.

1. Nwabali Remains 1st Choice – Udinese’s Maduka Okoye is presently the only Nigerian goalkeeper seeing regular action in a top five European League, but it still isn’t enough for him to displace Chippa United Stanley Nwabali, who is holding on to the spot he made his own at the AFCON.

2. Overlapping Full Backs – Eguavoen was very keen on the team pushing up from the back as a unit with the full backs taking advance positions in the other half, while the wingers tuck in to give the team a 4-2-4 shape when they attack.

3. All Out Attack – It appears the idea will be to go all out from the blast of the whistle and assert themselves on Benin Republic. The coach was keen on quick transition and also heavy on shooting from outside the box.

4. Emphasis On Set Piece – The team took time to practice free kicks from different angles and it gave a slight hint on how they intend to use it against Benin Republic sensing they might have not just free kicks, but also corner kicks and throw in.

5. Three Man Attack – While the team is expected to attack with four players, head coach of the team Austine Eguavoen intends to use a three man attack of Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman and Victor Boniface. However it is subject to change if Victor Osimhen proves his sharpness when he touch down camp later today.

The senior national team of Nigeria had their second full training session ahead of Saturday’s AFCON qualifiers game against Benin Republic in Uyo, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Under the watchful eyes of interim coach Austine Eguavoen, the Super Eagles had an almost two hours session with 22 of the invited 23 players available. Only the talisman of the team Victor Osimhen missed the session.

Osimhen was given an extra day to sort his transfer to Galatasaray on loan from Napoli, and he is expected later today when the build up to the game gather pace. Yesterday’s session gave us an idea of how the team will likely approach the game on Saturday.

Except for a late injury Stanley Nwabali is sure to start in goal ahead of Maduka Okoye who lost his number one spot to the Chippa United man at the AFCON. Despite his fine start to the season for Italian Serie A side Udinese he still won’t be in goal ahead of Nwabali.

The rest of the defence is where the headache is for Eguavoen who will likely feature a back four of Ola Aina at right back , Calvin Bassey as the left back while Semi Ajayi and William Troost-Ekong will continue their central defense pairing like it was at the AFCON.

Although the coach is a big fan of former Akwa United defender Olisa Ndah who now plays for Orlando Pirates of South Africa, this game is seen as too soon for him to staks a claim in the heart of the defence.

In midfield, Eguavoen will be expected to be ruthless in his choices although for now a double pivot of Frank Onyeka and Wilfred Ndidi seems to be his preferred option with Alex Iwobi slightly ahead of the duo.

With Osimhen yet to arrive in the camp of the team, Victor Boniface has a huge chance of leading the lime ahead of Taiwo Awoniyi of Nottingham Forest. Moses Simon and Ademola Lookman completes what will likely be a 4-3-3 formation.

The shortlist for world football’s most prestigious individual award has been revealed ahead of the ceremony in Paris on October 28, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

There are a host of top names vying to claim the prize that Lionel Messi took home for the eighth time in 2023, with performances not only at club level, but also at the various major tournaments that took place over the past 12 months having been taken into account when selecting this year’s list of potential winners.

Among the names is Nigeria international striker Ademola Lookman who became the first player ever to score a hattrick in the final of an European Cup tournament after his feat for Atalanta in their 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Lookman is the only African player who made the nomination list putting him in pole position to be crowned the Africa player of the year, with his strong performance at the AFCON, where the Super Eagles finished as runners up also key to his chances of replacing his teammate Victor Osimhen.

Ballon d’Or nominees for the top 30 candidates to be voted in October ✨

◉ Jude Bellingham.

◉ Ruben Dias.

◉ Phil Foden.

◉ Federico Valverde.

◉ Emiliano Martínez.

