Russian side CSKA Moscow say they will formally lodge a protest against the decision of Nigeria international Chidera Ejuke to terminate his deal at the club.

Ejuke terminated his deal with the Russian club in line with FIFA ruling which allows players playing in the war zone of both countries to terminate their contract and move on a free transfer to any club.

The club announced on their official website that Ejuke and midfielder Arnor Sigurdsson have taken advantage of the FIFA amendment allowing them to unilaterally suspend their contract with the club until June 30, 2023.

They however say they will be contesting the decision in court soon as they felt it’s unfair considering that they meet up with all of the financial obligations due to the players despite the situation in the country.

“PFC CSKA regrets the decision of the players, which was made despite the club’s efforts and contractual obligations. As we reported earlier, PFC CSKA plans to apply to the courts to protect its interests in connection with the decision of FIFA, which we consider discriminatory and contrary to the charter of this organization”, the statement reads.

German Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin are expected to announce the signing of the 24 year old Nigerian on a free transfer in the coming days as reported by OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Former Nigeria international midfielder Ogenyi Onazi says the senior national team of Nigeria has lost what made special with the way the team has been handled by coaches and the federation.

Onazi who rose to the rank of captain of the Nigerian team with the height of his stay coming when he played a starring role for the team in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations win made this known in an interview with Sportville.

Aired on Channels TV, Onazi bemoaned the constant invitation of players to the senior national team of Nigeria especially under former coach of the team Gernot Rohr, whom he caused of destroying the structure of the team.

“As a nation and as a federation we need to concentrate more on how to stabilise our team. As we speak now our national team does not have a structure. I’m talking about when Gernot Rohr was still in charge of the national team. Because you bring different set of people to the national team today, tomorrow you see another different set of people and see a different set of people next tomorrow”, he said in the interview monitored by OwnGoalNigeria.com.

He went further to say the national team has become like a place where people stroll in and out but that shouldn’t be the case as it’s supposed to be the symbol of the country. His outspoken nature he claimed led to his fall out with ex coach Gernot Rohr.

“The national team doesn’t have value, people come to the national team they just stroll to the national team and stroll out. We don’t have like a symbol of a national team. You know national team is supposed to be some where that when you are called upon it calls for celebration”, he remarked

“Our national team today. I don’t know  you people are journalist, I will say it also because I don’t know part of you are doing it or others who are doing it but I will say it because me I am always straight and that is why for sure Gernot Rohr don’t like me because I always tell him the things straight and how it is”.

In his words even journalist are culpable of destabilising the team by putting pressure on the coaches to call different players at almost every time after a moment of brilliance at their club side. Advising that while he is not against the calling of new players it should be done with moderation.

“Somebody will score goals maybe one week or two weeks before the national team, he score two goals, the journalist will begin to write. This guy is in form, bla bla bla before you know they will invite him to the national team and guess what? He will come to the national team he will not play and he will go back again. You’ll never hear of that player again. The next time he is getting to the national team again or one month to the national team another player will score or dribble five players they will invite him.

“They are a whole lot of players who should be in the national team but you have to have a base..I didn’t say you should not invite new players, I didn’t say you should not invite players who want to play for the national team but you need to have a principle. If you want to make a change, maybe one, two changes. This will make people to be hungry to play for the national team”, he concluded.

Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel has given reasons why the senior national team of Nigeria has proven to be too big a job for Indigenous coaches.

During his time with the senior national team of Nigeria Mikel played under five Nigerian coaches with the peak of it coming when Stephen Keshi led the team to Africa Cup of Nations glory in 2013.

Indigenous coaches somehow failed to build on that achievement and it resulted in the hiring of former coach Gernot Rohr. Rohr was sacked last year for Austine Eguavoen who failed to qualify the team for the World Cup.

Mikel was asked about his opinion on the debate about foreign coaches and indigenous coaches. He first of all said the time given to most foreign coaches isn’t same as their indigenous counterparts.

“Whichever way you look at it, there is always a good reason to have your own, develop him, give him all the cooperation. The indigenous coaches need to be given longer time to get the best out of them. (Austin) Eguavoen was in-charge for less than three months before he was sacked but when we pay a lot to hire foreign managers and results are not forth coming, we still give them a lot of time before we fire them”, he told the online version of This Day

He went further by calling on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to treat the local coaches with respect then pointed out what he feels is the main problem they have, which to him is identifying the leader on the pitch.

“I think our local  coaches deserve better treatments to get the best out of them. Less I forget, Samson Siasia was another good coach but I don’t know what the problem is. I just hope he would have sorted himself now. He is one coach I worked with and I know his capability as a manager same with Eguavoen who was my first manager in the national team (U-17 World Cup).

“But the major problem of the indigenous coaches is that they always find it difficult to locate the player leader on the pitch and the moment you don’t have that it becomes a problem”, he remarked.

Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ogenyi Onazi has blamed the culture of calling up too many new players to the team as why they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Nigeria lost out on away goal rule in their two legged play off game against Ghana, drawing 0-0 away before a 1-1 draw in Abuja cost them a spot at the tournament. It will be the first time Nigeria won’t be at the tournament since 2006.

Speaking as a guest on Sportville which was aired on Channels TV, Onazi gave his opinion on why the team failed to make it to the World Cup in Qatar depsite the avalanche of talented players in the team.

“There were too many new faces. It was a case of you score one goal in Europe then you are invited. The next game you see another set of players getting a call up because he scored in his club. That is not how to build a solid national team,” Onazi said on the show handled by veteran sports journalist Tony Ubani.

“It is a slap in the face that we won’t be at the mundial. It is very painful and the reality would set in when action starts in Qatar. It is a miss that would affect everybody. The players would have loved to be there, the sports journalists, the fans, everybody”, he stated.

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr is of the opinion that Napoli and Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen can replace Robert Lewandoski at Bayern Munich.

Lewandoski is currently pushing for an exit from the Bavarians with his desire solely on joining Barcelona. Both teams are still yet to find an agreement with reports saying three bids from Barcelona have been rejected.

In an interview with Bild Rohr is of the opinion that Osimhen will be the perfect replacement for Lewandoski if he eventually gets his wish to leave the team. Rohr cited the fact that Osimhen spent his formative year in Germany will be an added advantage.

Rohr said: “If Bayern let Robert Lewandowski go, Victor would be a good alternative.

“I think he would prevail in Munich. Since he already has experience in the Bundesliga and speaks a little German, his adjustment period is, of course, shorter than with other players from abroad.”

The goalkepper trainer of the senior national team of Nigeria Ike Shorunmu has praised Akwa United shot stopper Adewale Adeyinka over his performance while with the team.

Former Nigeria U17 goalkepper Adeyinka trained with the senior national team of Nigeria in the last four games namely the friendly games against Mexico and Ecuador respectively and the first two AFCON 2023 qualifiers against Sierra Leone and Sao Paulo and Principe.

He appears to have made an impression on Shorunmu as he specifically mentioned him while speaking on the competition for the number one spot of the team which he said is presently the sole reserve of Francis Uzoho. Although he said the spot is still open for all.

“The last two games we played, He was the number one but the spot is still open”, he said in an interview on Fresh FM.

” I saw a lot of positive things in the goalkeppers that’s why we retained Adeyinka Adewale and it’s a thing of process . You can’t just come in and say you want to be number one. People understand how I started in the national team.

” I had a lot of experience goalkeppers ahead of me and I learn a lot from Peter Rufai, the late Wilfred Agbonibare and Alloy Agu. So for sure they are our Nigerian goalkepper and they have a lot of qualities in them but it’s a process thing”, he concluded.

On the issue of new Watford goalkepper Maduka Okoye, Shorunmu said the goalkepper asked to be left alone to focus on his new club when he was called up for the last round of games of the team.

“Well first he is still part of the team but then we called him during the end of the season , last season before we travel to America. That is for the two friendly that we played in America. The secretary of the team told me they tried to reach him but they couldn’t get him”, he explained in an interview on Fresh FM.

” I collected the number from him. I called too, I couldn’t reach him but about three days after, the secretary of the team now told me he has got him through a friend on message. He now said to me that the guy now asked for him to be out of the team for now because he has made a move to a new club and want to concentrate on his new club. I said okay no problem”, he concluded.

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has listed three players of the senior national team of Nigeria among the best he has ever handled in his career.

