As teams continue with preparations ahead of the start of next season Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia played their second pre season game against Israeli side Hapoel Jerusalem.

The game which was played in Poland ended 2-0 in favour of the Cypriot side who had Nigeria goalkeeper Francis Uzoho on for the final 33 minutes of the game, while his Nigerian compatriot Adebayo Adeleye was on for the entire duration of the game.

Uzoho ensured he maintained the clean sheet he met following his introduction in the second half with a strong double safe towards the end of the game. Adeleye was beaten twice but he did produce two moments of brilliance.

In the 15th and 25th minute, the goalkepper who was a part of the senior national team of Nigeria for the first time during the last round of international games produced two good saves to deny Omonia.

However, Uzoho who has been installed as the new first choice of the senior national team of Nigeria in the absence of Maduka Okoye won the tie dubbed as the clash of the Super Eagles goalkeepers by local media in Israel.

Nigeria national team manager Jose Peseiro is set to extend his current contract with the nation’s football federation. The postponement of the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 has led to Nigeria wanting to extend Peseiro’s contract to cover the new date for the tournament.

The AFCON 2023 tournament finals were originally scheduled for June of next year in the Ivory Coast. However, due to the extreme weather conditions of Western Africa in the summer season, the tournament postponed.

The next Africa Cup of Nations will be held in January 2024 during winter in the Ivory Coast. Fans are already debating which team will win the tournament, but before the next Africa Cup of Nations finals, the FIFA World Cup will be played in Qatar. Betking sports bettors are debating which nation will win the World Cup. Learn how to download the Betking app here and get the latest bet codes before wagering on the World Cup this year.

Peseiro was appointed manager of the Nigerian national team in May 2022 to oversee the team during the Africa Cup of Nations. He initially signed a one-year contract which will expire in less than 12 months’ time. The Nigeria Football Federation now wants to keep the 62-year-old Portuguese manager at the helm of the national side.

Peseiro is well-travelled having managed 18 different club or national teams. He has managed Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon and FC Porto, and also worked as an assistant manager at Real Madrid under Carlos Queiroz. Peseiro has also manager the Saudi Arabia and Venezuela national teams.

Since taking over Nigeria, Peseiro has led the national team to back-to-back wins in Africa Cup of Nations 2023 qualifying. Nigeria defeated Sierra Leone in a come from behind 2-1 victory before downing Sao Tome and Principe 10-0. Nigeria are set to play Guinea–Bissau in September on matchday No. 3 and matchday No. 4 of qualifying.

Peseiro hasn’t stayed long term at any of his recent jobs. In 2012-13, he managed 47 games as the head coach of Sporting Braga in Portugal. Since then, he hasn’t coached more than 31 games with any one club or national side.

Prior to joining up with Nigeria, Peseiro coached the Venezuela national team from February 2020 to August 2021. He coached just 10 matches with Venezuela before departing. After a poor CONMEBOL Gold Cup campaign in 2021, Peseiro left the job.

The three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners haven’t won the competition since 2013. The Super Eagles qualified for just two of the last four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Thus far, under the management of Peseiro, Nigeria have posted a record of 2W-0D-2L. After losing back-to-back friendlies against Mexico and Ecuador, Nigeria posted consecutive wins in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.

Nigeria are blessed with some of Africa’s top players including Emmanuel Dennis, Victor Osimhen, and Calvin Bassey. Osimhen scored four of Nigeria’s 10 goals against Sao Tome and Principe in qualifying. A new contract for Peseiro would keep him with the national side until the end of the Africa Cup of Nations finals at the very least.

Nigerian interational Kelechi Nwakali has officially joined Spanish football club Ponferradina. The 24-year-old joined Ponferradina just months after having contract issues with Spain’s Huesca. Nwakali has signed a two-year contract at the Spanish club and will remain with the side until June 2024.

The central midfielder has not played professional football since April when his contract problems with Huesca began. Nwakalilater revealed that Huesca mistreated and sacked him due to refusing to sign a new contract with the club. Ponferradina are aiming to win the Segunda Division in Spain this season and fans are debating whether Nwakali can lead them to promotion. Fans can visit promotion.com.ng to get the latest promo codes before betting on the 2022-23 Segunda Division.

In addition, Nwakali went against Huesca’s wishes by playing at the Africa Cup of Nations 2022. Huesca had told Nwakali not to play at the tournament but the midfielder joined up with the Super Eagles anyway.

Adding to Nwakali’s problems at Huesca was returning late to the club. Nwakali didn’t return to the Spanish club until 10 days after Nigeria were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations 2022. The club initially planned to suspend Nwakali, but took the ultimate decision of terminating his contract.

Despite being just 24-years-old, Nwakali is a well-travelled footballer. He began his career in the Diamond Academy in Nigeria before catching the eyes of Arsenal Football Club in London. Nwakali joined Arsenal in 2016 but before he could play for the club’s U23 team, the midfielder was sent on loan to MVV Maastricht.

