The decision of the newly appointed coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George to pick foreigners as his assistants has not gone down well with a certain individuals in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

As we exclusively reported the former interim coach wants to bring in three foreign assistants to the team for the role of first assistant, fitness trainer and match analyst. Daniel Amokachi will be his second assistant with Abideen Baruwa staying put in his role as goalkeeper trainer.

Appointed as the substantive replacement to Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro after assisting the Portuguese for 20 months, a top official of the NFF said his decision to go for foreign coach shows a lack of trust in the indigenous coaches contrary to the faith shown in him when he was handed the job.

” I keep wondering why Finidi thinks no Nigerian is good enough to work closely with him as assistant. The NFF showed trust in him as an indigenous coach , he should do likewise and look inwards. I know a lot of people are saying if no indigenous coach is good enough as his assistant, how then is he good enough to be coach considering that he is also an indigenous coach”, he said.

He however admitted that they are powerless on this front because it’s part of their resolution to let the coach pick whoever he wants as his assistant. ” We can’t stop him from picking anyone as his assistant. It’s what we resolve now we can only wish him well and hope he make all of us proud at the helm”, he concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The newly appointed coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George has proposed five names he wants to work with when he takes to the pitch to officially begin his reign, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Finidi was appointed as coach of the team on a permanent basis after temporary filling in an interim capacity following the exit of Jose Peseiro, the coach he assisted to a second place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

He is meeting with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to trash out terms and also pick his assistants ahead of the team’s first competitive engagement in June, which will be the 2026 world cup qualifiers.

We exclusively gathered that he has proposed a five man backroom staff which will include a German-Nigerian coach as his first assistant and Daniel Amokachi as his second assistant.

Abideen Baruwa will keep his post as the goalkeeper trainer, while a new physical trainer and a match analyst both foreigners will be part of the crew when he signs his one year contract, which carries an extension clause if the team gets to the semi final of the next Africa Cup of Nations.

The NFF will study his recommendation and work out how the wages of all the backroom staff will be cater for to forestall the situation of non payment of salaries, and also bring to an end the practice of having coaches work without a valid contract.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Victor Osimhen scored his 15th league goal of the season for Italian Serie A side Napoli in their 1-1 draw against Udinese yesterday in the Italian Serie A, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Victor Osimhen is the third Napoli player to score in six matches in a row against a single team in the Italian top-flight in the three-points-for-a-win era, after Gonzalo Higuaín against Lazio between 2013 and 2016 and Dries Mertens against Bologna between 2016 and 2019.

He rose highest to power home a powerful header in the 51st minute and his goal was prime to be the decider for the game, until a former Nigeria U17 star like Osimhen in Isaac Success leveled for Udinese in the second minute of time added on.

Success came off the bench to score a stoppage time equaliser by getting onto Kristensen’s header to score from close range.  The goal his first of the season ended his season long goal drought with three games left to play.

Capped four times for Nigeria at senior level, the 28 year old who was once touted as the possible next big thing to happen to Nigerian football after his exploits at the 2013 U17 World Cup alongside now established Super Eagles stars like Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi and Francis Uzoho.

He will go into next season pushing to earn a new deal at the club with his present deal having just a year to run. However in the immediate the goal will be to ensure that they get the required points to stay in the Italian top flight.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Victor Osimhen scored his 15th league goal of the season for Italian Serie A side Napoli in their 1-1 draw against Udinese yesterday in the Italian Serie A, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Victor Osimhen is the third Napoli player to score in six matches in a row against a single team in the Italian top-flight in the three-points-for-a-win era, after Gonzalo Higuaín against Lazio between 2013 and 2016 and Dries Mertens against Bologna between 2016 and 2019.

He rose highest to power home a powerful header in the 51st minute and his goal was prime to be the decider for the game, until a former Nigeria U17 star like Osimhen in Isaac Success leveled for Udinese in the second minute of time added on.

Success came off the bench to score a stoppage time equaliser by getting onto Kristensen’s header to score from close range.  The goal his first of the season ended his season long goal drought with three games left to play.

