Alanyaspor of Turkey defender Chidozie Awaziem might not kick a ball for the senior national team of Nigeria after suffering a relapse in his bid to recover from injury, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Awaziem turned up at the camp of the senior national team prior to the tournament Injured from a league game in Turkey and missed their last two games before resuming with the Nigerian team in Abuja.

The defender according to a team source told officials of the team that he will be fit to return to action three days after his arrival in camp, and true to his words he was back in training but they noticed he wasn’t his usual self.

He continued training with the team in preparation for the tournament and even played some part in the test game against Coton Sport which they won 2-0. He however suffered a relapse a day to the opening game against Egypt.

Angry officials of the team believe he hid the serious nature of the injury in order to make the squad for the tournament, with fears emerging that he might not play a game as early reports say he could be out for two weeks.

It means Semi Ajayi will now step up to the role of third central defender with the duo of William Troost Ekong and Kenneth Omeruo the preferred first choice pairing. Olisa Ndah will be the back up for the aforementioned trio.

Egyptian forward Mohammed Salah says he thought he has drawn his team level when he ghosted behind the defence of Nigeria during the 0-1 loss at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Salah beat the Nigerian offside trap but with goalkepper Maduka Okoye off his line, the Egyptian who was under pressure from two defenders of Nigeria was still able to get a shot away but an outstretched leg of the Nigerian shot stopper saved the day for Nigeria.

After the game, Salah while speaking on the disappointment of losing their first game of the tournament was quick to praise the efforts of Okoye in stopping his goal bound effort which he thought was going in.

” We didn’t have many chances in the game and when I thought I have scored it was saved by the goalkepper. The idea is to look forward to the next game to really get our tournament on the way. Nigeria get the win they deserve. We have to improve going forward”, Salah said.

Interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen has fired back at the coach of Egypt over his claims that his team were denied a stone wall penalty in their 0-1 defeat to Nigeria at the 2021 delayed Africa Cup of Nations.

Hector Cuper branded the decision to award a penalty to Nigeria a huge let off for the Super Eagles as it would have helped his team to at least salvage something from the game.“In the second half, there was a very clear penalty for us that the referee didn’t award and the VAR did not intervene,” Queiroz said after the game.

“Maybe at that time, the VAR was not working.

“There was clearly a penalty. It wasn’t our day, it wasn’t also a good day for the refereeing. Even my grandmother would have awarded it a penalty.

“It is a disaster because there are VAR referees. It is unacceptable. Watch the incident yourself. It’s unbelievable that with all these referees, no one noticed the penalty,” he added.

After yesterday’s training, OwnGoalNigeria.com sort to hear from the Nigerian gaffer on the claims by Cuper, the Nigerian coach hit back by saying it’s not his fault that VAR didn’t see the incident as one that is worthy of a penalty.

“Everybody is entitled to their opinion. Egypt is one team I have always respected. They have a good coach in Carlos Quieroz and great player like Mo Salah. It’s not our fault. If VAR didn’t pick the particular incident, so be it”, he said.

“I thought we also scored a goal from Awoniyi. But when I see the action after the game, the ball didn’t cross the line. There was ball to hand incident in the first half. It wasn’t up to me to decide but the centre referee. Egypt is a good side, I don’t want anyone to look down on them. They have a solid and good side. VAR is there to decide for everyone”, he concluded.

Huesca and senior Nigeria international midfielder Kelechi Nwakali says he is a different kind of player to legendary former Super Eagles captain and playmaker Austine Okocha.

He has been compared to the former PSG and Bolton Wanderers ace severally and many feel his first competitive game for Nigeria is the first step towards emulating the ex Super Eagles number ten.

Nwakali has however played down such notions as he sees himself as a different player to Okocha and want to be remembered for who he is and not as the next Okocha.

He called his debht for the senior national team of Nigeria in a tournament as a dream come true for him ans hope to be around for a long while.

“I am not living under anybody. Okocha is a legend. I don’t think I have his skills. I am a different player who want to help the team win”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.comin Garuoa.

“It was great to make my AFCON debut against Egypt. That’s the dream of any Nigerian player”.

His Inclusion in the team divided opinions with many looking at the fact that he has no goal or assists this season after 19 matches in the Spanish second division.

“If I don’t have what it takes to be part of this team the coach wouldn’t invite me. I want to live up to expectations and try my best for the team. I want to help the team achieve something great in Cameroon”, he concluded.

Interim coach of the Nigerian team Austine Eguavoen has revealed the secret behind their slim 1-0 win over Egypt at the ongoing 2021 delayed Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Eguavoen in his first competitive game as coach of the Nigerian team masterminded what has been described as the best football exhibited by the Super Eagles of Nigeria in a long while.

The coach was flexible in the usage of 4-2-3-1 which becomes 4-4-2 when in possession and by so doing leave the Egyptians with difficulties on how to cope with the wing play of the Super Eagles.

Beyond the tactics, the coach also revealed some personal talks and knowledge about yesterday’s opponent which made the win possible but calls for concentration ahead of their second group game against Sudan.

“I’d like to congratulate my players, we had respect for Egypt and we just played our game Egypt only played on giving Salah spaces to run, it’s their only play, so we just had to keep the ball away from him”, he stated.

“Salah is one of the best players in the world, the strategy wasn’t a specific marker, but we instructed the players to close him down at any time and they must be a second player behind the marker”, he further explained.

On what he told the players before the game, he said his emphasis was mainly on giving their best for the cause as demanded of them in the national colours of Nigeria.

“The same set of players, every coach have their style, philosophy and leadership. I told the players to see me as their brother and father, my assistant I called them my colleagues. We have a path towards the same direction, we have the privilege to serve the country and we must always give our best.

“We did everything in the game, every game is a finale to us. We won our first game, now we are focused on the upcoming clashes”, he concluded.

The goalkepper of the senior national team of Nigeria Maduka Okoye is reveling in the clean sheet he kept for Nigeria in their 1-0 win over Egypt at the ongoing AFCON 2021.

Okoye narrowed the win to the team spirit in the Nigerian team while expressing his joy of keeping a clean sheet in the encounter.

“It feels great, I think I need to give thanks to the team because we played very well. I am very happy to get the cleansheet today (Tuesday)”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.

Asked about how it felt like keeping a clean sheet against Mohammed Salah he said Leganes defender Kenneth Omeruo kept the dangerman in check with the aid of the midfielders.

“He is one of the best players in the world. We have fantastic midfielders and they did a great job. We were sharp and gave them no chance”, he explained.

“Omeruo did very well and gave a account of himself. He was very important for us. We have to continue to stick to us and give our best*, he concluded.

Interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen has defended the duo of Chidera Ejuke and Sadiq Umar who were off colour in yesterday’s 1-0 win at the 2021 delayed Africa Cup of Nations.

The duo were introduced in the second half of Nigeria’s win with Ejuke replacing Samuel Chukwueze on the right while Sadiq came in for Taiwo Awoniyi to lead the attack and charge for the second goal.

Ejuke was particularly wasteful spurning two good chances with poor decision as he went for glory when the best option would have been a ball across as Nigeria has numbers in the box waiting to pounce.

Sadiq on his part failed to maintain the tempo set by Awoniyi in ensuring the Egyptian back line have no space to enjoy building from the rear. Eguavoen has leaped to the defence of the duo.

“We know the strength of our players, we know Ejuke is good from the left side, and it was impossible to substitute Simon, it was a tactical change and Ejuke had chances to finish the game. For Umar, maybe first time in such a big stage, he gave me some excuses after the game and we will talk to him later”, he explained.

The coach of the Egyptian team Carlos Queiroz said his team didn’t get their tactics spot on in the 0-1 defeat in their first game of the 2021 delayed Africa Cup of Nations holding in Cameroon.

Egypt were downed by a strike by Kelechi Iheanacho in the 30th minute who profited from an attack initiated down the right hand side of the defence of Egypt, where Nantes winger Moses Simon was a threat all game long.

Reacting to the defeat, the Portuguese coach cited the space and time given to Simon as part of the reason why his team conceded the goal that decided the match.

“We didn’t play well in the first half and with the way Nigeria played from the left, we couldn’t handle it early enough and it led to the goal”, he explained.

He however insist that the outcome of the game would have been different if the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) ruled in favour of his team when they had a penalty shout in the Nigerian box.

“In the second half, there was a very clear penalty for us that the referee didn’t award and the VAR did not intervene,” Queiroz said.

“Maybe at that time, the VAR was not working.

“There was clearly a penalty. It wasn’t our day, it wasn’t also a good day for the refereeing. Even my grandmother would have awarded it a penalty.

“It is a disaster because there are VAR referees. It is unacceptable. Watch the incident yourself. It’s unbelievable that with all these referees, no one noticed the penalty,” he added.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen says the performance of Nantes winger Moses Simon in the Super Eagles 1-0 Egypt didn’t come as a surprise to him.

In his first game as interim coach, the former Super Eagles captain played Simon in his preferred position on the left side of attack and the 26 year old played one of his best games in the colours of Nigeria.

Simon started the game with a skillful turn which left his marker Akram Tawfik injured and substituted by Mohamed Abdel Monem in the 12th minute. Even Monem couldn’t handle the winger for the duration he was on.

Asked if the display of Simon came as a surprise to him, Eguavoen exclusively told OwnGoalNigeria.com that it did not surprise him as he has known and watched Simon at close quarters and know what he can do.

” I have known him for a while. You don’t know him so it can be a surprise to you but not me. He was at the top of his markers yesterday but we want more from him because he can do more.  Running direct at defenders is his strength and we want to make the best use of it”, he said.