The recent revelation by former Super Eagles forward Odion Ighalo that the lineup for the senior national team of Nigeria in the world cup playoff was changed few minutes to the game has been confirmed.

Ighalo in an interview with Oma Akatugba said the team trained ahead of the game with a lineup that was to start the game and practice a certain style and tactics to use in the game days before the game. According to Ighalo it was changed with less than two hours to the game.

Nigeria ended up drawing the game 1-1 and crashed out on the away goals rule. The country missed out on a spot at the World Cup in Qatar leading to a rebuild and the sacking of the technical crew. Jose Peseiro was appointed to lead the rebuild.

Speaking with another player who was a part of the team shed more light on the starting lineup which he said was altered by then head coach Austine Eguavoen without the knowledge of some of his assistants.

” Ighalo is right. One of the assistants explained to me that I won’t be starting because they want to play in a certain way and formation. I was shocked to hear my name in the starting lineup. I asked the person who spoke with me and he said it’s the decision of the coach”, he told OGN in an exclusive chat.

” The training on the eve of the game was intense and very tactical and around four players who started the game weren’t in the starting lineup during the session. I can tell you the lineup with ease. Francis Uzoho was to start in goal.

” William Troost Ekong, Leon Balogun, Zaidu Sanusi were the back four but somehow Calvin Bassey was picked ahead of Zaidu at left back. The idea was a 4-4-2 formation so four players namely Oghenekaro Etebo, Joe Aribo, Moses Simon and Ahmed Musa. Simon and Musa will operate from the wings but drop down to defend without the ball.

” It changed on matchday with Simon and Musa going out for Emmanuel Dennis and Ademola Lookman while upfront was to be Odion Ighalo and Victor Osimhen. We wanted to score first so playing with a two man attack was agreed but we started with just a man in attack as if we are defending.

” If you notice , all of the players I mentioned were introduced as substitutes in the game and we switched to 4-4-2. That was the original idea but it became plan B overnight. Ighalo didn’t lie”, be rounded up saying.

The coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has penciled down four players of the Nigeria U20 team who will train with his team when they resume camping for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, OGN can exclusively reveal.

Peseiro has watched the team in training and also test games since his return to Nigeria to prepare for the March double header against Guinea Bissau. Last weekend he was among the spectators who watched the team secure a 4-2 win over Zambia in a friendly game at the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abuja.

We gathered after the game that the Portuguese coach has already picked four players in the team who he thinks will benefit from the experience of training with the senior national team of Nigeria.

Sources revealed to OGN that the players are Daniel Bamaiyi who is the new captain of the team, Adams Olamilekan, Daniel Daga and Onuche Ogbelu. The decision was reached after consultation with coach of the Nigeria U20 team Ladan Bosso.

Peseiro will in two weeks release the list of players for the AFCON qualifiers and around that time, the Flying Eagles will be in Egypt campaigning at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations. It’s after the tournament that the aforementioned quartet will team up with the team.

Waziri Damian

The football family in Nigeria was once again hit by another tragedy following the death of relatively unknown Ado Hadi during a league game in Spain where he plays in the Terceira division for CD Madridejos.

He collapsed during the game against Cabanillas  on Sunday. His death was confirmed by the league body afterwards with a statement on how all attempts to resuscitate him by the medical team failed.

The statement from the Castilla-La Mancha Football Federation read thus, Hadi reportedly collapsed “for no apparent reasons” in the 39th minute of the ill-fated match, a report by The Nation says.

The medical team on the ground at the Municipal Toledo ground immediately came to his aide but efforts to revive him proved abortive as he was later pronounced dead minutes after.

“The Castilla-La Mancha Football Federation and Castilian-La Mancha football, with its President Pablo Burillo at the helm, are totally dismayed at such an event,” the statement added. “For this reason, the federative body remains at the disposal of CD Madridejos for everything it needs in these difficult times.”

His known club in Nigeria was Jigawa Golden Stars. A team he played for three seasons ago before moving to the Spanish side two summers ago.

Until his death, Hadi was one of the four Nigerian players playing for CD Madridejos.

Club Deportivo Madridejos is a football club based in Madridejos, Castile-La Mancha in Spain. Founded in 1968, the team plays in Tercera División Group 18. The club’s home ground is Nuevo Estadio, with a 2,000-seat capacity.

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The Nigeria U20 team showed their resilience against their counterparts from Zambia to edge a competitive six goal thriller 2-4 in a pre U20 AFCON friendly game played at the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abuja.

Ladan Bosso led side dominated the early proceedings with Ayuba Francis twice coming close to opening scoring. Danial Daga was also denied twice with long range efforts. On their parts Zambia were threatening in patches with Moses Mulenga in particular putting the Nigerian defence on the back foot.

Zambia were very resolute in defence but had no answer to the enterprising Haliru Sarki who was causing them all sort of problems cutting in from either flanks. His performance had the entire Zambian defence ratteled with goalkeeper Jeban Tembo forced into making two saves from his effort.

One was from a well hit freekick while the other was a drive after using his fancy footwork to displace two of his markers on the left. There was however no denying him in the 43rd minute as he rifled home the opener after a mazy solo run .

Sarki’s goal was the difference at half time but Zambia showed they didn’t come to Nigeria for a party when they drew level ten minutes after the break. A combination of indecision and poor goalkeeping allowed Derick Bulaya the chance to drag home his effort on the post Nathaniel Nwosu is guarding.

Nigeria immediately turned on the after burner with coach Ladan Bosso throwing in the quartet of Jude Sunday, Emmanuel Uchegbu, Nicholas Jonathan and Adams Olamilekan. The subs got in on the mix upon their introduction in a bid to restore the lead of the Nigerian team.

Three minutes after the half hour mark. Olamilekan who was guilted of missing a header after a diagonal pass from Sarki made amends with a firm header from a pin point delivery from Solomon Agbalaka.

Three minutes after retaking the lead, the Flying Eagles lost it again with Lasmond Phiri the quickest to react with a header after Nigeria failed to clear their lines from a corner kick. Again Nwosu was caught in no man’s land and didn’t have any form of connection with his defenders.

Not letting their head drop, Bosso introduced Benjamin Fredrick for Abel Ogwuche, and the Simoiben Football Academy graduate immediately showed why he is so highly rated with some command on the ball which was helping the team to build from the back.

15 minutes from full time, Olamilekan who has been troubling the Zambians with his physical presence and movements robbed Tembo off the ball as they tried to build from the back. He squared for his fellow substitute Uchegbu to help Nigeria regain their lead for the third time in the game.

Bosso added more guile to his midfield with the introduction of Samson Lawal and he showed his predatory instincts by finishing off a move started by Fredrick with a curler to put the game beyond the reach of Zambia. It could have been 5-2 but Olamilekan didn’t get the first touch required to finish off a well weighted pass from Jonathan.

The game ended 4-2 with both teams now turning their attention to the Africa U20 Cup of Nations which is the qualifiers for the U20 World Cup later in the year.

The form of the Nigeria international duo of Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman has drawn a reaction from coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro.

Osimhen is the current top scorer in the Italian Serie A with 13 goals for runaway leader Napoli, one more than Lookman who has been a revelation for Atalanta since his summer transfer from RB Leipzig.

Nigeria will resume competitive football in March with two back to back AFCON qualifiers games against Guinea Bissau. They are comfortably topping their group with two win from their first two games.

Ahead of the game, Peseiro was asked about the form of the duo heading into the game and he said the fact that they are scoring goals for fun has left him with nothing but excitement with the hope that it’s translated to the senior team.

“ It is an exceptional moment for Nigerian footballers and knowing that they can count on two strikers like Osimhen and Lookman is something incredible. I’m telling the truth: knowing that I have two strikers like that makes me feel much better, it puts me in a good mood. At this point I hope they bring their positivity to the national team as well”, he told OGN.

The U-17 team of Nigeria faced their first real test since they resumed camping ahead of the Africa U17 Cup of Nations, which will take place in Algeria, OGN reports.

Nduka Ugabde led team resumed camping two weeks ago to prepare adequately for the tournament, which serves as the qualifiers for the U17 World Cup. They secured a spot in the tournament by beating Burkina Faso 2-0 in the final match of the WAFU B championship played in Ghana.

After scoring 15 goals in two straight games, they were brought down to earth by Kaduna based football academy Unity Academy. The famous academy took the lead very early into the game.

Their lead brought out the best in the Nigerian kids , who were quick to respond with two goals to win the tie 2-1 , much to the relief of Ugbade who was full of praises for their opponents.

In yesterday’s draw for the U17 AFCON, the Nigeria national U-17 football team, the Golden Eaglets, will battle against Morocco, South Africa, and Zambia in Group B of the 2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.

Mohammed Mowiz

The man looking to buy Sheffield United had been revealed as Nigerian billionaire Dozy Mmobuosi, according to reports. Reports from several media outlets in England claimed last night that the club was ‘close’ to completing its takeover.

An African billionaire was said to be behind the takeover attempt and recent reports has it that the person in question is Mmobuosi.

A technology entrepreneur, he is the founder and CEO of Tingo, Inc. and Tingo International Holdings and his company has been valued at £7bn by financial experts.

It was  revealed in December that Prince Abdullah had accepted a substantial offer to sell the club. The offer per what is reported is currently with the EFL as they do their due diligence as part of the Owners’ and Directors’ Test.

The takeover attempt is to purchase Sheffield United and not United World, the holding company that houses current owner Prince Abdullah’s footballing interests.

The Times reports that the deal to buy the club is worth £90m (50 Billion Naira). It comes at a time when the club is facing financial pressures following two seasons outside of the Premier League. They are currently second in the English Championship and in pole position to return to the English Premier League.

They are currently operating under a transfer embargo after failing to keep up with transfer payments owed to another club, believed to be Liverpool for the sale of Rhian Brewster.

Waziri Damian