All eyes were on Napoli forward Victor Osimhen in the build up to the Africa Cup of Nations after his astonishing performance for Napoli lifted them to their first Serie A title in 33 years.

He was expected to bring that form to the AFCON for the senior national team of Nigeria, but he found it hard to replicate the same form he showed in Italy in Cote d’Ivoire where the team went all the way to the final before losing 1-2 to the host.

Osimhen ended the tournament which just a goal, which he scored in the opening game of the tournament where they battled to a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea. He had three other efforts all ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

The new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George, who was one of the assistants of the former coach Jose Peseiro at the tournament had now detailed how he intends to make the Napoli man get his mojo in the colors of the senior national team of Nigeria.

” At the AFCON, I think he was given too much job to do because he was most times alone in attack, so he is exhausted when he finally gets the ball. Of course he missed some chances but which striker doesn’t? .  Going forward we need to play very close to him that wasn’t the case at the AFCON and it’s one of the things I hope we will do when the qualifiers resumes”, Finidi said.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The second leg of the semi final of the Europa League took place today with Atalanta taking on Marseille while Bayer Leverkusen took on Roma in the second semi final.

Atalanta welcomed Marseille with the first leg tied at 1-1, they know they had it all to do in front of their home fans and that they did 30 minutes into the game thanks to their Nigerian import Ademola Lookman.

Aided by a wicked deflection, Lookman  opened scoring when he was allowed too much space on the edge of the box, but a hefty touch off the inside leg of a defender takes it into the bottom-right corner past Lopez. Handing the Italians a 2-1 lead as both teams head into the dressing room for the half time break.

In the 52nd minute, Lookman hesitated over a golden chance, but feeds Matteo Ruggeri as part of a one-two for the latter to smash a terrific finish into the far top corner. That goal ensured they extended their lead to 2-0 and 3-1 on aggregate. They extended their lead to 3-0.

It ended that way and they booked a spot in the final, where they will take on German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen following their 4-2 aggregate win over Roma after coming from behind to draw 2-2 at home to preserve their unbeaten run in all competitions this season.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleman

Two former coaches of the senior national team of Nigeria have proven that they still have best wishes for the players and the team by extension with their recent act towards a player of the team, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.

The longest ever serving foreign coach Gernot Rohr who left his role in 2021 has constantly spoken about the team, even though they are group rivals in the world cup 2026 qualifiers. He showed his human side ahead of the game against his team in June.

Rohr sent a message of support to Moses Simon who got injured in the friendly game against Mali and required surgery that will keep him out for three months. The surgery went well and he is in his first stage of rehabilitation.

Erstwhile coach Jose Peseiro also reached out to Simon to show his support. The Nantes winger was one of the players the coach picked as his favorite not just in terms of his abilities but in the manner which he conducts himself on and off the pitch.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

As many as four players who represented Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations where they finished second after a 1-2 loss to the host Cote d’Ivoire in the final will not be in the squad for the games of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria will resume the world cup qualifiers under a new coach in Finidi George, who has been appointed as the substantive coach of the team following the exit of Jose Peseiro in February upon the expiration of his contract.

Finidi held the role in interim capacity before stepping up to his present designation two weeks ago. He is expected to lead the team out when they take on South Africa in June in Uyo and Benin Republic in Cote d’Ivoire.

Already he has drawn up the list of players who will be called up to the team for the two crucial games but has left out the quartet of William Troost-Ekong, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Moses Simon and Zaidu Sanusi.

Simon is recuperating from the surgery he had after sustaining an ankle injury while on international duty with Nigeria, Ekong was ruled out of the season upon his return from the AFCON where he was voted the most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament. He isn’t expected to be back till the second week of June.

Zaidu Sanusi is also expected to return within the same time frame, while Osayi Samuel recently picked up an injury that lead to his substitution in Galatasaray 0-0 draw against Konyaspor on Tuesday. The length of time he will be out injured is not known yet according to a statement on the official website of the club.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

A lot has been said about the form of Nigeria interaction striker Victor Osimhen this season at Italian Serie A side Napoli with many saying he isn’t the same like he was last season, when he powered the team to their first Serie A title in 33 years.

Osimhen scored 26 goals and also had five assists in 32 league games , a tally which earned him the league top scorer award and he was expected to match or exceed the number this season but that hasn’t been the case.

Napoli are having a very poor season and have already lost the Serie A title to Inter Milan, a spot in Europe next season looks very bleak and many has pointed at the poor performance of Osimhen as part of their struggles this season, but Avelino Bonnetti says he has been the standout player for the team.

” Osimhen has played in just 23 games this season and he has 15 goals and three assists. Remember he was away for a while at the AFCON and also missed over a month due to injury. So he missed two months and yet came up with such high numbers”,he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” Compare his numbers to last season based on goals per game and you will agree with me that it’s almost the same if not better. He is having a fantastic season but it is going unnoticed because of the way the team is struggling”, he stated.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The newly appointed coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George has picked the players who will be in the squad for the first competitive game he will handle as the coach of the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Finidi was appointed the coach in permanent capacity after filing in as a stop gap in the friendly games against Ghana and Mali respectively, following the departure of Jose Peseiro as coach upon the expiration of his deal in February.

We can exclusively reveal that Finidi who was an assistant to Peseiro for 20 months, and was a part of the technical setup that finished second at the AFCON has decided to go for 80% of the players who were at the tournament for the games against South Africa and Benin Republic in the month of June.

Both games are in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with Nigerian sitting 3rd in their group two points behind leaders Rwanda. The coach has decided to keep faith with the core that went to AFCON but handed a recall to a couple of others who missed out on the tournament.

His reason is that the game isn’t the right avenue to call up new players to the team due to how crucial it is in the qyast to be at the next World Cup, but the trio of Nathan Tella, Victor Boniface, Wilfred Ndidi and Cyriel Dessers who missed out on a spot in the team for the AFCON due to varying reasons made the list.

It will be made public next week ahead of the first game against South Africa on the 7th of June in Uyo.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

As the European season draws to a close, a couple of players are facing uncertain future at their current club especially those who will be out of contract at the end of the season and no talks have taken place over an extension, OwngoalNigeria.com reports.

Some players of the senior national team of Nigeria are also facing the same situation as the season draws to an end. Top of the list is the duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi at recently promoted English Premier League side Leicester City.

While Ndidi is likely to remain at the club, the situation is a little different for Iheanacho, who have been frozen out of the first team setup since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations in February. Both players will however be clubless at the end of the season.

Former first choice centre back Leon Balogun will also be on the look out for a new team with his deal at Scottish side Rangers running out by the end of June. The club has made it known that the 35 year old won’t be offered fresh terms to stay beyond the expiration of his present deal.

It’s a lot different for Chidera Ejuke who is on loan to Belgium side Antwerp from Russian side CSKA Moscow, he took the window afforded by FIFA for players in Russia to suspend their contracts due to the war with Ukraine.

At the end of his current loan deal , the deal of the 26 year old who has 8 senior caps for Nigeria will also run out with the Russian side, and he will be hoping he has done enough to earn a stay at his present club or move elsewhere. He presently has five goals and six assists in 37 games in all competitions.

Super Eagles AFCON star Ola Aina completes the list with no talks over an extension of the one year deal he signed with Nottingham Forest. He is however not expected to be short of suitors as he has largely impressed with his performance.  The games he missed was due to his involvement with the Super Eagles at the AFCON,  and also when he is injured or not fully fit.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the U19 team of the United States of America Micheal Nsien has confirmed that he turned down the chance to be one of the assistants of the newly appointed coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The newly appointed coach was given the honour of picking his assistants with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) suggesting one of the trio of Emmanuel Amuneke, Daniel Amokachi or Nisien  to work with him. All three applied for the post just like Finidi.

Finidi like we exclusively reported rejected the duo of Amuneke and Amokachi and went ahead to hold talks with Nsien. However the talks didn’t go as planned as the coach who is presently employed as head coach of the U19 of America insisted on having a proper contract better than what he has with the USA.

Meanwhile, the NFF already told Finidi that any of his assistants will be on pay per match bonus and Nsien flatly rejected the proposal when it was put to him by the former Super Eagles coach. He confirmed rejecting the role in an interview with Punch.

“Yes they (NFF) approached me. They cannot meet my salary requirements,” Nsien told The PUNCH but we however gathered that the coach who still has two year on his deal with the USA was approached by Finidi and not the NFF.

Following his rejection of the role, Finidi submitted a list of five as his assistants consisting of three foreign coaches and two indigenous coaches in Daniel Amokachi and Abideen Baruwa for the role of second assistant coach and goalkeeper trainer respectively.

His first assistant will be a German-Nigerian coach, while his match analyst and physical trainers are all foreigners who will be in the country next week to resume ahead of their first assignment which will be the world cup qualifiers game against South Africa next month.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The international future of 20 year old Supersport United defender Ime Okon is one that is yet to be settled with the defender eligible to play for both Nigeria and South Africa, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Okon is seen as one of the best talents coming out of South Africa with reports of a move to a top club in Europe reportedly on the cards this summer. A move that will further expand the debate on his choice for senior international football.

Okon was born in South Africa to a Nigerian father, so he is eligible to play for both Bafana and Nigeria, although he was called up to the camp of South Africa ahead of the AFCON, he didn’t make the final squad of coach Hugo Broos for the tournament leaving his international future in the air.

Speaking on the situation, former Bafana Bafana head coach Owen Da Gama blames the South African Football Association for not doing enough to lure SuperSport United wonderkid Imire Okon to pledge his international allegiance to South Africa.

“I don’t know how they are running their database at the moment, but I believe that if Nigeria can get the word of it before we are, then we need to pull up our socks you know”, he told Kick Off.

“We must make sure we are on top of it because we are a first-world country here in Africa.

“We’ve got all the facilities, we’ve got the network working here, we’ve got all the facilities here, we should be on top of our game in knowing every possible player playing in the PSL and in the NFD.

“I don’t think we doing enough scouting when it comes to that because I’m not seeing a lot of movement and information.

“We don’t get a lot of news about it about, hey we are scouting this guy and he is playing in Holland.

“Like Lars Veldwijk, we picked up with Shakes Mashaba that this guy was playing in Holland and his father was a South African.

“And we immediately invited him to have a look at him, I think we should be on top of our game when it comes to any possibility of strengthening Bafana.

“I mean France and a lot of top teams in the world are doing it, even in England they are doing it.

“We should be on top of our game with any possible quality player, at the moment I don’t think we doing enough of that.

“I think it got a lot to do with sustainability, we need to get a database, there’s a lot of youngsters that are playing in Europe that are South Africans.

“We should be monitoring and following them to understand what is happening but we don’t read enough of this”.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

In what can be termed the biggest deal out of the city of Kaduna, a city well known for the production of exciting and talented footballers not even at that did anyone envisage that someone from the city will secure a straight move to the English Premier League.

That is the story of Benjamin Fredrick, the Nigeria U20 defender who just put pen to paper on a four year deal to Brentford with the option of a further three years deal.

Plucked from fast rising Simoiben Football Academy in Kaduna, a pet project of the wife of Nigeria international winger Moses Simon, Mrs Ibukun Moses Simon as a way of giving back to the society that raised her husband.

Aside from the fact that she treats the academy with the love of a mother to child, the mother of two also displayed a high sense of understanding of the game whenever she interacts with the players after training or test games.

Shortly after Frederick distinguished himself at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations, offers poured in notably from Egyptian giants Al Ahly who were keen on securing the first option of signing the light skinned defender when he turns 18.

She rebuffed and instead handed him over to global football academy CAA Base, leaving his future in their hands while she continue to play an advisory role in her capacity as his legal guardian.

After the world cup, teams and agents bombarded the club with mails, calls and text messages offering mouth watery deals, enough to tempt anyone to consider them but not “Madam chairman”  ( like the players call her).

As the end of the transfer window draws near, tension begin to settle in the camp of Simoiben with coaches and other backroom staff wondering if Fredrick will move or not. Little did they know she had it all agreed for him to join Brentford.

Last week was when she broke the news of the deal to the management of the team and even when it emerged that Brentford won’t be commiting a fee for the loan, she still didn’t consider other options that would have brought instant cash to the academy rather accepted the offer, solely on the fact that it is progress for the boy that matters now.

She is expected to be busy in few weeks time with players of the academy making moves. Recently one returned from Belgium, where he tested with Gent around the same time that Solomon John joined Czech Republic top division side Jablonec.

That same week a move to Latvian side Daugavpils was sealed for Lawrence Shimave Ugen. All eyes are on the duo of Emmanuel Michael and Nicholas Jonathan, who are youth international for Nigeria at U17 and U20 levels respectively.

Michael, who is traditionally a midfielder excelled as a left back for the Nigeria U17 team in their run up to winning the WAFU B championship. He picked up three consecutive man of the match awards, scored four goals and had three assists at the tournament and was picked as the player of the tournament.

Aside the players mentioned above, other talented players from the team as many as six are also said to be courting interest from teams in Europe, meaning it will be a busy end of the year for the iron lady Ibukun Moses Simon.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman