The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has decided to retain Austine Eguavoen as the substantive coach of the senior national team of Nigeria on a short term deal which will likely be a two year deal if he qualifies Nigeria for the World Cup, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Eguavoen won the hearts of decision makers at the NFF with the way the team played at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) despite the fact that they were knocked out of the tournament after losing 0-1 to Tunisia in the round of 16.

NFF believe the result was badly affected by the red card shown to Alex Iwobi hence won’t judge the coach on the defeat and with time not on their side as the World Cup playoff against Ghana in March draws near, Eguavoen has been told to continue as coach.

It means Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro who was announced as coach won’t be handling the team again with sources close to the NFF saying he isn’t an option for now, which is why he wasn’t in Cameroon to monitor the team as said in the statement announcing his appointment as coach.

We gathered the NFF could beef up the technical crew of the Super Eagles with two indigenous coaches to work as assistant to Eguavoen for the World Cup qualifiers playoff against Ghana in March.

Sent from my iPad

Former Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro said ex captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Okocha smartly deflected blames from his nephew Alex Iwobi to goalkepper Maduka Okoye after Nigeria’s 0-1 loss to Tunisia.

Nigeria crashed out of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations with Iwobi picking up a red card after coming on as a substitute with Nigeria chasing the game. Okocha was working as a studio pundit during the course of the game.

Okocha faulted defender Ola Aina for not fouling the goal scorer after his poor judgement made the ball beat him, he went further that Okoye should have also done better as the ball travelled some distance before getting to him.

It led to Nigerians questioning the abilities of the Sparta Rotterdam goalkepper who will be heading to Watford in the summer, so much that he had to deactivate the comment section of his social media handle.

Although Iwobi wasn’t spared as well, Babayaro said it could have been worst if not for Okocha who smartly laid the blame on two players. He referenced Sani Kaita red card at the 2010 World Cup as a reason why Iwobi should be blamed for the defeat.

“It’s clear what Okocha did. Protect his nephew who got sent off and lay the blame on the goalkepper and defender. Iwobi should be blamed because if he wasn’t sent off then the team chances of coming back would have been a lot better”, he stated.

”Remember the case of Sani Kaita in the game between Nigeria and Greece? You saw who was roundly blamed but why not Iwobi? You know the answer “, he concluded.

The star of the Super Eagles Africa of Nigeria at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Moses Simon won’t be leaving Nantes in January despite receiving lot of offers, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

Simon has been on the radar of several teams in Europe owing to his exploits for Nantes in the Ligue 1 and he gained continental respect for his impressive showing at the AFCON.

As expected teams stepped up their interest to snap him up in January but were told he won’t be sold this window with Nantes insisting that any deal should wait till next summer.

We gathered Leeds United were the first team to contact Nantes for the 26 year old in view of a deal in January, that will see him stay at the club on loan till next season when he will join them but their approach was flatly rejected.

Nantes are also demanding a fee in the region of €20 million, an increase from the €15 million they were demanding from suitors in the summer. Their valuation is expected to be a lot less in 2022 when Simon will have just a year left on his deal at the club.

Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro is losing patience with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over their delay in confirming him as coach of the senior national team of Nigeria.

He was announced as the new coach of the Nigerian team on a short term deal which begins after the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations with an immediate target of qualifying the Nigerian team for the World Cup 2022 via the play off.

The arrangement was for him to monitor the team at the AFCON where Nigeria crashed out at the round of 16 stage after losing to Tunisia, but he wasn’t at the tournament owing to the fact that he didn’t sign the dotted lines as coach.

All attempts by his representative to get the NFF to formally sign the contract papers has so far no yielded any success with reports circling that interim coach Austine Eguavoen might continue as coach until at least after the World Cup playoff.

” We don’t know what’s going on at the moment and Peseiro could walk away if this persist. The NFF don’t seem to be keen anymore. All attempts to sign the contract isn’t working at the moment. March isn’t far off and as we speak now nothing has been said”, a representative of the coach told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Watford ace Emmanuel Dennis might not get another chance with the senior national team of Nigeria according to a chieftain of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Dennis famously snubbed a call up to play for Nigeria at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations where Nigeria crashed out of the tournament at the round of 16 following a 0-1 loss to Tunisia.

His decision for not honouring the call up was down to his club unwillingness initially but he later decided not to honour the call up when it was down to him to make a decision.

It didn’t go down well with coach of the team Austine Eguavoen who wanted to give the 24 year old a fresh start to his international career after a fall out with ex coach Gernot Rohr.

Speaking to OwnGoalNigeria.com a chieftain of the NFF said the although the decision will still be in the hands of the coach who will be in charge of the team, he is unsure if there will be wholesome changes to the squad that played the AFCON.

” I guess he is out of the team and it might be for a long while. My thinking is that he might never get another call up especially as the present coaches appear not to be keen on adding more players bar three. It’s still in the hand of who will be coach at the end but it’s looking like he won’t get another chance”, he concluded.

Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu has turned down the offer to return to the Black Stars of Ghana for their World Cup 2022 playoff game against Nigeria in March.

President of Ghana Professional Football League side King Faisal Alhaji Grusah said he was tasked with having a chat with the defender over a return to the team after a poor performance at the AFCON, where they crash out in the group stage.

Speaking on Antinka FM, Grusah said he made contact with Salisu but was told by the defender that he isn’t in anyway interested in a return. Something he said angrily and that he isn’t alone as per players who want to turn their back on the team.

“The Black Stars Chairman tasked me to speak to Salisu cos he’s from Kumasi. I called his dad and he linked me to him. Salisu flatly told me to stay away from his matter. He questioned me that if he was my son,would I advise him to play for Ghana”, Grusah told Atinka FM according to a tweet by Nuhu Adams on Twitter.

