The camp of the senior national team of Nigeria has been badly hit by what a member of the NFF tagged as act of indiscipline ahead of their crucial 2026 world cup qualifiers games against South Africa and Benin Republic respectively.

Nigeria will resume the series with a game against South Africa on Friday , but they have not had the best of build up leading to the game with key players only certain of having only two sessions before the game.

Majority of the invited players only took part in full training yesterday, as a matter of fact the duo of Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman only arrived the camp of the team on Wednesday, while that of Lookman can be traced to his involvement in a league game on Sunday and the subsequent NUC/TUC strike in Nigeria, Iwobi has been on holiday for three weeks since the conclusion of the English Premier League.

” Did you see Bruno Fernandez play for Portugal last night and even Ruben Diaz? A little over two weeks ago they were actively involved in the English FA Cup final. Back here we have players who have been on holiday for three weeks just turning up. That is indiscipline and we won’t shy away from telling them”, a board member of the NFF told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” Only Lookman has a valid excuse. The rest of them who arrived late knew what they did. It is up to Finidi to stamp his authority in the team wisely because a team with players who behave this way won’t make much progress”, he concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Five players of the senior national team of Nigeria have arrived the camp of the team for their world cup qualifiers games against South Africa and Benin Republic respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

As at yesterday eight players were being expected by the technical crew of the team ahead of the first of their two games in the series, which is against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.

The players were caught up in the strike by organized labour in Nigeria, but five of them namely Semi Ajayi, Calvin Bassey, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Frank Onyeka and Paul Onuachu have touched down in Uyo.

Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman is yet to arrive camp alongside returning goalkeeper Maduka Okoye. Lookman who was the star of the Europa League final with his hattrick in the final 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen is expected to arrive later this night.

He is expected to join up with the team for their training session tomorrow. The same as Okoye who is aiming to wrestle his first choice spot from the new number one Stanley Nwabali.

The head coach of South Africa Hugo Broos says the Super Eagles of Nigeria now have a new style of play following the appointment of Finidi George as the replacement for Jose Peseiro, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.

Peseiro led the team to a second spot finish at the Africa Cup of Nations losing 1-2 to the host Cote d’Ivoire in the final, but left after the expiration of his deal as contract in February.

Finidi who handled the team in interim capacity in two friendly games against Ghana and Mali respectively was named as the substantive coach of the team last month. His first assignment will be the game against South Africa on Friday.

Broos who saw his side lost to Nigeria at the AFCON via spot kicks after a 1-1 draw said he has seen enough from Finidi to draw a conclusion on the difference between how he wants the team to play, and how they played under Peseiro at the AFCON.

“We will try to shock them again. It’s a little bit different than the team of AFCON.

“With Finidi George they have a coach who thinks more offensively. Peseiro, he was a little bit more defensively and I saw that certainly in the game against us, he was always telling the team to go back.

“Also in the final they didn’t really play offensively, they just tried to be good defensively and then hoping on a counterattack or a situation in front of the goal where they could score.

“I saw two games against Mali and Ghana, it’s different. They take a little bit more initiative. It’s not the team anymore who went back and wait.

“They also try to make pressure early in the game and close to the goal of the opponent, so we have to look for something now that we can shock them again like we did for the game in Ivory Coast.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Nigeria’s super eagles continue to prepare for the crucial World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic respectively with fifteen players taking part in a  comprehensive session on Monday morning, at the training pitch of the Godswill Akpabio stadium.

The training which lasted two hours included fitness and shooting drills, plus tactical sessions led by head coach Finidi George and his assistants stepped preparations up for Friday’s game against South Africa.

Eight more players including Maduka Okoye, Semi Ajayi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Calvin Bassey, Frank Onyeka, Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman and Paul Onuachu are yet to join the squad.

A statement from the new media officer of the team Promise Efoghe says they are in the country but unable to arrive camp because of the ongoing Nigeria Labour congress strike which has stalled domestic flights.

There will be no training on Monday evening with the  players allowed some time to rest and undergo a recovery session.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria yesterday had another training session in the build up to Friday’s world cup qualifiers game against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Yesterday’s session had 13 players in attendance with the duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi missing due to their involvement in the charity game organized by William Troost-Ekong, who isn’t in the team due to injury and fitness concerns.

Two players in Alhassan Yusuf and Chidozie Awaziem were not part of the session with the rest of the team hinting at a possible recovery plan. They trained separately from the rest of the team for the entire duration of the session.

During the session Hatayaspor of Turkey midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru caught the eyes with his power playing move and usage of the ball in key moments. He was very lively and showed his good ball striking abilities during the shooting session.

Victor Boniface was all his usual self taking out players for fun with his amazing bag of tricks. His touch, runs and abilities to go past his marker drew applause from those who witnessed the session which lasted for around two hours.

All players including the quartet who missed yesterday’s session took part in the morning session of the team earlier today.

Ade Emmanuel

The decision to leave the captain of the senior national team of Nigeria William Troost-Ekong out of the squad for the 2026 world cup qualifiers games against South Africa and Benin Republic respectively generated a lot of talks, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ekong who was voted the most valuable player (MVP) of the Africa Cup of Nations where the team finished second behind the host Cote d’Ivoire after losing 1-2 in the final has been injured in the build up to the game.

He however made his return to full training one month ago and even played the entire duration of his novelty game yesterday meant to raise funds for his newly launched charity organization.  He was omitted from the squad by new coach of the team Finidi George on account of lacking fitness.

Speaking on Thursday, the 30 year old who is in Uyo dismiss the statement by the coach insisting that he is fit and ready to contribute his quota, if he is needed by the coach for any of the games.

“They predicted it would take three to four months for me to come back, I came back in nine weeks,” Troost-Ekong stated on Thursday night.

“I am match fit; I didn’t play in the last games (for PAOK) but that’s up to the coach to decide. But I was back with the team training two weeks before the end.

“I am fit now, so if anything happens to the current squad (Super Eagles), Finidi George has my full support. But I can thank God that I am back fit again.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George has tweaked his team’s style of play and approach to make up for the absence of key players ahead of the games against South Africa and Benin Republic respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Finidi is without the services of four senior defenders in William Troost-Ekong, Kenneth Omeruo, Zaidu Sanusi and Ola Aina. In attack the team will have to play without their talisman and top striker Victor Osimhen in both games.

Per what we exclusively gathered the coach will alternate his team in defence to play in the same 3-5-2 formation with the trio of Semi Ajayi, Calvin Bassey and Benjamin Tanimu favourite to start as the three center backs.

Chidozie Awaziem is in contention to start but for now he is seen as more suited helping from the bench in the event of any difficulty.

The midfield is where the coach took a major decision with the duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi playing behind Victor Boniface who will operate in the role behind the main striker which for now is likely to be Kelechi Iheanacho.

Iheanacho’s club form not withstanding he has found favour in the eyes of the coach who sees him as a better finisher than the strikers available at the moment. Bright Osayi-Samuel and Sodiq Ismael will operate as the wingback.

Ademola Lookman who is by far the hottest player in the attack of the team at the moment is in a race against time to start in the game , as he is yet to arrive the camp of the team hence falling behind in preparation for the game.

Lookman is expected to be in the camp by Wednesday, which is around 48 hours before the game.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman