The senior national team of Nigeria will return back to action when they take on Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria will take on Benin Republic in Uyo on the 7th of September before travelling to Rwanda for their second game of the series three days later. A good start is what the team will be targeting after the disappointment of drawing their first two games of the world cup qualifiers saw them drop to 5th in the 6th team group.

The team also need to bounce back from the defeat they suffered in the last international break, where they were beaten 1-2 by Benin, the same team they will open their campaign against.

Ahead of the game all is not well with three top stars in the team at club level and it has see them earn limited playing time. They are however in the list of played for both games.

Captain of the team William Troost-Ekong last played a game three weeks ago with his move to newly promoted Saudi Arabia side Al Khaloood taking longer time to complete than many expected.

Team’s top striker hasn’t played a game since the start of pre season and also missed out of the squad of Napoli for their opening Serie A game, as the row over his future continues owing to his desire to leave the team.

Ademola Lookman didn’t play for Atalanta over the weekend in their first Serie A game after handing in a transfer request with interest from PSG. Although the talks have cooled it is reported that coach Gian Piero Gasperini will leave him out of the team till the end of the transfer window.

The above mentioned cases coupled with the fact that the team is without a coach since the exit of Finidi George two months ago, means they go into the game in the worst state one could imagine ahead of a key game.

The senior national team of Nigeria will begin the quest to be at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on the 7th of September in Uyo before taking on Rwanda three days later away from home, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria who were runners up at the last AFCON after losing in the final to the host Cote d’Ivoire 1-2 will approach both games without a substantive coach as Finidi George, who left his role almost two months ago is yet to be replaced.

Benin Republic defeated Nigeria 1-2 in the world cup qualifiers, which was the last game the team played while Rwanda currently lead the Super Eagles world cup qualifiers group, four points more than the Nigerian team who are 5th in the 6 team group.

Looking ahead to the games, a player of the team who spoke with OwnGoalNigeria.com via Instagram lamented the lack of preparation ahead of the game saying it’s a recipe for defeat , because they are ill prepared going into both games.

” Nigerians will come after the players after a defeat but ask yourself how prepared we are for the games. A good coach will need at least one month to properly prepare for a game but in around two weeks to our games we don’t have a coach yet”, he said.

” It keeps happening all the time and it’s sad that the NFF never learns and no player can tell you we will win in any of the game. We can only try because we are not prepared as against our opponents who are high flying in our world cup qualifiers group. Rwanda are top while Benin defeated us. They are not scared of us”, he stated.

Former Manchester United assistant coach Steve McClaren was offered the role of the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria before he was appointed as the coach of the Jamaica national team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

McClaren was appointed as the coach of Jamaica on the 1st of August leaving his role as one of the assistants of Erik Ten Hag. His decision could have been different if the Nigeria Football Federation were proactive and decisive.

The coach met with the hierarchy of the NFF in London and talks were held on taking over as the coach of the team, but he was left with no option but to take up the Jamaican job after not hearing from Nigeria weeks after talks were held.

His representative said when he made contact with the NFF he was told that the 63 year old coach is on a shortlist of four coaches, and the NFF will need to meet as a body before deciding who will be the coach.

He said it was that information that made them to look elsewhere, and they didn’t have to look for too long before the offer from Jamaica arrived, meanwhile Nigeria is still without a coach two weeks to the start of the qualifiers for the 2025 AFCON.

Austine Eguavoen who is the head of the technical department of the NFF is expected to handle the role in interim capacity for the games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively.

As the search for a new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria continues, a chieftain of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has blamed the delay on one of the favourites for the job, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria is without a substantive coach ahead of the start of the qualifiers for the 2025 AFCON, where they will play two games against Benin Republic and Rwanda on the 7th and 10th of September respectively.

The games will likely be handled by the head of the technical department of the NFF owing to the delay in finding a replacement for Finidi George, who left the role almost two months ago after a poor showing in the world cup qualifiers.

For now the NFF have narrowed their choices to just two in the duo of Janne Andersson and Herve Renard, but the latter is the preferred choice of most members of the NFF including the president Ibrahim Musa Gusau.

Renard initially priced himself out of the job with his salary demand described as outrageous by a highly placed board member. However his representative say he is willing to lower his wages because he is keen on working and making a statement with the Super Eagles.

Contacts were made last week just when the board has already settled for Andersson, who handled Sweden for seven years before leaving the role this year. Renard’s return to the negotiation table made the NFF to foot drag in completing the process of hiring Andersson.

” We (NFF) need Renard to make up his mind because at the moment he is confusing us. I can tell you talks are back on with his representative and that kinda slow the process since he is our first choice and rightly so”, he said on the condition that his name shouldn’t be mentioned.

The camp of the senior national team of Nigeria for the 2025 AFCON qualifiers game against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively will open on the 1st of September in Uyo, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles will begin the series with a game against Benin Republic in Uyo on the 7th of September before traveling to Rwanda three days later for their second game in the group which has Libya as the 4th team.

Ahead of the game a preliminary list of 35 players received provisional invitation for the game, but the number has been trimmed to 25 players with five on standby per what we exclusively gathered.

As the search for a new coach continues, the head of the technical department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Austine Eguavoen will take temporary charge of both games.

His role will be just for the two games with a substantive coach expected to be announced before the next round of games in the qualifiers scheduled for October and November respectively.

Talks are on with Herve Renard as well as Janne Andersson for the role of head coach of the team made vacant by the departure of Finidi George as coach a little over six weeks, after a poor showing in the world cup qualifiers.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The German Football Federation has slammed a one match ban and a fine of €25,000 on Nigeria international striker Victor Boniface according to a statement released by Bayer Leverkusen.