Capped four times for Nigeria at senior level, the 28 year old who was once touted as the possible next big thing to happen to Nigerian football after his exploits at the 2013 U17 World Cup alongside now established Super Eagles stars like Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi and Francis Uzoho wasn’t the subject of discussion by his coach Fabio Cannavaro after the game.

Cannavaro was asked about the goal scored by Osimhen and what could have been done to prevent it, particularly the fact that he is a well known celebrated defender during his playing days.

“Aside from Osimhen, the error was on the right. I had explained to the two defenders to put Osimhen in the middle and try to limit him because when he goes into the third period he is devastating. He passed in the middle. Politano must never cross. These are things that we need to improve.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The recent statement made by Emmanuel Amuneke on why he wasn’t picked as the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has drawn a reaction from the football body, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Amuneke was the favourite for the Super Eagles job alongside Finidi George, but the NFF settled for the latter and it drew a response from Amuneke in an interview with the online edition of Nigerian publication Punch.

He alleged that he was schemed out of the job not because of competence, rather due to other issues which he cited as problems with some officials in the setup of the NFF. He also fired at some of the things that were said about him in the build up to the naming of Finidi as coach.

“All those allegations made in the media online because of the Eagles job are obviously not true, but those who recommended candidates for the job know I will not be easily bullied. I know there is still bad blood with these officials, but its fine”, he said.

Responding to the 53 year old, a member of the Technical Committee who was part of the selection process said Amuneke knows why he wasn’t picked as the coach of the team.

” Beyond everything he is well aware that Finidi was picked because of continuity judging by the fact that he was a part of the former technical setup. We fact checked all that was said about Amuneke and most were true. Goggle and see for yourself”, he said.

” For instance, there is a story about fighting with the agent of Kelechi Iheanacho when he was the assistant coach of the U17 team in 2013. He even slapped him over the boy’s transfer, he admitted it and it’s online. Another case involving the agent of Victor Osimhen and a few others is there.

” Some board members feel he played a part in derailing the team’s qualification for the last world cup by using the former minister to work his way as an assistant to Austine Eguavoen. They haven’t forgiven him. I believe someone told him all of these so he should get a job and work his way back up.  His last successful job was in 2013 and we are in 2024.

” Remember how players of the U20 team which he handled went on strike on the eve of a key game against Sudan in Lagos over unpaid bonuses. A lot of people haven’t forgotten about his past which isn’t favourable for his return now”.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The former head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has once again defended his decision not to cap a competitive cap to a single player from the Nigeria Professional Football Federation, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Peseiro was in charge of the Super Eagles for 20 months and during his time not even a single player from the domestic league in Nigeria got the chance to play in a competitive game for the Super Eagles.

He left following the expiration of his contract as coach, a few weeks after guiding the team to a second place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire. They were beaten 1-2 by the host in the final.

Back at his base in Portugal, the coach was asked about his time as the coach of the Super Eagles and what was his biggest challenge, while managing in Africa for the first time in his coaching career.

” There was pressure to pick players from the Nigeria Professional League. I get asked all the time about them but I came at a time when the team just missed out of the world cup, so I have to go for the best players. I saw a lot of games and none of the players is as good as the ones playing abroad. You can’t call players for the sake of it”, he said.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Nigeria would have rivaled England for the international future of five players currently in the set up of the English national team if not for the attitude and conduct of former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick.

Pinnick was the president for eight year and saw a lot of players born abroad make the switch to the senior national team of Nigeria, but the number could have been a lot higher.

An aide of the former coach of the team Gernot Rohr told OwnGoalNigeria.com, that the manner Pinnick went about talking players to switch nationality to the senior national team of Nigeria made five players to shun the idea.

” I can tell you that if we used a better approach we probably would have stand a very good chance with Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Ebere Eze and Michael Olise. Pinnick’s approach was too autocratic”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com in an exclusive chat.

