The recent show of support for Victor Osimhen after his public verbal attack on former Super Eagles coach Finidi George has proven that the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is weak in ensuring discipline in the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.

Osimhen went on a full verbal assault on the former Super Eagles star winger on his page on Instagram following reports that the coach questioned his commitment to the team owing to his absence in their 1-1 draw against South Africa and 1-2 defeat to Benin Republic in the world cup qualifiers.

His ranting opened the door for reports on a possible ban from the team with some influential members of the board of the NFF open to the idea, but not to those who should push it as seen in the statement released by Dr . Mohammed Sanusi the General Secretary of the body.

The statement which was approved by the president Ibrahim Musa Gusau before it was made public protected the current Africa player of the year, but in the process also threw more dirt and disrespect to Finidi who was openly disrespected by Osimhen.

Annoyingly the NFF skipped the entire episode that led to the reports of a possible ban, but rather discredit the reports of a possible ban which is the right step any organization would have done but not the NFF under Gusau.

More worrisome is the fact that it is not the first time that Osimhen has been guilty of misconduct in the Super Eagles setup. His fight with Leon Balogun in training during the 2019 AFCON as told by former teammate John Ogu comes to mind plus his recent alterations with Francis Uzoho at their pre AFCON camp in Dubai is still very fresh.

Other players are seeing and watching this dance of shame by the NFF and whoever that will come in as coach will also see that he is inheriting a team that is already divided among itself, no thanks to the open show of favoritism by the NFF.

Where silence would have been golden, the NFF have spoken and now the big question is why is Gusua scared of the Napoli man?

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has drawn up a three man shortlist of foreign coaches who will likely get the nod to replace Finidi George as the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Finidi was relieved off his job as the head coach of the Nigerian team after the team’s poor showing in the 2026 world cup qualifiers, where they were held to a 1-1 draw by South Africa before losing 1-2 to Benin Republic and dropped to 5th in their group. Four points behind the leaders Rwanda.

We can exclusively reveal that the NFF has drawn a three man shortlist for the job led by the present coach of the senior national team of Cameroon Marc Brys. The coach is open to leaving the team owing to his poor relationship with the president of the football association Samuel Eto’o.

Former coach of Cameroon Antonio Conceição is also in the three man shortlist and seen as the favourite by many, because of his record on the continent while he was in charge of Cameroon two years ago.

The last on the list is Didier Six, who was previously the coach of the senior national team of Guinea until 2021. Six who is a former French international has previously coached the senior teams of Togo and Mauritius respectively.

All three will be screened and interviewed for the role when the break in Nigeria for the celebration of sallah is over.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The recent outburst by the top striker of the senior national team of Nigeria Victor Osimhen isn’t the first time the Napoli forward has had disciplinary issues with coaches of the Nigerian team, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Osimhen reacted angrily to a news about erstwhile coach Finidi George criticizing his commitment to the team, a news that lacks substance and has been debunked by the coach in a chat with the 25 year old.

Despite that the reigning African Footballer Of The Year is yet to apologize for his actions, leaving the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with no choice but to institute a case of misconduct against him.

A ban from the team has been mooted if he fails to retract his statements and apologize to the coach , who is no longer at he helm with a foreign coach about to be employed as the new head coach of the Nigerian team following the disappointment during the last round of games in the 2026 world cup qualifiers.

Reacting to the issue, a player in the team revealed it is one out of the many issues that he has had since 2019 when he broke into the setup and made the team to the Africa Cup of Nations.

” In 2019 he fought with Leon Balogun in training and that was why he didn’t get to play early into the team, Rohr was the coach and kept him on the bench behind the duo of Paul Onuachu and Odion Ighalo until the third place game. In some games Musa even played as the top striker. John Ogu who was a part of the team said do during an interview few years ago.

” Then there was the case with Jose Peseiro. Fueled by a dispute with Francis Uzoho. Almost the entire team spoke with him but he was adamant that he wants to fight. Uzoho stayed calm all the while and had to stay in the dining room till Osimhen was calmed down before going to his room. It was pure madness.

” Now the issue with Finidi. It’s not even an issue because the report didn’t quote the coach directly but he is a combustive player who reacts before thinking. So his reaction to most of us in the team is nothing new”, he concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will in the coming days charge the first choice striker of the senior national team of Nigeria Victor Osimhen for improper conduct over his verbal attack on the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Finidi who was the coach of the team until Friday when he tendered his resignation letter following the announcement by the NFF that they will be appointing an expatriate coach, was called out by the Napoli forward who was angry over reports that the coach questioned his commitment to the team.

Osimhen went all out on the coach on the reason why he missed the team’s world cup qualifiers games against South Africa and Benin Republic, which they drew 1-1 and lost 1-2 respectively to drop to 5th in their group, four points behind leaders Rwanda.

” Already the president of the NFF Ibrahim Musa Gusau has spoken with Osimhen over his outburst and Finidi also reached out to him. The report he reacted to is false and misleading, sadly he didn’t confirm before reacting”, a board member of the NFF told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” Osimhen is a role model and the only way we can help the incoming coach stamp his authority in the team is by using him to set example. He crossed the line with his outburst even when Finidi called him to explain he still didn’t deem it fit to retract his statements. We won’t condone that and after the sallah break we will sit on the issue. I can tell you he won’t be in the team until he says sorry for his actions”, he concluded.

Ade Emmanuel

The head coach of the senior national team of Cameroon Marc Brys is interested in taking over as the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria are looking for a coach for the senior national team of Nigeria following the resignation of Finidi George as coach. Finidi left his role after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed in a communique that they will be appointing an expatriate coach following their unimpressive performance in the recently concluded world cup qualifiers.

Super Eagles forced South Africa to a 1-1 draw before losing 1-2 to Benin Republic. A result that see them drop to 5th in their group, four points behind leaders Rwanda. In a reaction the NFF announced that they will hire a coach as part of the rejigging of the technical crew.

From all indication, the chosen one is the present head coach of Cameroon Brys who has endured a tumultuous relationship with president of the Cameroonian FA Samuel Eto’o since his appointment.

Despite that he led the team to a 4-1 win over Central Africa Republic and they closed the qualifiers with a 1-1 draw against Angola to go top of their group with 8 points.

A source at the NFF confirmed talks are on with the coach as reported by Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. ” Yes he is among the candidates for the job but I won’t say he is the favourite. In the coming days a proper direction will be known”, he said.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The top striker of the senior national team of Nigeria Victor Osimhen has fired back at reports which claimed that recently replaced coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George questioned his commitment to the team.

Finidi who was demoted from his role as coach after the games against South Africa and Benin Republic where they drew 1-1 before losing 2-1 to the countries mentioned respectively, tendered his resignation earlier today.

The coach was said to have told sources close to him that the Napoli striker didn’t show enough commitment to play in either one of the two games. Osimhen didn’t take it lightly and responded with a heavy tirade on his page on social media platform Instagram.

Below is his reaction in a live video.

“The Super Eagles is not my father’s own, if this will cause me to stop playing for the Super Eagles, no problem. I called Finidi George when he was appointed and told him, let’s do great things together.

I call my teammates before match to encourage them but after two bad games, everyone is blaming me that wasn’t even part of the team.”

“I get injury, in the last minute of our last match, I had an ankle injury that was confirmed on MRI.

I knew things like this would happen, I called Finidi immediately after meeting with the doctor and we both talked with Finidi.

I won’t allow any disrespect from anybody, I won’t allow that stain from anybody.

I always play my heart out for Nigeria”

“I asked Finidi George to allow me stay with the players in the camp but Finidi asked me not to bother that I should stay with my family.

Now after two bad games, everybody is now blaming me.

I know how many injuries I’ve played with for Nigeria and I played my heart out but after two bad games, everybody is attacking me.”

The head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George has submitted his letter of resignation from his role to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Owngoalnigeria.com understands.

Respected Nigerian journalist Tobi Adepoju broke the news on his hand on social media platform X. Finidi was appointed a little over a month ago as the substantive coach of the team after playing the role of assistant to former coach Jose Peseiro.

His resignation is coming hot on the heels of his demotion to the role of assistant coach with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announcing via official channels that he will be headed by an expatriate, following a disappointing performance in the recently world cup qualifiers.

Nigeria drew 1-1 with South Africa before losing 1-2 to Benin Republic. A result that saw them drop to 5th in their group, four points behind leaders Rwanda making their chances of making it to the world cup 2026 slimmmer than it was when Finidi was appointed as coach.

His exit means the NFF will now step up the process of looking for his successor with the team set to get back into action in September, when the qualifiers for the next Africa Cup of Nations begins.

The search for the next coach of the senior national team of Nigeria will top the priority of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) following the decision to end the one month reign of Finidi George after a disastrous performance during the recently concluded world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Yesterday the football house confirmed that they will appoint a foreign expatriate to lead the team with Finidi who managed a 1-1 draw against South Africa, before a 1-2 loss to Benin Republic relegated to a new role.

One name that has been speculated as the front runner for the job is Portuguese coach Toni Conceição, who initially tick the boxes to be appointed earlier before Finidi was handed the job.

Conceição was among the over 40 coaches who initially applied for the job made vacant by the NFF following the exit of Jose Peseiro, upon the expiration of his contract as coach in February.

In advertising the position, the NFF listed the following requirements as what is needed to be a part of the process, which officially came to an end on the 12th of March.