Rohr was sacked as coach of the Nigerian team in December after six years at the helm but he still had fond memories of his time as coach of the Nigerian team despite how his tenure ended.

The coach was unceremoniously axed minutes few minutes after qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup qualifiers playoff by finishing as group leaders in the group stages of the qualifiers.

In an interview with German publication Bild, Rohr was asked to list the best players he has handled and surprisingly he omitted former captain of the team John Obi Mikel, who was at Chelsea when he was coach is the Nigerian team in his early days.

He picked Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi and went further by praising Chukwueze as a player who is capable of anything.

SPORT BILD: And who is the best African you have ever coached?

Rohr: In addition to Aubameyang, Osimhen, Alex Iwobi (Nigeria star of Everton FC, ed.) is also a wonderful footballer. And Villarreal’s Nigerian Samuel Chukwueze, who shot Bayern out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals, is going to be a big one. He is a great dribbler with a lot of wit and stands for attractive wing play. If Samuel comes in from the right and pulls in, he’s capable of anything.

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has listed three players of the senior national team of Nigeria among the best he has ever handled in his career.

Rohr was sacked as coach of the Nigerian team in December after six years at the helm but he still had fond memories of his time as coach of the Nigerian team despite how his tenure ended.

The coach was unceremoniously axed minutes few minutes after qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup qualifiers playoff by finishing as group leaders in the group stages of the qualifiers.

In an interview with German publication Bild, Rohr was asked to list the best players he has handled and surprisingly he omitted former captain of the team John Obi Mikel, who was at Chelsea when he was coach is the Nigerian team in his early days.

He picked Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi and went further by praising Chukwueze as a player who is capable of anything.

SPORT BILD: And who is the best African you have ever coached?

Rohr: In addition to Aubameyang, Osimhen, Alex Iwobi (Nigeria star of Everton FC, ed.) is also a wonderful footballer. And Villarreal’s Nigerian Samuel Chukwueze, who shot Bayern out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals, is going to be a big one. He is a great dribbler with a lot of wit and stands for attractive wing play. If Samuel comes in from the right and pulls in, he’s capable of anything.

Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel has replied former coach of the team Sunday Oliseh who attacked the former captain in an interview few weeks ago.

Oliseh was Mikel’s coach in the senior national team of Nigeria for a brief period and according to Oliseh they didn’t get along as Mikel didn’t play to how he wanted him to hence his decision to bench him.

Mikel wasn’t considered as captain by Oliseh after his fall out with ex captain Vincent Enyeama. He rather went for Ahmed Musa. Oliseh went further as saying Wilfred Nididi is to me a better defensive midfielder than Mikel.

While speaking on this time with the senior national team of Nigeria Mikel veered to his final days in the team where ex coach Gernot Rohr claimed he wants happy that he lost his spot to Alex Iwobi at AFCON 2019, he also addressed the interview granted by Oliseh.

“Few things happened towards my final days in the national team and I was very careful not to react in a way that will affect the group. I thought I had a good relationship with the coach (Gernot Rohr) but after  I left, I read somethings in the media that there were issues between Alex Iwobi and I during the Nations Cup in Egypt”, he told the online edition of Thisday newspaper.

“Unfortunately, it was the opposite because I have a solid relationship with the player just like others in the national team. I read it just the same way I learnt  few days ago about my disagreement with Sunday Oliseh when he was the coach. All these are mere distraction and will  not want to join issues with anyone. Respect is the key rather than unnecessary attention”, he concluded.

The exiled first choice goalkepper of the senior national team of Nigeria Maduka Okoye has drawn the ire of fans of English Championship side Watford after conceding in his first game for the club.

Watford played their first pre season game and handed Okoye who was signed from Sparta Rotterdam last summer but loaned back for the entirety of last season his debut. It didn’t go as planned.

Okoye was beaten at his near post as Watford succumbed to a 1-3 defeat against Cambridge United in their first pre season game played at the training ground of Arsenal London Colney.

He was substituted at half time but that didn’t stop the fans of the team from questioning the capabilities of the shot stopper, who has requested to be left out of the senior national team of Nigeria for the time being.

Fans of Watford were unhappy with his positioning for the goal and as expected expressed their feelings through social media. It’s not too different from the goal he conceded for Nigeria in the 0-1 defeat to Tunisia in the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations.