As players born abroad continue to grow in number among African teams , some Nigerians are not comfortable with the trend as they feel it will in a way hinder the development of players born in Nigeria.

For instance all the five teams from Africa who represented the continent at the World Cup in Qatar have at least ten players born abroad or who have represented other nations at youth level in their squad.

Speaking to OwnGoalNigeria.com, Celestine Babayaro said the surest way for the Super Eagles to stay competive is by also scouting for players born abroad, who are eligible for the team just like other countries are doing.

” You see the team of Morocco and it’s clear to see why they have come this far at the World Cup. They have players with sound football education and also discipline. Their major advantage was scouting for players born abroad and bringing them into the team”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” It’s about time we step up our search for these players and not limit it to just the ones born here. A proper blend is what is powering most African teams and I don’t think any one of them can succeed without players born abroad. They are your citizens as well”, he rounded up.

Franco Baresi was part of the legendary defensive line that AC Milan and the Italian national team had during the 1980s and 1990s. The most profitable online betting Nigeria is on 1xBet website, and this platform has every kind of bet related to Italian football.

Franco was mostly linked with Milan. He had a brother called Giuseppe Baresi, who was also an incredible defender and defensive midfielder. Unlike his brother, Giuseppe was mostly linked with Inter throughout his career, where he played for a total of 16 years. The website 1xBet Nigeria has online betting on all matches of Italian football, and it is capable of offering rewards that no other site on the Internet can.

Professional footballers have an exciting but let’s be an honest very stressful job. The joy of the game and the love of fans are often accompanied by extreme tiredness from around-the-clock training and pressure from win expectations. When you always have to lay yourself out 100%, it’s obvious that you should unwind to relax and recover your mind and body sound condition after the game.

The top football players enjoy wages that make almost any entertainment affordable. While parties, luxurious cars, and travel are on the list, some footballers choose gambling as the best option. This guide will tell you about 5 popular players who have made casino play their favorite off-the-pitch activity.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

A real football legend, Cristiano Ronaldo is a forward who scored more than 800 goals in matches for his national team and clubs. He is one of the most awarded footballers in the world with 32 trophies obtained in total, including:

● 5 UEFA Champions League cups;
● 3 Premier League cups with Manchester United;

● 2016 European Football Championship cup with Portugal;

Apart from his stunning career and millions of fans around the world, Cristiano is the first player who officially became a billionaire. One thing Ronaldo is willing to spend his money on is gambling. He is reported to be a skilled player who likes table games and slots. Are you surprised that your football idol likes to spend time at a casino? See here to learn more about why athletes gamble.

You probably know this incredible striker due to his stunning performance in Serie A. He spend a great part of his career playing for Inter Milan, though he also had contracts with other famous European football clubs like Manchester City, AC Milan, and Liverpool.

Mario Balotelli is among the famous footballers who like to spend time gambling, and he’s often seen in Italian casinos. This habit has reportedly led him to losses worth thousands of EUR, but it’s not certain whether the Italian striker has any kind of gambling problems. Maybe it was just bad luck, or he had chosen the wrong casinos. A football start or not, you’d better find a reliable and safe place for gambling like the ones offered on the Bestcasinoplay website. This way, you’ll be sure that the games you play always have fair RTP.

This iconic Brazilian player has gained the love and respect of fans playing for FC Barcelona and PSG. He’s also a key player on his national team. Neymar is famous for the most costly transfer in the football industry at a price of 222M Euro.

You might not know, but the Brazilian football star is an avid gambler. He likes casino play, poker, and even bingo. We hope that Neymar will always play casino games responsibly and keep amazing fans with his incredible performance on the pitch.

Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic is among the world’s best scorers, with 570+ goals over his career. He also won 34 trophies, making him among the leading footballers regarding the number of received rewards.

Zlatan played in several European top clubs:

Ibrahimovic is a renowned gambler who likes slot machines, roulette, and poker.

Gigi Buffon is a world-class goalkeeper and a perennial captain of Juventus and Italy’s national team. He is among the most respected footballers in the country loved by millions of fans. Buffon won Serie A with Juventus 8 times and became Italy’s Football World Cup champion in 2006.

The famous keeper is a professional footballer and a skillful poker player. He’s really into the game and reportedly joined PokerStars in 2012.

