The Super Eagles of Nigeria will be back in action during the international break with two games in the Moroccan city of Marrakech against Ghana and Mali respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria who are without a substantive coach will take on Ghana on the 22nd of March before squaring up against Mali four days later at the same venue in Morocco. 26 players were called up for both games.

However it appears there will be some amendments to the list of players with four players led by the team’s top striker Victor Osimhen likely to be unavailable for the games due to injury picked up last week.

Osimhen was an unused substitute in Napoli’s 1-1 draw against Inter Milan over the weekend due to a muscular problem, which saw him train just once in the build up to the game. The club expects him to be fully recovered in seven days time effectively ruling him out of the games.

Another player who is out of the game and possibly out for the rest of the season is Tyronne Ebuehi. His club Empoli reported that he suffered a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament of the right knee during their game against Bologna on Friday.

“The footballer, after having undergone an initial specialist evaluation to establish the recovery path, began the appropriate treatments with the Azzurri healthcare staff”, the final part of their statement on his injury reads.

Already newly invited Luton Town defender Gabe Osho is out of the game and the same can be said about Taiwo Awoniyi who also plays in the English Premier League for Nottingham Forest. He wasn’t listed over the weekend as he is yet to shake off a knock he has been carrying.

Ade Emmanuel

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has received a letter of recommendation from Spanish LaLiga giants Villarreal and Valencia backing the candidacy of Roberto Bianchi to be the next coach of the Nigeria U17 team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

As first reported by ScoreNigeria, the 57 year old Spanish-Brazilian coach who has working experience in Brazil, Spain, Belgium, Jordan, Angola and Uganda is among those who applied for the role of coach of the Nigeria U17 team, which was declared vacant by the NFF.

Bianchi isn’t new to coaching in Africa as he has a two year stint in charge of Angola from 2017 to 2019. He will be aiming to be the first foreign coach ever of the Nigeria U17 team since it was formed in 1985.

Spanish LaLiga sides Villarreal and Valencia respectively, where the coach worked as a scout sent a covering letter attached to his application letter detailing why he needs to be considered for the job.

A top member of the technical committee of the NFF exclusively revealed that the letter, which is attached to his official application detailed how he worked as a scout on the African continent studying games of the U17 AFCON on behalf of the teams, who were searching for African talents.

Despite that he said the coach will be treated in the same way like others who applied for the job, although he admitted that his chances of getting the job is very slim due to the fact that the football house prefers an indigenous coach to handle the role.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George will take charge of the team later this month in two friendly games against Ghana and Mali respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

As we exclusively reported, the coach of Enyimba has been handed the chance to lead the team in both friendly games, following the expiration of the contract of Jose Peseiro at the end of last month. Finidi was his assistant for the 18 months he was in charge of the team.

Nigeria will take on Ghana on the 22nd of March before squaring up against Mali four days later in the Moroccan city of Marrakech. The game is meant to help the team who finished second at the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations regroup ahead of the resumption of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Finidi dropped his idea on how the team will likely approach both games, while giving his analysis of why the team crumbled in the final of the AFCON losing 1-2 to the host Cote d’Ivoire. He spoke more on upgrading the style of play to reflect with the game as it changes.

“The formation has to be upgraded at every given time. Every time you are in a tournament or score a goal, you try to do something else. We have to upgrade what we have done so far,” Finidi said while explaining the loss in the AFCON final.

He went further to say, “I think it is a lesson. After our goal, we defended too deep. Moving forward, we have to push that formation. We have to push it a little bit further instead of going behind. We need to go a little bit further so we don’t struggle to win games. That’s what the coach will do. He saw it, too. So we have to be better on that.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The search for the next coach of the senior national team of Nigeria will most likely come to an end next month as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) begin the process of studying the curriculum vitae (CV) of the coaches who applied for the job, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.

As many as 40 foreign coaches submitted their applications for the job after it was made vacant by the NFF following the departure of Jose Peseiro as coach upon the expiration of his contract. The coach led the team to he final of the Africa Cup of Nations where they were beaten 1-2 by the host.

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 his decision of trying to have him back in his role ahead of the resumption of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

A former chieftain of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has snapped at the clamor for former players of the senior national team of Nigeria to be handed the role of handling the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The NFF are currently looking for a replacement for Jose Peseiro who stepped down from his role as coach following the expiration of his deal as coach , and talks have been mostly centered on giving the job to an indigenous coach, preferably a former player of the team.

Reacting to the call, a former influential member of the football body in Nigeria said it isn’t a straight forward process because most of the former plauers of the team are not certified to be coaches , hence can’t sit on the bench during games as head coach.

” I read a lot about giving the job to former Super Eagles players. There is a point there but how many of them have coaching certificates? Joseph Yobo was employed without even a basic coaching certificate. The rest who have it have all taken charge of the team and we know how it ended”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” Without a CAF A coaching license you can’t sit on the bench. Without a UEFA pro licence you can’t as well. How many of our former Super Eagles players have it? Most of the indigenous coaches you see around African teams were picked from the roles they are occupying with European teams. Can we say the same about former players of the Super Eagles?*, he rounded up his comment.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The hierarchy of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has settled for a foreigner to be the next coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Nigeria are on the lookout for another coach following the contract expiration of Jose Peseiro who led the team to a second place finish at the Africa Cup of nations in Cote d’Ivoire. Nigeria were beaten 1-2 by the host in the final.

