22 year old Hamburg defender Jonas David will get a call up to the senior national team of Nigeria in the nearest future after talks with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Jonas has represented Germany at youth level playing five games for their U19 before stepping up to the U20 where he played four more games but he has decided to commit his senior international future to Nigeria.

Per a report by German news website Mopo.de , an official of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) visited the training ground of Hamburg, where he met with Jonas. His name was given as Baba Abdulrahman.

The report has it that he works as a scout for the NFF and during the course of his visit assured Jonas that he has a future with the senior national team of Nigeria, as long as he continues to play well.

This season Jonas has played 16 league games in the German second division for Hamburg who are 7th on the log standing. He is a central defender who is also comfortable as a right full back.

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen has picked the starting lineup for Nigeria against Ghana in the world cup qualifiers playoff scheduled for the 25th of March in Cape Coast.

Eguavoen made this known while speaking on Elegbete TV ahead of the two legged games against Ghana on the 25th and 29th of March in Cape Coast and Abuja respectively.

He said his decision to pick the lineup is to avoid any form of distraction and also help the team to start preparations in earnest ahead of both games. As they will have little time to adjust and include new players in the team.

From his statement he is pinning on using almost same players who played at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon where Nigeria crashed out in the round of 16 after a 0-1 loss to Tunisia.

“We have the eleven that will start. We don’t need distractions, all we need is support to cross this hurdle,” he said.

Coach of Napoli Luciano Spalleti has replied the coach of Verona Igor Tudor on his statement that Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic is a better striker than Victor Osimhen.

Tudor ahead of the game against Napoli said the Nigerian isn’t the best striker in the division hence shouldn’t be given more priority saying he rates Dusan Vlahovic of Juventus a better striker than the big money Napoli signing.

Responding to his comments after Osimhen’s brace condemned Verona to defeat, Spalleti says Tudor has his reasons for what he said but insist that Osimhen is a top player. He however listed areas he wants the 23 year old to work on

“Vlahovic is a champion and if a club like Juventus signed him, it means they checked carefully he has everything required to play at that level”, he said.

“Osimhen is a top player with everything on his side. He’s young, he’s a good lad, he can be a bit too enthusiastic and gives his all. When we are talking about timing, movement, the dummy on a defender to change direction, these are the areas where he needs to improve”.

Villarreal and Nigeria international winger Samuel Chukwueze believe he is back to his best after dazzling for Villarreal in their 1-0 win over Celta Vigo in the La Liga over the weekend.

Chukwueze was picked as the man of the match for the game and it reminded a lot of people about this ability which appears to be on the wane lately. Although he still maintained the trust of his manager Unai Emery.

For the Nigerian team, he is also very much a part of the plans of interim head coach Austine Eguavoen who handed him a spot in his squad for the World Cup qualifiers playoff against Ghana in March.

22 year old Chukwueze has fresh competition in the senior national team of Nigeria following the invitation of the duo of Ademola Lookman and Emmanuel Dennis from Leicester City and Watford respectively.

He is however unfazed as he believe he is back to his best after series of injuries and knocks the past two seasons. ” I have not been this fit for a while. I feel better now and it’s showing in my game. It’s a gradual process and it’s nice to be playing at the level I know I am capable off”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Head coach of Napoli Luciano Spalleti says Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen has so much potential to be the best striker in the world if he works on one area of his game.

Osimhen scored his 9th goals of the season in 19 games in what has been an injury hit season. His brace yesterday against Verona helped Napoli to a 2-1 win and also keep them in touch with the leaders AC Milan in the race for the scudetto.

Spalleti was pleased to see his big money man score a brace after a week of criticism following his not too impressive performance against AC Milan last weekend, which further increase talks about his not too good performance in big games.

“Osimhen still doesn’t realise the distance from his marker, sometimes he runs towards the ball and has the time and space to control, pick his spot. He doesn’t need to rush”, Spalleti said after the win against Verona.

“He can start a run from midfield, take on four or five defenders by himself with that pace, so he has such potential”, he concluded.

One of the hottest Nigerian striker in Europe has to be one cap Nigeria international forward Cyriel Dessers owing to the fact that he has scored 13 goals this season for Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie.

On loan from Belgium side Genk , he has emerged as the super sub of the team in the league and continental games and yesterday when handed a rare start the 27 year old didn’t disappoint.

He popped up with the winner in the 77th minute against PEC Zwolle to help his side to all three points and ensured that they remain in 3rd position after 26 round of games in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Snubbed by the interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen in his sqaud for the Africa Cup of Nations, he was also not considered in the sqaud for the upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers playoff games against Ghana.

His representative said he isn’t letting the disappointment get to him rather it is spurring him to great height as that the best way to catch the attention of the senior national team of Nigeria.

“He is obviously disappointed but not allowing it to affect his club form. He has a strong desire to be a part of the Nigerian team and he knows if he keeps scoring then it’s possible. That his mentality for now”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com in an exclusive interview.

Victor Osimhen was the hero for Napoli in their 2-1 win over Verona in the Serie A with his brace good enough to power his team to a much needed win.

The Nigerian showed his aerial strength nodding home the opening goal of the game in the 14th minute. He used good movement to grab his second goal of the day with 19 minutes left to play.

There have been lot of talks about the Nigerian in the build up to the game especially that he goes missing in key games. Coach of Verona Igor Tudor doesn’t even see him as the best striker in Italy

Prior to the game Tudor said the Nigerian is behind Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic, who to him is the best striker in the Italian Serie A.

“He (Osimhen)  is not the best striker in Serie A, no. He’s one of the best, but for me the best is Dusan Vlahovic. I don’t want to focus too much on Napoli’s strengths and players, because I am concentrating on what Verona can do”, he shrugged off the threat of the Nigerian.

Osimhen’s brace against his team is the perfect way to reply the manager who will no doubt after the game understand why the Nigerian forward is so highly rated and cost that much.

Interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen says he won’t be scared of throwing Ademola Lookman and Calvin Bassey into the starting lineup for Nigeria when they take on Ghana.

Nigeria will take on Ghana in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers playoff on the 25th of March in Cape Coast before taking them on in the return leg four days later in Abuja.

Ahead of the game the coach of the Nigerian team called up 32 players including Leicester City Lookman and Bassey of Scottish side Rangers. Both players have been impressive for their respective teams.

Asked if there is a chance of having the duo start the game against Ghana, Eguavoen said every player in the squad stands equal chance of starting the game saying it all depends on how they perform in training.

” I don’t have a problem with starting Lookman or Bassey. It’s about what I see in training ahead of the game. Both players are doing well and it’s our hope that they will show same form or even better when we take on Ghana”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com

Ghana’s star midfielder Thomas Partey has given his opinion on the upcoming World Cup qualifiers playoff games between his country and the senior national team of Nigeria.

Partey who is expected to wear the captain armband for Ghana against Nigeria for both games on the 25th and 29th of March respectively has been in fine form for Arsenal the past two months. He was voted the club’s player of the month.

Ahead of the game, Partey was approached by some Nigerians in London who were at the Arsenal training ground and when asked what his opinion is about the games, he wasted no time in giving a brief reply.

In a short video made available to OwnGoalNigeria.com, he said any tie involving both nations is always a classic particularly for the Nigerians.

” You know your team plays differently when it’s Ghana. So we know what to expect and it means we will also be at our best possible for both games. The game will be decided over two legs hence no need for much talk”, he said.