The former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Sunday Oliseh says Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Nididi is a better defensive midfielder than ex Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel.

Oliseh famously dropped the then captain of the senior national team of Nigeria preferring to play a local lad in Paul Onobi ahead of the then Chelsea midfield lynchpin. Even when Vincent Enyeama quit the team making vacant his role as captain, Oliseh snubbed Mikel and went for Ahmed Musa as captain.

That decision was later reversed by Samson Siaisia and Mikel was made captain, Oliseh however had no regrets over how he handled Mikel during their time in the team and went a step further to explain why Ndidi is a better option in the role of defensive midfield.

“He’s a player who’s done some good with Chelsea. But when you talk about playing as an offensive midfielder, he’s not an offensive midfielder. My man here knows I’m blunt to say certain things. Offensive midfielders have certain qualities and he doesn’t have any of them”, he said in an interview with the Athlst Podcast,

“As regards as a defensive midfielder, I think he’s useful but I won’t play him. I’ll play Ndidi because a defensive midfielder’s work is you have to win balls without making fouls, you have to be very good in aerial balls. You have to have some control by helping others. “I’ll prefer to play Ndidi,” he stated.

He further explained how he was seen as controversial by the Nigerian press for benching Mikel insisting it was down to Mikel’s reluctance to play.

“When I coached the Super Eagles, I invited the man. There were lots of controversies. When you’re someone that’s principled, instead of saying that’s your decision, they try to link it to controversies. I invited the man to play with the Super Eagles. He didn’t want to play. I was like, okay, we’ll find another option”, he explained.

The former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Sunday Oliseh says Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Nididi is a better defensive midfielder than ex Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel.

Oliseh famously dropped the then captain of the senior national team of Nigeria preferring to play a local lad in Paul Onobi ahead of the then Chelsea midfield lynchpin. Even when Vincent Enyeama quit the team making vacant his role as captain, Oliseh snubbed Mikel and went for Ahmed Musa as captain.

That decision was later reversed by Samson Siaisia and Mikel was made captain, Oliseh however had no regrets over how he handled Mikel during their time in the team and went a step further to explain why Ndidi is a better option in the role of defensive midfield.

“He’s a player who’s done some good with Chelsea. But when you talk about playing as an offensive midfielder, he’s not an offensive midfielder. My man here knows I’m blunt to say certain things. Offensive midfielders have certain qualities and he doesn’t have any of them”, he said in an interview with the Athlst Podcast,

“As regards as a defensive midfielder, I think he’s useful but I won’t play him. I’ll play Ndidi because a defensive midfielder’s work is you have to win balls without making fouls, you have to be very good in aerial balls. You have to have some control by helping others. “I’ll prefer to play Ndidi,” he stated.

He further explained how he was seen as controversial by the Nigerian press for benching Mikel insisting it was down to Mikel’s reluctance to play.

“When I coached the Super Eagles, I invited the man. There were lots of controversies. When you’re someone that’s principled, instead of saying that’s your decision, they try to link it to controversies. I invited the man to play with the Super Eagles. He didn’t want to play. I was like, okay, we’ll find another option”, he explained.

The newly appointed goalkepper’s tranier of the senior national team of Nigeria Ike Shorunmu has picked Francis Uzoho as the new first choice goalkepper of the team.

Uzoho was in goal for the Super Eagles in four straight games with regular first choice the past two years Maduka Okoye absent due to fitness issues but there are however suggestions that he deliberately skipped the games.

Shorunmu while speaking on the goalkepper’s situation of the team says Uzoho for now is the first choice goalkepper of the team, and said Okoye need time off the team to recover from the barrage of attacks he received for his error in the Super Eagles round of 16 loss to Tunisia at the Africa Cup of Nations.

“Uzoho from my observation needs more encouragement and support. I have to change the training strategy to beef up his confidence”, he told Alex Monye of the online version of The Guardian.

“It has been a long I left the national team duties and so many things have changed. But I have to keep focusing on building the goalkeeping department.,” he stated.

For Okoye he reckoned the new Watford goalkepper need to be left alone to settle in his new surroundings as well as sort whatever it is that will affect his confidence for the Super Eagles.

“I think it is a mind thing and there is no need to disturb him. We have to wait for him to put himself on track,” he added.

Emmanuel Osadebe has turned his back on the Republic of Ireland in favour of the senior national team of Nigeria despite playing for them at youth levels.

Osadebe who only recently joined League Two side Bradford City says he is hopeful of getting the attention of the national team handler of Nigeria in the shortest time.