Gambling among football stars is not something uncommon. Like other gamblers, they play slots, enjoy poker, and compete at a roulette table with the house. What differentiates them from the rest of casino enthusiasts is the huge budget available. It sometimes may lead to thousands of EUR in losses. Even if you’re a football icon, you should always gamble responsibly.

The last has not been heard about the controversy around the transfer of Victory Beniangba to Belgium side Genk from Egyptian outfit Cleopatra. A move which happened in the summer.

Celta Vigo president Carlos Mouriño announced that a deal has been agreee to sign the talented 19 year old, a move which was later confirmed by the coach of the B team Claudio Giráldez, who said all that is left is for the player to get a work permit.

However on the 28th of August, the agent of the player said a deal has been agreed for his client to join Belgium side Genk. A move which Celta contested with the club president owing to the statements made by president of the club on the 1st of August. “We have Victory who is a very young player, he will play for the B team but he has the abilities to play for the first team  like Miguel Rodríguez “, Mouriño said.

Many thought the delay in having the player join the B team was triggered by work permit issues which they were hoping will be cleared before the first league game of the B team. It later turned out to be way deeper than that.

It was on August 28, with the 1st RFEF league ( League for B team in Spain) already on and the transfer market about to end,  that the agreement with KRC Genk by Victory Beniangba’s agents was made public. Asked about it, Claudio Giráldez coach of Celta Vigo B team insisted that the 2021 Federation Cup winner with Bayelsa United belongs to the club

” I know he belongs to the club, he has signed with the club . We’ll see if he arrives on time or not. The club communicated that he was signed and, from there, let’s see what happens. It happens. There was a problem with the transfer issue. He is a player from outside. If he comes to contribute, great and, if he doesn’t arrive, then he doesn’t arrive. It’s not something that I have to put myself in”, he said at a press conference.

However the player didn’t arrive instead he returned to Nigeria with Genk also unable to announce his signing due to a dispute with his club in Egypt Ceramica Cleopatra FC of Giza. He was on loan to Tala’ea El Gaish when Celta Vigo announced his signing after scoring six goals in 18 games.

The complications made the deal to stall until the 18th of September when he played his first game for Jong Genk, the B team of Belgium top division side Genk. Cleopatra announced his departure on the 9th of September not minding the already agreed deal with Celta Vigo.

Since then, the forward has been getting in the dynamics Jong Genk, who are in the Belgian Challenger Pro League, the second division , he has scored three goals in eight games over 503 minutes of play.  A form which further infuriated Celta Vigo.

Celta, maintained that all the papers including that of the agents and their club of origin showed he has been signed to reinforce Claudio Giráldez’s Celta B, and opted for diplomatic channels with all parties.

But after failing to reach an agreement, they have raised the case to FIFA justice . The last time the club had to resort to this drastic measure, they ended up winning the ‘Fede Varela case’ against Porto FC.

The Argentine midfielder, currently without a team, had left Celta B and landed in Portugal after a brief stint in Switzerland as a bridge club. Celta ended up receiving three million euros as compensation.

It remains to be seen what will happen in this case with Beniangba. In Celta they are surprised that he is playing for Jong Genk as nothing has changed in their position that he is their player.

They believed they duly signed the Nigerian forward and now want justice from FIFA to decide. An indemnity for Celta or a sanction on the player who could be denied from playing for several years. This is what the Vigo club expects to end up happening with the Nigerian .

The club is willing to defend their rights to the end and they trust in a resolution similar to the one they obtained with Fede Varela.

Nigeria and football, an exciting, acrobatic, pyrotechnic, yet mysterious association. Nigerian national team holds the record for victories (5) in the Under 17 World Cup and, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, rewrote football history by winning the gold medal (the first and only time for an African team) defeating Javier Zanetti, Diego Pablo Simeone, Ariel Ortega and other Argentinian legends. 

The Olympics’ victory was a great highlight for the Super Eagles, but if you want to know more about Nigerian betting sites and football history, this article is what you are definitely looking for. Nigerian players are undoubtedly among the best exponents of African football in the world and in the next paragraphs we want to highlight the best Nigerian footballers ever.

Obafemi Martins

The Nigerian striker was “as fast as a train” and known all over the world for his acrobatic celebrations. Thanks to his unbelievable speed, since he was able to cover the 100 meters in 11”, Martins was a key player for every counterattack and verticalization.