” For instance, they all saw how it went down with Tammy in the media and became really careful to speak on anything that has to do with switching nationality. Pinnick posted pictures with Eze when talks were going on behind the scene. It made the players to be under huge pressure from family, their agents and the press. It didn’t help us in anyway”, he stated.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The trend of players born abroad playing for the senior national team of Nigeria is one that has been very much the case in the past few years, particularly during the tenure as Amaju Pinnick as the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Pinnick’s idea aligned with that of former coach Gernot Rohr who was at the helm for the majority of his eight year stay as coach of the Super Eagles. There was a massive influx of players born abroad into the team.

That trend was put forward to the new coach of the team Finidi George shortly before he became the assistant coach to erstwhile coach Jose Peseiro, and he gave his opinion about it, saying their is a better way to go about it.

“Now we are running after players that were born in Europe to come back and play for Nigeria. Who will train them for you? You want others to train players, and you wait to convert them to change their nationality so they can come and play for Nigeria? Why don’t you train your own here in Nigeria?” the former Real Betis winger opined in a chat with The Vanguard.

“I am not saying Nigerians born outside should not play for Nigeria, after all, in the past, we had Reuben Agboola and others, but they were just one or two. We were not rushing on anybody born in Europe and playing football.

“All we need do is to work on our home bred players; maybe when you find one or two good ones from outside there, they can come and join the team.

“Not when you read about one player in the UK, and you will want to speak with the father to have him come and play for Nigeria. If you train your team very well, it is they who are born in Europe that will run to identify with the Super Eagles. Put your house in order, and they would, on their own come. Let them be fighting to come.

“If our league is good and our players are top class players, it is their parents who will be telling them to go join the Nigerian national team. So the level is so bad now that nobody wants to play for Nigeria and we are sending people to go and beg parents, please, your son is a Nigerian, let him come and play for his country of origin.

“So let us put our house in order, revive the league, and you will see most of these people running to Nigeria and our national team will be stronger,” the 1994 AFCON-winning midfielder concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

A lot of Nigerians have been expressing their desire to have Luton Town forward Elijah Adebayo represent Nigeria at senior international level after his impressive performance in his debut season in the English Premier League.

Adebayo returned from a two months injury lay off to find the back for the net for Luton in their 1-1 draw against Everton. The goal was his 10th in the English Premier League for the newly promoted side.

26 year old Adebayo who is eligible for Nigeria and England but is yet to be capped by any of the nations at any level has however settled the case of his international future by picking Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.comcan exclusively reveal.

A source close to the forward revealed that Adebayo told him about contact from the the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) before the last round of international games, where Nigeria played against Ghana and Mali respectively.

He (Adebayo ) said the contact was in respect to a call up to the squad for the games, but he picked up the injury that has kept him out until last weekend a few days before he was contacted by the NFF.

Now back to full fitness he has thrown his hat in the ring for a future call up to the team, targeting a spot in the game against South Africa in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He could however be playing in the English Championship then or for another team in the English Premier League.

Luton Town are struggling to keep their top flight status but Adebayo will hope that he has done enough to attract the attention of a team in the top division if they eventually go down.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The head coach of newly promoted English Premier League side Leicester City Enzo Maresca has revealed why Nigeria international striker Kelechi Iheanacho fell out of favour upon his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Iheanacho represented Nigeria at the AFCON despite not being fully fit, which we were made up understand was against the wish of Leicester City who wanted him to be fully fit by snubbing the tournament to focus on his rehabilitation.

He didn’t get to play games for Nigeria until the quarter final and with the team going all the way to the final, he was a part of it all as a second half substitute when they were beaten 1-2 by the host Cote d’Ivoire in the final.

Since returning from the tournament, he has only played in two games with a combined minute less than 30. A situation that is traced to his decision to represent Nigeria at the AFCON and Maresca was asked about his situation particularly with his contract set to run out in the summer.

“I already mentioned in January, during the window, when we had some issues. I said it was not the moment. At the end of the season, we can talk about it. The same thing with the financial problems. Nobody told me, which I don’t think is the right thing to do. There are things we need to clarify. For the rest, we are fantastic. We are all happy,” Maresca was quoted by Leicester Mercury.

The 27 year old Nigerian wasn’t listed in Leicester City’s last five matchday squad ahead of their successful promotion bid back to the English Premier League, a year after relegation from the English Premier League.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman