The senior national team of Nigeria will take on the Portuguese team tomorrow in a high profile international friendly game, which will serve as the final warm up game for the host before the World Cup begins.

Ahead of the game, the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro called up 20 players with two new players in Bright Osayi-Samuel and Bruno Onyemaechi from Fenerbahce and Boavista respectively.

They are both in contention for their debut tomorrow and Osayi-Samuel says he will give his all to make the team better if he is given a chance to play. ” I want to give my best for the national team and show what I’m capable of and also make the team stronger”, he said to the official television channel of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Comfortable as a right winger, full back or right midfielder, he has so far played a total of 21 games this season with 11 coming in the league, 5 in the Europa League and a further 3 in the qualifiers. He played two games in the UEFA champions league qualifiers as well.

For the senior national team of Nigeria, he is facing competition for his spot with Empoli defender Tyronne Ebuehi for a starting spot in the absence of regular right back Ola Aina, who is injured.

The senior national team of Nigeria had their first training session yesterday ahead of Thursday’s friendly game against Portugal with coach Jose Peseiro directing the session.

As many as 15 players took part in the drills which were meant to help the players shake off the effect of travelling down for the game. None of the invited goakeepers of the team was available for the session.

That number has since swelled to 22 and a full training session will take place today involving all the players in camp. Peseiro will use the session to fine tune his tactics and also pick players for the game against his country of origin.

Yesterday, it was more of fitness drills which later  saw the players play a short game among themselves basically to have a feel of the ball and also get used to the playing surface ahead of today’s full session. All the players came through the session unhurt.

The major highlight of the session was Peseiro’s chat with Nottingham Forest forward Emmanuel Dennis, he spent time speaking with him before he was allowed to join the rest for the drills. As at the time of this report, details of what was discussed between them is still unknown.

The decision of Victor Osimhen to snub the Super Eagles friendly game against Portugal due to injury isn’t true according to sources close to the player, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Osimhen scored and played the entire duration of Napoli’s 3-2 win over Udinese and was expected in the camp of the Super yesterday when they officially started training for the game on Thursday.

Yesterday morning, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) explained that he has been replaced by Cremonense forward Cyriel Dessers due to an injury be picked up, which will likely be aggravated if he goes ahead to play in the friendly game.

That claim has been said to be false by a source who is close to the Napoli forward. He explained that Osimhen’s withdrawal from the game is due to Napoli’s refusal to hand him an extended break if he plays in the game.

” Injured? I don’t think so because he was on for the entire duration of the game over the weekend. What I know for sure is that he has this running battle with Napoli over handing him a week extra as he will be involved with the Nigerian team during the first week of the break”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” That request wasn’t granted the last time I checked and he has to travel to Nigeria, spend time with his girlfriend who just gave birth and also head out on a small holiday before the league resumes. So skipping the game is the natural thing to do”, be rounded up saying.

Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen once again outlined his importance to the aspiration of Napoli to lift the Italian Serie A title with his tenth goal of the season as they laboured to a 3-2 win over hard fighting Udinese.

Osimhen showed his aerial ability yet again as he rose highest to meet a cross into the box with a firm header. The goal was his tenth in 12 matches this season.  Four goals less than his total tally of 14 from 27 games last season.

Further goals by Piotr Zieliński and Elif Elmas set Napoli on the way to a comfortable win but Udinese refused to give up and their persistence ensured a nervy finish with two goals in the final ten minutes of the game.

Napoli were able to hold on to their lead and claim yet another win their 11th consecutively to maintain their unbeaten run in the Serie A, and also head into the World Cup break as leaders of the league after 15 games this season.

Part of the plans of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro is to convince players who have represented other nations but are still eligible for Nigeria to consider joining his rebuild of the team.

Peseiro will once again lead the Super Eagles of Nigeria in another international friendly game when they take on Portugal on the 17th of November. He has already called up 20 players for the game.

He revealed that he will after the game initiate talks with Atalanta defender Caleb Okoli, who is a full fledged youth international for Germany but still eligible for Nigeria as he hasn’t been capped at senior level by the Italians.

