Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says underfire first choice goalkepper of the team Maduka Okoye is for now the best goalkepper in Nigeria.

The coach leaped to the defence of the Watford bound goalkepper following a barrage of criticism for his error which led to the lone goal scored by Tunisia which sent Nigeria out of the 2021 AFCON at the round of 16.

Rohr who handed the goalkepper his international bow told OwnGoalNigeria.comthat those criticising the goalkepper are going over the top because for now, he is still the top goalkepper in the country.

” He came in as 4th choice but in 18 months he was first choice after what he did at Sparta Rotterdam. His rise is phenomenal, so you can expect some occasional mistakes. He worked so hard to get to where he is now. You have to credit him”, Rohr said.

” They are very good goalkeppers in Nigeria but Maduka has an edge which is a regular for a team in the Dutch league, where he was second best goalkeeper last year. He is heading to Watford for a huge fee for an African goalkepper of his age. I am proud of him”, he concluded.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has brought succour to the camp of the senior national team of Nigeria who were involved in a war of words over unpaid bonuses for their involvement in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Nigeria exited the tournament at the round of 16 stage losing 0-1 to Tunisia. A result which many see as one of the upset of the tournament owing to Nigeria’s impressive results in the group stage.

Super Eagles won all of their three games in the group stage making many to tag them as favourite before the eventual collapse against Tunisia. However despite their impressive run, the players didn’t receive a penny as match allowance or winning bonus.

We gathered it triggered a huge disagreement between the players with many unhappy that Ahmed Musa and William Troost Ekong, the captain and vice captain respectively were not firm in pressing home their demands.

Their decision to accept that they won’t be paid per game until after the group stage didn’t go down well with some players, who felt with the insincerity of the NFF and the bulk of money involved it’s hard for them to clear all at once.

Each player is to be paid $30,000 aside camp allowance and some players are yet to receive the bonus for the World Cup qualifiers. As a matter of fact all through they were not paid camp allowance.

The matter snowballed into a heated debate among the players with Ekong pleading to the players to show understanding on why the NFF hasn’t paid yet. He begged that he spoke with the General Secretary who assured him that payments will be made on a particular date but that wasn’t the case.

He said he tried to get across to the president Amaju Pinnick but he didn’t take or return his call but they have earlier spoken on the issue of the bonus. He explained he later had to text him to express his disappointment.

Yesterday, the print version of Sportinglife report that apex bank in Nigeria, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) saved what would have likely resulted to the players boycotting the World Cup playoff against Ghana by crediting their account.

Each player according to Sportinglife was paid $30,000 while the backroom staff received their payments in Naira but promises made to the team by wealthy Nigerians is yet to be redeemed.

Nigeria international midfielder Kelechi Nwakali has arrived Spain to resume training with Huesca, a week after Nigeria’s elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations.

The player was scheduled to move to fellow second division side Burgos FC but the move failed to materialize before the close of the January transfer window yesterday.

His contract with Huesca will run out in the summer and it explains why they were desperate to let him leave in the January window as there is presently no talks of an extension of his deal at the club.

Reports of the club’s anger over his later arrival which was branded as an act of indiscipline by the Spanish press, the player’s camp denied the allegations saying he has been sick clearly stating that the report is wide off the mark.

A source close to the family told OwnGoalNigeria.com that he arrives Spain today still sick and will spend some time in the hospital before returning to full training and aid Huesca’s bid to return to the Spanish top division.

Spanish second division side Huesca are working on the possibility of terminating the contract of Nigerian midfielder Kelechi Nwakali after failing to move him on in the January transfer window according to reports in Spain.

Spanish news outlet Heraldo reports that the club agreed terms with fellow second division side Burgos for the Nigerian to spend the rest of the season on loan, which will also coincides with when his contract will run out with the team.

However bureaucratic issues in the exchange of documents ruined the move, but above all the club hierarchy are angry that the 24 year old hasn’t returned to his duty post, one week after Nigeria’s elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations.

The same publication reports that the club will look at the possibilities of terminating his contract if coach Xisco Munoz gives the go ahead. If otherwise he will be fined and allowed back into the team.

The player’s camp however said he is presently sick in Nigeria and communicated to the Spanish side that he will be arriving late as he want to be fully healed before returning to his duty post.

Nwakali played three games for Nigeria at the AFCON coming on twice as a substitute and playing from the start in the final group game. He wasn’t a part of ten man team that crashed out of the tournament losing 0-1 to Tunisia in the round of 16.

