Coach of Roma Jose Mourinho has salute the genius of Nigerian forward David Okereke after his strike helped Venezia beat Roma 3-2 in the Italian Serie A.

Okereke scored what ended as the winner and also handled his team their first win since 1999 over their more illustrious opponent. It was also the first time that have scored three goals in a Serie A game in nearly 20 years.

The Nigerian earned praises from celebrated Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho who presently coach Roma. Mourinho was particularly impressed with the way the one cap Super Eagles forward took his chance to hit the winner for his team.

” You look at the third goal and admired how it was scored. It’s the sign of a team who were fired up for the game. We could have done better with the first and second goal”, the coach said after the game.

24 year old Okereke played his only game for the senior national team of Nigeria in 2019 when he played the final minutes in a friendly game against Egypt. He is presently on loan to Venezia from Belgium side Club Brugge.

The fear of many about the return of Odion Ighalo to the Super Eagles was the issue of who will wear the jersey number 9 shirt between him and Osimhen.

Ighalo wore the shirt number at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations but since his retirement from the team, Osimhen inherited the number and now wears same for his club.

Both players are known to prefer the shirt number as seen at club level but Ighalo has now decided to allow Osimhen keep the jersey number 9 whole he switch to a new number.

OwnGoalNigeria.com exclusively gathered that Ighalo has settled for jersey number 25, the same number he wore during his time at Old Trafford playing for Manchester United.

A team source told this portal that he is also prepared to sacrifice his position as a starter in the team as he has told coach Gernot Rohr that he doesn’t mind playing as a substitute.

As many as 21 players took part in the first 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 first session when in camp which is the fitness drill in the gym.

All invited outfield players took part in the session bar the duo of Victor Osimhen and Odion Ighalo who are yet to arrive the camp of the team as at the time of filing in this report.

While Osimhen is expected to arrive the camp of the team later today, 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.

Sources close to team say he hasn’t confirmed his acceptance of the invitation leading to fears that he might decide not to honour the call up. Meanwhile goalkeeper of Enyimba John Noble who was called up as replacement for the injured Francis Uzoho will arrive camp on Thursday.

Players In Camp: 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 and Joe Aribo.

Expected today: Victor Osimhen, Odion Ighalo.

Expected on Thursday: John Noble.

Coach of Italian Serie A side Napoli Luciano Spalletti says the club record signing Victor Osimhen reminds him of two players who set the Italian league on fire during their prime.

Osimhen is enjoying a fine start to this season after struggling for much of last season with nine goals in 13 games in all competitions. Five of the goals came in the league where he scored ten goals last season.

His form has played a huge role in Napoli staying top of the Serie A on goal difference ahead of AC Milan after 12 rounds of games in the league. A lot of positive things have been said about his impact so far.

Spalletti who trains the forward almost on a daily basis says Osimhen can reach the level of Marco Van Basten and George Weah who were once upon a time donning the colours of AC Milan.

He says Osimhen has similar qualities with Weah but not at same technical level. He see him as having more of the same stuff like Van Basten.

“He is similar to Weah, probably not as strong technically, but with the same quality. He also reminds me of Van Basten. Osimhen is young and he can reach those levels,” Spalletti was quoted by Football Italia.

The real story behind the decision of Samuel Kalu to withdraw from the Super Eagles squad for the final rounds of World Cup qualifiers games has been made known to OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Coach of the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr confirmed that the Bordeaux winger requested to be excused from the team for the games against Liberia and Cape Verde respectively.

According to Rohr he wants to focus on his  club form which has nosedived recently as he is no longer a starter in the team. “I spoke with him and he asked not to be selected,” Rohr told French Radio Station France Bleu Gironde.

“He made a very good argument about wanting to concentrate on the club – he told me that the time had come for him to give his all, to fight to regain his place in the Girondins squad. I found his speech to be very positive.”

A source close to the player insist that wasn’t the reason why Kalu opt out of the squad as he is unhappy that he is now playing second fiddle to CSKA Moscow winger Chidera Ejuke.

” He is hurt that he didn’t get to play away to Central Africa Republic. Against Liberia he only got few minutes. It’s not helping him focus on his club. He most times arrive late at his base and for someone keen to reclaim his spot in the team, it’s better to be around the team”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” It’s clear that Rohr prefers Ejuke now but that’s not an issue. Kalu wants to play and show his stuff which isn’t possible with Nigeria now. We will see in the coming days”, he concluded.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has contacted Khimki of Russia left back Bryan Idowu to be on the alert following concerns over the fitness of Jamilu Collins.

Collins is in a race against time to be fit for Nigeria ahead of their 2022 World Cup qualifiers games against Liberia and Cape Verde respectively. The Paderborn defender is yet to fully recover from a knock picked up while in action for his club.