Peseiro’s action has made the agent of another defender who is eligible for Nigeria to make it clear that his client is only keen on representing Italy and not Nigeria. He is Stefano Antonelli, the agent of Udinese defender Destiny Udogie.

Udogie is on loan to the Italian side from English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur and a flying start to the season has been slowed down by injury hence narrowing a potential call up to the Italian team.

His agent is however optimistic that he will one day get his chance as the prefers Italy even though he is eligible for Nigeria. “It’s inevitable that Udogie will end up with the Italian national team, but Roberto Mancini will decide how and when”, he said on his client’s international future.

The head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro says the Black Stars of Ghana didn’t deserve qualifying for the World Cup Ahead of Nigeria.

Appointed after the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the World Cup via the play off, the Portuguese coach, who is preparing for the friendly game against his country is still pained over the inability to qualify for the World Cup.

Ghana beat Nigeria to the World Cup 2022 spot on the away goal rule after a 1-1 draw in Abuja. Peseiro insist they are not a better team than Nigeria and only progressed via the away goal rule, which has been scrapped in Europe.

“At the moment Ghana are a very good national team but I think Nigeria, in my opinion, are better. And they showed it in both games of the play-off to qualify for the World Cup, but the result is the result: you can create more. , you can play better, but in the end it depends on whether you score or not and they scored an extra away goal”, he said.

”And this rule, which no longer exists in Europe, in Africa yes. Nigeria played better than Ghana there, at home not at a great level but in the end it went like this “.

Moving forward he said the team has already switch focus to winning the next Africa Cup of Nations, a promise he made when he took over the reins as the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria.

“When I signed with the Nigeria Football Federation, I was clear that I was in charge of the football movement. My goal is to win the next Africa Cup of Nations. I believe that Nigeria belongs to the best national teams in Africa, with many quality players playing between Italy, England, France, Germany all young and can all grow together winning and then improving”, he explained.

“This is our goal, in the coming years, we want to reach the level of the best national teams. I strongly believe, and I’m not crazy, to be here is to win the next Africa Cup of Nations”.

The exclusion of AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori was the major talking point when the list of players picked by coach Gareth Southgate for the World Cup 2022 was made public during the week.

Tomori enjoyed a stellar campaign with AC Milan since moving permanently to the San Siro from Chelsea. He was instrumental in their winning the Serie A title last season, a form which he has carried into this season.

However he still wasn’t picked for the World Cup and more shockingly is that since he decided to pledge his international future to England, he has only played in two games although he has been called up eight times.

It means per the new FIFA rules he is still eligible to switch his international future to Nigeria. A country he qualifies for through his father. That option is what he has been told to explore by former Chelsea and Super Eagles defender Celestine Babayaro as he appears not to be in the plans of Southgate.

” He is 24 year old and by the next world cup he will be around 29. That could work against him but if he wants to have a clear chance of going to the next world cup, then he has to consider switching to Nigeria. He is still eligible going with the new rules”, Babayaro told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

When asked about Tammy Abraham, he said he can’t help but feel sorry for the Roma forward who isn’t eligible to switch to Nigeria after making more than three appearances for England.

” It’s a pity that he can’t switch anymore. He has what it takes to play for any team but the coach of England has no spot for him in his team. There is still a chance for him but it’s not a very good situation to be in”, he concluded.

Head Coach Jose Peseiro has named Captain William Ekong, goalkeeper Francis Uzoho and midfielder Wilfred Ndidi in a 23-man squad to face World Cup-bound Portugal in a friendly encounter in Lisbon on Thursday next week.

There are also spaces for defenders Calvin Bassey and Kevin Akpoguma, midfielders Ayodele-Aribo and Alex Iwobi, and forwards Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen.

Wing back Tyronne Ebuehi makes a long-awaited return to the fold, as hard-as-nails midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo. Defenders Bruno Onyemaechi and Bright Osayi Samuel (based in Portugal and Turkey respectively) are called up for the first time.

Forward Paul Onuachu also returns to the three-time African champions.