◉ Erling Haaland

◉ Nico Williams

◉ Granit Xhaka

◉ Artem Dovbyk

◉ Toni Kroos

◉ Vinicius Jr

◉ Dani Olmo

◉ Florian Wirtz

◉ Martin Ødegaard

◉ Mats Hummels

◉ Rodri

◉ Harry Kane

◉ Declan Rice

◉ Vitinha

◉ Cole Palmer

◉ Dani Carvajal

◉ Lamine Yamal

◉ Bukayo Saka

◉ Hakan Calhanoglu

◉ William Saliba

◉ Kylian Mbappé

◉ Lautaro Martínez

◉ Ademola Lookman

◉ Toni Rüdiger

◉ Alejandro Grimaldo

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen says the first choice striker of the Super Eagles Victor Osimhen will thrive in the system he has in mind for the team, when they take on Benin Republic and Rwanda on the 7th and 10th of September respectively in the AFCON qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen didn’t have the best of AFCON despite Nigeria going all the way to the final of the tournament, he ended it with just a goal scorer in the team’s opening game of the tournament which ended in a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea.

The style of former coach Jose Peseiro was roundly blamed for the poor return of the 25 year old, who recently secured a one season loan deal to Turkish based Galatasaray from Italian Serie A side Napoli.

Speaking ahead of the game against Benin Republic, Eguavoen said the team will play an attacking formation, that will aid the chances of the team’s striker and mentioned Osimhen in particular as one player he hopes will benefit the most from the system.

” We (Super Eagles) will go all out for goals because that is what you need to win games. So our formation is one that will allow the strikers get into scoring positions to win the game for us”, he said.

On if Osimhen who is due to arrive in the camp of the team tomorrow following the conclusion of his loan move, 48 hours to the game at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo.

” He ( Osimhen) is our big man in attack and he is motivated to play these games for us. The entire idea is to have him be at his best with the right formation for him to thrive”.

The transfer saga of Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen has come to an end following the signing of the documents for his loan move to Galatasaray on loan from Napoli, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen was involved in a transfer fiasco which brought about a failed move to Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia and later Chelsea on transfer deadline day. Napoli omitted him from their list of registered players the next day.

It means the 25 year old has to move elsewhere to get regular run of football, and Turkish side Galatasaray took advantage of the fact their transfer window is open by snapping him up as replacement for the injured Mauro Icardi.

The deal will be a year loan with a break clause in January in the event that he gets an offer from any club in mainstream Europe when the window reopens. His entire salary will be covered by the Turkish side.

He picked the shirt number 45 made popular by former Italian footballer Mario Balotelli who has Ghanaian roots and is a close friend of Osimhen.

His next stop will be the camp of the senior national team of Nigeria for the AFCON qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Rwanda on the 7th and 10th of September respectively. He is expected to be in camp tomorrow alongside Maduka Okoye.

The duo are the only two players yet to arrive at the team’s camp in Uyo, where preparation has been going on under the watchful eyes of interim coach Austine Eguavoen.

Burnley forward Andréas Hountondji has fired the first salvo in the way of the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of this weekend’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers game against Benin Republic, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria will be back in senior international football in the race to be at the 2025 AFCON with games against Benin Republic and Rwanda on the 7th and 10th of September respectively.

A powerhouse in African football, the Super Eagles who were runners up at the last AFCON are currently going through a mini crisis that has seen them win just one of their last four games, and they are yet to pick a win in the world cup qualifiers after four games.

Ahead of their opening game of the AFCON qualifiers, Hountondji who is expected to lead the line for Benin Republic, says the Nigerian team have lost the fear factor that made them great in the past.

” Let’s not say fear anymore but respect. That fear is gone and we saw in the last round of the world cup qualifiers that they are beatable. We will approach the game with that in mind and make the best of it but take nothing away from them they are a very good side”, the 22 year old said.

Ade Emmanuel

The senior national team of Nigeria will be back in action this weekend when they take on Benin Republic in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers game in Uyo on the 7th of September, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

That game will be followed with their second game of the series against Rwanda three days later. A total of 21 players are currently in the camp of the team preparing for the games which will be the first set under interim coach Austine Eguavoen.

