The Nigeria U20 team made it two wins out of two with a 2-0 win over Italy in their second group game of the ongoing U20 World Cup in Argentina, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

A barren first half which had chances for both teams gave way for an explosive second half edged by Nigeria with goals from Salem Fago Lawal and Jude Sunday late on to inflict the first defeat on Italy.

One minute after the hour mark, substitute Emmanuel Umeh used his strength to steal possession before dinking a lovely ball across goal for Lawal to head home the opener. A goal that Nigeria deserves owing to their dominance.

Italy tried to fight their way back into the game by throwing on substitutes and also heaping the ball into the half of Nigeria but met a resolute defence led by Daniel Bameyi, alongside the trio of Samuel Agbalaka, Benjamin Frederick and Abel Ogwuche.

Jude Sunday put the game to bed using his pace to beat his marker to a long ball by Chijioke Anigboso before slotting home was ended as the icing for the Nigerian team, who are now through to the next round with a game to spare.

Their last group game will be against Brazil, who were beaten by Italy in their first game and will take on Dominican Republic as they go in search of their first win of the tournament.

Osas Mahawi

The Nigeria U20 team will later today play their second group game at the U20 World Cup taking place in Argentina, when they take on Italy.

Led by coach Ladan Bosso, the team will be going all out for a win as it will see them progress to the round of 16 after their opening 2-1 win over Dominican Republic. Italy who were 3-2 winners over Brazil will also be pushing for a win.

In goal, Chijioke Anigboso will keep his spot after displacing Nathaniel Nwosu at the Africa Cup of Nations, team  captain Daniel Bameyi keeps his spot ahead of Austine Njoku.  The trio of Abel Ogwuche, Benjamin Fredrick and Solomon Agbalaka will keep their spot at left centre back, right center back and left full back.

In the middle, Samson Lawal is keeps his place in the team with Tochukwu Nnadi dropping out to the bench as AC Milan midfielder Victor Eletu makes his first start of the tournament. Daniel Daga keeps his spot

The attack will be led by the trio of Mohammed Beji, Salem Fago Lawal and Jude Sunday. Beji will start from the right with Sunday on the left. Lawal will lead the line centrally.

For those in Nigeria, the game will be live on Supersport 209 while those outside Nigeria can follow the game on FIFA+ app starting from 7pmNigerian time.

Mohammed Mowiz

Liverpool ’s new sporting director Jorg Schmadtke has revealed the one decision he made in his career that has come to hunt him as he get set to take over from Julian Ward.

Schmadtke was at the helm of the sporting decisions at Wolfsburg, when Victor Osimhen was trying to get this career underway. The Nigerian played 16 games without scoring a single goal for the team.

The 59 year old wasted no time in taking a decision on the future of the Nigerian letting him leave on loan with interested teams told that they must agree to sign him after his loan deal expires. Charleroi of Belgium took the gamble on him.

It since paid off with Osimhen now seen as one of the hottest strikers in world football after powering Napoli to their first league title in 33 years. He also had remarkable success at Charleroi and Lille respectively before securing a big money move to Napoli.

Looking back at his decision to let the striker leave, Schmadtke admitted he has regret over cashing in so soon. Speaking to Kicker, he said: “It wasn’t a good move, in hindsight. When I came, he [Osimhen] was limping and running in circles.

“I was told that the strikers we had weren’t good enough. The most important lesson is that you have to be patient with some transfers.”

Mohammed Mowiz

The decision of Crystal Palace midfielder Ebere Eze to turn his back on representing Nigeria at senior level has finally paid off following his maiden call up to the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Eze enjoyed a turnaround in his season with the appointment of Roy Hodgson and as the season draws to an end with the final round of games set for this weekend, he goes into it with ten  goals and four assists.

His form has earned him a call up to the senior national team of England for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia. The call up is coming four years after he trained with the senior national team of Nigeria at their camp in London.

He even met with the erstwhile president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick three times but declined the chance to commit his future to Nigeria. Former coach of the team Gernot Rohr was the one who supervised the session he took part in.

With his call up to the English team, there is a slight chance of switching to Nigeria in the future especially if he doesn’t get to play, even if he does it depends on the amount of caps he gets in the future, after an amendment to the rule by FIFA.

Damian Waziri

French Ligue 1 side Brest have secured their status in the top flight league for another season following a 2-1 win over Clermont Foot on Sunday, Owngoalnigeria.com reports.

They have now moved up to 14th on the league standings with 41 points leaving the duo of Nantes and Auxerre as the two teams likely to join the trio of Angers, Ajaccio and Troyes in the French second division next season.

Their survival has seen them make signings of some players a priority for them ahead of the start of next season, and attack is one area they are keen on getting reinforcement after scoring just 41 goals so far with two games left for the season to come to an end.

One is their target is Nigeria international forward Cyriel Dessers who plays for relegated Italian side Cremonense, the 28 year old has six goals in 26 games in the Italian Serie A this season.

In March, it was reported that once their survival is guaranteed they will make a move to sign the forward who is available even though he joined Cremonense last summer from Belgium side Genk.

Now with survival certain, a move for Dessers is said to be top of their priority especially with the Italian side willing to let go of some heavy earners in the team ahead for their campaign in the second division.

Daniel Martins

Former Dutch international Martijn Meerdink says 17 year old defender Jorrel Hato has already shown that he is two levels better than Nigeria international defender Calvin Bassey in the few games he has played, OwngoalNigeria.com reports.

Bassey was a big money signing by Ajax in the summer after his impressive display for Scottish side Rangers in the Europa League, where they went all the way to the final before losing to German side Eintracht Frankfurt.

Things haven’t gone as planned for the 23 year old and as the season draws to an end he has been subjected to limited game time , with rumours circulating that the team will be open to letting him leave in the summer.

