Head coach of the Nigeria U17 team Nduka Ugabde has picked 26 players to represent Nigeria at the U17 Africa Cup of Nations taking place in Algeria, which is the qualifiers for the U17 World Cup in India.

Ugbade picked three goalkeepers, seven defenders, nine midfielders and seven forwards in the final 26 man list which has now been pruned to 21 with five players dropping to the standby list.

CAF permits teams to go to the tournament with 26 players but only 21 will be registered for each game. The remaining five can be included by the coaches if they feel like taking a player out of the 21 man list.

Below is how we analyse the team’s defence and attack ahead of their first game against Zambia tomorrow. A game they need to win to put them in good stead before the other group games against Morocco and South Africa respectively.

Defence & Goalkeeper – This area is now seen as one of the strengths of the team with the midfield decimated by the mandatory MRI test. From goalkeeper Richard Odoh to the ever running Yahaya Lawal, very technical Emmanuel Michael down to who pairs with Jeremiah Olaleke the team is very much settled in this area.

Midfield- A lot has really changed in this department no thanks to MRI test. However Ifeoluwa Olowoporoku is a breath of fresh air, already he is provoking memories of Austin Okocha. Simon Cletus is another who have caught the eyes particularly as he can also play in central defence. Free scoring Umar Abubakar rounds up the top options available to Ugbade.

Attack – Fearsome is the right word to use as even Light Eke who is a substitute can wreck havoc with ease. The starting trio will likely be lead by captain Precious Williams, Abubakar Abdullahi and Charles Agada. The one thing they bring to the team is goals.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria U17 team will begin their quest to pick a ticket to the U17 World Cup with their opening game against Zambia at the U17 Africa Cup of Nations.

Nigeria will be hoping to at least get to the semi final of the tournament which will guarantees a spot as one of the four representatives of Africa at the world stage in India. Nigeria currently holds the title of the team with the most title at the tournament with five, one more than Brazil.

OGN takes a look at five players from the Nduka Ugabde led team who are going to be key to the team’s aspiration of picking a world cup ticket or possibly winning tournament taking place in Algeria.

Abubakar Abdullahi – Already showing that he is a notch above this level. Scored the brace that helped the team to win the WAFU tournament. From then to now he has continue to impress with back to back goals in test games. He wears jersey number 8.

Richard Odoh- Number 1 of the team. The shot stopper has everything required of a modern day goalkeeper. He is very comfortable with the ball at his feet and his reflexes are top notch. He was voted man of the match in the 2-1 win over Burkina Faso in the final match of the WAFU tournament.

Emmanuel Michael – The left full back who had a hand in all but one of the goals scored by the team at the WAFU tournament. Deadly from set pieces and can whip in pin point crosses. His shirt number 3 was the most seen at the WAFU tournament as he won three man of the match awards in the four games they played at the tournament.

Yahaya Lawali- Full of energy and drive. The vice captain of the team who loves to join the attack from his full back position where his ability to whip in crosses becomes a weapon. He keeps his shirt number 2 for the AFCON.

Precious Williams – Captain of the team who didn’t have the best of time in front of goal at the WAFU tournament. On a very good day, the jersey number 9 can single handedly wreck any team. He will be hoping for more of the good days at the AFCON.

Mohammed Mowiz

As Nigeria steps up preparations for the U20 World Cup in Argentina, head coach of the Nigeria U20 team Ladan Bosso has picked 15 foreign based players in his expanded 50 man provisional list for the tournament.

The coach will trim the list to 23 in three weeks time with the tournament set to get underway on the 20th of May with Nigeria opening their campaign on the 21st with their first group game against the Dominican Republic.

Their second game will be against Italy and there is the likelihood of an Italian born Nigerian lining up against the country of his birth following the decision of Bosso to hand a call up to Aleesandro Odobo Osakpolor.

Recommended by former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni , the former Benevento youth teamer currently plays for the U19 of top division Polish side Lechia Gdańsk. He joined the team in the summer after making a brief stop at the reserve team of Austrian side FC Wacker Innsbruck.

According to one of his trainers at the Austrian, he did not meet the age requirements to be signed and the team could not register him without breaking FIFA rules. Added to this was the confusion with the bankruptcy of the club – Wacker players and players did not receive salary for half a year.

However, the coach spoke very flatteringly about the player’s football skills. In his opinion, Alessandro is a very talented player with great potential. He is also seen as one with a great temperament, which always helped him. According to the coach, he always played well in friendlies and for this reason he often trained with the senior team.

He is one of the players Bosso is hoping will ease the goal scoring issues of the Nigerian team that was very visible during the U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, where they finished third to seal a spot at the World Cup.

Mohammed Mowiz

Teams are already making transfer plans for the summer as the season draws to an end. Portuguese side Benfica are not left out as well with the team also identifying targets to bolster their squad for next season, OGN understands.

Benfica are bracing up for the departure of some of their key players this season notably their top scorer Goncalo Ramos. The idea of his potential replacement is one that has seen them test the waters with Santiago Gimenez but the 22 year old Mexican who plays for Feyenoord appears to be out of their budget.

It has seen the club’s recruitment team line up other targets for the expected vacant position in attack. A name on the list was made public in the latest edition of the Market Law podcast handled by Luis Pinto Coelho with emphasis on Benfica.

The player is Nigerian goal sensation Gift Orban who has been a huge revelation in the second half of the season following his January transfer deadline day move to Gent. The 20 year old has scored 14 goals in 16 games this season.

He has also won the Belgium League player of the month award in his first two months in the league, where he is excessing expectations following his €3m acquisition from Norwegian side Stabæk. He scored 19 goals in 24 team at the second division side.

His price tag is said to be within the €20m mark and Benfica have made their intentions known to his representatives, but they are not the only team weighing up a move for him in the summer but they appear to be taking the front row.

Daniel Martins

The international future of on loan Arsenal goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo appears to be firmly in the grasp of England despite overtures from the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro.

21 year old Okonkwo is one of six goalkeepers aged 21 or under to be playing regularly in the top 10 leagues in Europe following his January transfer move to Austrian side Sturm Graz. He canceled his loan at English Leagues two side Crewe in favor of the move.

Before his move to Austria, he caught the fancy of a lot of people with 10 clean sheets in 26 games for Crewe and now at his new base he has kept five clean sheets in 12 games in all competitions. Letting in just ten goals and in the process helped his team to the final of the Austrian Cup.

His fine run of form coincides with when Nigeria is on the look out for more options in goal particularly ahead of the next AFCON qualifiers games against Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe respectively. First choice goalkeeper Francis Uzoho is suspended for one of the games.

Although the games would have come too sudden for Okonkwo, the idea is to have him be a part of the set up before the Africa Cup of Nations next year, but his recent statement points to the fact that he doesn’t fancy switching his international allegiance to Nigeria.

Capped by England at several youth levels, he told the Athletic that his focus is on becoming the next black goalkeeper of the senior national team of England, with David James the last and only black goalkeeper to have picked up the number one slot for England at senior level.

“I’m not sure why it is but the ones I really look up to now are Mike Maignan(AC Milan) and Andre Onana (Inter Milan),” he says. “I have actually gone to watch him (Onana) as he’s a top keeper. They’re good role models and, in the past, there haven’t been many. There are more coming up, but hopefully, I can help change that.”

Mohammed Mowiz

The race for the senior international future of Chelsea teen sensation Carney Chukwuemeka has taken a different turn with Austria joining Nigeria in pushing him to dump England.

Chukwuemeka is presently a youth international for England but can still switch his nationality as he is yet to be capped by England at senior level. He is eligible for Nigeria, Austria and England.

He was born in Austria to Nigerian parents but he grew up in England, where he started his football career before having his breakthrough at Aston Villa . His form earned him a move to Chelsea.

TalkSPORT reports that Austria have already opened a line of communication with the player and his team with coach Ralph Ragnick keen on having him to bolster the squad he is trying to build. It is believed that Chukwuemeka has shown interest on the idea.

