The senior national team of Nigeria had their final training session ahead of tomorrow’s game against Liberia in Morocco.

For the first time all 24 players invited for the game took part in the session under the watch of coach Gernot Rohr and the rest of the technical crew.

Owngoalnigeria.com gathered from sources at the session that it involved the team having some tactical drills at the start and end of the session. The high point however was when they were engaged in practice match.

Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia forward Odion Ighalo who is marking a return to the team after a two year absence lit up the session with two goals for his team.

Victor Osimhen and Paul Onuachu where also on target as the team round up their three days training in preparation for the Lone Stars of Liberia. One player who deserve a mention is Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze who for the third training session showed his ability to go past his marker with ease.

The camp of the senior national team of Nigeria was thrown into excitement when Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia forward Odion Ighalo teamed up with them for their World Cup qualifiers game against Liberia in Morocco.

Returning back to the team for the first time since 2019 when he retired from international football. He was greeted with respect by the players in the camp of the team.

The senior players in the team were the most excited and they took out time to have a chat with him. Coach of the team Gernot Rohr also had a moment with the forward.

He missed the first training session of the team but he will take part in tomorrow’s session which will give an idea on if he will play some part in the game on Friday.

As first reported by this portal he will settle for the number 25 shirt as against the number 9 he wore the last time he was with the team. He has decided to allow Victor Osimhen to keep the number.

The senior national team of Nigeria had their third training session ahead of their upcoming 2022 Word Cup qualifiers game against Liberia in Morocco on Saturday.

Coach of the team Gernot Rohr had 22 players in attendance with only two players in Odion Ighalo and John Noble yet to arrive the camp of the team per the time of this report.

With players pushing for a spot in the starting lineup it was a very intense section which produced three goals with Kelechi Iheanacho, Victor Osimhen and Paul Onuachu on target.

Rohr watch the players go up against each other for around one hour with other drills inclusive before bringing the session to an end. They are expected to have another session later this evening.

OwnGoalNigeria.com sources reveal that it was a tight contest but the major highlight was the way Chidera Ejuke and Samuel Chukwueze were battling to outdo each other in terms of dribbling.

Playing for different teams, they ensured the defenders they were up against had little or no joy in stopping them with their quick feet and pace proving to be too much to handle.

Coaches of the senior national team of Nigeria led by coach Gernot Rohr have privately expressed concerns over the absence of Odion Ighalo in the camp of the team.

The Al Shabab forward was expected to be in camp yesterday but as at the time of filing in this report he is yet to arrive Morocco ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Liberia which takes place in two days time.

Ighalo accepted a return to the team but it seems he wasn’t looking at an instant invitation and coupled with the backlash that has accompanied his return to the team, coaches fear he could make a u-turn on his decision.

“It’s six hours from Saudi Arabia to Morocco but he isn’t here yet. It’s a cause of concern to the technical crew. Their fear is that he might backtrack on the call up. He is usually among the first to arrive camp before his decision to retire from international football”, a team source told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” The backlash over his call up hasn’t helped as well and from what we gathered he wasn’t expecting a quick invitation after agreeing to return to the team. We are hoping it ends well”, he concluded.

Meanwhile first choice striker of the team Victor Osimhen has welcomed the return of Ighalo terming him as someone he will learn a lot from.

“We will welcome him with open arms and looking forward to receiving him in the camp.

“Like I said before he’s like a big brother to me and we love him a lot and I’ll learn a lot from him, I admire him so much so I think for me it’s one of the most important things to have him in the squad.

We all have a common goal to qualify the nation for the World Cup and to do well in the AFCON so whatsoever thing that is good for the team I think the coach and the Federation will bring it into play,” Osimhen said in a video on the official Facebook handle of the Nigerian team.

As many as 22 players took part in the second on the pitch training session of the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of their World Cup 2022 qualifiers game against Liberia in Morocco.

Coach of the team Gernot Rohr made the players go through their customary shake up session before having them play against each other while the goalkeepers were put through their paces by trainer Alloy Agu.

Following the arrival of Victims Osimhen all invited outfield players took part in the session bar Odion Ighalo is yet to arrive the camp of the team as at the time of filing in this report.

There are concerns over Ighalo honouring the call up which is his first since his decision to quit the team after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations but a team source told this portal that he has communicated his availability for the game.

Meanwhile goalkeeper of Enyimba John Noble who was called up as replacement for the injured Francis Uzoho will arrive camp on Thursday ahead of the game on Saturday. He is not expected to make the match day squad for the game.

Players In Training

Maduka Okoye, Daniel Akpeyi,  Paul Onuachu, William Troost-Ekong, Ola Aina, Kevin Akpoguma, Wilfred Ndidi, Jamilu Collins, Alex Iwobi and Chidera Ejuke.

Frank Onyeka, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ahmed Musa, Chidozie Awaziem, Samuel Chukwueze, Kenneth Omeruo, Moses Simon, Zaidu Sanusi, Shehu Abdullahi, Leon Balogun , Victor Osimhen and Joe Aribo.

Former Nigeria international defender Efe Ambrose says he was in disbelief when he saw the figure in the deal for the transfer of Maduka Okoye to English Premier League side Watford.

Okoye was signed for €6.3m from Sparta Rotterdam of the Netherlands but he will spend the rest of the season there before teaming up with Watford next season.

Ambrose said he followed the rise of the 22 year old from when he made his debut for Nigeria to the stage he is now and it’s making it hard for him to believe that he is worth that much after just 18 months of top flight football.

He said praises most be given to the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr for detecting the talent in the German born goalkepper earlier than others.

” He has been playing professional football for just 18 months and he is heading to the English Premier League. That’s huge and when you see that he is now the most expensive Nigerian goalkepper ever. It makes it unbelievable the more. Credit must be given to Rohr who saw his talent a lot earlier than most”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

The senior national team of Nigeria are currently at their training camp in Tangier Morocco where they had their first training session ahead of Saturday’s game yesterday evening.

OwnGoalNigeria.com takes a look at some players who distinguished themselves during the training session which lasted for a little over an hour.

Top of the list was Wilfred Ndidi, he showed why he is so highly rated at Leicester City with an industrious performance which involves breaking up plays and setting up attack.

Moses Simon was also unplayable. Defensively he twice robbed Kelechi Iheanacho and also set up a fine chance for Paul Onuachu which wasn’t converted by the lanky forward.

Frank Onyeka is no doubt here to stay in the senior national team of Nigeria. The Brentford man didn’t just covered grounds he was also deadly in the other end of the pitch as he twice came close to scoring with well hit efforts.

Zaidu Sanusi is really fired up for the contest of dislodging Jamilu Collins as first choice left full back, the FC Porto man was by far one of the liveliest defenders during the session. Transiting from defence to attack with ease.

Samuel Chukwueze marked his return to the team with a performance that many have come to associate with him in terms of his system of play. He was quick, direct and lively all through the session per what our editorial team gathered.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria had their first on the pitch training ahead of Friday’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers game against Liberia in Morocco.

21 players trained under the watchful eyes of coach Gernot Rohr and OwnGoalNigeria.com source at the camp picked out the five things he noticed during the session.

Rohr Hands Key  Responsibility To Salisu Yusuf

The return of Salisu Yusuf to the team has taken some pressure off the shoulders of Gernot Rohr. In today’s session witnessed by our camp source, the coach left the bulk of the tactical drills to his first assistant. Salisu’s presence was felt during the entire duration of the session.

Ejuke Vs Chukwueze Dribbling Contest

Chidera Ejuke has been the one lighting things up in training with his dribbling the past few games. The return of Samuel Chukwueze means the team now has two players who can go past opponents with quick feet. Today’s session saw both players play as inverted wingers and there was no separating them in terms of the amount of completed dribbles.

Kelechi Iheanacho’s Displays Shooting Abilities

Known for his composure in front of goal , Iheanacho showed another side of his game during the course of the session as he was by far the most impressive during a light shooting drill between the players and the goalkeepers.

Zaidu Is Up For A Fight With Collins

Axed from the team that played in the last round of games. FC Porto left back Zaidu Sanusi isn’t willing to allow affliction rise again. Today’s session saw him give the coaches a lot to think about as he matched and even surpass to an extent whatever Jamilu Collins his left full back rival did at the other end.

Frank Onyeka Has Energy To Burn

He loves running. All through the session he didn’t stop running. He is about the fittest player in the camp of the team base on today’s session. His ability to cover grounds and also effectively use the ball while in possession means he will be a part of this team for a long time.