To date, Oba Oba is the most prolific Nigerian footballer in UEFA club competitions with 23 goals, 10 of which were scored in the Champions League, for Inter, Newcastle United, Wolfsburg, Rubin Kazan and Levante. Martins, born in 1984, still plays in the Chinese SuperLeague at ‎Wuhan Changjiang Zuqiu Julebu. Obafemi Martins has scored 18 goals in 42 appearances with the Nigerian national football team. 

Taribo West

Forty-one appearances for the Nigerian national team, brought to Italy by Inter, he also played for AC Milan; West enjoyed coloring his hair according to the team he was playing with. Aggressive, picturesque, and instinctive with a few too many excesses, which had led him to be one of the most controversial defenders of his generation, at the end of his career he proclaimed himself a Pentecostal pastor, later founding the “Taribo West Charity Foundation” to help Nigerian children in need.

Sunday Oliseh

At just 19, during the 1994 World Cup in the USA, Oliseh was already having a pivotal role for the Nigerian Super Eagles. Reggiana noticed him immediately and catapulted him from Belgium to Serie A in the 1994-95 season (29 appearances and 1 goal).

Oliseh became a proper international top player while playing for Ajax, which prompted Juventus to invest 10 million dollars to have him in Turin in the 1999-2000 season. It didn’t work. On the other hand, he later became a pillar of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

George Finidi

Among the most representative symbols of Nigerian football (62 appearances and 6 goals for the national team), Finidi was a really prolific winger with burning progressions. Mostly remembered for his performances with Ajax, with which he won a Champions Cup in Vienna as a starter against AC Milan, Finidi also played for Betis Sevilla in Spain.

Nwankwo Kanu

As well as with the Nigerian national team, Kanu’s most important goals were scored for Ajax (as a very young footballer), Arsenal and Portsmouth. An elegant striker with long powerful legs, Nwankwo Kanu was named African Footballer of the Year in 1996 and 1999.

A heart problem prevented him from breaking through in Serie A with Inter, marking his career permanently.

Jay-Jay Okocha

With his quick dribblings and amazing feints, Okocha varied from midfield to attack with a rare elegance and vision of the game. In our opinion, Jay-Jay Okocha is the Nigerian footballer with the finest technique ever. Born in 1973, Okocha counts 73 caps and 14 goals for the national team, playing as captain of the great Bolton at the beginning of the millennium (after Alex Ferguson did not grant him even one presence at Manchester United).

He wore other very important jerseys such as Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahçe, PSG and, at the end of his career, Hull City.

As part of their preparations for the Africa U20 Africa Cup of Nations, the Nigeria U20 team played two test games within a space of 24 hours with coach Ladan Bosso keen on putting the players in top shape.

Yesterday, they thrashed Capital City 5-0 with Plateau United forward Albert Hilary hitting a brace after Abdulrahman Adam had opened scoring from the spot. Two other goals from Ayuba Francis and Daniel Daga rounded up the win.

Today, they took on Keffi Selected in another test game at the FIFA Goal Project and comfortably won 7-0 with Niger Tornadoes forward Jonas Emmanuel stealing the show this time around.

Flying Eagles went in front on four minutes as a wonderful pass from Onuche Ogbule freed Dominion Ohaka. The full back delivered a low cross into Haliru Seriki who scored.

Ladan Bosso’s team doubled their lead in the 20th minute as a quick breakaway saw Dominion Ohaka feed Emmanuel Ekpeyong. The winger showed wonderful piece of skill inside the Keffi box before brilliantly picking out the bottom corner of the net.

In-form Jonas Emmanuel made it three. A well planned move saw Ibrahim Yahaya set up the Tornadoes forward.

The Flying Eagles had their fourth of the match as Emmanuel Ekpeyong found Ibrahim Yahaya who chested and sent a bullet to the net.

Jonas scored from the penalty spot after Ekpeyong had been brought down in the box.

Emmanuel Jonas completed his hat trick, turning in a low cross in the 41st minute.

Substitute Obiaku Ifesinachi who scored two against Paul E Sports Football Academy turned up again this time with four minutes left on the clock.

A quick pass from Odole Adedoyin found Obiaku with the striker getting in on the act with an assured finish into the bottom corner.

The Flying Eagles will continue preparation for U20 Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.

The U20 Africa Cup of Nations will take place 18th February – 12th March, 2023 in Egypt. The top four teams will qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup scheduled to place in Indonesia 20th May – 11th June next year.

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has reacted to the 0-4 loss the team suffered in their recent friendly game against Portugal.

