The lineup of the senior national team of Nigeria for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers game against Sierra Leone had been made public by coach of the team Jose Peseiro, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

In goal , the Portuguese picked Adebayo Adeleye ahead of the duo of Olorunleke Ojo and Victor Sochima. He will be screened by a back four of Semi Ajayi, Kenneth Omeruo, Zaidu Sanusi and Bright Osayi-Samuel.

The midfield three will be the trio of Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi and Joe Aribo playing in an advanced role afraid of the duo. In attack the team will rely on the trio of Moses Simon, Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Osimhen will lead the line.

Starting XI- Adeleye, Osayi-Samuel, Sanusi, Ajayi, Omeruo, Aribo, Iwobi, Ndidi, Chukwueze, Osimhen, Simon.

Osas Mahawi

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro could be sacked if the team fails to beat Sierra Leone in tomorrow’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers game, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Peseiro’s contract will expire next month and talks over a renewal has not been held with all attention on the team’s next game which will be tomorrow. Their penultimate game in the qualifiers.

So far they have won three out of their first four games and a win against Sierra Leone will confirm their spot at the tournament with a game to spare. Even if they fail to beat Sierra Leone, they will need a draw  at least against Sao Tome and Principe in their final game at home to be at the tournament.

The tomorrow’s game has taken a dimension of more than just a qualifier game as it will have an impact on the future of Peseiro as coach of the team. Sources at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) say failure to beat the Lone Stars will see the coach take a walk before the team’s final game in the series against Sao Tome and Principe.

However if they are able to get a win, his deal will be extended for another year with a clause mandated him to win the Africa Cup of Nations next year and trigger an automatic two years extension. All the plan deals will only happen if he agrees to a pay cut.

He currently earns $70,000, a wage which the football house is struggling to cope with the former board agreeing to pay the Portuguese that much because of a failed promise by former minister of sports Sunday Dare that the federal government of Nigeria will handle the wages of the coach.

Osas Mahawi

Crystal Palace midfielder Ebere Eze yesterday made his senior international debut for the English national team potentially ending any hope of a siwtch to the senior national team of Nigeria.

Eze was subbed on in England’s 4-0 win over Malta in the Euros Qualifiers. A debut he referred to as a dream come true owing to how he rose to the senior national team from that teen who was released by Championship side Millwall four years ago.

He joined QPR on a free transfer and made his mark there for two seasons and it earned him a move to Crystal Palace, where he stole the show last season as they recover from a slow start to beat the drop. Especially in the final run in of the season under coach Roy Hodgson.

That form was rewarded with an England call up and yesterday he made his debut, four years after training with the senior national team of Nigeria during their training camp in London, and two years after twice meeting with the former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick on playing for Nigeria.

Despite the move he stuck to his decision to play for England ahead of Nigeria and that decision drew him attacks and curses from Nigerians when he posted his excitement at finally playing for England at senior level.

” You won’t finish well. Mark my words”, a Nigerian posted under his Instagram handle. Another one wrote ” You will wake up to find out that the dream is nothing but a nightmare”.

” Your next cap will be in 2027. Ask Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori. It will end in tears”, writes another using the international black out the anglo Nigerian duo of Abraham and Tomori are currently enduring with England. They also turned down Nigeria for England.

Osas Mahawi

The Super Eagles of Nigeria yesterday had their last training session at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers game against Sierra Leone in Monrovia, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

All 23 players called up by coach of the team Jose Peseiro have been part of the preparation and it includes 19 foreign based players and four players called up from teams in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

The four players are Victor Sochima of Rivers United, Olorunleke Ojo of Enyimba, Ebube Duru of Rivers United and Divine Nwachukwu of Insurance. All four of them have been mixing it up with their more illustrious teammates from top teams abroad.

Nwachukwu’s invitation can be said to be the shock of them all as the 20 year old was deemed not good enough by the U20 team and the U23 team earlier this year. But a fine performance for Insurance at the NPFL playoff caught the attention of Peseiro, hence a first time call up.

We asked a senior player of the team to give us his assessment of the diminutive midfielder who started off as a striker for the U15 team of Nigeria, rose to the U17 and went to the 2019 World Cup but got limited playing time as Nigeria exited the tournament in the round of 16.

” I think he is talented but this level is a bit too high for him particularly for a game of this importance. I don’t think he is ready for this stage yet but if nutured properly, he will no doubt have a career to be proud of. The talent is there to see especially when he tries some moves. A lot of players from the NPFL have trained with us in the past and showed promises.  I hope he makes the step up from here”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Osas Mahawi

Italian giants AC Milan are no doubt keen on bolstering their options in attack and in recent days they have been linked to two Nigerian players in Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Boniface.