Thursday’s encounter at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon will kick off at 18.45pm Portugal time (19.45pm in Nigeria)

Goalkeepers: Maduka Okoye (Watford FC, England); Francis Uzoho (AC Omonia, Cyprus); Adebayo Adeleye (Hapoel Jerusalem, Israel)

Defenders: William Ekong (Watford FC, England); Olisa Ndah (Orlando Pirates, South Africa); Calvin Bassey (Ajax FC, The Netherlands); Kevin Akpoguma (TSG Hoffenheim, Germany); Chidiebube Duru (Rivers United); Tyronne Ebuehi (Empoli FC, Italy); Bruno Onyemaechi (Boavista FC, Portugal); Bright Osayi Samuel (Fenerbahce FC, Turkey)

Midfielders: Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Southampton FC, England); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Oghenekaro Etebo (Aris Thessaloniki, Greece)

Forwards: Moses Simon (Nantes FC, France); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Ademola Lookman (Atalanta FC, Italy); Terem Moffi (Lorient FC, France); Paul Onuachu (Genk FC, Belgium); Victor Osimhen (SSC Napoli, Italy); Emmanuel Dennis (Nottingham Forest, England)

The senior national team of Nigeria will on the 17th of November take on the Portuguese team in an international friendly game as part of the final round of games by the host ahead of the start of the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

Peseiro has already called up players for the game but the list is yet to be made public, he however takes out time to explain how the team will approach the game and why they decided to play against Portugal.

He said even though the team hasn’t won any of their friendly games since he took over as coach. It is still better to play against the strong teams as it will help them know where the team is in need of improvement, something which he said might not be seen if they play against a weaker team.

“Playing against my nation, the best in the world, which can win the World Cup, is extraordinary. But it is also a great opportunity: when you want to create a national team with great goals, you have to do it against great opponents. For now we have played against Mexico. and Ecuador in the United States and then against Algeria”, he explained.

“The path must be this: if you just want to win, it’s better to play against Nationals without this quality. But if I want to improve the national team, I also have to go through defeats that prepare us for a future better. What motivation do you give to the players against the small national teams? Only points for the UEFA Ranking. But beating Portugal, competing head to head, then it’s a different kind of path. “

Asked about his relationship with celebrated coach Jose Mourinho, he said he learnt a lot winning under the now coach of Roma which has helped shape his career since he decided to work on his own as head coach.

“I was with Mourinho and I studied him … Or he studied me! We are friends, very good friends. And he has shown that he puts on great performances. Over the years he has shown his enthusiasm , motivations. He opened many doors everywhere for us Portuguese coaches. He showed everyone that in Portugal there are great coaches and we all have to thank Mourinho.

“First he won without money, at Porto, then he became a fighter. In England he is managed to take the Premier League a step forward, he always created something, enthusiasm, attention, results, victories “, he remarked.

On if Cristiano Ronaldo still has a role to play for Portugal at the world cup, he said that isn’t an issue to be debated on as the Manchester United forward has done enough already not to be doubted at a tournament.

”Ronaldo will never be a problem for the national team. Never. Never. He brought us to the top. Not only him, of course, but he’s not a problem. He’s a solution. He did everything for the national team, he fought for us. and he scored, scored, scored and scored again …

“In the last twenty years he has shown that Portugal is among the best in the world. Right now everyone respects us, our strength, our quality and everyone thinks that, with Ronaldo, you can always win something “.

The head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has confirmed that Empoli defender Tyronne Ebuehi will be in the squad for the November 17th friendly game against Portugal.

Ebuehi hasn’t played for Nigeria since the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in January this year but Peseiro said after watching his performances in the Serie A for Empoli he will be a part of the squad.

26 year old Ebuehi has played in five Serie A games with an assist and with the absence of regular right back Ola Aina due to injury, Peseiro says Aina is in the squad for the high profile game in the country where he once defended the colours of Benfica.

He also said he has been taking notes of some notable performances of Nigerian players in the Serie A in particular the duo of Isaac Success and David Okereke who are at Udinese and Cremonense respectively. The idea is to hand them a call up if they continue to impress.