The coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro will use the weekend games in Europe to put the final touches on the list of players expected to represent Nigeria against Algeria.

Players have been notified of their invitation to the game on the 27th of Septemberin Oran but some changes will still be made to the list particularly in defence, where the team is currently facing an injury crisis.

One name that has been mentioned to Peseiro is that of Blackpool defender and captain Marvin Ekpiteta. The 27 year old has been in fine form for the English Championship side winning two mam of the match awards.

It is now up to Peseiro to decide on calling him up with doubts surrounding the fitness of William Troost Ekong who has played just one game since January. Also Semi Ajayi will miss the game after picking up an injury that will sideline him for six weeks.

Already Sochaux defender Valentine Ozornwafor has been called up as cover in defence. A decision on Ekpiteta is expected to be made before the list of invited players is made public.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) could be embroiled in a club versus country row ahead of the September 27th friendly game against Algeria in Oran.

Ahead of the game, letters of invitations have been sent to invited players notifying their respective teams that they will be needed for the game. However one team appears not to be keen on allowing their star player to honour the call up.

OwnGoalNigeria.com exclusively gathered that Nantes of France wants Moses Simon to skip the game owing to the fact that he isn’t fully fit even though he has played two games and will also play later today against Qarabag in the Europa League. He returned from a muscle injury two weeks ahead of schedule.

Already Simon has been told the decision by the club as they view him as one of their star players as they bid to make an impression in the league and also the Europa League this season. The 27 year old has scored three goals in five games  this season.

Nantes will officially communicate their stand to the NFF by next week although Simon is keen on honouring the game after a strong start under Jose Peseiro where he had three assists and one goal in two games under the Portuguese.

The head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro will in the coming days release the list of players who will represent Nigeria in the upcoming friendly game against Algeria.

Nigeria will take on Algeria on the 27th of September in Oran and already the coach of the Nigerian team has sent out invitation letter to players who will take part in the preparation and also the game.

Antwerp of Belgium rave of the moment Alhassan Yusuf has been handed another chance with the team after failing to honour the first invitation he got due to visa issues. He was first named in the sqaud for the friendly games against Mexico and Ecuador but didn’t make the trip to the United States of America.

Recently voted as the player of the month after a strong start to the season, he is the second new player we can confirm is in the list with Raphael Onyedika as the other player, we can also confirm that Watford goalkepper Maduka Okoye has been handed a recall.

Okoye is staging a return to the team for the first time since the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in January, where he was largely blamed for the goal that saw Nigeria exit the tournament at the round of 16 losing 0-1 to Tunisia.

Jose Peseiro is facing his first big decision as coach of the senior national team of Nigeria as he has to deal with an act of indiscipline against Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman during the last international break.

Peseiro played his first two competitive games as coach of the Nigerian team in the AFCON qualifiers winning 2-1 against Sierra Leone in Abuja before dispatching Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 in Morocco. He however encountered some difficulties along the line.

During the course of the 10-0 win over Sao Tome and Principe, Lookman refused to be subbed off and although he went ahead to score his first international goal for Nigeria, it is believe that the situation left Peseiro shell shocked.

Lookman has started the season very well at his new club Atalanta but his international future could be in doubt, particularly if the coach decide to stick to his strict disciplinary standard for every player and official in his team.

According to a backroom staff of the team, Lookman who represented England at several youth levels before finally pledging his allegiance to Nigeria early this year, might be axed from the team following that act.

“It happened really fast to be honest. Lookman openly refused to be subbed off and there was nothing the coach could do. He had to bring Moses Simon off. That act won’t go unpunished and it could be as severe as getting dropped from future games”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

The list of players called up by the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro for the friendly game against Algeria on the 27th of September will be made public later in the week.

However players called up for the game have been contacted and letters of invitation sent to their respective teams. They are expected to arrive Nigeria by next week ahead of their departure to Algeria for the game.

Sochaux of France defender Valentine Ozornwafor per our sources have been called up with doubts surrounding the availability of Leon Balogun. Semi Ajayi is ruled out of the game after picking up an injury that will sideline him for six weeks.

It informs the decision to hand a recall to Ozornwafor who isn’t having the best of time at France second division side Sochaux. He has played in only three of their nine games so far. Clocking ninety minutes twice. Last weekend he wasn’t even in the match day squad.

Ozornwafor has two caps for Nigeria and all came in 2021 under then coach Gernot Rohr when he played in the back to back friendly games against Cameroon. He hasn’t been given a look in since then.

Players of the senior national team of Nigeria will converge next week for an international friendly game against Algeria billed for the 27th of August in Algeria.

It will be the first time that coach of the team Jose Peseiro will be solely responsible for the invitation of players as the players he used in his first four games as coach of Nigeria were already invited before he was announced as the coach of the team.

Ahead of the game, former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel has picked five players he believe are integral to the progress of the team under the Portuguese coach after watching the team in four games following his appointment.

” I saw the two friendly games then the game at home against Sierra Leone and also away to Cape Verde. He comes across as a very offensive coach who also likes his team to be balance when not in possession. For that reason there are players he can’t do without*, he told OwngoalNigeria.com.

