Five players arrived the camp of the senior national team of Nigeria yesterday ahead of their opening round of games in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Nigeria will take on Liberia on the 3rd of September and in preparation for the game , the camp of the team welcomed the first batch of players with the rest expected to arrive between today and tomorrow.

Leicester City duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi, Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi and goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi from South African side Kaizer Chiefs are the players based abroad who are in the camp of the team.

Abia Warriors defender Adekunle Adeleke is also in the camp following his late invitation as a replacement for Frank Onyeka who tested positive for coronavirus.

Taiwo Awoniyi was once again the hero for German Bundesliga side Union Berlin scoring what ended as the winner to help them to a 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.

Awoniyi have scored in all three of their games so far but unlike the his goal earning a point against Bayern Leverkusen and Hoffenheim respectively, this time around it helped them to all three points.

Signed on a club record deal from Liverpool last month, he has so far proven to be a shrewd bargain with five goals in his first six games of the season.

In the Europa Conference League qualifiers, he scored twice in their 4-0 win first leg win over Finnish side KuPS. Bar three of his attempts he has scored with all of his shots on target so far.

Coach of Belgium top division side Genk says there is every chance that Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu could leave the team before the close of the transfer window.

Van den Brom in an interview on TV Limburg said with three to four more days before the close of the transfer window the duo of Onuachu and Jhon Lucumi could yet leave the team.

He however said he is hopeful that the duo will remain at the club but if they eventually leave, the team already have players who who will be their replacement.

“But they are still here. And again, we still have four days. We will wait and see,” he told TV Limburg . “We also know that if they go, we’ll have plenty of alternatives for those guys. But I’m assuming they’re not going.”

Coach of Everton Rafa Benitez has picked out certain aspect that Alex Iwobi should improve in his game if he want to fulfill the potential that saw the club splash big on him two summers ago from Arsenal.

Iwobi has played in all three of Everton’s game in the English Premier League this season with a total of 115 minutes as he played as substitute in all of the games. He clocked 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup and also scored his first goal of the season in their hard fought 2-1 win over Huddersfield.

Linked with a move away from the club at the start of the summer transfer window, he has somehow won the faith of his manager who said after the 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion that there are areas he still need to improve on.

“My job was to try to give him confidence and adjust a couple of things in the way he is playing and his understanding of the game. I am really pleased with him and I think the fans can see a big difference in these three games from last year”, he told the official website of the club.

“He was injured [at Huddersfield] and carried on trying to help the team because we had 10 players. He was a key part in the success and I think the fans will really appreciate his commitment to the club.”

“I know he has incredible in condition and work rate and his physicality is really good. He has to improve in the final third, he knows that.

“It is just to be sure he makes things simple, then he can score goals and give assists. He is doing well and growing in confidence.”

Former Nigeria U17, U20 and U23 midfielder Kingsley Michael celebrated his maiden call up to the senior national team of Nigeria with a strong showing for Bologna in their 0-0 draw against Atalanta.

Michael was handed a start in what was his second Serie A game since joining the team in 2017 and the 22 year old didn’t disappoint as he got over a nervy start to post a really good second half performance.

He was substituted in the 60th minute but did enough to justify the decision of the coach to hand him his debut even though he played as a defensive midfielder as opposed to his traditional role as a central midfielder.

Named on the standby list of the senior national team of Nigeria for their upcoming World Cup 2022 qualifiers. He will be eyeing a debut if the players based in England fail to get clearance to play away in Cape Verde.

The first choice goalkeeper of the senior national team of Nigeria Maduka Okoye was once again on the losing side as his team Sparta Rotterdam slumped to a 0-2 loss against Go Ahead Eagles in the Eredivisie.

Okoye who turned 22 today didn’t have the best of birthday celebration as he was made to pick the ball twice from his net. The seventh time he has done so this season.

Last season he finished with ten clean sheets from 33 games and got nominated for goalkeeper of the year in the Netherlands. He was also voted the club’s player of the year but things haven’t started smoothly this season.

It started with a 4-0 loss to FC Utrecht then a 1-1 draw suggest Sparta Rotterdam were back to the form that made them a hit last season but today’s loss suggest otherwise.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has added Abia Warriors defender Adekunle Adeleke to his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifier as a replacement for Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka who has tested positive to coronavirus.

As first reported by this portal yesterday evening, central defender Adeleke has been called up as Onyeka’s replacement . His inclusion we gathered was communicated to him earlier today and he is expected to be in the camp of the team when it resumes on Monday.

A member of the team for the past four games, his invitation is coming at a time where there is no clarity over his club career as he is rumored to have make a move at the end of the recently concluded Nigeria Professional Football League season.

Although he played for Abia Warriors last season, reports indicate that he has already agreed to join their city rivals Enyimba FC of Aba for their campaign in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Ahead of the Super Eagles of Nigeria first World Cup 2022 qualifiers coach of the team Gernot Rohr has voiced his concerns over the choice of Lagos as venue of the game.

Nigeria will host Liberia at the Teslim Balogun stadium situated in the heart of Lagos and Rohr says a lot need to be done for the playing surface to be at the level the players want.

He also lamented the traffic situation in Lagos state and also called for better organization than last time out when they played in same city. The coach however said he hope recent works will give the pitch a facelift.

“We are happy to play in Lagos but there are two things that must be better. The first thing is for the traffic, we cannot spend one and half hour from the hotel to the stadium. It’s too long”, he told Elegbete TV.

“We need better escort, we need better organisation and the roads are full. This is one problem. The other problem is infrastructure, they had a good work on the but it’s not yet on a higher international level.

“Our players are use to playing on very good grass. It’s still not the case. So they are working a lot. We are happy over it but it’s still not the best. They should play in the best infrastructure like they have in other countries.”

He named the Godswill Akpabio stadium as the one pitch which he love his team to play on as they have one of the best infrastructure. Abuja which is under repairs will be a good option when ready according to the coach.

“ We have actually Uyo which is actually the best one. I hope they will be Abuja, they are working on it. I hope it will be good when they finished. It’s not yet finished but Lagos still have a lot to do and they are working a lot.

“I didn’t see it last season but my assistants were there. They have to do better grass for us. We need the best condition to play the best football”.

There is confusion in the camp of Super Eagles opponent Liberia ahead of their opening World Cup 2022 qualifiers game in Lagos on the 3rd of September, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

Reports from Liberia has it that head coach of the team Peter James Butler didn’t turn up for the training of the team on Wednesday as dispute over a new deal rages on.

The coach was expected to be around as talks of a new deal to replace the old one which expired in August is to be held but he didn’t turn up as expected and there have been no report to suggest otherwise since then.

54 year old Butler who previously coached Botswana has been in charge of Liberia since 2019 but he might not be with the team in Nigeria as he is yet to sign the new deal offered to him in August this year.

His backroom staff which includes Christopher Wreh as his assistant, Sunday Seah as goalkeeper’s coach, Tommy Johnson the kit manager and administrative manager Sebastain Collins have all resumed training with the 27 invited players for the game.

They will likely lead the team to Nigeria if Butler fails to turn up. A clear idea of the situation is expected to be known in the coming days.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has added Abia Warriors defender Adekunle Adeleke to his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

His inclusion we gathered was communicated to him earlier today and he is expected to be in the camp of the team when it resumes on Monday.

A member of the team for the past four games, it’s still unclear if he is coming in as a replacement for a player or added to the squad to swell the number.

Although he played for Abia Warriors last season, reports indicate that he has already agreed to join their city rivals Enyimba FC of Aba for their campaign in the CAF Confederation Cup.

More details shortly…