The senior national team coach of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says he now understands how to properly handle the senior national team of Nigeria for better results even in the face of difficulties.

Nigeria might seal a place in the final knock out round for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers if they win their next set of games which is the back to back games against Central Africa Republic (CAR).

Speaking on the difficulties of picking a win against Cape Verde due to the absence of several players, Rohr said it was possible to a claim a 2-1 without as many as ten regulars because he now understand the players better.

Under pressure to lift the next Africa Cup of Nations in January next year with many saying it will be his major achievement to justify his lengthy tenure with the team, the coach said unlike the past, the AFCON is now harder to win following the increase in the number of teams at the tournament.

“We saw when we had to replace 10 players because of the UK, the replacements and the players who were joining us had also a very good level.

“We grew together and the young team won a bronze medal in the last Afcon, with much more teams [competing] than in the past. In the past only 16 teams took part now it is 24 so it is much more difficult to win a medal with so many teams.”

Napoli came from two goals down to force Leicester City to a 2-2 draw in the Europa League, thanks to a brace from their Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen.

Leicester City raced to a two goal lead with Ayoze Perez and Harvey Barnes scoring in the 9th and 64th minute respectively with Kelechi Iheanacho laying the assist for Barnes.

The Foxes look to be cruising to all three points but Osimhen had other ideas by first of all looping the ball over Kasper Schmeichel to reduce the deficit for his side in the 69th minute.

Three minutes from regulation time he was there once again to draw his side level, this time around with a firm header which sailed passed the hapless Schmeichel.

The goal left his teammate Kalidou Koulibaly with nothing but praises for the club record forward, terming him as the weapon of the team and also praising him for improving daily.

“It was not easy to recover and get results on this field “. Koulibaly said on the challenge from Leicester City.

“We faced a good team that plays fast and vertically. We were very good at keeping the ball and we could have even won if we looked at the whole game.”

“Osimhen is our deadly weapon. We know his value, he grows day by day, he listens to advice and knows how to give the depth we always need”.

“We probably would have lost this race a few years ago, but this group showed maturity, experience and mentality. We are not afraid in the most delicate moments and this is very important”

Zaidu Sanusi had an unhappy return to the starting lineup of FC Porto as he only lasted 45 minute in their 0-0 draw against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.

The left back pushed for a move away from the club during the summer transfer window and during the time under review he was left out of their squad for games.

With the transfer window now closed in all countries, he was handed another chance to make amends for the poor way he has started the season which led to the signing of Brazilian left back Wendell.

It wasn’t to be as he was substituted just before the start of the second half by Wendell as they hold on to a 0-0 draw, coach of the team Sergio Conceicao took out time to explain the thinking behind pulling him off.

“It was for the yellow that I took Zaidu. I felt that the referee was giving yellow cards to FC Porto players too easily and we couldn’t risk being outnumbered. The work of the full-backs was very important in our strategy, but it all started with the work of the forwards up front”, the coach explainer.

”Although João Mário is making a fantastic start to the season, albeit with some accumulated wear, I thought Corona’s experience and Zaidu’s freshness and speed were interesting for this game. I took Zaidu at halftime because he was yellow.” 

Nantes of France winger Moses Simon has once again showed his affection towards improving the life of upcoming footballers by replacing the bus of his pet club Simioben Football Academy.

Players and officials of the team were left astonished few days ago when he decided to replace the bus of the team which was giving them maintenance issue with another one reportedly worth 12 million naira.

The bus is used to pick players from their various locations before training and also drop them off when they are done. But that hasn’t been the case the past few days as it was having some mild issues that was proving difficult to handle.

Simon moved swiftly and replaced it with a new bus much to the delight of the players. It’s one among the major things he is doing to ensure that the academy stands apart from others in Kaduna.

He also took to his social media handle to display his player of the month award which he was handed after topping a voting process done by fans. It’s the fourth time he is picking the award in his two and half year stay at the club.

Victor Osimhen was the hero for his Italian side helping them to a 2-2 comeback draw against Leicester City with two well taken brace in their first game in the group stage of the Europa League.

Leicester City raced to a two goal lead with Ayoze Perez and Harvey Barnes scoring in the 9th and 64th minute respectively with Kelechi Iheanacho laying the assist for Barnes.

The Foxes look to be cruising to all three points but Osimhen had other ideas by first of all looping the ball over Kasper Schmeichel to reduce the deficit for his side in the 69th minute.

Three minutes from regulation time he was there once again to draw his side level, this time around with a firm header which sailed passed the hapless Schmeichel.

