Torino and Super Eagles of Nigeria defender Ola Aina says his intention is to do well at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in what is his second major tournament with the senior national team of Nigeria.

The former England youth international failed to make the cut for the 2018 World Cup in Russia but did play for the Super Eagles at the 2019 AFCON where they won bronze.

Speaking on the mood of the Nigerian team ahead of the start of the tournament, he praised the atmosphere in the camp saying his personal goal is to do well at the tournament for the good of the team.

“It’s very good, I love the atmosphere. We are very close together. We are like a family which is very important.”

“I want to play well for the team and put up good performances that will help the squad”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com

On the issue of the disrespect shown to the Africa Cup of Nations as a tournament by top European teams, Aina said it’s unfair to see the tournament as a small tournament.

“I said to my roommate (Alex Iwobi) that when you come here, you realise what privilege is to play at this tournament. The magnitude of this competition is massive. I will never feel AFCON is a small tournament, the world shouldn’t see it like that.”

The captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahead Musa says he won’t be playing at any other Africa Cup of Nations tournament after the ongoing edition in Cameroon.

Musa won the tournament with Nigeria in 2013 and also played in the 2019 edition where they finished third. 29 year old Musa however said he won’t be appearing at another tournament after this.

He made the revelation while speaking at the pre match conference ahead of their opening game of the tournament against Egypt tomorrow in Garuoa. He is still keen on leaving on a high and said he will continue to give his best when called upon.

“I think this is my last AFCON,” the former Al Nassr poster boy replied when quizzed on his future plans.

He continued: “I have spoken to the boys that this is the only gift you can give to me because this is my last AFCON. And the boys told me that they are ready.

“My first AFCON was in South Africa in 2013 and we ended up winning it. And my second appearance was in Egypt and we won the bronze.”

He is presently the most capped Nigerian player with 103 caps to his name. A tally he will likely eclipse at the tournament with Nigeria keen to go all the way to the final of the tournament.

The star of the Egyptian national team Mohammed Salah says he won’t be drawn into exchanging words with captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahmed Musa.

Ahead of their clash tomorrow, the Super Eagles captain Musa said as much as all talks is on the Liverpool ace, they as a team are not worried about the threat he possesses as they also have players who are threatening as well.

“Everyone is talking about Salah, but if you look at our team we have lots of players they will be worried about,” Musa declared during a press conference held in Abuja on Tuesday.

“So we don’t have to think about Salah; they have to think about our own players.

“They talk about Salah but we have players like Samuel Chukwueze and others on the wings who are very dangerous, so that’s football,” the Super Eagles captain explained.

Salah was asked about the comments of the Fatih Karagumruk winger and he responded by saying he wouldn’t be drawn into a war of words with Musa as he has respect for him.

” Both teams have good players, they have the chance to win. We will do our best to win tomorrow. I don’t think there is need to reply him because he is someone I respect so much. Super Eagles have a good team but we would our best to defeat them”, he said at the pre match conference ahead of the game.

The interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen says he is doing all within his capacity to hand a solid team to incoming substantive coach Jose Peseiro.

Eguavoen will steer the team through the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations with  the Portuguese coach succeeding him immediately after the tournament as he will be in charge of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers playoff which starts in March.

Speaking ahead of Nigeria’s AFCON 2021 opener against Egypt tomorrow, Eguavoen cleared the air on any potential rift with the coach as they are both working for the good of the team.

He further said he still remains the head of the technical department of the NFF by virtue of his position as technical director hence Peseiro is answerable to him.

“We are in touch. It’s not a problem. Mind you I am the technical director of Nigeria Football, by extension and right I am his boss. So collaboration is very good, because whatever we do here is to make it a soft landing and platform to operate”, he explained.

“We want to be at the next World Cup. There is need to make everything comfortable and smooth for him. When Peseiro resumes, he can now add his own ideas”.

The role Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho will play for Nigeria against Egypt in their AFCON 2021 opener is proving hard to figure out for the technical crew of the Super Eagles.

Iheanacho has so far been the most impressive forward in front of goal for the team in training but the technical crew don’t see him as an out and out striker as he can’t be said to be suitable to the role of playing as lone striker. Something which their planned formation of 4-2-3-1 requires.

In the practice game against Coton Sport, the coaches played him as a part of a thee man midfield alongside the duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo. He didn’t quite look at home even though his role was more advanced as he was behind the main striker in Taiwo Awoniyi.

The coaches are not thinking of playing a two man attack which is the surest way to accommodate and get the best out of the lethal finisher but if push comes to shove they might consider going that route.

Another idea that has been mooted is to have Iheanacho play behind Ahmed Musa, who will be required to use his pace and experience in making runs behind to good effect and can also be effective when the team want to press.

Later today they will agree on how to approach the game tomorrow and top of their agenda will be a suitable role for Iheanacho who has so far shown that he deserve to start against Egypt.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will on Tuesday play their first game of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations against Egypt as they aim to win a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title.

The team played have so far trained twice since arriving Cameroon and they also played a practice match against local Cameroon side Coton Sport two days ago.

Owngoalnigeria.com watched the session and also the friendly game are three things we spotted during the game and the two training sessions.

William Troost Ekong Is Suspect – Fair to say he is not in the best of form at the moment but dropping him doesn’t look like an option at the moment in the absence of his other established partner Leon Balogun.

He looks certain to start with either Chidozie Awaziem or Kenneth Omeruo as his partner per his position as vice captain and one of the leaders in the team but if form is anything to go by then he should be dropped to the bench.

Ekong didn’t look entirely comfortable against Coton Sport despite the Super Eagles convincing win. Shaky with the ball at his feet, his poor judgement and movement was also noticeable during the game. He has fared any better in training as per our count, he is the defender who has been dribbled past more than any other.

Ejuke Not Comfortable As Number 10 – CSKA Moscow winger Chidera Ejuke has been auditioning as the number ten of the Super Eagles since the start of training for the AFCON and coach Eguavoen has hinted that he could play in that role at the tournament.

However it appears to be a decision base on his ability to get past his opponent above anything else. So far he has succeeded in stamping his mark as the best in that regards but nothing by way of creativity has come off his boot. He doesn’t look quite suited for that role as his distribution has been hit and miss in training and even the practice match.

Misfiring Strikers – Interim coach of the Nigerian team Austin Eguavoen lamented the teams lack of presence when they attack by asking for more numbers in the box but that is the least of the problems they are facing in attack.

So far Taiwo Awoniyi has only impressed in shooting drills but went missing in the practice match and also yet to score in any full training session. He hasn’t shown the sharpness that has been the highlight of his game so far in the Bundesliga for Union Berlin.

Sadiq Umar hit a hattrick in training and also shows his predatory instinct in drills on finishing. The one issue is getting the team to play to his strength which is crossing of balls into the box because he is the type of striker who thrives when the supply is crisp and steady. That hasn’t been the case so far.

The senior national team of Nigeria returned back to training today after yesterday’s 2-0 win over Coton Sport in a friendly game as part of preparations for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Interim coach Austine Eguavoen separated the players into two teams and have them play a practice match after the usual drills and tactical session.

In Yesterday’s friendly game, Moses Simon assisted Samuel Chukwueze for the second goal and today Chukwueze returned the favour by teeing up the Nantes winger, who fired home a low fierce drive past goalkepper Francis Uzoho.

Kelechi Nwakali showed his dead ball abilities when he hit a curler which was parried by Uzoho unto the path of the rushing Henry Onyekuru, who stabbed the rebound home for his team’s other goal.

Below is how they were lined up during the course of the practice match which as said above ended 2-0 in favour of the team who were in yellow bibs during the session.

Team Green:
Francis Uzoho
Kenneth Omeruo
William Troost-Ekong
Ola Aina
Zaidu Sanusi
Joe Aribo
Taiwo Awoniyi
Chidera Ejuke
Ahmed Musa
Peter Olayinka
Kelechi Iheanacho
Wilfred Ndidi

Team Yellow:
Daniel Akpeyi (Noble)
Olisa Ndah
Tyrone Ebuehi
Semi Ajayi
Chidozie Awaziem
Frank Onyeka
Alex Iwobi
Kelechi Nwakali
Moses Simon
Samuel Chukwueze
Sadiq Umar
Henry Onyekuru

The senior national team of Nigeria returned back to training today after yesterday’s 2-0 win over Coton Sport in a friendly game as part of preparations for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Interim coach Austine Eguavoen separated the players into two teams and have them play a practice match after the usual drills and tactical session.

In Yesterday’s friendly game, Moses Simon assisted Samuel Chukwueze for the second goal and today Chukwueze returned the favour by teeing up the Nantes winger, who fired home a low fierce drive past goalkepper Francis Uzoho.

Kelechi Nwakali showed his dead ball abilities when he hit a curler which was parried by Uzoho unto the path of the rushing Henry Onyekuru, who stabbed the rebound home for his team’s other goal.

Below is how they were lined up during the course of the practice match which as said above ended 2-0 in favour of the team who were in yellow bibs during the session.

Team Green:
Francis Uzoho
Kenneth Omeruo
William Troost-Ekong
Ola Aina
Zaidu Sanusi
Joe Aribo
Taiwo Awoniyi
Chidera Ejuke
Ahmed Musa
Peter Olayinka
Kelechi Iheanacho
Wilfred Ndidi

Team Yellow:
Daniel Akpeyi (Noble)
Olisa Ndah
Tyrone Ebuehi
Semi Ajayi
Chidozie Awaziem
Frank Onyeka
Alex Iwobi
Kelechi Nwakali
Moses Simon
Samuel Chukwueze
Sadiq Umar
Henry Onyekuru

Former assistant coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Nabil Trabelsi say Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze is the third best player in Africa.

The duo worked together when Nabil was assisting former coach Gernot Rohr who was sacked despite helping Nigeria qualify for the World Cup play off.

Speaking ahead of the start of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, Nabli said only the duo of Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah can be said to be better than the Nigeria international. He said he calls Chukwueze African Messi.

” Samuel is one of the best players in dribbling. I like to call him Africa’s Messi, which is the title he loves,” he told Filgoal.

“He is one of the best players in the continent after Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane and the great players.

“He suffered an injury during the current season with Villarreal that kept him away from his team for a long time, but he returned again. He will come back better in the future”, he concluded.