Former England youth international and Chelsea ace Calum Hudson-Odoi has agreed to pay for Ghana in their World Cup qualifiers playoff against Nigeria in March.

Reports coming out of Ghana has it that the Chelsea winger met with Chris Hughton who is favourite to be named as coach of the team and agreed to switch allegiance to the team.

The reports still remains unconfirmed and it worthy to note that this isn’t the first time it has been reported that he has switched to Ghana but he denied. However sources in the know about players and their switch of nationality told this portal that he isn’t going to be cleared on time to play against Nigeria.

The switch from England to a different federation in a different continent requires a minimum of six months to be approved as the English FA has other affiliates who need to sign off the papers before he is cleared by FIFA and it requires time.

Former Nigeria U17 ace Akinkumi Amoo has joined Danish side FC Copenhagen three days after denying that he went on strike to force a move to the Danish side.

Reports broke in Sweden that the Nigerian has refused to train with Hammarby upon his return from Nigeria as he wants a move to the Danish side.

He branded the reports as false and misleading insisting that he is committed to the cause of Hammarby, saying missed training as he was exhausted due to the fact that he travelled for 48 hours enroute Nigeria to Sweden.

Despite denying his intention to leave, he made a move to the Danish side yesterday night on a deal which sources say is around the €20m mark on a five year deal.

Photo Credit: Tobi Adepoju

Former Africa Footballer of the Year Emmanuel Amunike has agreed to join the technical crew of the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of the two legged World Cup playoff against Ghana.

Reports has it that the former Nigeria U17 and U20 coach will be a part of the coaching set up, after agreeing to work with Austine Eguavoen and Salisu Yusuf who were in charge of the team for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Amuneke will however not be among the coaches on the bench per what we gathered. His role will be more like a technical assistant to the team and will constantly communicate with them during games but Eguavoen will still be the head of the crew.

Same source also revealed to OwnGoalNigeria.com that an official announcement will likely be made on Tuesday. Same day that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will confirm the retention of Austine Eguavoen as coach of the team for the games against Ghana in March.

Recognizing that Eguavoen need technical help after Nigeria’s round of 16 exit at the AFCON, NFF have decided to add Amunike to the crew who have been given the mandate to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup in Qatar.

Already the football house has pulled the plug on plans to engage Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro who was initially billed to take over after the Africa Cup of Nations per the announcement by the NFF before the start of AFCON.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has defended their decision to shelve the idea of hiring Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro as the substantive coach of the senior national team of Nigeria.

NFF announced the Portuguese as their preferred choice to take over as permanent coach following the sacking of Gernot Rohr. He was to take over from interim coach Austine Eguavoen after the Africa Cup of Nations.

Per the announcement he was also suppose to be in Cameroon to monitor the team at close quarters before taking over after the tournamen, but despite Nigeria crashing out in the round of 16 following a 0-1 loss to Tunisia, the Portuguese still won’t be in charge when Nigeria play against Ghana in the playoff for the 2022 World Cup.

As reported by this portal, the NFF has agreed to stick with Eguavoen for the qualifiers, a move which a top source at the football house said it’s down to the Peseiro omitting some clause in the contract draft sent to him.

” Papers were sent to him to sign and he made adjustments that we didn’t find funny. Around seven clauses were removed by the coach and it didn’t go down well with us because some of the stuff he took out were agreed with him verbally. For that reason we decided to stick with the present technical crew led by Eguavoen”,he explained.

Ex coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says the Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to live up to expectations at the Africa Cup of Nations following their round of 16 exit.

Nigeria failed to build on a perfect start to the tournament where they won all of their group games as they fell 0-1 to Tunisia in the first knock out stage of the tournament.

Rohr who was an television pundit for Canal+ during the course of the tournament labelled their performance at the tournament as disappointing. He however reserved special praises for Union Berlin forward Taiwo Awoniyi.

The coach explained that the forward who scored once for Nigeria wasn’t a hit for Nigeria at the tournament as he is yet to have an understanding with the rest of his teammates per the fact that he is a new player in the team.

“Nigeria was disappointing – losing to a weakened Tunisia in the round of 16 came as a surprise. Although Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin played a very good tournament,” Rohr said to Sportschau, a German sports magazine on broadcaster ARD.

“You could see his potential, but there was still a lack of coordination with the team – he hasn’t been there very long.”