Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has sent his sympathy to his successor Jose Peseiro, who is yet to be paid his salary since taking over as coach of the team six months ago.

Rohr lasted six years at the helm as the coach of the Nigerian team before he was axed in December. Few weeks before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations and also months before the world cup qualifiers playoff game against Ghana.

The German coach believe his axing from the role as coach of the team is largely the reason why the country won’t be at the 2022 World Cup, which starts in 18 days time in Qatar, he blamed the former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick for the decision to sack him.

” Pinnick should be blamed for Nigeria’s failure to make it to the World Cup. I still can’t understand why I was sacked despite meeting all the targets in my contract. Now I am getting paid for doing nothing and they can’t pay the new coach partly because of it. How do you defend that”, he asked in a chat with OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Speaking on the issue of the non payment of the salary of Peseiro since he took over, Rohr said he has nothing but sympathy for the Portuguese coach but rounded up by saying he isn’t surprised about the situation even though he feels it has lingered on for too long.

” Six months is a whole lot of time especially from the start. I had a good start but it got to where I was owed for months as well so I am not surprised. Not the best or ideal situation for a coach to give his best”, he rounded up saying.

The battle for the international future of highly talented Airdrieonians teen sensation Bright Osemudiamen Prince Okosun appears to be fully in favour of Nigeria despite the fact that he is eligible for Spain.

Born in Spain, the recently turned 17 year old started his career in Spain with Getafe but had to move to Scotland when his parents relocated. At Airdrieonians he has emerged as one of their hottest prospects.

His last game for the U18s of the League One side saw him score a hattrick as his team secured a huge 11-1 win over Elgin City. It was his second hattrick of the season in the youth league. There are talks of fast tracking him to the first team of the Scottish side, already he has trained with the main team.

Speaking to OwnGoalNigeria.com, his father Prince Kelly said it’s not a case of which country he will represent at international level as his life long dream is to see him wear the green, white , green of the Nigerian national team.

” As a proper Nigerian man, who cherishes his roots and origin there is no way my son will play for another country unless he is told by Nigeria that he is not wanted. His progress has been steady over the years and the plan is to step up to gain international recognition”, he said.

Prior to joining his present team he showed his ability in the final of the U17 Central Scotland FA Regional Cup with a brace and an assist to power Summerston Youth FC past Rossvale FC. He is comfortable as a forward or a winger.

Likened to Samuel Chukwueze in the way that he plays, he sees  the duo of Victor Osimhen and  Odion Ighalo as his role model right from when he started his career at Yuncos FC in Spain before moving to Getafe. Okosun also played for the youth team of three German side in VFR Fischeln, Fortuna Dusseldorf and KFC Uerdingen.

A total of 15 out of the 25 players called up to the camp of the senior national team of Nigeria for the upcoming friendly game against Costa Rica on the 6th of November have resumed training.

They had their first session today in Ibadan under the guidance of coach Salisu Yusuf, who picked most of the playera who represented Nigeria during the CHAN qualifiers and also the U23 in the AFCON qualifiers.

Yusuf will be in charge of the team with head coach Jose Peseiro expected to return to the dug out for the game against Portugal. World Cup bound Costa Rica are using the game as part of their preparation for the tournament in Qatar.

Players based abroad are expected to make up the remaining number for the game in San Jose. We gathered six players from leagues around Africa and Europe have confirmed their availability of the game. However players playing in top five European Leagues won’t be part of the team.

Below is the list of the 15 players who trained today and will also continue training ahead of their trip on Thursday to the venue of the game.

1. Mustapha Jibril (Abia Warriors)
2. Alex Jerry (Lobi Stars)

3.Garba Suleiman (Kebbi United)
4. Samuel Kalu  (Enyimba FC)
5. Isaiah Ejeh (Mjallby, Sweden)
6. Nathaniel Nwosu (Water FC)
7. Paul Samson (Kwara United)
8. Kayode Bankole (Remo Stars)
*9. Sunday Faleye (Unattached)
10. Edidiong Enobong Ezekiel (Remo Stars)
11. Bamayi Calocho (Yum-Yum FC)
12.Evans Ogbonda (Akwa United)
13.Dominion Ohaka (Water FC Abuja)

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.