Speaking ahead of the games, Nottingham Forest forward Taiwo Awoniyi who is back in the team after missing out on a spot to the team that finished second at the AFCON, and missing the other two world cup qualifiers due to fitness issues revealed the advantage they have over their opponent.

Awoniyi told Flashscore: “We know what is at stake. For the fact that we lost against them, and the second factor is that we are playing at home now, this should be to our advantage.

“Like I have always said, football is about doing well for yourself, working hard as a team and playing for each other.

“If we do that, I believe we will have the three points because we have the talents.”

He also gave his opinion on their second game away to Rwanda, who have only lost once in their last seven games. “For us, it is something big when it comes to playing for the Super Eagles. I think we have what it takes to win,” he added.

“We have what it takes to win every game in Africa. It is just about putting everything together and doing the best for ourselves and fighting for the country’s pride.”

Head coach of the senior national team of Benin Republic Gernot Rohr says his team will be playing a different Super Eagles from the one they defeated two months ago in the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Rohr led Benin to their first win ever over Nigeria with a 2-1 win in the world cup qualifiers game played in Cote d’Ivoire, and ahead of both teams meeting again in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers the coach said he is wary of some players who were absent during the win two months ago.

The coach who handled the Super Eagles for a period of almost seven years said the Super Eagles will have revenge on their minds, when both teams clash on Saturday in Uyo and buoyed by the presence of some players and a new coach.

He said his team are well aware that it will be a different game entirely and they are prepared for the task, especially with Nigeria under pressure after failing to win any of their games in the world cup qualifiers.

“Nigeria is not a conquered territory, far from it. We beat Nigeria three months ago, they will certainly have a spirit of revenge which can be important and that’s normal”, he said.

“They didn’t have some players who are there now: Ekong, the captain, Osimhen who will be there this time, he wasn’t there last time, and behind them they also have contributions, Ola Aina is there. It will be a stronger team than the one we beat in June in Abidjan. We are wary.

” In addition, at home, they have the obligation to get a result now after a series of draws or even defeats. There was another change of coach, that’s it, so we will prepare well. It’s not because we know the opponents that it will be easy to beat them. It will be a difficult match, but we are preparing well.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria had their first full training session under the new interim coach of the team Austine Eguavoen ahead of their AFCON 2025 qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively.

Benin Republic will be their guest in Uyo on the 7th of September before travelling to play Rwanda three days later. Ahead of the games Eguavoen put the players through their paces and tactical demands.

Eguavoen had 20 players at his disposal, a number which has now swell to 21 following the arrival of Kelechi Iheanacho, only Victor Osimhen and Maduka Okoye are yet to arrive in the camp of the team.

Yesterday’s training saw the players go up against themselves in a little training game under the watchful eyes of the coach , in the session which lasted close to two hours.

One of the standout player in the session was Nantes winger Moses Simon, who has started the season on fire with two goals and one assists in three games so far in Ligue 1. He stole the show with his quick feet, dribbles , passes and shot which were mostly on target.

Victor Boniface showed his range in the shooting drills with his consistency in hitting the target, the same as Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Alex Iwobi. Samuel Chukwueze was his usual sef gliding past his wingers with ease.

Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali also impressed playing as an outfield player during the session matching up his performance during the shooting drills, which had all goalkeepers up against the players.

Below is how they lined up in the small test game.

In Red Bibs. (Winning Team).

Benjamin Tanimu

Calvin Bassey

Olisa Ndah

Amass Obasogie

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru

Stanley Nwabali *

Alex Iwobi

Alhassan Yusuf

Ademola Lookman

Samuel Chukwueze

Bruno Onyemaechi

In Blue Bibs.

Moses Simon

Taiwo Awoniyi

Victor Boniface

Wilfred Ndidi

Frank Onyeka

Raphael Onyedika

Ola Aina

William Troost-Ekong

Semi Ajayi

Stanley Nwabali