Boniface gave fans of Stuttgart the middle finger when he was subbed off during their German Super Cup game, a game which he scored in the 11th minute but ended in a 2-2 before his team triumph via penalty kicks.

His suspension will be for the next game in the Cup for unsportsmanlike conduct, but he is still free to represent the team in league games, which is organized by a different body. The Cup game is the DFB Pokal game against Carl Zeiss Jena.

Last season, Boniface made a huge impression in his first season scoring a total of 21 goals with ten assists as they emerged unbeaten to win the league and German Cup. They were however denied a historic treble by Atalanta who defeated them 3-0 in the final of the Europa League.

The recent rant by the top striker of the senior national team of Nigeria Victor Osimhen has drawn reactions from a former golden boy of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen went live on his official Instagram handle to have a go at the erstwhile coach of the Super Eagles Finidi George over comments that he allegedly made questioning the commitment of the Napoli ace, after he missed the team’s two world cup qualifiers games against South Africa and Benin Republic respectively.

His rants drew him a lot of criticism with people calling on him to apologize to the coach, something sources say he did privately but up till date he hasn’t gone public with his apology. One time Super Eagles fast rising start Etim Esin has warned him not to let indiscipline ruin his career like it did to him.

Nicknamed the “African Maradona” Esin saw his career nosedived massively following a rape allegation that saw him leave Belgium when he was close to a breakthrough.

His record of indiscipline is well documented and he has warned Osimhen to take his case as a good example of how indiscipline can stop a player from reaching the peak of his career.

“A coach can make or mar you in terms of indiscipline, and I think one of my pitfalls was indiscipline,” Esin told Elegbete TV.

“You haven’t played the World Cup. You haven’t won AFCON; you just won the African Footballer of The Year, and you are ranting like this.

“Look at all the transfer saga going on. Now, they are looking for a swap deal, making your life difficult. Which African Footballer of the Year has been involved in a swap deal? Yekini, Amuneke, Ikpeba and co, signed them straight up.

“I think Osimhen should sit down and even come and ask someone like me what indiscipline has cost me in football. Thank God it hasn’t cost my life.

He rounded it up with a word of advice for the 25 year old. “Go to where you are from and build an academy. Raise another star, if they can’t play football, give them scholarships. That’s what his team should advise him to do. I’m not coming here showing off with music stars. I used to do that, but it would derail him.

“By now, his deal should have been closed. The window is almost over.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Coach of Chippa United Thabo September has opened up on the chances of the first choice goalkeeper of the senior national team of Nigeria Stanley Nwabali staying at the club as opposed to widespread reports about his exit before the close of the summer transfer window.

“He’s being a professional and training well, and if that [transfer] doesn’t happen, he’s looking forward to playing in the PSL for Chippa United. But me as a coach I don’t know if there’s anything on the table,” September told FARPost.

“I’m not going to be like everyone else and claim there’s something here or there. On my side, I don’t know of anything on the table. But all I want is good things for him. I want the best for Stanley because he deserves it; he has done well.”

His statement is coming three months after the goalkeeper coach of the team Sean Louw talked about the team receiving around a dozen verbal offer for the 28 year old, who made his mark for Nigeria at the AFCON where the team went all the way to the final before losing 1-2 to the host Cote d’Ivoire.

On physical hard copy paper, I don’t know how many offers he has received, but verbally, he has around 10 or even 12 offers. He is definitely not coming back to Chippa next season,” Louw said.

The owner of the club also said talks were on for the shot stopper to move to a new team , he won’t as far as saying talks are on with teams ” “We are talking to a few clubs abroad. We also believe that he needs something better, especially after the performance that he showed at the Afcon,” the owner stated”.

But with few days left for the close of the window Nwabali is closer to staying at the club than securing a dream move abroad. A curious case that has left everyone confused.

Daniel Martins

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has gone back to the negotiation table with two time AFCON winning coach Herve Renard to take over as the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Their decision to revisit the issue of hiring the Frenchman came after talks with 61 year old Swede Janne Andersson broke down, owing to some terms proposed in the deal for him to be the next coach of the Super Eagles.

Renard who is said to have demanded a base salary of around $150k a month is keen on handling the Super Eagles, and his representative have made it clear to the NFF on his recent change of mind regarding the Super Eagles job.

On their part the NFF are hoping to meet up with his demands as talks are advanced with a private firm who will cover his salary for the next ten months, tag duration the first part of the proposed contract is expected to run.

While they still harbour hopes of reviving talks with Andersson, they are broadening their options by holding talks with Renard, who is still the preferred choice among board members and also the president of the NFF Ibrahim Musa Gusau, who has the final say on the decision.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has gone back to the negotiation table with two time AFCON winning coach Herve Renard to take over as the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Their decision to revisit the issue of hiring the Frenchman came after talks with 61 year old Swede Janne Andersson broke down, owing to some terms proposed in the deal for him to be the next coach of the Super Eagles.

Renard who is said to have demanded a base salary of around $150k a month is keen on handling the Super Eagles, and his representative have made it clear to the NFF on his recent change of mind regarding the Super Eagles job.

On their part the NFF are hoping to meet up with his demands as talks are advanced with a private firm who will cover his salary for the next ten months, tag duration the first part of the proposed contract is expected to run.

While they still harbour hopes of reviving talks with Andersson, they are broadening their options by holding talks with Renard, who is still the preferred choice among board members and also the president of the NFF Ibrahim Musa Gusau, who has the final say on the decision.