He believes age is on his side and with a couple of good seasons starting from next season his dream will come true especially if he is able to play a role in Brentford gaining promotion.

“Ireland’s not for me, I want to play for Nigeria. I’m still only 25 years old, and if I have a good season this year, and then a couple more higher up, I know it can happen”, he was quoted as saying by Telegraph and Argus.

“I believe it will happen, and I hope that being at Bradford starts that process up and we keep moving up, because the goal is to get promotion.”

His versatility has seen him play in a whole lot of positions and when quizzed on his favourite position he said it’s about staying consistent in one or two positions next season.

Osadebe said: “I have played in a number of positions in the past. But I’ve already spoken to the gaffer and he’s keen for me to focus on one or two positions, which he knows I can do for the team.

“A big thing for me is to get those goals and assists up from the start of the season to the end.”

The decision of Udinese 19 year old defender Iyenoma Destiny Udogie to leave the U21 camp of the Italian national team during the recent international break has sparked talks of an imminent switch to Nigeria.

Udogie who was born in Italy to Nigerian parents is still seen as an option in the set up of the Nigerian team in the future making many to read several meanings into his decision to leave the camp of the U21 for the games against Luxembourg , Sweden and Ireland respectively on 6, 9 and 14 June.

Initial reports suggest he left the camp of the team in order to deal with issues around his immediate future as he is linked with a move to Inter Milan after excelling while on loan to Udinese from Hellas Verona.

Other sources are saying that he felt unhappy with his exclusion from the senior national team despite the decision of coach Roberto Mancini to leave out most of his regulars in the recent international round of games. He is also said to be considering the option of playing for Nigeria after the snub.

Last season Udogie was among the breakaway stars of the Italian Serie A as he didn’t only cement his spot in the first team but went on to be one of the pillars of Udinese. He scored five goals and also bagged four assists from his role as either a left full back or central defender.

As expected he was contacted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with a view of having him switch allegiance especially if Nigeria qualifies for the World Cup but that wasn’t the case as they lost out to Ghana in the play off.

Hoffenheim highly rated teen sensation Uche Obiogumu has revealed why he honoured a call up to play for Germany at youth level despite meeting with the former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr.

Last year Uche met with Rohr in Germany after a game for the youth team of the Bundesliga side and was expected to make the squad of the Nigerian team by the turn of the year, which is this year.

Rohr sees Uche as the missing pieces in the Super Eagles midfield due to his ability to create and also score goals with ten assists and seven goals for the U19 of Hoffenheim in the U-19 Bundesliga South/Southwest League.

However Rohr was sacked late last year and early this year Uche who had earlier refused to honour the chance to play for Germany accepted an invitation to play for Germany at U18 level and even played two games in March.

Explaining his representative told OwnGoalNigeria.com that since the initial contact with Rohr, there was no follow up even before the sacking of Rohr. His replacements Austine Eguavoen and Jose Peseiro respectively haven’t reached out yet.

” None reached out after the initial meeting with Rohr. Germany came calling and a decision has to be made which was play for Germany. If Nigeria ever needs him in the long run. We can have that discussion and a decision as well”, he concluded.

New coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro says he isn’t keen on inviting new players to the team as he seek to build a team around core players who have been in the team for a while.

Nigeria is currently undergoing a rebuild under the Portuguese coach and talks have been about refreshing the squad by inviting some young players in key positions as replacement for those in the team.

Peseiro is however adamant that what the team needs now isn’t new players but an idea on how to play to his own philosophy which he believe the current group of players in his team can do with ease.

He said he sees them as the best the country can boast of at the moment and will  only call up a new player if he truly believe he is better than the one in his position in the team. Even at that he said giving them game time is a gradual process.

” The players in team at the moment is the best we have now. I have watched lot of video of them and what they need is to understand our ideas and philosophy. New players spring up everyday in Nigeria but we have the best now”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” Okay, if I see a new player who is doing better than the player in his position. I will give him time little by little to help me understand out ideas which is what we want to do most at this moment and not bring in new players”, he stated.

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says he left the senior national team of Nigeria in a far better state than when he took over as coach in 2016.

The German coach was unceremoniously fired from his role as coach by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) hours after Nigeria secured top spot to qualify for the World Cup play off.

Without Rohr who has been at the helm for six years until that faithful day Nigeria failed to qualify for the World Cup, and also had their worst Africa Cup of Nations perfomance in over 40 years exiting the tournament at the round of 16.