Peseiro announced his decision to not take up the option of extending his deal, despite meeting the target of getting to the semi final of the tournament, which guarantees him an extension of his deal.

His exit made the NFF to declare the position vacant and called for interested candidate to submit their applications. So far around 40 foreign coaches and over 50 indigenous coaches applied for the role.

We can exclusively reveal that the job won’t be given to an indigenous coach, with the NFF not convinced by the pedigree and standing of all of them who showed interest in the job.

“I have nothing against indigenous coaches, but I will say that the person we need at the moment is a foreign coach with the prerequisite experience to handle the Super Eagles. He must be the type of coach who will come and support in the overall development of our football”, a member of the technical committee was quoted as saying by the online edition of Abuja based newspaper Leadership.

“The Super Eagles as presently constituted are too big for the indigenous coaches that Nigerians are clamouring for. They are not bad coaches, but they are not yet at the level that they can effectively handle the senior national team.

“If you talk to most of my colleagues in the committee, they will tell you the same thing. Most of us are for a foreign coach for the Super Eagles. I believe the NFF will see reason with some of us on this matter,” the very influential member of the NFF Technical Committee said.

Meanwhile we exclusively gathered that Finidi George who will  take charge of team in their upcoming friendly games against Ghana and Mali respectively will be a part of the technical crew, but as one of the assistants and a role as the coach of the home based team popularly called CHAN Eagles will likely be handed to him.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has warned coaches interested in replacing him to be aware of the enormous task that comes with managing the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Peseiro spent 18 months as coach of the team and after leading them to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, where they were beaten 1-2 by the host Cote d’Ivoire, the coach announced that he won’t be renewing his contract which expired at the end of last month.

He turned down the option of extending the deal offered by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) due to a disparity in what the football house proposed as salary and what he wants as his pay.

The NFF declared his position vacant and made a call for interested candidates to apply for the job. A decision on who will get the job is expected to be made in April.

Speaking on his time as coach, Peseiro said in an interview that the job can easily pass as one of the most difficult to have, because of the ever demanding teeming of the team.

” It’s not a job for everybody. You really don’t know what to expect at the job. One minute you are doing well and in a flash another person is questioning how well you are doing. We had our best AFCON performance in 11 years, but we still have people not happy about how we got there. The fans want to win everything and in style. A very difficult job it is”, he rounded up saying.

The head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gareth Southgate has unveiled the list of players that will represent England during the next international round of games, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

England will take on Brazil on the 23rd of March before squaring up against Belgium three days later as part of their preparation for the upcoming Europea Championship. A total of 25 players were called up for the game.

However there was no space in the team for Crystal Palace midfielder Ebere Eze, a player who was courted by Nigeria but decided to pick England as his preferred team for international football. He presently has one cap for England at senior level and it came in the 4-0 win over Malta in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Despite that he still remains eligible for Nigeria due to the adjustment of the eligibility for nationality switch done by world football governing body FIFA. Eze who trained with the Nigerian team during their camp in the UK in 2019 hasn’t close the door on switching to Nigeria.

He was publicly courted by the former Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr and also the former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick, who met with him three times in his bid to convince him to switch to Nigeria.

It remains to be seen if he will have a change of heart particularly with the World Cup 2026 drawing close.

Ade Emmanuel

With the race for who will will be the next coach of the senior national team of Nigeria gathering pace, the one name which has been touted as a front runner for the job of former Nigeria U17 and U20 coach Emmanuel Amuneke, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The senior national team of Nigeria is presently without a coach following the expiration of the contract of Jose Peseiro, who led the team to a second place finish at the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations. They lost 1-2 to the host in the final.

Since the position was declared vacant, as many as 500 applications from indigenous and foreign coaches have been received, and a timeline of next month has been picked as the date for a decision on who will be the new coach of the team.

Amuneke will likely get the nod if the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) decides to hand the job to an indigenous coach. A scenario that looks likely with the NFF are not financially buoyant to handle the wages of a foreign coach.

” Amuneke can’t handle the Super Eagles. It is you guys in the media who are pushing him to us at all cost. No disrespect but he can’t do the job. He hasn’t even succeeded anywhere after his exploits with the U17 team in 2015. Let’s not be sentimental he can’t do the job”, a chieftain of the NFF reacted during a discussion on who will be the next Super Eagles coach.

The head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gareth Southgate has unveiled the list of players that will represent England during the next international round of games, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

England will take on Brazil on the 23rd of March before squaring up against Belgium three days later as part of their preparation for the upcoming Europea Championship. A total of 25 players were called up for the game.

Southgate picked four point men to act as the arrow head of the attack in Harry Kane, Ivan Toney and Ollie Watkins. There was no spot for Bournemouth forward Dominic Solanke who has scored 15 goals and also boast of three assists this season.

He is presently joint third with Mohammed Salah in the highest goal scorers chart in the English Premier League with only Erling Haaland and Watkins having more goals than the 26 year old, who is also eligible for Nigeria at senior level.

His representative revealed to us that he will no doubt consider his international future if he doesn’t make the English squad for the European championship, and it looks highly unlikely with the latest call up with Toney who only recently returned from an 8 months ban making the team ahead of him.

This latest act will in a way increase the speed of his decision making in switching his international future to Nigeria, where he will no doubt be in the mix despite the fact that Napoli forward Victor Osimhen is the main talisman of the team. Solanke watched all of the team’s game at the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations, where they were beaten 1-2 in the final by the host Cote d’Ivoire.

Osas Mahawi