When pressed to name the players he picked five who clearly fit the idea and philosophy of the manager base on what we have seen so far ” I think five. My opinion though but five players understand properly how he wants to play and interpreted it very well*.

” Moses Simon is one of them. He is cultured as a winger. He fits the system perfectly then we have Alex Iwobi . Calvin Bassey picks himself naturally and their is Zaidu Sanusi. If not for form then for the fact that he speaks same language with the coach. He will help pass instructions to the other players. Then Victor Osimhen is a must considering his movement as it fits the two man attack the coach seems to favour”.

Seven times winners of the Zambian Premier League Zanaco FC have settled for a former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria as their new handler, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

We gathered that the 2021 winners of the league in Zambia have already reached an agreement with former Nigeria U17, U20 and senior national team coach Emmanuel Amuneke to handle the team for the rest of the season.

Amuneke is expected to arrive Zambia in the coming days to officially resume at his new base. A move that is seen as a huge coup and also a plus for the League as a whole. On his part, Amuneke will be hoping for better fortunes than his last two jobs at club level in Africa.

He lasted less than three months at Egyptian side El-Makkasa and he was at the helm at Sudanese side Al Khartoum SC. Both jobs came after he led the Nigeria U17 team to World Cup glory in 2015. His last job was as head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria.

Alongside Austine Eguavoen, they couldn’t help Nigeria get past Ghana in the World Cup qualifiers play off against Ghana. Drawing 0-0 away in Ghana before another 1-1 draw in Nigeria saw them miss out on qualifying for the Qatar 2022 showpiece.

The UEFA Champions League is seen as the biggest club tournament in the world, so when a 17 year old scores in the group stage it naturally attracts more attention than any other scorer.

It is why there is so much buzz around 17 year old Nigerian forward Antonio Eromonsele Nordby Nusa who found the back of the net to help Club Brugge to a shock 4-0 win over FC Porto.

Introduced as a substitute in the 75th minute for his debut in the tournament, he rounded up the scores one minute from full time by reacting faster to a superthrough ball behind the Porto’s defence from Casper Nielsen, he placed the ball into the bottom corner to properly announce himself to the rest of Europe.

However for those who have tracked his progress, the goal won’t come as a surprise considering how he has progressed over the years from the Norwegian League to the Belgium League. He played top flight football in Norway for just three months.

Originally signed to the youth team of Norwegian side Stabæk at the age of 13 from Langhus IL, where he started his career. He earned quick promotion to the senior team following a solid run in front of goal. At just 15, he played and scored for the first team in a test game. It earned him a registration to play with the first team in the league.

Antonio Nusa wasted no time in making his mark with the first team in the league as he scored three goals in his first four games in the Norwegian top flight at the age of 16. Club Brugge wasted no time in snapping him up two months after his debut.

Eligible to represent Nigeria or Norway as he is born to a Nigerian father in Norway, he made his debut for the Norwegian U17 team last year before making the step up to the U18, it still doesn’t mean he can’t switch to Nigerian. The forward has a particular likeness for the country of his descent as he was pictured training in a Super Eagles jersey last year.

He is also close friends with Hertha Berlin and Super Eagles winger Chidera Ejuke. His goal today will no doubt spark a scramble for his senior international future between both nations.

OwnGoalNigeria.com also gathered that his real Nigerian name is Anthony Eromosele Nosa but spelt in Norway as Antonio Eromonsele Nusa. The goal against Porto is his first in five games this season for Club Brugge.

The goal also earned him a place in the record book of the tournament as he is now the first player born in 2005 to score in the UEFA Champions League but the second-youngest scorer in Champions League history behind Ansu Fati.

The agent of Nigeria international forward Kelechi Iheanacho will likely face a case of assault after allegedly punching the president of Spanish LaLiga side Rayo Vallecano.

Rayo Vallecano president Martin Presa has claimed he was assaulted and left hospitalised by a football agent as he negotiated a deal to sign Espanyol striker Raul de Tomas last month.

The agent in question according to several reports is Ivan Garcia, who works for the agency ICM Stellar, for headbutting him during a meeting in Madrid in August.

In the police report, which was first revealed by COPE on Friday, Presa said things turned ugly when he accused the agency of damaging their own players’ best interests.

Presa told Partidazo Cope: ‘It was a completely unexpected headbutt. It was the action of criminal, a very cowardly action and a very s***** action. Because if he gives me warning, then we fight.’

Stellar, Presa added, wanted commission from the deal which he was not willing to pay because he had not contracted them to play any role in the operation.

At that point it is alleged Garcia, one of seven people present at the meeting, stepped forward and “unexpectedly and violently” assaulted the Rayo chief.

ICM Stellar manages Iheanacho and three other Nigerian players namely Afeez Aremu (St. Pauli), Francis Uzoho (Omonia Nicosia) and Alhassan Yusuf (Antwerp). They are yet to release a statement to the allegations.

The altercation didn’t stop the deal from going through as the forward was earlier today presented as a player of Rayo Vallecano on a five-year contract with the club where he spent two years between 2017 and 2019. The transfer fee is reportedly in the region of €8m with €3m in variables. He however won’t start playing until January.