While it was a good night for Osimhen, his international teammate Wilfred Ndidi was sent off three minutes into time added on after picking up his second booking of the game.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has hit back at one of his fierce critic in former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni .

Aiyegbeni has been relentless in his criticism of the coach insisting that the team hasn’t made any appreciable progress since Rohr was employed in 2016 as coach of the team.

Rohr who isn’t known to be vocal in an interview with ESPN by respected Nigerian journalist Colin Udoh hit back with a reminder of the low ranking of the Super Eagles before he was appointed as coach.

Super Eagles were ranked 67th before the coming of the coach and at a time 24th under his guidance but per the new ranking release by FIFA earlier today they are 34th. Nevertheless Rohr pointed it out as part of the progress the team has made under his tutelage.

“All that is a little bit unimportant,” Rohr fired back. “But what I can say is that when I arrived, the FIFA ranking was worse and now it is much better.

Watford player of the month Emmanuel Dennis is facing the prospect of not getting call up to the senior national team of Nigeria under present coach Gernot Rohr, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

Dennis’s name was missing from the list of players called up for the last round of games, despite the fact that he has started the season in good form for his new team Watford in the English Premier League.

It appears he might be in the wilderness for a while after an act of indiscipline during the course of one of the games he played for the team, sources close to the team has revealed.

The 23 year old was unhappy that he was left on the bench in one the games of the team and made his feelings known to coach of the team who didn’t take his outburst likely.

Rohr’s unhappiness with the forward started from when he was told to drop to the U23s during the qualifiers for the U23 AFCON. He reluctantly went and had a fall out with coach of the team Imama Amapakabo who in turn briefed Rohr.

He was subsequently axed from the team by Imama, same fate awaits him in the Super Eagles except Rohr has a change in mind and sees a total improvement in his character.

“ It’s sad that character might limit Dennis from fulfilling his potentials. His case is similar to that of Isaac Success. Rohr has written them off due to their poor attitude. It’s why he wasn’t in the last squad and he might not get another chance as long as Rohr remains”, a team source revealed.

Zaidu Sanusi has been handed another opportunity to put his career at FC Porto back on track with his inclusion in the squad for tonight’s game in the UEFA Champions League against Atletico Madrid.

Sanusi has not made the matchday squad for the last three games of Porto with the signing of Brazilian left back Wendell pushing him down the pecking order at the club leading to talks of a move away.

While speculation about a move was on, he wasn’t named by Sergio Conceicao in his matchday squad but with the window now closed in all leagues in Europe, the coach has decided to include him in his squad.

Last season, the Nigerian started ten games in the UEFA Champions League including the quarter final defeat to eventual champions Chelsea. He will be hoping for more of same this season.

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick made a futile attempt to lure England international forward Tammy Abraham to the senior national team of Nigeria four years ago.

Pinnick took pictures with the forward with the official website of the club running an extensive interview on the forward claiming he has decided to switch allegiance to the senior national team of Nigeria.

The forward was quick to deny the report insisting that he is keen on representing England terming his meeting with the NFF president as a friendly one initiated by his father and nothing was discussed in terms of switching nationality.

Pinnick has now narrated part of what he told the forward in that their meeting with the forward who is now at Italian Serie A side AS Roman and hoping to fight his way back into reckoning with England.

“I told Tammy Abraham that he stood a better chance of playing regularly for Nigeria than with England, which has a galaxy of strikers of the English stock ahead of him”, Pinnick said he told the striker in 2017.

According to Tijjani Babangida on loan Galatasary of Turkey defender Valentine Ozornwafor has no business in the senior national team of Nigeria due to his inactivity at club level.

Ozornwafor was a part of the squad for the last round of international games but didn’t get to play in any of the two World Cup qualifiers, which Nigeria started off on a bright note with a 2-0 win over Liberia before another 2-1 win away to Cape Verde.

Although Ozornwafor was called up as part of the enlarged squad, Babangida insist he is for now not suppose to be around the time unless he start getting games at club level.

Presently out on loan to Belgium side Charleroi, the former Nigeria U20, U23 defender has played more games for the senior national team of Nigeria than he has at club level the past one year.

He played in the back to back friendly games against Cameroon even though he has only played one game at club level since the start of last season. Babangida said it’s not fair on other players who are regulars to be left out for his sake.

“ How do you call a player to the senior national team with zero games at club level? Who does that? Valentine need to earn his spot in the team by playing well for his club. For now he has no spot in the team and I expect the coach Gernot Rohr to drop him in favour or players getting regular run of games”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.