Nigeria U17 team will later today take on Morocco in their second group game at the ongoing U17 Africa Cup of Nations, which is taking place in Algeria, OGN reports.

Nigeria started their campaign with a 1-0 win over Zambia but were pushed to second on the group standing with Morocco going top after a 2-0 win over South Africa in the second group game.

Both teams will lock horns today with a spot in the quarterfinal up for grabs as any team who pick up a win will seal a spot in the next round, which will mean one more step before making it to the U17 Cup. All four semi finalist will represent Africa at the tournament in India.

The game will kick off by 5pm Nigerian time and will be live on television for Nigerians on Supersport 209. The station appears to be the dedicated channel for the tournament as they have shown all but one of the games at the tournament so far.

As it has been the case with most games at the tournament, several handles on Facebook will steam the game live and they can be found by using a simple search system of typing U17 AFCON on the search page of your handle.

For people based abroad the game will be live on the official YouTube channel of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It is however not available for people residing in Nigeria as was the case yesterday.

Starting XI:

Richard Odoh
Yahaya Lawali
Michael Emmanuel
Hope Linus
Jeremiah Olaleke
Tochukwu Ogboji
Abubakar Abdullahi
Precious Williams
Tochukwu Ogbabido
Favour Daniel
Usman Owoyemi

Mohammed Mowiz

Head coach of the U20 team of Nigeria Ladan Bosso has taken a sly dig at the coach of the U23 team of Nigeria Salisu Yusuf as he get set to name his final list of players for the U20 World Cup taking place in Argentina.

Yusuf called up bench warmers and players from non league side including one from a 9th division team in England to the Nigeria U23 team, that failed to make it to the U23 Africa Cup of Nations losing the ticket to Guinea after losing 0-2 away from home.

The call up from Yusuf generated heated controversies and also backlash, something Bosso said he intentionally avoided, when making his decision on invitation of foreign based players to the camp in preparation for the World Cup.

“What we’re trying to do is to put the finishing touch to our preparations. What are the finish touches; Which is to try to blend the professionals (foreign-based) we’ve invited”, he explained.

“Thank God, everything about the professionals has been positive. We’ve been able to Google and download and get the statistics of the appearances of the foreign players we have invited, in the last ten matches.

“So. if you’re not a regular player in your team, you can’t be here. All we are trying to do is to avoid the mistakes made by the Under-23.

“Because it’s a grave mistake inviting players that you don’t know their form. So, we have to take our corrections from there. And I think all things being equal, we are on the right way.”

Osas Mahawi

The 2-1 defeat Argentina inflicted on the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup which sealed their passage to the next round of the world cup came as a relief to most of the players .

In 2018, the world champions went into the game against Nigeria needing a win to be sure of a spot in the round of 16 while Nigeria needed just a draw to be in the next round. Scores was tied at 1-1 for large spell of the game with Lionel Messi’s goal cancelled out by a penalty by Victor Moses.

With the clock running out in an emotional game and Argentina facing the disgraceful blow of bowing out of the World Cup in the group stages, It was center back Marcos Rojo who proved to be their saviour with a goal late into the game to earn them the win.

Speaking about the goal in an interview on Líbero Vs on TyC Sports, the defender who is no longer a part of the Argentina national team after playing in two separate world cups picked the goal he scored against Nigeria as the most emotional of his world cup experience.

“The goal I celebrated the most at the 2018 World Cup was against Nigeria. I didn’t know I had Messi on my back, I just wanted to get to Mercado who played me the cross. He crossed it and I was there with my right foot, impossible. I hit it with my right foot but perfectly hit it. I could kick 100 times and I wouldn’t score.

“It would have been crazy to be eliminated in the group with Leo on the pitch, they would have killed us all, imagine. It was going to be a catastrophe, so imagine the relief that was, in that minute.”

Mohammed Mowiz

The decision of head coach of the Nigeria U20 team Ladan Bosso to leave out Gent striker Ahmed Abdullahi from his squad for the U20 World Cup has raised more questions than answers from those who have been following the team.

Abdullahi was a part of the team to the WAFU tournament, where he scored twice before sustaining a head injury in the semi final, which ruled him out of the final of the tournament. He returned to the team for the U20 Africa Cup of Nations.

