The new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Janne Andersson is expected to ring some changes to the team when he officially takes over as the replacement for Finidi George, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

61 year old Andersson has been picked by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as the new coach of the team, preferred ahead of the duo of Tom Saintfeit and Eric Chelle who were the last two left in a four man shortlist.

He is expected to lead the team in the AFCON qualifiers game in September against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively. We pick five changes he will likely make to the setup he will inherit upon his official unveiling as coach.

1. Okoye Back As Number 1: It is an idea that is gaining grounds based on the impressive performance of the former number 1 for Udinese in the Italian Serie A. Yesterday he made two late saves to help his team salvage a 1-1 draw against Bologna. Although Stanley Nwabali is firmly established as the first choice, Okoye’s weekly performance in a top 5 European league will no doubt put the Chippa United shot stopper reign as first choice under threat.

2. Benjamin Tanimu Out – A favourite of the former coach Finidi who used him in three of the four games he handled as coach, a decision which was questioned by some senior players in the team who were in doubt over his readiness for such height. His recent move to another mid table Tanzanian club Singida FC from Ihefu FC might not be enough to keep him in the frame for further call ups.

3. Bring Back Aribo – Andersson is a fan of hardworking players and that is what Aribo brings especially if the setup is right. Reduced to a bit part player by Jose Peseiro at the AFCON and dropped by Finidi, the Southampton midfielder has the kind of profile the new coach wants in his team.

4. End Musa’s International Career – Despite not playing a total of 90 minutes in almost two seasons the captain of the team Ahmed Musa recently said he is still in the groove with the national team. Andersson might ensured that doesn’t happen especially if he still remains clubless. The coach is big on players who are getting regular run of games at club level.

5. New Center Back Needed – Four of the experienced center backs in Leon Balogun, William Troost-Ekong, Kenneth Omeruo and Semi Ajayi are already in their 30’s. The coach will have to make a huge decision on their future when he resumes.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Gabriel Osho had a debut to remember for newly promoted French Ligue 1 side Auxerre in their opening league game against Nice, OwnGoalnigeria.com reports.

Signed on a free transfer from relegated English Premier League side Luton Town, the 26 year old endeared himself to fans of the club with a faultless performance as they celebrate their return to the top flight with a 2-1 win.

Osho lasted the entire duration of the game showing remarkable composure in and out of possession. He was solid in tackles and completed 44 passes much to the admiration of his coach, who praised his performance afterwards.

Called up to the squad of the senior national team of Nigeria for the friendly games against Ghana and Mali in March, he withdrew from the games after picking up a knock that kept him out for a month.

His move to France will no doubt put him back in the frame for another call up to the Nigerian team, with new coach Janne Andersson keen on players playing regularly for teams in top division.

The list of players called up to the Super Eagles squad by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will be trimmed by the incoming head coach of the team Janne Andersson, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Andersson is expected to be unveiled later in the week as the replacement for Finidi George, who left his role after the poor performance of the team in the world cup qualifiers games against South Africa and Benin Republic respectively.

His first task will be the upcoming AFCON qualifiers game against Benin Republic in Uyo and Rwanda respectively in September. Anything short of a good start will as expected lead to questions about his choice.

Ahead of the game, the NFF sent out provisional invitation to 35 players, with the new coach expected to trim it to a manageable size of 25 for both games when his appointment is made official.

Already the list has been forwarded to him, with a source in the NFF saying some questionable names will be taken out by the coach. He said already questions have been asked about how certain players were invited for the game.

The list wasn’t prepared entirely by the technical department of the NFF, as a bigwig in the football house ensured some players of interest to certain agents got invitations even though they have not been in the best of form lately.

Head coach of Italian Serie A side AC Milan Paulo Fonseca will feel betrayed by the performance of Nigeria international winger Samuel Chukwueze in their first game of the Serie A season.

Milan fought from 2-0 drown to draw 2-2 against Torino, with Chukwueze who was the star of their pre season tour in the USA dropping a stinker that led to his substitution after 60 minutes.

The scorer of the winner against Real Madrid just two weeks ago , days after he bagged two assists against Manchester City was a shadow of the same player for the minutes he was on the pitch.

After the game , Italian dailies rated the Nigerian very low with a statement that he betrayed the trust the coach had in him to be one of their top players this season with his poor performance in the draw. The Nigerian was their record signing last summer, but struggled to prove his worth.

Below is how his performance was rated over ten captured by the leading dailies in Italy.

Gazzetta dello Sport 4.5: “What happened to the “Chukwu” admired in America? Just one shot wide. Then stops, passes, crosses: he doesn’t get anything right. Replaced due to exhaustion”.

Corriere dello Sport 5: “The will is always there but how many wrong supports” .

Tuttosport 5: “The handsome Samuel admired on tour has remained in the United States”.

Victor Osimhen is still in the wilderness at Italian Serie A side Napoli hence missed the opening day humiliation they suffered in the hands of Verona, OwnGoalNigeria.com.

The Nigerian has been kept out of the team by Antonio Conte since making it clear that he wants out of the team as agreed with the club, when he signed a new deal in December.

Conte kept him out of all of their pre season games and did the same today in their opening game of the season. They crashed to a humiliating 3-0 loss with a brace from Daniel Mosquera and Dailon Livramento helping Verona to the win.

Osimhen’s departure is still on the cards, but interested teams are shying away from paying the €130m release clause in his contract. PSG and Chelsea are the two teams who are strongly linked with his signing.

A clear picture on his future is expected to be known in the coming days with the transfer window having like two more weeks to run.

