Nigeria international winger Moses Simon has given his opinion on two players  he played against in the Ligue 1, who are eligible to represent Nigeria at senior international level despite representing other countries.

Last week, Simon who is the vice captain of the Super Eagles was up against on loan Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun when Nantes took on Reims. The game was decided by a late penalty converted by Balogun in the final minutes of the game.

Simon in a rare chat with OwnGoalNigeria.com praised the quality of Balogun who has eight goals this season already and said he wish he commits his international future to Nigeria. He is presently an U21 international for England and was even involved with them during the last international break.

” Balogun? I must admit is a very good striker and if it’s by my wish, I want him to play for Nigeria. It’s normal every player wants more good players in his team. Presently he plays for England and we have to respect his decision and hope for a change of mind”, he said.

When pressed forward on Rennes midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu, the 18 year old boy wonder who has taken Ligue 1 by storm this season and presently plays for the U19 of France. He qualifies to represent Nigeria through his father.

” Contrary to reports when I met with his father, we didn’t have any discussion about playing for Nigeria. Another Nigeria international Elderson Echjiele was there as well. It was just a normal discussion after the game and he did very well like he has been doing lately. He is still very young and I believe he has the best people to advice him properly. Deep down I wish he plays for Nigeria but it’s up to him”, he said on the Rennes midfielder.

The top of the table clash in the Italian Serie A lived up to expectation with Napoli coming from behind to beat Atalanta 2-1, hence preserving their unbeaten run and also maintaining their position as league leaders.

Atalanta drew first blood with Nigeria international Ademola Lookman concerting superbly from the spot from a penalty conceded by his international teammate Victor Osimhen. Osimhen wasted no time in making atonement for his mistake.

He rose highest to meet a well delivered corner kick to draw his team level and not satisfied he went a step further to act as provider for Elmas to hand his team a 2-1 lead as both teams head for the half time break after the first 45 minutes.

Upon resumption, Lookman who is Atalanta’s top scorer saw his effort came off the bar much to the delight of Osimhen whose goal made him Nigeria’s all time top scorer in the history of the Italian Serie A.

He now has 32 goals, one more than Simy Nwankwo who has 31 goals and with the way he is playing since his return from injury, he is well on course to extend the record further.

The Nigeria Football Federation says they are making plans to pay the wages of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro, who hasn’t been paid since taking over as coach six months ago.

As first reported by OwnGoalNigeria.com, Peseiro is now free to terminate his deal as coach of the team per FIFA rules as he hasn’t been paid for a period of over three months.

In a press release made available yesterday to press men, the NFF explained that they are working in tandem with the ministry for youths and sports to clear the backlog of the salary of the Portuguese.

According to the general secretary Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, the issue won’t get to FIFA before it’s cleared. He maintained they have a cordial relationship with the coach contrary to reports stating otherwise.

“Most of these speculations and innuendoes are simply ridiculous because we have no problem whatsoever with Mr. Peseiro”.

“He is doing his job as Head Coach of the Super Eagles and, contrary to some of the more fictitious claims, he has not reported the NFF to FIFA with regards to his wages”, he explained.

” The NFF and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development are working on Mr. Peseiro’s wages and these will be settled shortly.”he concluded.

The coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has extended an invitation to players who will represent Nigeria against Portugal on the 17th of November in an international friendly.

Peseiro will trim the final list to 23 players after sending out a provisional Invitation to 32 players last week. The coach will decide on his final list after this weekend round of games in the various European Leagues.

We exclusively gathered that Rivers United duo of Victor Sochima and Ebube Duru will be in the squad as the back up goalkeeper and left full back after their impressive performance in CAF competitions.

Also the coach has handed a recall to ace midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo who is now enjoying a new lease of life at Greek side Aris Saloniki. He has played the full duration of their last four games in the leagues.

Etebo performed brilliantly in the first two competitive games of Peseiro. He impressed against Sierra Leone in Abuja and posted a man of the match performance against Sao Tome and Principe away from home.

Nigeria international midfielder Alex Iwobi can easily be said to be among the first name on the team sheet of Frank Lampard whenever he makes his lineup for games.

Iwobi has been named among the best midfielders in the English Premier League this season after been handed a permanent spot in the middle of the pitch by Frank Lampard. Iwobi has however revealed that he was close to leaving the club before the arrival of Frank Lampard.

He said the club suggest he heads out on loan and he was considering it before he later had a change of mind and decided to fight for a spot. A move which has paid off as he now has the full backing of Lampard, who he said gave him the freedom to express himself unlike his previous coaches.

“It felt like everyone wanted me to go,” Iwobi says. “They said, ‘If you want to play football, you would be better off on loan’, he explained.

“It was like, ‘You are not in our plans, try to prove yourself elsewhere’. I said I would rather take my chances and stay. I felt I had something to give and wanted to show my ability.

“The supporters were probably thinking, ‘We are better off getting someone who can do the job’. I was told in the past I wasn’t good enough. When I hear that it motivates me to try to prove my point.

“Previous managers told me to keep it simple, to play one-or-two touch and let those who were more creative, create the chances,” Iwobi tells i. “Now I have the licence to express myself and go forwards.”

The coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has trimmed the list of invited players for the November 17th friendly game against Portugal.

Peseiro sent out provisional Invitation to 32 players with 27 in his main list and 7 others on standby in the list, which was exclusively published by Owngoalnigeria.com earlier today.

According to the General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) , the coach will submit a final list of 23 players for the game after the conclusion of this weekend games in the various European Leagues.