A little over two years ago on the 13th of August 2019 precisely, the list of players of the senior national team of Nigeria, who will take on Ukraine in an international friendly game was made public and one name was included for the first time.

Maduka who? Was the popular question asked by many when the name Maduka Okoye who was back then a goalkepper of the B team of Fortuna Dusseldorf was named among the goalkeppers for the friendly game.

He came into the squad due to the absence of Daniel Akpeyi who was at that time injured but what made many to question his call up was his poor statistics for the B team of Fortuna who were then campaigning in the 4th division of Germany.

Rohr was however told to trust the then 20 years old by the scout who discovered him and recruited him for Fortuna Dusseldorf in Lutz Pfannenstiel. The 48 year old saw enough potential to snap up the shot stopper when he was released by Bayern Leverkusen at the age of 17.

With Akpeyi still out injured, Okoye kept his spot for the next friendly game against Brazil despite not playing any part in the 2-2 draw against Ukraine. Francis Uzoho kept the entire duration of the game

Against Brazil, Uzoho picked up a serious injury which later cost him the rest of the season left with no choice but an unfit Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Nigeria Premier League was on break) and a rookie in Okoye, Rohr settled for the latter.

He got to play in that game for just 27 minutes and even though he had less things to do, he showed some level of maturity in his handling the two times he was required to and helped Nigeria see out the game 1-1.

That chance he got by accident didn’t seem to bother his then German team Fortuna Dusseldorf as the relegation bound team didn’t offer him fresh terms. He was subsequently released on a free transfer.

His next call up was for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho respectively. He was an unused substitute in both games with Akpeyi the man he replaced in the previous squad in goal for both games.

With his club future unclear, many thought he has hit a brick wall again but that came to nothing as few months after his departure from the German side he joined Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam.

With all three senior goalkeppers unavailable for the Super Eagles next set of friendly games. Okoye was once again summoned and this time around he had just SKF Sered goalkepper Matthew Yakubu to contend with.

He ended up keeping goal for the entire duration of the two friendly games played against Algeria and Tunisia respectively. Nigeria lost the first game 0-1 and drew the second game 1-1. Okoye can largely be excused for the goals he conceded in both games as he was badly exposed.

At Sparta Rotterdam he was sent to the B team who were in the third division known as the Jack League to keep him active until when he will be called upon by the first team, where he was first choice. He didn’t have to wait for long.

A poor run of form brought about a change in the line up of the first team and Okoye was among those introduced with the team struggling to pick up a win. Things didn’t get any better was they lost the first two games he was in goal.

It went from that low to the highest height they reach that season when they picked up their first win by thrashing ADO Den Haag 6-0. A run of four consecutive clean sheets followed suits and he was fully established as first choice ahead of Benjamin Van Leer.

At international level, the same Okoye who got his lucky break by accident with the options ahead of him unavailable became the first choice by design as he was the only active goalkepper at club level available to Rohr.

That earned him his competitive debut but it ended in a catastrophic way with Nigeria throwing away a four zero lead to draw 4-4 against Sierra Leone in the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations. Rohr wasn’t moved by the criticism that followed the result as he stood by Okoye and he was in goal for the reverse tie which ended 0-0 four days later.

Since then he has kept in all but two games of the senior national team of Nigeria firmly establishing himself as the first choice of the Nigerian team and his move to Watford is a testament of his rapid growth

Fresh fact has emerged on how English Premier League side Watford made a decision to splash big on Sparta Rotterdam goalkepper Maduka Okoye.

Okoye who is the first choice goalkepper of the senior national team of Nigeria will join the team next season after a deal was struck for him by the newly promoted English Premier League side.

According to Dutch journalist Andy Michael, the save statistics of the Nigerian from last season where he made his debut up until this season has continue to rank among the best in the Eredivisie.

He said Okoye’s statistics is very similar to that of the first choice goalkepper of Arsenal Aaron Ramsdale, who is seen by many as one of the best young goalkeppers in England.

” He has been first choice for just 18 months but he has made the highest amount of saves in the league. This season in a particular game he made six saves in the first half alone. That’s huge”, Andy told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” At 22 he is already the leader of his team. He is a natural and his style is a bit awkward but it’s his career edge. He has made as many saves as Ramsdale of Arsenal this season. Watford knew all of that and decided to gamble on him”, he explained.