Are you a passionate and experienced football coach ready to take on the challenge of leading the national team? The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is pleased to announce openings for the position of Head Coach for the Senior Men’s National Football Team. Super Eagles.

Requirements:

– Relevant Coaching qualifications

– Proven experience at the elite level of football management

– A successful track record in leading teams

– Knowledge of African Football will be an added advantage

If the above is followed to the letter, then the chances of Toni Conceição becoming the next coach of the Super Eagles looks very likely as he is the one who has all of the requirements needed for the job.

In his last job as the coach of the national team of Cameroon, he led the team to a bronze medal finish at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. They lost on penalties to Egypt in the semi-finals and bounce back with a win over Burkina Faso on the same tiebreaker to finish third.

He was at the helm as coach of Cameroon for two years and in the 24 games that he handled as coach, they won 14 and lost just two. Eight of the games ended in a draw.

His team scored 28 goals and conceded 14 in return. His record is way better than his successor Rigobert Song who won just five games and lost eight times in 24 games. Little wonder he is on a three man shortlist to replace the man who took his role two years ago.

The president of FECAFOOT Samuel Eto’o who was keen to appoint an indigenous coach upon taking over as the head of the country’s football body admitted that dismissing the 62 year old Portuguese hasn’t paid off, hence tried to have him back in his role ahead of the resumption of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

For sports like football and baseball, there will be a stand-out star on all teams. There’s always someone who is just that little bit stronger, a little bit faster or has inherently sharper skills.

But what impact does that player have on sports betting? Can an individual win a team the English Premier League title? Can one elite superstar bring home the World Series? On their own? No.

Everything that happens in sports, from injuries to suspensions, can cause ripples in the odds. You can see this when checking out the latest money line, totals and spreads at baseball betting sites – star athletes play a big role in outcomes, but can’t influence everything.

Can One Player Carry a Team?

Perhaps the most important question is to ask how good a star player is. Everything is relative, and the best player for a 0.41 baseball team could be a world away from the ability of a player for a World Series contender.

Looking at the best players from a betting perspective can be done in isolation with markets like Total RBIs or Home Runs in baseball betting, and the Anytime Goalscorer in soccer betting.

The bulk of a team’s goals may come from a player who is averaging a goal every other game and a world-class Short Stop could be the reason an MLB team is flying in their division, and individual player prop bets are great to target.

The Missing Star

Equally important is when a star athlete is not playing. When Lionel Messi moved to Inter Miami in 2023 he immediately looked a class above any other player in the MLS.

That was further highlighted by his absences when the team were nowhere near as effective in terms of results. But it is often easy to overcompensate when a team is missing such a star player.

Markets Affected

If an elite pitcher is missing from a team’s starting line-up, then it could make that team more vulnerable to conceding runs. But the absence may not be enough to drag the entire team down to a defeat.

The team is probably still good enough to win, thanks to their reserve pitcher. But it’s the total strikeouts, RBIs, home runs and other nuanced statistical areas of the match that are likely to be affected, and therefore should be noted for sports betting.

If Nigeria’s leading goalscorer is sidelined from a World Cup match against New Zealand for example, then the Super Eagles could be backed to win the game still, but maybe by a single-goal margin instead of two, or a lower Total Goals line could be targeted for the match.

Upper and Lower

There is a caveat to not expecting a team to fall apart just because their star player is missing. Stronger teams are less likely to be affected than weaker teams. A star midfielder for a relegation-threatened team may just be the very fine difference between that club staying out of the drop zone and going down. But if a star midfielder on a title-challenging team is out, then there is more likely to be better strength in depth in the squad to cover the absence.

Trading Markets

Speculation about player trades is fascinating and makes for big sports headlines. Players and managers typically get heavily linked with a certain team to whom they may get traded. The amount of coverage potential transfers make, destroys the betting value markets which are typically worth avoiding.

Investments

A fascinating time is when star players are traded to new clubs. The investments and reliance that some teams have on star players can typically create unexpected weaknesses elsewhere.

Trading in a star player can create imbalances through a change of tactics, which the team may not be familiar with, and that can impact immediate results. New players can change the entire complex of that team’s makeup, which naturally impacts the betting perspective.

In terms of a trade, especially with football, it’s good to look at what void the player has left as well. It’s typical for big teams to pick off the best talent from weaker teams. So some teams can, at the end of a transfer window, be left with a gaping void in quality that they just can’t afford to replace, which can affect things like relegation odds or the ability to win a division or conference.

In Summary

Star players in team sports can impact results whether on the field of play or not. But there are no absolutes in sports, which means there are no absolutes in sports betting outcomes. The best players are just another aspect that has to be taken into account for the bigger picture.