Rohr was sacked after helping Nigeria seal a spot in the final rounds of the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers playoff. In his absence the team failed to make it to the World Cup losing on away goal rule to Ghana.

The coach was however in Qatar where he worked as a television pundit on matches involving African teams, owing to his experience and knowledge of the teams.

He however did take out time to watch his former team before the world cup in a friendly game against Portugal. The Jose Peseiro led team were no match for their Portuguese counterparts.

As a former coach of the team, Rohr expressed his unhappiness about the result particularly the way the team played saying the players looked unrecognizable from the players he worked with a little over a year ago. He also said in his five year stay at no time he was beaten 4-0.

“I watched the game against Portugal in Lisbon. I didn’t recognise my players at all. I wasn’t happy with how they played and the result. I never lost a match 4-0 to any team, during my five years as coach”, he was quoted as saying by Osasu Obayiuwana.

Coaches are mostly hired and fired based on results and that is the reason why one of the assistants of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has been shown the exit door.

Relegated Nigeria Professional Football League side Kano Pillars yesterday announced Evans Ogenyi as the new coach of the team replacing Salisu Yusuf, who is one of the assistants of Peseiro.

Yusuf who also doubles as the coach of the Nigeria home based team and the U23 was the one at the helm when the team were relegated last season. He was brought in to help them become title contenders but it ended the other way round.

His continual stay with the senior national team as second assistant has also come under public scrutiny owing to the fact that he has three national team jobs , few years after he was caught on tape collecting cash from reporters who posed as football agents, representing two players in his home base team.

So far he has only succeeded with the U23 as the home based team failed to get past Ghana hence missed out on a spot in the CHAN championship. The U23s are through to the next round of qualifiers for the AFCON but allegations of bribe taking is rocking the team.

The Ladan Bosso led Nigeria U20 team got their preparation for the Africa U20 Cup of Nations underway with a resounding 5-0 win over Paul E Sports Academy at their training camp in Abuja.

Known as the Flying Eagles, the Nigerian team made their intention of tearing their opponent apart with Jonas Emmanuel opening scoring in the 10th minute, when he finished off a brilliant cross from the left.

Three minutes later, he was denied a brace by the outstretched leg of Gida Aida who was in goal for Paul E Sports. Aida was however beaten  in the 37th minute by a ferocious strike from Ekpeyong Emmanuel who showed good ball control before roofing the ball to take scores to 2-0.

Twenty minutes into the second half Obiakor Ifesinachi benefited from a well placed pass from Adam Abdulrahman to put the WAFU B champions three goals up. Three later became four when Ifesinachi grabbed his brace six minutes later.

Ifesinachi who was introduced after the break was quick to latch on to a cross field pass before striking to the bottom corner. Gbadamosi Umar rounded up scoring with ten minutes left to play in the game with Abdulrahman claiming his second assist of the game.

Below is the Flying Eagles starting XI.

Nathaniel Nwosu
Dominion Ohaka
Sunday Haruna
Godwin Fredrick
Benjamin Frederick
Boluwaji Sholumade
Justin Emmanuel
Aminu Mohammed
Jonas Emmanuel
Yahaya Ibrahim
Ekpeyong Emmanuel

Subs:
Chijioke Aniagboso
Njoku Augustine
Hassan Shuaibu
Anas Hassan
Onuche Ogbule
Abdulrahman Adam
Seriki Haruna
Edwin John
Klingshak Longbak
Albert Hilary
Ayuma Israel

The Nigeria U23 team recently secured passage to the last round of the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers by edging out Tanzania on a 3-1 aggregate score after winning the second leg 2-0 in Ibadan.

Ahead of the second leg game, coach of the Nigerian team Salisu Yusuf added more players to the squad, one of which is Arsenal midfielder Tim Akinola who is presently on loan to English fifth tier side Chesterfield.

Akinola spent three days in the camp of the team but departed on the eve of the game when he was told he won’t be a part of the squad for the game. He returned back to his base in England while the rest of his teammates battled to a 2-0 win.

His decision to leave the camp came in the midst of reports that backroom staff and coaches of the team are engaged in collecting bribes to pick players in the squad and even players who get to make it to the starting lineup.

” Tim will speak up soon. He would have opened up  a lot earlier but some things are best said at some certain times and for now the time isn’t ideal but trust me he will tell you guys all that happened that led to his axing from the team. Was he asked to pay bribes? Wait for it”, his representatives told Owngoalnigeria.com.