Under new coach Jose Peseiro the team has started their quest for a berth at next year Africa Cup of Nations on a sound note by winning their first two games of the qualifiers including a record 10-0 win over Sao Tome and Principe.

Rohr has sent a timely reminder to those who have forgotten the state of the team when he took over as coach in 2016. ” It was a team that was low on confidence that I inherited. They were going through a spell of missing out on two Africa Cup of Nations. It was tough”, Rohr told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” As a team we did some really good things and when I was asked to leave, the work we did is clear for all to see. The team will stay same for a while because we brought in lot of young players. Clearly to see they are in a better place than where I met them”, he concluded.

A lot has been said about the non involvement of Cyriel Dessers in the team that defeated Sierra Leone 2-1 in Abuja and set a new record with the 10-0 thrashing of Sao Tome and Principe in Morocco.

Dessers was capped by Nigeria two years ago but he is yet to play in any competitive game meaning he is still eligible for the senior national team of Belgium, where he was born and once trained with their youth team.

Belgium are currently looking for options in attack and with Dessers finishing as top scorer in the Europa Conference League with ten goals for Feyenoord last season he was seen as an option. That led to talks of Nigeria needing to cap tie him by playing him in a competitive game.

That wasn’t the case as Jose Peseiro had him on the bench for two straight games despite his goal in the 1-2 friendly loss against Mexico in the United States of America.

” Dessers was prime to play against Sierra Leone in Abuja then we had two decisions to make. Change the formation by switching to a three man midfield. Towards the end he was to be introduced but William Troost Ekong got injured and we had to bring in a defender”, Peseiro told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” Away at Sao Tome and Principe he was to come in for Victor Osimhen but again Calvin Bassey signalled to us that he is injured hence we brought on Leon Balogun. He will play games and lots of it for Nigeria but that too is down to his form because we have huge competition for spots”, he stated.

Online casinos have simplified the process of placing bets and gambling. As long as you have an internet connection and a gadget, you may bet from anywhere. While it is handy and straightforward, it is also risky since internet gambling has hazards that are not present in traditional brick and store casinos. 

It is simple to be more covert and select from a broader range of possibilities online, but this does not negate the inherent hazards of gambling in general.

Continually Putting Your Team First

You’ve been a fan for as long as you can remember, and you plan your weekends around their games – but it’s important to realize that almost every team has a terrible run at some point throughout the season.

This is particularly true for lower-level teams. Keep off from spending your money to support your emotions if your favorite team is on a losing run; no matter how positive you are, the only way is up. Passion may seriously impair one’s judgment. 

Blind Wagering

This point builds on the previous one and is geared toward people new to betting or unfamiliar with the procedure.

When placing a wager, it’s critical to do your homework on the teams you’re interested in betting on to make the best selection possible. Even though there will always be an element of luck in sports betting, the degree of chance may be lowered via appropriate study.

One of the most typical blunders of many individuals, particularly beginners, is betting on the favorite. The favorites do not always win, so backing them blindly without completing your homework is a bad idea.

Expecting Unachievable Results

Even if you decide to spend hours studying and formulating the ideal wager, nothing is inevitable in the end, and things can go anyway. Don’t always start your betting adventure with exaggerated expectations, such as convincing yourself that this will be your lucky break or that you’re going to make a lot of easy cash.

This thinking style is risky because it may lead to you placing a lot of pressure on yourself to maintain winning, which can lead to you raising your wagering amounts when playing in casinos such as sodo. Furthermore, having unreasonable expectations is associated with a generally unpleasant betting experience, which no one wants. Be realistic in your expectations, establish reasonable goals, play responsibly, and most importantly, enjoy the pleasure that sports betting provides.

Failure to Do an Investigation

Most bettors do not conduct research before placing their wagers, and this error costs them money because they frequently lose their wagers. Research is vital since it provides additional information about the encounter. 

For example, in football, you need to know the line-up, if the main players are available for selection, the present form of the teams, their history, and how they fared in past matches.

Using Shady Betting Websites

Betting for real money on the internet has several hazards. There is the obvious risk of losing money on wagers, but there is also the chance of losing money to a scam or getting into legal problems. 

As a result, stay away from any betting site that you are unfamiliar with or that is not well-known. This also needs an investigation.

A gambler’s life is full of risks since nothing is ever assured in sports betting. Winning is contingent on various things, including avoiding the aforementioned frequent sports betting blunders. If you want to participate in a safe and secure environment, finding reputable sports betting sites like sodo is a great place to start.