Despite scoring his first goal for AC Milan in their 1-3 loss to Borrusia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League, Nigeria international winger Samuel Chukwueze has been branded as a waste of money, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Chukwueze was Milan’s most expensive signing in the summer transfer window with the club paying Villarreal in excess of €30 million on the back of what was his most productive season since he turned professional.

He had 13 goals and 11 assists from 50 games in all competitions last season, a number he has struggled to match since his move to AC Milan where he presently has one goal and one assist in 12 games.

Speaking on the summer business of the team, club icon and former sporting director Paolo Maldini who left his role six months ago labeled the signing of Chukwueze and that of Chelsea duo of Christian Pulisic and Rueben Loftus-Cheek as waste of money.

He said it could have been used in getting better players like they did during his time at the helm, where he took major decisions on the signing of players.

“There’s no need, to take Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic and Chukwueze. Just use the money that a club that finally makes 400 million deserves. You can’t compare the previous four markets with the last one, we had different weapons”, he told the Italian media outlet Repubblica in a no-hold barred interview.

As the senior national team of Nigeria get set ro take part in the Africa Cup of Nations all eyes will be on head coach Jose Peseiro for the players that will make the squad to the tournament in Cote d’Ivoire, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The under fire coach has been given an extra option from one of the players he has blanked in recent games for the team leading to speculations that the player might have quit international football.

That player is Rangers of Scotland defender Leon Balogun, his last involvement with the Super Eagles was in 2022, where he played the final 19 minutes of the 10-0 win over Sao Tome and Principe.

Till date it still remains the only time he has played under Peseiro but he is now back to reckoning and in prime shape to bring succour to the Super Eagles defence at the tournament, if picked by the coach.

Balogun has played the entire duration of his team’s last three games in the league and they picked up two wins and a draw. A run of games that shows his full return to competitive games.

” Balogun hasn’t quit international football and I don’t think he has any plans of doing that for now. Making the Super Eagles AFCON squad is a target for him”, a source close to the 35 year old told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

The head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro is currently under huge pressure for the team to meet expectations at next month Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

His short term deal with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will expire after the tournament but it will be extended if he leads the team to at least the final of the tournament.

In the build up to the tournament, the team has lost 60 percent of the games played since the Portuguese was made coach of the team, and more revelations has now been made about how he has handled the team in the period under review.

After securing passage to the AFCON, the coach started the process of building a team for the AFCON and took a drastic decision to axe six senior players from the team, with some even kicked out of the squad entirely.

In defence, the first casualty was the two vice captain of the team in William Troost-Ekong ans Kenneth Omeruo, It’s started with the coach dropping the duo to the bench before kicking Ekong out totally but kept Omeruo as a squad player.

Captain Ahmed Musa wasn’t spared as well and unless a late change of mind he won’t be in the team to the Africa Cup of Nations, while he had his way with the above mentioned trio, the idea backfired with certain senior players in the team.

Peseiro also dropped Moses Simon to the bench in preference for Ademola Lookman but after two poor performances from the Atalanta man he brought Simon back.

Simon hasn’t looked back since his return as a regular and he is now one of the key players heading into the AFCON.  A similar situation played out with the duo of Ola Aina and Wilfred Ndidi.

He twice subbed Ndidi off at the break during games but couldn’t ignore his form at Leicester City hence a recall to the team. It was the same case with Ola Aina who forced his way back into the manager’s plan with impressive performances for West Ham.

Ade Emmanuel

Newly capped Nigeria international winger Nathan Tella says playing for the senior national team of Nigeria has lifted his game a whole lot as he looks forward to making the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations next month, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Tella was handed his international bow in the Super Eagles 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe and despite lasting only 45 minutes, he said the experience has done his confidence a whole lot of good.

Speaking ahead of their Europa Conference League game against Sweden side BK Hacken, the 24 year old said the last few weeks has really boosted his confidence making him anxious for more moments in big games.

“The last few weeks have given me a lot of confidence. As a player, you always want to play and to play in the big games. My international debut also did me good. Now I’m really looking forward to the match tomorrow”, he said.

He lasted 64 minutes as they secured a 2-0 win away in Sweden to finish as group winners with 15 points from five games. His international colleague Victor Boniface scored his fourth goal of the tournament when he opened scoring in the 14th minute.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria continue their free fall in the monthly FIFA rankings by dropping two spots to 42nd in the world in the latest placements made available by the world football governing body.

Back to back 1-1 draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe respectively in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers proved costly as it saw them lose 16.04 points leaving them with 1474.44 points, which is less than last month’s tally of 1490.48 for the October rankings.

However they still remained sixth on the continent behind Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt respectively as the date for this start of the Africa Cup of Nations draws near.

Super Eagles have already secured a camp site for next month tournament according to the head of media and communication of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ademola Olajire. ” Super Eagles camping details are not out yet but they will camp in the UAE”, he said.

Nigeria is in the same group with the host Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau. They will open their campaign against Equatorial Guinea according to the fixtures released by Africa’s football governing body CAF.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The fifth round of games in the Europa Conference League saw a Nigerian rise up to the top of the scorers chat in Europe’s third tier tournament, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Belgium side Gent ran out 4-1 winners over Ukrainian outfit Zorya Luhansk to go top of there group with 13 points, one more than second places Israeli side Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

Both teams will clash in the final round of games for the battle of who will finish as group leaders , with Gent needing a draw while Maccabi Tel-Aviv will be gunning for an outright win.

One player who will be key for the Belgians is one time Super Eagles invitee Gift Orban who was once again on target against Zorya to take his tally in the tournament to five in five games. He struck in the 55th minute.