Ademola Lookman has told Europa League winners Atalanta that he wants to leave the club following concrete interest from French Ligue 1 giants PSG , OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Lookman who shot himself to global prominence with a hattrick in the final of the Europa League to hand his side a 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen is the subject of interest from PSG, according to respected Italian outfit Gazzetta dello Sport.

It is believed that the French side have already made the bid formal to Atalanta after reaching agreement with the 26 year old, who was the star of the Super Eagles at the AFCON with three goals.

Atalanta are not opposed to his exit but want him to leave on their terms, a situation which has brought some tension between the club and the player leading to his request to be left out of the squad for today’s game against Lecce.

His wish was granted by coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who recently had to watch helplessly as Dutch midfielder Teun Koopmeiners got his wish to leave the club for fellow Serie A side Juventus.

An update on the situation with the Nigerian, seen by the coach as vital to his setup is expected in the coming days, with PSG hoping to have the Nigerian as they see him as a good enough replacement for Kylian Mbappe who recently joined Real Madrid.

Daniel Martins

61 year old Swede Jan Olof “Janne” Andersson has been picked as the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The coach will replace Finidi George who left his post six weeks ago after a poor run of results in the world cup qualifiers games, where the team were held to a 1-1 draw by South Africa before losing 1-2 to Benin Republic.

Andersson got the nod ahead of the duo of Eric Chelle and Tom Saintfeit, who were the only two left in the four coaches shortlisted for the job after Herve Renard turned down the opportunity and Steve McClaren took up the Jamaica national team job.

He is expected to get down to work immediately with the 2025 AFCON qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively. We pick five major high points of his coaching career so far.

1. In July 2016, Andersson was named the 47th best manager in the world by football magazine FourFourTwo. In November 2018, Andersson was named by FourFourTwo as the 17th best manager in the world. At the 2019 Swedish Sports Awards, Andersson was named Coach of the Year.

2. He lead Sweden to their best ever performance at the world cup in six attempts in 2018 when they got to the quarter final before losing to England.

3. As coach of Sweden the team did the unbelievable by finishing top of their world cup 2018 group that included defending champions Germany, South Korea and Mexico.

4. Andersson powered Sweden to the Nations League League A and led the team to high profile wins over Netherlands and Italy respectively to send them packing from major tournaments.

5. His record for Sweden reads 48 wins from 94 games earning him a 51 percent success rate in his time at the helm.

Jan Olof “Janne” Andersson has been picked by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria according to ScoreNigeria.

He was picked by the NFF as the new coach of the team despite not making that list of shortlisted coaches for the job made vacant by the departure of Finidi George six months ago.

We gathered that the president of the football body Ibrahim Musa Gusau favoured the Swede who guided Sweden to the last world cup ahead of the duo of Eric Chelle and Tom Saintfeit, who were the only two left in the shortlist of coaches for the job.

His last job was with the national team of Sweden and he guided them to the 2018 World Cup and also the 2020 Euros, but left his role after seven years following their failure to make it to the 2022 ans the 2024 European Championship.

The coach is expected to be officially unveiled next week following the approval of his appointment by the country’s minister for sports senator John Enoh. He will sign a one year deal with the option of another year based on his success in his first year in charge.

Andersson’s first task will be the AFCON 2025 qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively in September, and as we reported the coach has already started scouting the opponents and also the list of Super Eagles players who will be invited for the game.

Austine Eguavoen has ruled himself out of the possible candidates to be the next coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The Super Eagles have been without a substantive coach since the exit of Finidi George as coach six weeks ago following a poor performance in the world cup qualifiers, where the Super Eagles played a 1-1 draw against South Africa in Uyo before losing 1-2 to Benin Republic at their adopted home ground in Cote d’Ivoire.

In a communique made public, the NFF said they are looking for an expatriate coach to take over as coach owing to the team’s precarious position in the world cup qualifiers group, and the start of the 2025 AFCON, however nothing has really happened since that announcement.

Herve Renard who was the anointed choice to take over as coach turned down the job leaving the duo of Eric Chelle and Tom Saintfeit as the front runners for the job, but recent report suggest that their is the likelihood that none of the aforementioned duo will get the job.

Speaking on the situation and with the start of the AFCON qualifiers a little over three weeks from now , Eguavoen touted as one of the possible interim coaches of the team ruled himself out of the job but said a new coach will be presented next weekend if all goes according to plan.

The technical director of the NFF made this known to pressmen shortly after a meeting of the technical committee, which was meant to deliberate on the pressing issue of a new coach for the Super Eagles ahead of the games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively.

A source at the ministry for sports says the minister senator John Enoh is favorable disposed to the idea of Samson Siasia taking over as the new coach of the Super Eagles following the expiration of his ban, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Siasia’s ban for alleged match fixing has expired and with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yet to settle for a replacement for Finidi George who left his role six weeks ago, the idea of hiring Siasia has been proposed by the camp of the minister to the NFF.

We exclusively gathered that the minister vetoed the idea of hiring either Eric Chelle or Tom Saintfeit insisting that they are not better than Siasia, who in his words was a victim of circumstance and deserves a second chance with the Super Eagles.

If he gets his way it will see the 57 year old return to the role he has twice handled but failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations on both occasions. He is however seen as one of the most successful Nigerian coaches around and well respected and loved.

His exploits with the 2005 U20 team where they went all the way before losing in the final to a Lionel Messi inspired agent warmed him into the hearts of Nigeria. He followed it up with a silver and bronze medal finish at the 2008 and 2016 Olympic football event respectively with the U23 team.