While discussion with Chukwueze has progressed nicely with only a fee left to be agreed with Villarreal, Boniface of Belgium side Union Saint-Gilloise who finished as joint top scorer in the UEFA Europa League is seen as a back up plan, if they fail to get their main target Marcus Thuram.

While the aforementioned duo are players who need little or no introduction, a lot of Nigerians would have forgotten about Chukwubuikem Ikwuemessi who was a part of the 2021 Nigeria U20 team that failed to qualify for the U20 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ikwuemessi was the top striker of the Ladan Bosso led team but didn’t quite turn up at the WAFU B championship which serves as the qualifiers for the AFCON. He has however found his feet in Slovenia particularly this season.

Reports from Italy has it that the 21 year old who has been a revelation for NK Celje is a target for AC Milan after hitting nine goals with five assists from 30 games. He will reportedly cost the Italian side around €300,000 to €500,000 to sign him.

Coach of Milan Stefano Pioli is said to be a huge admirer of his direct play after glowing recommendation on him from a scout who works with the coach. His potential transfer is said to be one that will likely go as one of the shock moves of the summer.

Daniel Martins

The owner of English Championship side Watford Gino Pozzo claimed that he was offered the chance to sign Nigeria and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen powered Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years with as many as 31 goals in all competitions this season and that has led to talks about his future at the club, considering the fact that he has two years left on his deal.

His rise from the boy who couldn’t cut it at German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg to one that is one of the most coveted strikers in European football in the world has really taken a lot of people by surprise.

One of them is the owner of Watford, who claimed he was offered the chance to sign the Nigerian while he was on loan to Belgium side Charleroi just before he joined French top division side Lille.

He said they rejected the chance to sign him, a move that he probably secretly regrets with the Nigerian now out of the league of teams like Watford with his price tag pegged at €150m. ” We actually missed Osimhen, they ( Charleroi) offered him to us and we didn’t take it”, he said.

The relegation of Ponferradina to the third division of Spanish League has opened the door for their top players to leave the club in the summer transfer window, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

One of such players is fringe Nigeria international midfielder Kelechi Nwakali, who joined the team last summer on a two year deal after his contract was terminated by fellow second division side Huesca.

Nwakali played in 36 of the team’s 48 games last season, where they suffered demotion to the third division putting his future up in the air but that doesn’t look like it will be for long with Mikel Martija, the coach of fellow second division side Racing Santander confirming their interest in the 25 year old.

Ponferradina will demand a nominal fee for his transfer which many believe might be a club record fee. Already Nwakali is sure to get a lot of interest and probably commanding a wage of around 400,000 euros a year.

However reports has it that Racing are not looking towards signing any player for a transfer fee or release clause owing to their dire financial issue and that could hinder the deal, unless Nwakali is able to terminate his remaining one year left with the club.

Daniel Martins

The senior national team of Nigeria have left the shores of Nigeria for Monrovia, where they will take on Sierra Leone, a game they need to win in order to seal a spot at next year Africa Cup of Nations, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Led by head coach Jose Peseiro, the team had three different training sessions in Lagos at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena before departure earlier today. A total of 23 players made the trip to Liberia , where Sierra Leone play their home games.

Peseiro appears to have made up his mind on what the back four of the team will look like as seen in the training sessions the team had before departure. For the look of things he will settle for the same back four that prosecuted the game against Guinea Bissau away from home.

The back four that helped Nigeria to a 1-0 win that day was without first vice captain of the team William Troost Ekong and from all indications, it will be the same back four with Kenneth Omeruo coming in for the captain.

Omeruo will pair Semi Ajayi in the heart of the defence with the pair of Bright Osayi-Samuel and Zaidu Sanusi playing as right and left full back respectively. This much we observed from all of the team’s training session in Lagos.

Osas Mahawi

Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen has once again decided to switch to a new agent ahead of the summer transfer window where he is likely to leave Italian Serie A side Napoli.

Osimhen fired Napoli to league glory for the first time in over 30 years with his goals also making him the top scorer in the league, a feat that no other African player has achieved before now.

With two year left on the contract he signed following a big money move from Ligue 1 side Lille, talks over his future has intensify in recent days particularly as he is yet to open discussion over a new deal with his present team.

OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal that the 24 year old has ditch his present agent Roberto Calenda and will no be be represented by a Scottish lady, who is very fluent in France and has ties in the country. She will be his fifth agent since his move to Napoli three years ago.

His decision to swap agent is coming hot on the heels of reports in France saying heavy spenders PSG are willing to bid over €100m for the Nigerian with the future of Kylian Mbappe uncertain at the club.

The report has it that PSG will invest all of the money made from the likely sale of the French world cup winner if he insist on not extending his deal beyond next year. Already the camp of the Nigerian have been made aware of the plan by the Parisians.

Daniel Martins