He is now the top scorer in the tournament, with one goal more than the trio of Aleksandar Cavric of Slovenian side Slovan Bratislava, Dor Peretz of Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Hans Vanaken of Club Brugge.

His run in the tournament will improve his chances of getting another chance with the senior national team of Nigeria, after a nationality row with Togo denied him the chance of making his debut in the last game of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sao Tome and Principe.

We exclusively gathered that he is now free to play for the Super Eagles with Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirming that he is eligible to represent Nigeria. His immediate target will be making the squad to next month Africa Cup of Nations.

Osas Mahawi

The head of the technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Shariff Rabiu Inuwa said he confronted the head coach of the Super Eagles Jose Peseiro over his decision to stick with Francis Uzoho as first choice goalkeeper of the team.

Uzoho has been guilty of conceding cheap goals and making costly errors but he still retains the favor of the Portuguese coach, who is seriously under pressure with the Africa Cup of Nations drawing close.

Speaking in a radio interview monitored by OwnGoalNigeria.com, the Kano State FA chairman said he had a heated exchange with the coach at their camp in Portugal, where they played against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique respectively.

Ahlan like he is fondly called said he was pushed to demand answers from the coach on why he didn’t try the other three goalkeepers in camp instead stuck with the error prone Uzoho for both games.

He said, “We sat with Peseiro in Lisbon and asked why he invited four goalkeepers and opted to use Uzoho for the two games without trying out others,” he continued.

“Uzoho is second choice in his team and he doesn’t even play not to talk of how he performs. We’ve played several games and he keeps making mistakes so why use him all the time”, he remarked.

Asked on if he is aware of Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, Ahlan said he saw it in the news and can only recommend to Peseiro who has the final say on calling up players but sadly isn’t interested because he still holds a very strong faith in Uzoho.

Damian Waziri

Head coach of Italian Serie A side Roma Jose Mourinho was left unhappy at the end of the penultimate round of games in the Europa League after his team drop to second on the log behind Czech Republic side Slavia Prague.

Mourinho is keen on his team finishing as group winners to avoid going into a playoff against teams that finished third in the UEFA Champions League group but a 1-1 draw against Swiss side Servtte saw then drop to second..

They went into the round of games hoping for a win to keep the pressure on the group leaders Slavia Prague and took the lead in the 21st minute through Romelu Lukaku but Chris Bedia levelled for the home side in the 50th minute.

Roma were still level on points with Slavia who were tied at 2-2 away to Moldovan side Sheriff and it would have seen them go into the final round of games looking for a win against bottom side Sheriff.

However in the final minute of the game in Moldova, former Nigeria U20 forward Muhamed Tijani rose from the bench to hand his side a 3-2 win and also taking them to 12 points two more than Roma.

Slavia Prague will now need at least a draw at home against Servette to clinch top spot, while Roma will need a huge win against Sheriff and a heavy defeat to Slavia in order to finish as group G winners.

Osas Mahawi

The crisis rocking the senior national team of Nigeria in the area of goalkeepers has led to suggestions on possible options with present first choice Francis Uzoho guilty of making unforced errors in recent games.

One of the names suggested as a possible option is Värnamo of Sweden shot stopper Jonathan Rasheed, who ended the season on a high with seven clean sheets in 24 games for the newly promoted side.

Born to a Nigerian father and a Norwegian mother, the 31 year old is eligible for both nations but he has made it clear that playing for the senior national team of Nigeria is his immediate aim.

He however said there has been no contact with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) or head coach Jose Peseiro but says he is ready to heed to the call if it comes with the Africa Cup of Nations looming.

” It’s up to the coach but I am ready to serve if called upon. I can’t say I am better than the goalkeepers in the team at the moment but I will be more than happy to fight for a spot in the team and he a part of the sqaud to the Africa Cup of Nations”, he said.

Osas Mahawi

The recent poor performance of the senior national team of Nigeria has drawn a reaction from the federal government of Nigeria via the minister for youth and sports Senator John Enoh, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

In a parley with the media as he marks his 100 days in office, Enoh said even though the team hasn’t done well under coach Jose Peseiro particularly the poor start to the world cup qualifiers, sacking the coach won’t be the best option.

He said less emotions should be attached to making decisions like that especially with the AFCON set to begin on the 14th of January in 2024. He however suggested that a decision can be deferred till after the end of the tournament as it affords the football house time to take a proper decision as the world cup qualifiers won’t resume until June.

“As a Minister, I am concerned that the Nigeria national team is not delivering, not meeting up with our expectations. AFCON is so close that we need to be careful in what decisions we take, but the next qualification rounds for the World Cup, the next match is in June, so it gives us something you know to take decisions going forward.

“AFCON is going to start on the 14th of January. Are we for example going to request to fire the Nigerian Coach I mean the answer is as good as mine.

“I have found out that in this sector; there are passions and emotions. Where you are seated and where I am providing leadership, you don’t respond, you know you are not driven by passions and emotions. No, you take your time,” he said.

Speaking on the steps he will take to address the poor performance he said a meeting has been set up with the coach after his meeting with the NFF and the technical department of the football body.

“I am happy to report that just about yesterday or two days ago I had a meeting with the NFF President, Secretary and the Technical Department of NFF regarding the Super Eagles,” he revealed.

“What we came out of that is that you know I’ve had to request that the coach is summoned and I think at some point next week there’s going to be an engagement with the coach.

“All of that is trying to respond to the outcome of these matches, especially the world cup qualifying games.”

Ade Emmanuel