At the AFCON, he scored once and it was in the third place match against Tunisia but that came after he got sent off in the opening game of the tournament and also missed the crucial penalty that would have dragged the semi final game against Gambia into extra time.

In Bosso’s list of players for the World Cup in Argentina, the Gent forward was conspicuously missing and Bosso was asked the rationale behind his decision and he wasted no time he laying bare his decision not to take the 18 year old to the world cup.

‘It’s a mistake he would not want to repeat. He was one of the disappointments we had and I don’t want to repeat such mistakes,” he said.

“Ahmed was the only player that joined us over there and from the look of things, his fitness level was very very low compared to the other players we took and that was the genesis of that his red card in the first match”, he explained.

He said the fear over a repeat is why he is having second thoughts about including Inter Milan midfielder Ebenezer Akinsanmiro in his final list for the tournament with his club insisting on keeping him until a week to the start of the tournament.

“And, of course, from the players we have invited,  Ebenezer, a good player, could have been important to us but the club says they can only release him on the 15th and that is not good for us,” Bosso concluded.

Waziri Damian

Nigeria U17 team will later today take on Morocco in their second group game at the ongoing U17 Africa Cup of Nations, which is taking place in Algeria, OGN reports.

Nigeria started their campaign with a 1-0 win over Zambia but were pushed to second on the group standing with Morocco going top after a 2-0 win over South Africa in the second group game.

Both teams will lock horns today with a spot in the quarterfinal up for grabs as any team who pick up a win will seal a spot in the next round, which will mean one more step before making it to the U17 Cup. All four semi finalist will represent Africa at the tournament in India.

The game will kick off by 5pm Nigerian time and will be live on television for Nigerians on Supersport 209. The station appears to be the dedicated channel for the tournament as they have shown all but one of the games at the tournament so far.

As it has been the case with most games at the tournament, several handles on Facebook will stream the game live and they can be found by using a simple search system of typing U17 AFCON on the search page of your handle.

For people based abroad the game will be live on the official YouTube channel of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It is however not available for people residing in Nigeria as was the case yesterday.

Mohammed Mowiz

The senior national team of Nigeria will head into the final two games of the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations needing a win to seal a spot at the tournament which has been postponed to next year.

Group leaders Nigeria will face Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe respectively in their final two games of the qualifiers, where they have won three and lost one of the four games played so far, the last of which was a 1-0 win away to Guinea Bissau.

Ahead of the game against Sierra Leone, head coach of the team Jose Peseiro won’t be having the services of Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season. The 25 year old started the game in Abuja against Guinea Bissau which Nigeria lost 0-1.

“He’s not great, he’s got a tear in his adductor muscle. It’s significant enough. I’m not going to rule him out for the rest of the season but it will be tough to get him back. Hopefully we can”, coach of the troubled EPL side Dean Smith said.

“He’s disappointed, scored two goals and was putting in good performances. Like always, it gives opportunities for others.

“It’s a blow, he came on at half-time against Man City and did ever so well. He did well in the Wolves game, scored the penalty, and his all-round displays have been really good.”

Osas Mahawi

The coach of the U17 team of Morocco Said Chiba has revealed his fears ahead of tomorrow’s second group game at the U17 Africa Cup of Nations against Nigeria.

Morocco currently lead the group on goal difference after a 2-0 win over South Africa in their opening game while Nigeria could only manage a 1-0 win against Zambia. Tomorrow’s clash could decide who finishes as table toppers.

Aside the battle for who will top the group, a win for any of the teams will see them seal a spot in the quarter final of the tournament, which is the qualifiers for the U17 World Cup that will take place in India. A draw will however be good enough for Morocco to stay as group leaders and a spot in the next round.

“It will be a very difficult game and so will all the matches in this group. I watched Nigeria and it is a team which is very strong physically and quick on the offensive. We definitely have to prepare and play them differently from the match against South Africa. We will try to be more organized,” Chiba said.

He added; “We have a lot of mutual respect with Nigeria and they have a really strong team. We will try to do better and balance our way of play to win this match. The target remains to get to the next round and this match will be key.”

Osas Mahawi