“I’m not the only person who has spoken to him. I know CK Akunnor went to him, he said he won’t play. Even the GFA President said he found where his mother stays and went to her. I don’t know what happened but the Salisu is not ready to play”, he concluded.

The interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen has announced that he is quitting his role as coach of the team following the 0-1 defeat they suffered against Tunisia in the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Eguavoen made the announcement shortly after the game, confirming that he will be returning to his role as Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as agreed before he took over the job as interim coach.

“What happens next is that; I’m the interim coach and Technical Director of the NFF, I will go back to my position and allow the Federation make a decision on the way forward”, he said at the post match presser.

Already Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro has been announced as coach of the team by the NFF and he is expected to take over as coach after the Africa Cup of Nations.

More details later.

Super Eagles of Nigeria have been in the limelight for the past few weeks over their continuous victory in the stage matches. They have also faced downsides like having an injured defender miss the tournament. Super Eagles have emerged winners in the previous 3 matches since the AFCON resumed.

The team has made Nigeria proud, and we can without a doubt agree that the boys are determined to acquire the glorious title of the TotalEnergies Champions. As MTN Nigeria comments, the team has what it takes to make it to the finals and even win. One evident thing is the much support the team has received and continues to receive from its country, from the President to football fans.

Nigerians love football and sports betting which makes the country the second most popular gambling nation in Africa. As such, it’s a season for punters to try their luck as the Super Eagles continue to deliver clean wins in the AFCON.

The love for football, a winning national team, and a secure bookie is all a punter needs for such a season. Sportsbooks have made it’s their pursuit to ensure Nigerians keep winning all the way. Now you can win while supporting your national team throughout the AFCON tournament.

The secret is to arm yourself with the best betting sites in Nigeria and wager on the team you think will win the match or the possible outcome among other markets. Super Eagles have won all the previous matches and have 9 points.

Their next game is against Tunisia on Sunday 23rd, and despite all the surprises football pulls on us, the odds that Super Eagles win against Tunisia, who have only three points from their stage matches, are high. Should the game take a different turn, go for in-play betting, where you can change your bet depending on the progress of the match. So, let’s take a look at the history of the Super Eagles in the AFCON.

Super Eagle’s History in the AFCON

The best way to learn your enemy or understand your favorite team is to learn their history. This way you get to know what they are capable of. Now that the tournament ends with only one winner, it’s worth noting that so far, Cameroon has the highest score. If Nigeria’s Super Eagles hope to win, they have to beat them at the top.

Well, this should be tough considering that the three times Super Eagles acquired the runner’s up position, they had lost to Cameroon. In 2000, 1988, and 1984, both teams made it to the finals and Super Eagles lost. The two have a quite bitter history, and the question that lingers on every football fan’s mind is if Nigeria can beat Cameroon should they meet once again in the finals.

Here’s a summary of the Super Eagles performance in AFCON 2021;

On 23rd January 2022, Super Eagles will face Tunisia in their round of 16 match. As mentioned earlier, the Super Eagles might win, given the current performance of the Tunisian AFCON team. Super Eagles manager Augustine Eguavoen tells the guardian that they are more than ready to emerge victorious against the North African team as they did with the previous teams.

Super Eagles’ AFCON journey

Super Eagles are three-time winners in AFCON tournaments and their journey has not been an easy one. They have lost, canceled their participation but also won. Here’s a summary of their performance throughout the history of AFCON;

Super Eagles have encountered Cameroon (the current top team) before, and the worst memory is in 2000 when Cameroon beat them on their soil. Perhaps, it is time Naija boys retaliated and defeated the indomitable lions on their soil. All that remains now is for the Super Eagles to win against Tunisia to make it to the quarter-finals. Again, after winning against Cameroonian giants, Cottonsport, 2-0 in the warm-up match just before AFCON kicked off, Super Eagles are now more than ever confident they can win the Total Energies title.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen has revealed the starting lineup for Nigeria’s round of 16 game against Tunisia at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Eguavoen was largely expected to make some changes to the lineup despite the fact that he has stuck to same players bar when he rested players in their third group game against Guinea-Bissau.

The coach tinkered with what looks like his preferred lineup during yesterday’s training with Samuel Chukwueze who hasn’t lit up the tournament as expected replaced by Everton forward Alex Iwobi.

Iwobi started and lasted the entire duration of the win over Guinea-Bissau. He has however dropped to the bench as Eguavoen has decided to stick to same lineup that started the first two games of the tournament.

Starting XI

Maduka Okoye
Ola Aina
Zaidu Sanusi
William Troost Ekong
Kenneth Omeruo
Wilfred Ndidi
Joe Aribo
Kelechi Iheanacho
Samuel Chukwueze
Moses Simon
Taiwo Awoniyi

Nigeria will take on Tunisia in today’s Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 game, a game they go in as favourite owing to how they finished the group stage by winning all of their games.

Ahead of the game , the team had their final training session under the guidance of interim coach of the Austine Eguavoen who was drafted in from his role as technical director following the sacking of Gernot Rohr as coach.

Eguavoen yesterday showed his willingness to shake things up as he tried several tactical drills using different formations all in a bid to go past Tunisia by 8pm later today.

The coach showed he is no a slave to the 4-2-3-1 formation the team have been using in games although they do alternate to 4-2-4 and sometimes 4-1-3-2. A new formation was tried out yesterday.

Also the team took out time to practice penalty kicks in the event that the game get dragged into shoot out. A session for endurance was also a part of the drill in anticipation of the game probably going into extra time.