After a number of loans from Arsenal that include spending time with FC Porto B, Nwakali left the London-based club and joined Huesca in 2019. The Nigerian also spent time on loan with Alcorcon in Spain.

Nwakali is a central midfielder but has played eight different positions over the course of his career. The majority of his career has seen him play as an attacking midfielder. Last season, Nwakali played 19 La Liga 2 matches for Huesca, but failed to notch a goal or assist for the club.

Last season, Ponferradina finished eighth in the Segunda Division. The team missed the Segunda promotion playoffs by just five points. Manager Jose Gomes will hope that Nwakaliwill help the team push for automatic promotion this term.

Nwakali experienced his most success with Dutch club MVV Maastricht. He played 52 times for the Dutch team scoring seven goals and assisting five. The midfielder has played three times for the Nigerian national team scoring one goal.

According to Transfermarkt, Nwakali is valued at £630,000. His transfer value high was set in December 2021 at £900,000. The website ranks Nwakali as No. 82 among all Nigerian footballers currently.

After signing Nwakali to a two-year contract, Ponferradinareleased a statement about their new signing. The statement read:

“Kelechi Nwakali is a new player for SD Ponferradina. The new Blue and White midfielder will thus continue his career in La Liga SmartBank, in which he has competed in the last two seasons with AD Alcorcon and SD Huesca.

“Kelechi began his career at the Diamond Football Academy in his country. His qualities caught the attention of Arsenal FC, who signed him for their under-23 team in 2016. Later, he played on loan at MVV Maastrich in the second division of the Netherlands and at VVV Venlo, with whom he competed in the Dutch top flight.”

Nwakali will begin the Segunda season on August 12, 2022.

Left-back Calvin Bassey was arguably Rangers’ best player during the 2021-22 season. Born in Aosta Italy, Bassey traces his roots back to Nigeria, the home of his family. In just two short seasons at Rangers, Bassey went from being a Leicester City reject into being one of the most sought-after players in Europe.

A strong Scottish Premiership campaign was accompanied by helping Rangers reach the Europa League Final. All the while, Bassey was an ever-present force in Rangers’ defence. Now, Bassey has joined reigning Eredivisie champions, Ajax, and will help to solidify the Dutch masters’ back four.

The Eredivisie season is ready to kick off and fans are debating whether Ajax have the strength to win the division once more. Before placing a preseason bet on the outright winner of the, learn more about responsible gambling in Nigeria and which sports you should focus you betting on.

Ajax paid just over £20 million for Bassey, making him the highest transfer sale of all time for Rangers. After securing Bassey’s transfer from rangers, Ajax signed the defender to a five-year contract. Bassey reportedly earned £6,400 per week at Rangers. He should have a nice increase in salary playing for Ajax.

New Ajax head coach Alfred Schreuder will slot Bassey right into the starting XI at the left-back position, although the defender can play centre-back if needed. The Dutch team sold left-back Nicolas Tagliafico to Lyon for £4.2m this summer. Centre-back Lisandro Martinez joined Tagliafico on the outgoing list, joining Manchester United for more than £57m.

Selling both players resulted in Ajax needing a left-footed defender capable of playing either left-back or centre-back. While the fee for Bassey was high, the amount of money Martinez’s sale alone covers much of the transfer incoming costs this summer at Ajax.

Ajax are a new-look team with four first-team players departing in the offseason. Over £100m has been brought in by the Dutch champions allowing them to overhaul the team for first-year coach Schreuder.

Last season was Bassey’s breakout campaign. He played in 50 games in all competitions assisting six goals. Just eight yellow cards were recorded by the Nigerian. Bassey split equal time between left-back and centre-back at Ibrox. He appeared in 24 games at Left-back and 23 matches at centre-back.

In March 2022, Bassey made his debut for the Nigerian national team. His debut came against Ghana in World Cup the qualification playoffs. Bassey played 16 minutes of the first leg which ended nil-nil. The defender started the second match playing 88 minutes as Nigeria crashed out of qualifying following a 1-1 draw – away goals rule saw Ghana go through.

Since the playoffs in Africa, Bassey has been ever-present in the Nigerian national team. He played all 90 minutes in international friendly losses to Mexico and Ecuador before being a part of a Nigeria team that defeated Sierria Leone and Sao Tome and Principe in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.

Now at Ajax, Bassey will be on a larger stage than in Scotland with Rangers. The former Leicester City academy player will compete in the Champions League while trying to help Ajax retain their Eredivisie title once more.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has joined the rest of the world in celebrating new world record holder Tobi Amusan after her fea in the 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Championship in United States of America.

Amusan set a new African record during the heat. Then set a new world record during the semi final. Two hours later she set a new world record by clocking 12.6 secs smashing the previous record of 12.26 secs set in 2016.

The feat earned her plaudits from all around the world and Peseiro has added his voice to the praises with a post on his verified official handle on social media platform Twitter. He also made mention of Ese Brume who won silver in long jump at same championship.

”Tobi Amusan set a world record and won the gold medal, while Ese Brume won the silver medal and both brought home two medals for Nigeria from the World Athletics Championship.

“This is the ambition I like to see in Nigerians! Congratulations to Team Nigeria! 🇳🇬 🇳🇬 🇳🇬“, he wrote on Twitter.

In light of the trending video of Nigeria international Victor Osimhen getting sent off from training at Napoli by coach Luciano Spalleti, it makes sense to look at the words of former Super Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr.

Rohr handed Osimhen his first call up to the senior national team of Nigeria before he made his professional bow at club level. The coach called him up on the strength of his performance at the U17 World Cup, where he finished as the top scorer for the title winning Nigerian team.

The coach went as far as including him in his squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and although he didn’t get to play aside in the third place playoff. Rohr handed him the main scorer role after the decision of Odion Ighalo to retire from international football.

Speaking on what could limit the future of the 23 year old, Rohr explained his poor body language when things don’t go well with him is a huge concern. Something he showed yesterday during a heated argument with Zambo Anguissa which led to his sending off by Spalleti.

“This boy knows exactly where he comes from and will never forget it. Victor is also a fighter on the pitch, and has great moral and physical qualities. Technically he has improved a lot, recently in Lille and Napoli he showed how dangerous he is”, he told Bild early into this month.

“If he develops further, he can become one. Victor still needs to improve a few things, like working on his body language. If something doesn’t work, he shows it too much on the pitch. But these are small things, he can handle them,” Rohr added.

Yesterday’s issue further proved the German coach right as he clearly lost his head after a tackle on one of his teammates Leo Østigård which went unpunished. The issue was however settled afterwards according to Anguissa.

Atalanta are planning for the new season using same model of looking for players who are most times viewed as bargain signing especially as they missed out on a spot in Europe.

The Serie A side wants to strengthen their account ahead of the rapidly approaching Serie A season and they need to move fast, with less than a month now until their campaign kicks off against Sampdoria on August 13.

They have identified 24 year old Nigerian winger Ademola Lookman according to transfer market expert Gianluca Di Marzio as RB are Leipzig keen on moving him on following his return form a loan spell in England with Leicester City.

He is not in the plans of the head coach of RB Leipzig and they are willing to let him go for a fee in the region of €15m. They will however lower their demands if Atalanta push for the deal to be done with his deal set to expire in 2024.

Last season for Leicester, Lookman scored eight goals and provided five assists in 41 appearances across all competitions. He joined RB Leipzig from Everton in July 2019 in a deal worth around €18m.

28 year old Austrian goalkepper Daniel Bachmann will begin the 2022/23 season as Watford’s first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Nigeria international goalkepper Maduka Okoye.

Okoye was largely expected to challenge for the number one spot and even started pre season as the first choice goalkepper ahead of Bachmann who joined the team form Stoke City in 2017.

He has since made 41 appearances and was first choice for large part of the second half of last season , before losing his place to Ben Foster after suffering a 0-3 loss at Norwich City. He didn’t keep goal again until the final game of last season against Chelsea.

The arrival of Okoye was expected to push him down the pecking order despite the departure of Foster but it has now been confirmed that he will be the first choice when the season gets underway next week.

“Dan will start the season in goal,” said head coach Rob Edwards. “I’ve had a chat about it with Madu (Okoye), who isn’t just a really good goalkeeper but also an unbelievable person.

“I think Dan deserved it after having a very good pre-season but I know that Madu is going to fight. He’s a top keeper and he is going to push Dan, and I’d also include Ben Hamer in that too. We have some very good players in that position.

“It’s probably the most difficult decision I’ve had to make so far as you can only have one goalkeeper on the pitch. You pick one and you know the others can’t play.

“But we’re blessed with very good goalkeepers and that can only be a good thing for us.”

Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen was sent to have an early shower by coach of Italian Serie A side Napoli during their training earlier today.

Luciano Spalleti who was officiating as the players engage themselves in a test match during their open training session was left with no option but to send Osimhen for an early shower after his nasty reaction to a tackle.

He was involved in a heated argument with  Zambo Anguissa over a foul on Leo Østigård not called by the coach. While Anguissa kept quiet when he was asked to. Osimhen went on and on forcing the coach to send him off.

#Spalletti a #Osimhen: “Stai parlando troppo, vai a farti la doccia” ⁦@manuelparlato⁩ pic.twitter.com/DSElycYqY9

— Alfredo Pedullà (@AlfredoPedulla) July 24, 2022

“You’re talking too much, go take a shower”, he said before escorting the forward out of the training pitch. Although he later had talks with the duo where the issue was sorted. This much was confirmed by Anguissa in a post on Instagram.

” We are a united team and even more we are a family, there are no problems in a family “, he wrote on his Instagram story.