In a chat on the state of the Ajax team as they make plans for next season, Meerdink said Hato who has played the entire duration of the last four games for the Dutch giants, has shown that he is levels above the Nigerian either at left back or as left centre back.

“Hato shows at Ajax that he is a huge talent,” Meerdink said in a conversation with De Telegraaf. “In the few matches that I saw him play at Jong Ajax, you already saw how really mature he is at his age. You can see that even in the first team now. He is already one or two class (s) better than Bassey. That says enough”, he stated.

The future of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro is far from certain with his contract set to run out in thirty days time and no discussion has been held in respect to an extension, OwngoalNigeria.com reports.

Peseiro’s tenure will be reviewed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) before a decision will be reached on his future. However sources at the football house are of the opinion that the Portuguese coach will not be granted an extension to his deal.

Although the president of the NFF Ibrahim Musa Gusau said they are not in talks with any coach, Owngoalnigeria.com. can exclusively reveal that it isn’t the case as the football house has already started sounding out coaches, who will likely replace the Portuguese after the Super Eagles last Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers game against Sao Tome and Principe in Uyo.

One of the coaches who is in the mix is South African coach Pitso Mosimane who has officially confirmed his exit from Saudi Arabia side Al Ahli, the team he guided to promotion to the top division of the Saudi League.

It was suggested that he will be handed an extension but a post via his social media account on Twitter clearly suggests that he won’t be renewing his stay at the club. He talked about waiting for the next project after delivering the mandate of helping Al Ahli gain promotion.

“Delivered on our mandate of promoting the team to Premier League,and tonight of winning the Championship! In any League or Competition , Country or Continent, we catch Big Fish! Nile River before and tonight in the Red Sea. 🎣. Waiting for the next Project.💪🏿🤲🏽”, he posted on his verified handle.

In his coaching career , he has won 19 titles and it includes five league titles in South Africa, three CAF Champions League titles, two South Africa Cup titles and three CAF Super Cup titles among others. He is also linked with the coaching role at Tunisian side Esperance.

Osas Mahawi

The Nigeria U20 team will later today take on Italy at the U20 World Cup with both teams looking for a win to seal their spot in the knock out round of the tournament, which is taking place in Argentina.

Nigeria started their campaign with a 2-1 win over Dominican Republic, while Italy got off to an impressive start against Brazil by racing into a 3-0 lead but ended up conceding two late goals to end the game at 3-2. The result left coach of the team Carmine Nunziata a little bit unhappy.

” We should have ended the game a lot better than we did and it is where I think we need to make improvement against Nigeria. Starting well isn’t enough when you don’t end it well. So we hope to do better against Nigeria”, he said in the pre match conference.

Speaking on the threat he noticed about the Nigerian team, the 55 year old said they are a team that play a very compact game and love to break forward with pace and skills. He also praised their defensive organisation.

” Nigeria is a very fast team and strong in duels. They don’t give you time around their box and they break forward with pace. We have to find a way to keep them in check. We know they can hurt us and that is what we won’t want to happen”, he concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz

The Nigeria U20 team will today play their second group game at the ongoing U20 World Cup in Argentina when they take on Italy. They won the first game against Dominican Republic 2-1.

Italy also won their opening game 3-2 against Brazil meaning a win for either team today will see them progress to the round of 16 of the tournament with a game to spare. OwngoalNigeria.com editor in chief Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman takes a look at the things Nigeria must do to beat Italy.

1. Keep it tight at the back – The strength of the Nigerian team is the defence with only two goals conceded at the Africa Cup of Nations. From what we saw in the opening game, the Italian side can score goals so defending like they have always done should be top of their priority list going into today’s game.

2. Take their chances – One thing is certain, Italy won’t give the Nigerians the type of space they had against Dominican Republic. The Ladan Bosso led side were wasteful in that game but in game like that of today where chances will be few and limited. They have to make the most of anyone that comes their way.

3. Deny Cesare Casadei time and space- Casadei makes the Italian team ticks. The on loan Chelsea midfielder was too much for Brazil in the opening exchanges until they decided to deny him space and time by closing him up very early. Going that route saw them took control and scored twice but it was a little bit too late to wrestle anything from the game. Flying Eagles will do well by doing the same thing from the blast of the whistle.

4. Start Emmanuel Umeh – He was used as an impact player in the first game but not until his introduction the team didn’t really get going. His movement and close ball skills helped bring others into play. Handing him a start will mean pushing the Italian back from the start.

5. Jude Sunday has to make good decisions – He tormented the defence of Dominican Republic non stop. However poor decision making in key moment denied him a goal and an assist. He has to know when to shoot , pass , run or cross because he seems to be the team’s surest route to goal.

Mohammed Mowiz

In the wake of the scandal surrounding the racial abuse aimed at Real Madrid star Vinicius Jnr, the organisers of the Spanish League known as the LaLiga have published a list of abuses recorded at various grounds.

The Brazilian was subjected to racial abuse during his side’s 0-1 loss to Valencia with the fans of his opponent calling him a monkey. The issue has since gained global attention for the manner which it was handled.

Racist abuse has been a huge problem in the league and the body while rolling out measures that they have taken against such listed the banning of the fan who racially insulted Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze.

Chukwueze while on duty for Villarreal in their 2-4 loss to Mallorca was constantly racially abused by a fan. The Nigerian scored in the game to bring scores to 2-2 before his side conceded two more goals to lose the game.

The fan in question was handed a three year ban from all football stadiums in the country by the body of the LaLiga and they said his case is one among six cases they have handled this season, and won’t hesitate to do the same to any one found wanting, when investigation into the Valencia incident is completed.

Damian Waziri