Idowu who was last called up to the Nigerian team in 2019 for the friendly game against Ukraine has won his way back into reckoning with his form in the Russian Premier League.

So far he has played in 14 league games and it’s on the strength of that number that he was called up ahead of Calvin Bassey Ughelumba of Scottish side Rangers, who was a part of the squad for the last round of games.

Also there are doubts over the availability of Genk of Belgium forward Paul Onuachu as he is also recuperating from a knock. It has led to contact with Union Berlin striker Taiwo Awoniyi who was a shock omission from the team due largely to the return of Odion Ighalo back to the team.

Both players will be contacted in the next 48 hours per sources close to the coach as they expect to get an update on the aforementioned recuperating duo within that time frame.

The new coach of newly promoted English Premier League side Watford is already making plans to ditch Super Eagles defender William Ekong from his starting lineup.

Claudio Ranieri took over from Xisco Munoz with a sole mandate of ensuring that Watford stay in the league in their first season following promotion from the English Championship.

The coach has gone about fixing the defence of the team and Ekong appears to be one of the players who might be dropped from the starting lineup by the Italian coach.

Aside from the fact that the coach is looking at the exit of the Nigerian for the African Cup of Nations in December, he feels he doesn’t fit his style of play per an article published in The Athletic.

Yesterday against Arsenal, Ekong was dropped for new signing Nicolas Nkoulou and he put up a spirited display even though they were beaten 1-0 at the Emirates.

Rainieri was coy when he was asked if he thinks the current crop of defenders at the club will improve enough to keep the team up. He said he can’t say for now if they will improve or if he needs to sign when the transfer window opens in January.

Coach of French Ligue 1 side Nantes Antoine Kombouare says Nigeria international forward Moses Simon is a special kind of player to have in your team.

The coach made the remarks after Simon bagged what is his seventh assit of the season to help them draw 2-2 against Strasbourg in Ligue 1 yesterday.

Kambouare says the 26 year old Nigerian has a rare gift of being effective at both ends of the pitch as he can defend as well as attack base on what the team needs during the course of a game.

” It’s rare to find a player who do the things that Simon does. He is effective in the way the team wants to play and that makes him special and you want to have that type of player in your team. It’s a pleasure to have him*, the coach said.

Simon departed France yesterday for the camp of the Nigerian team in Morocco ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifiers games against Liberia and Cape Verde respectively.

Belgium born Nigeria international forward Cyriel Dessers scored his third goal in as many games to hand his loan side Feyenoord a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar.

Dessers followed up his winner against Sparta Rotterdam last week with another match winning strike against Union Berlin in the Europa Conference League before yesterday’s winner.

The run of goals means he now has four goals in seven league games, three away from his last season tally while at Genk where he needed 32 games to reach that tally.

As expected it has brought about talks of a possible call up to the Belgium national team as he is still eligible to play for them as his only appearance for Nigeria came in a friendly game last year.

Dessers has however played it down, insisting on fighting his way back into the squad of the senior national team of Nigeria by scoring goals that will catch the attention of coach Gernot Rohr.

” I didn’t have the best of time last season but I am slowly getting back to my best here in Feyenoord. I am not thinking of a call up to the Belgium team although I see all that is written about the possibility. The immediate aim is to get back into the Nigerian team which is possible if I continue scoring goals”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com

Hot on the heels of the exclusion of Taiwo Awoniyi from the Super Eagles squad for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers games, coach of Union Berlin Urs Fischer has spoken about the qualities of the forward.

Awoniyi has hit a rich vein of form but after his first call up to the senior national team of Nigeria, the forward who has 7 goals in the German Bundesliga, One in the German Cup and 4 in the UEFA Conference League wasn’t included in the team for the games against Liberia and Cape Verde respectively.

His omission by coach of the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr is coming on the back of the decision of the coach to hand a recall to Odion Ighalo, who retired from the team in 2019 after emerging as top scorer at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Fischer who is credited for his faith in the forward for his role in convincing the club to spend heavy on the Nigerian making him their most expensive player ever when he joined from Liverpool, sees Awoniyi as one of the most important player in his team.

“Awoniyi is always working hard to improve on his skills, and also find ways to score more goals during the week.”

“I think strikers are important because they have to score goals. A lot of things are coming together at the moment for the club and that feels good.” Fischer said.

Speaking on news linking Awoniyi with a move away from the team, the coach credited the form of the striker as the reason behind the rumours as he is doing well.

“It’s normal in football that when you begin to make a name for yourself, bigger teams will come knocking at the door.”

“I am very happy for the players when they can get to the next level, but it also doesn’t help me as a coach when good players leaves but that’s sadly football.”