“We have a friendly match against Portugal coming up in Lisbon on Thursday, 17th November. Mr. Peseiro has compiled a provisional list and is only waiting for this weekend’s matches to submit his list of 23 players”, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi said in a press release made available by the NFF.

The decision to trim the list might affect the chances of the inclusion of new players in the squad. We gathered five new players were handed provisional Invitation but with the decision to trim the squad to 23. There are doubts on any of them making it.

FC Porto have written to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to leave left full back Zaidu Sanusi out of the Super Eagles squad for the upcoming friendly game against Portugal.

Nigeria will take on Portugal on the 17th of November at the Estádio José Alvalade, a stadium which Zaidu is well aware of as he is based in the country but he has been ruled out of the game.

The Nigerian picked up a muscle injury in the UEFA Champions League win over Liverpool and will be out for a minimum of two weeks before a scan to check the extent of the tear in his muscle. The message has been passed to the NFF.

It means coach of the Nigerian team Jose Peseiro will be without his first choice full back duo as Ola Aina, the regular right back has also been ruled out with an injury as well. There is a return for the team’s utility player Shehu Abdullahi.

Abdullahi who plays in Bulgaria for Levski Sofia can play both roles effectively as he has shown in the past and that informed the decision by Peseiro to look his way for the game.

The Nigeria U23 training session ahead of the second leg of their U23 AFCON qualifiers appears to have unearthed a potential star in the Nigeria national team set up in the future, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

16 year old Amos Prince was handed a chance to train with the team and the Tripple 44 Academy prospect showed why is he heavily sought after by a host of teams, including the  duo of Dutch giants Ajax and PSV Eindhoven.

” He was not just quick, he was unbelievably quick. Very composed and can do the impossible from a difficult position. Dribbles, shots and passes are not difficult for him. If he continues to progress in this way then we have a star on our hands*, a member of the technical crew revealed in a chat with OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” The next step will be crucial for his growth. Move abroad or play for the U20s? He has to make the best decision but whichever he picks, the talent to make the best out of it is there for all to see. He left a big impression on all of us and we hope to have him back with us”, he concluded.

OwnGoalNigeria.com exclusively gathered that talented Amos was scouted in Ibadan during a scouting tournament where he represented Tripple 44 Academy early this year. He caught the attention of the chief scout of Malmo.

But before he was sighted by Malmo, Goteborg already saw him in a tournament in December last year. However as they were pondering on their next move Malmo wasted no time in inviting him over to Sweden.

In the month of September, he was in Sweden for 21 days and played in a test game for the U19 of Malmo against Danish side FC Nordsjælland, he wasted no time in making his mark by scoring 15 minutes into the game, he followed it up with an assist for the second goal.

That performance didn’t go unnoticed as the scouts of Dutch duo Ajax and PSV were present at the game. They have also contacted Tripple 44 Academy for more information on the talented winger.

Comfortable as a right winger, left winger or as a striker, Amos will turn 17 on the 12th of December but clubs want to have an agreement in principle to have the first option of signing him when he turns 18 next year.

The goalkeepers crisis rocking the senior national team of Nigeria has opened the door for coach of the team Jose Peseiro to look at other options aside the trio of Adebayo Adeleye, Francis Uzoho and Maduka Okoye.

Uzoho is for now the preferred first choice despite his latest blunder, where he was poorly positioned for the shot that helped Algeria beat Nigeria 2-1 in a recent international friendly game. His deputy Okoye also dropped a howler two days before that of Uzoho in a friendly game against the B team of Algeria, it ended in a 2-2 draw.

Israel based Adeleye played the second half of the 2-2 draw against the B team of Algeria but didn’t quite inspired confidence in the coaching crew. Hence they are still on the look out for more options before the team returns to competitive games next year.

One player who has thrown his hat in the ring is Arthur Okonkwo, the Arsenal goalkeeper who is on loan to English League Two side Crewe Alexandra. The former England youth international is willing to switch allegiance to Nigeria.

” We had that discussion and he (Okonkwo) said if he gets a call up he won’t say no. He is in the second phase of his young career and that is getting regular run of games. The past two seasons he learnt the ropes by watching on as third choice at Arsenal. Now he is experiencing how it feels in real time”, a member of his representatives told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

21 year old Okonkwo will return to Arsenal at the end of his loan deal. He presently has five clean sheets from 16 games in the English third tier, which puts him in the conversation about who has the most in the division.

The most talked about striker in the senior national team of Nigeria the past two years has been Victor Osimhen owing to his exploits for club and country.

This season, the 23 year old has been unstoppable since making his return from Injury with six goals in all competitions from as many games. In the Serie A he has scored seven goals in 8 games, half the amount of goals he scored last season from 27 games.

As expected it has led to talks about his legendary status in the senior national team of Nigeria, where he has 15 goals in 23 games, 22 goals behind all time top scorer of the Nigerian team Rashidi Yekini.

Yekini scored 37 goals in 58 games, a record which no one has broken since he left the international scene in 1999. However many are tipping Osimhen to smash the record if he maintains his current streak. That appears not to have gone down well with former Nigeria U17 coach Manu Garba.

“Presently, they are incomparable and each of them is in a class of his own. Osimhen was the FIFA U17 World cup highest goal scorer and has age on his side and if he remains disciplined, resilient, focused and injury free he will be one of the great strikers”, he told Bunmiblair.com.

“For Late Rashidi Yekini, he won the Africa footballer of the year award(1993), Nigeria’s all-time leading goal scorer and has scored lots of goals(520) in his professional career.”

“What I can see is Osimhen is the best in the present generation of strikers and have the potential to break Yekini’s record but they are incomparable for now,” Manu concluded.