Nigeria U23 team sealed a spot in the next round of the qualifiers for the U23 Africa Cup of Nations by beating Tanzania 2-0 in Ibadan to progress on a 3-1 aggregate score.

Despite the win, the team didn’t quite convinced lot of people who saw the game and it further raised question marks around the quality of the players called up by the coaches of the team especially the players based abroad.

As many as 12 of them were in the camp of the team mostly from second rated leagues in Europe with Ibrahim Sunusi the only player who plays outside Europe among the foreign based players.

Speaking to OwnGoalNigeria.com, a member of the technical crew admitted that they lack proper knowledge of Nigerian players abroad who are within the age limit. Hence they had to settle for the ones they have been in touch with or recommended to them by certain individuals.

” It wasn’t easy getting players within the age limit and also assurance that they will be available. We actually don’t have a pool of players written down before the game but we do now. I must admit that we didn’t call up the best players. It’s a case of settling with what we have just to get the job done”, a coach of the team told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

On allegations of players paying to get invited, he said none of the coaches is involved in such as they treated and picked the players based on what they saw in training. He however admitted that they weren’t in charge of some of the players who were in the camp of the team.

” For the much that I know and also for the rest of the crew, no player paid a dime to be in the team. Some players were brought to us by certain individuals and we gave them a chance. Even in our team, we had two players who played their way into the team. Maybe those who brought them to us collected money but we dealt with the players on account of what they did in training”, he concluded.

The failure of the senior national team of Nigeria to make it to the World Cup has been labelled as unfortunate as it will no doubt affect the marketability and ratings of some of the top players in the team.

Nigeria lost out in the race to be at the World Cup in Qatar after losing on away goal rule to Ghana in the world cup qualifiers playoff, with the second leg ending 1-1 in Abuja after a 0-0 draw in Ghana.

With less than a month to the start of the World Cup, the debate has been about some of the players who are currently doing very well but won’t be at the showpiece. One name that came to the mind of former Nigeria international and Chelsea star Celestine Babayaro is Victor Osimhen.

Osimhen has scored in every game since his return from injury three weeks ago. He capped it up with an impressive hattrick against Sassuolo over the weekend to go joint top of the Serie A goal chart with seven goals for table topping Napoli.

” It’s a pity that Osimhen won’t be at the World Cup. This is his year and the world would have seen and known him better if Nigeria had made it to the World Cup. You can’t say if he will be the same in four years time. Tournaments markets players not making it hurts. Osimhen will feel the pain when the tournament gets underway”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Nigeria international midfielder Alex Iwobi is presently mulling over his future at Everton with his representatives putting him under pressure to quit the English Premier League side for a team in the UEFA champions League.

Iwobi ended last season on a high and this season can easily be in the conversation for the best midfielder in the league after 13 rounds of games. He presently has five assists and one goal for the Frank Lampard tutored side.

With two years left to run on his deal, his representatives are not keen on an extension, and they have already started sounding out teams over his availability from next season when he will have a year to run on his deal.

We however gathered that Iwobi isn’t entirely sold out on the idea but he is also keen on once again playing in the UEFA Champions League, which his representatives are saying is a possibility if he accepts to leave.

Ligue 1 side Monaco have been reported to be monitoring his situation at Everton but they are one of the few teams who meet the criteria for his next possible destination, as they are regulars in the UEFA Champions League in the last few years.

The U23 team of Nigeria secured passage to the next round of the qualifiers for the U23 Africa Cup of Nations by beating Tanzania 2-0 in the second leg of the qualifiers played in Ibadan.

Nigeria drew the first leg 1-1 and today’s 2-0 win saw them progress on a 3-1 aggregate win with second half goals inspired by Oluwatimilehin Abiodun Oguniyi popularly known as OmoJesu, which means son of Jesus in local Nigerian language called yoruba.

Latvia based OmoJesu opened scoring with a free kick in the 62nd minute and he was again at the heart of the second goal scored by Nigeria, when he was fouled in the box for a free kick three minutes after the opener.

Team captain Success Makanjuola stepped up and saw his effort come off the back of the Tanzania shot stopper to seal what was a nervous win for the Salisu Yusuf led team.

The camp of the Nigeria U23 has been hit with a huge allegation of cash for spot levelled against the backroom staff of the team led by coach of the team Salisu Yusuf, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Ahead of the second leg of the qualifiers game against Tanzania, the technical crew have been accused of accepting cash to include some players in their plans for the game. The first game ended 1-1 in Tanzania.

” It’s unfortunate that good players are not allowed to show what they can do for the team. It’s about who you know and also how much you have to offer. You can’t say Salisu is aware because it’s a web that has most of the backroom staff in it”, a source told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

He went further to say that on loan Arsenal midfielder Tim Akinola left the camp unhappy after he wasn’t named in the match day squad despite proving to be better than half of the players in his position.

” For instance the Arsenal kid Akintola left the camp in disappointment. He was told he is not in the squad for the game. I watched the training and very few players can be said to be at his level especially in his role. One of the coaches told me he wasn’t prepared for the physical nature of African football. That’s a lie though as he was very much at home”.

Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen once again outlined his importance to the title ambition of Napoli by firing his first hattrick at club level to lift his side to a 4-0 win over Sassuolo.

Osimhen opened the floodgates of goals in the 4th minute with an angle finish before side footing home a low cross to make it 2-0 after 19 minutes. His hattrick didn’t come until 17 minutes to full time and it came after Kvitcha  Kvaratskhelia had scored the third goal in the 36th minute.

The hattrick silenced sceptics who were questioning the decision of the manager to drop Giacomo Raspadori, whose goals carried the team in the absence of the Nigerian through Injury. He has been in and out of the team since the return of Osimhen.

Napoli are still unbeaten in all competitions this season and are currently on a winning run that has stretched for a month. They are through to the knock out round of the UEFA Champions League and also top of the League, six points ahead of defending champions AC Milan although they have played a game more.

The father of a member of the English winning team at the 2017 U20 World Cup says his son has already completed the regulation process of switching his senior international future to Nigeria.

David Ejaria, the father of Reading FC midfielder Ovie Ejaria said his son has never hidden his desire to play for Nigeria and that was why he attended the Nigeria U17 trials in 2013, when he was 15 years old.

“My son has never hiding his love to play for Nigeria national team and the dreams he has always nurse as a kid.”

He said his son was on the verge of a call up to a senior national team of Nigeria under former coach Gernot Rohr but the process of switching his nationality wasn’t done on time. He confirmed it has been sorter now.

” It’s done and dusted now and if he is called up, he will definitely honour the call. At the moment he is back to his best for Reading in the Championship after an Injury lay off. I believe he will achieve his dream this season”, he concluded.

As many as 25 players have been called up to the squad of the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of the November 9 friendly game against Costa Rica in San Jose, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The game which will take place at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica will be prosecuted mostly by players selected from teams in the Nigeria Professional Football League, as well as others based abroad who will be available for the game.

We gathered the team will be handled by coach of the home based team and also the U23 Salisu Yusuf. Already he has sent out invitation to players who have already had visa interviews with the Costa Rica embassy. Some players based abroad have also had their interviews.

Players selected for the game are totally different from the ones who will play in the friendly game against Portugal, as it will be prosecuted by mainly foreign based players selected by coach of the main team Jose Peseiro.

The team will depart Nigeria on the 6th of November for the game. We were told by sources in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that the invited foreign based players will meet the team upon their arrival in San Jose.