With no goals or assist in the 11 games he has played for Chelsea this season, an England call up looks a distant reality hence the idea of possibly switching his nationality to Austria. Talks will continue in the coming days.

Mohammed Mowiz

The Nigeria U17 team have been given a clean bill of health by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ahead of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria.

Upon arrival for the tournament, the Nigerian team were made to undergo the mandatory Magnetic Imaging Resonance (MRI) test, which is one of the measures introduced by CAF to check the menace of age cheats in Africa youth football.

All the 26 players named by coach Nduka Ugabde scale through the grade limit with ease making them switch their focus to their opening game of the tournament against Zambia. It also means the threat of disqualification has been successfully put to rest.

Per the guidelines by CAF , if four or more players in a team fails the test, the entire team will be disqualified. A departure from the past practice where if a player fails it then his team will be disqualified.

The grade is pegged at six by CAF but the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) set it at four for the Nigerian team. That decision has paid off with the recent test in Algeria and all attention is now on securing a ticket to be at the U17 World Cup.

Mohammed Mowiz

The focus for Nigeria ahead of the final round of games in the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations is on the area of goalkeepers with first choice shot stopper Francis Uzoho set to miss both games due to suspension.

Head coach of the team Jose Peseiro called up two other goalkeepers alongside Uzoho for the back to back games against Guinea Bissau but none of the duo of Chijioke Anigboso or Victor Sochima is seen as ready to step in for Uzoho.

It means the team is facing a crisis in goal and it has been made worse with reports from Watford saying erstwhile first choice goalkeeper Maduka Okoye is currently battling to recover from a shoulder injury.

The injury is why he hasn’t made the matchday squad for their last six games in a row. He underwent surgery and has started rehabilitation as he bids to get back into full shape before the summer and the start of pre season.

It hasn’t been the kind of move he was thinking when he left Sparta Rotterdam for the English Championship side, as he hasn’t been able to get consistent run of games like he enjoyed in the Netherlands for two straight seasons. He was even voted as player of the season at Sparta.

A loan move in the summer is said to be on the cards but that too is now dependent on how soon he recovers from the surgery. Clubs won’t be keen on gambling on a goalkeeper who just returned from a shoulder injury unless he gets game time to see his recovery rate.

Daniel Martins

As the summer transfer window draws near players have started pitching tents with agency that can help sort their future at the end of the present football season.

One of such players is Barcelona’s star Robert Lewandoski, who only joined the team in the summer but as he approaches the age of 35, he  appears to be eyeing a final pay day before calling it quit.

The Polish forward was announced as one of the newest captures of fast rising football agency CAA Base. His move to the agency was announced officially by the organization on their various social media handle.

Two months ago, they also announced that Nigeria international Moses Simon has also joined them with his future at French Ligue 1 side Nantes uncertain as he approaches the final year of his contract at the club.

Also Nigeria U20 defender Benjamin Fredrick joined the agency with his future set to be a hot topic among teams in Europe after his impressive performance for the U20 team of Nigeria at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Daniel Martins

As Nigerians await the decision on the contract extension of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro, it appears all is not well within his camp, OGN can exclusively reveal.

Peseiro’s deal as coach of the Nigerian team will expire in June but there is a clause for a two year deal and it centres around winning the next Africa Cup of Nations originally planned for this year.

Following the postponement of the tournament to next year, there is no clear cut statement yet on his future with sources within the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) saying he will likely stay due to unpaid wages.

That decision isn’t one that has been made public yet but one of his assistants appears not to be comfortable with the Portuguese and his way of handling the team since he took over as coach.

” He doesn’t listen to us (Nigerian coaches) and it’s why he agrees to the idea of rotating the crew for games. If he does listen to us there is no way he will accept that but since he has his close circle intact, he doesn’t care”, one of his assistants said in a very bitter tone.

” You know he sent the guy who does video analysis out of a team meeting once, he doesn’t rely on Ike Shorunmu when calling up goalkeepers, we are not even allowed to scout or recommend players. It’s all about him and the people he brought with him”, he rounded up saying.

Mohammed Mowiz