The July 4th friendly game between the senior national team of Nigeria and their counterparts from Mexico will see a new member introduced into the technical crew, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Austin Eguavoen who is the head of the Technical Department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will handle the Super Eagles team which will largely consist of players plying their trade in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

Before now it is the responsibility of the first assistant of the Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr to handle the home base team as seen in the cases of Salisu Yusuf and Imama Amapakabo respectively.

However this time around with Rohr’s first assistant Joseph Yobo unavailable due to his commitment as a pundit in the ongoing European Championship. Eguavoen will handle the team.

A source at the NFF also revealed to Owngoalnigeria.com that even if Yobo is around, Eguavoen will still have been in charge of the team as many of the players were scouted by the technical department during their visits to league venues.

Yobo hasn’t watched a single league game live after 27 round of games in the NPFL hence the decision not to hand the team of the home based players to the former Super Eagles captain.

Almeria of Spain forward Sadiq Umar says the recent unbeaten run by Nigeria Professional Football League side Akwa United is a surprise to him considering the nature of the league this season.

Sadiq who is back in Kaduna after scoring 20 goals in 38 games for Almeria and getting invited to the Super Eagles but couldn’t honour due to club commitment watched the game between Kano Pillars and the league leaders.

While watching at the Ahmadu Stadium, the 24 year old old Owngoalnigeria.comthat Akwa United is one of his favorite team this season and he watches them using the NPFL.TV app.

“ I had to come and see them live because I watched them while I was in Spain and they play one of the best brand of football in the league. They are a very exciting team”, he said.

He was later informed by a member of our editorial team that they are on a 17 match unbeaten run, he reacted by saying “Unbelievable for a team to put together an unbeaten run with the competitive nature of the NPFL. It’s unbelievable but they deserve it”.

Since losing to Nasarawa United 1-2 on the 14th of February, the Uyo side is yet to lose a game in the NPFL, a run that is seen by many as a testament to their current status as the best team in the league so far after 27 matches this season.

The star player of the senior national team of Algeria Riyad Mahrez says the Super Eagles of Nigeria were the toughest opponents they faced during the course of their 27 match unbeaten run.

Algeria haven’t lost a game in over two years with Mahrez playing a key role in the run which has also resulted in lifting the Africa Cup of Nations, a feat they achieved in 2019.

Even though they faced the likes of Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia and Mexico, Mahrez picked the game against Nigeria at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations where both teams locked horns in the semi final as the toughest.

According to Mahrez who scored the late free kick that earned them a 2-1 win over Nigeria, the game was one they were pushed to the limit admitting that extra time will probably have played to the advantage of the Nigerians.

Something Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi claimed Mahrez told him after the game “ We were pushed to the limit. It was a game where we knew extra time won’t be in our favor. It is for me the toughest game so far in our latest run. Nigeria are usually hard to break down”, he said.

The 2020/2021 Premier League season finished with Manchester City as clear champions while their city rivals Manchester United finished comfortably in second place. 

However, there was drama in the battle for the final top four places. Leicester City looked to be on course to finish inside the top four, but the Foxes missed out again on the last day. 

It was a case of deja vu for Brendan Rodgers men, who had also suffered a similar fate in the 2019/2020 season. They lost at home to United that season to miss out, and on the last day of this season, they suffered a 4-2 loss to Tottenham at the King Power Stadium. 

Liverpool and Chelsea eventually picked up the final two spots, but at a point, the Reds were out of the picture, while Chelsea had Spurs to thank.

The Blues finished a point ahead of Leicester but would’ve finished outside the top four had the Foxes beaten Spurs on the last day. The top four race is one of the battles to look towards in every campaign, and attention now shifts to next season.

The usual suspects will be challenging for the places again next season. Taking a look at the teams that will be competing, Manchester City are almost certain to finish in top four, and can be backed at 1.66 odds to win the Premier League on  Melbet Nigeria 

Manchester United are the second favourites to finish in the top four, with Chelsea third and Liverpool fourth. However, there are other teams that could also challenge. 

Arsenal will be among the chasing pack, but the Gunners finishing in the top four depends on their activity in the transfer market. Right now, Leicester City are a more valuable option than Mikel Arteta’s men. 

The Foxes are expected to keep all of their key players, which gives them an edge over the Gunners. Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur will also hope to banish this season’s memories, but they are a big risk. 

Spurs will go into the new season with a new man in the dugout while Harry Kane’s future is unclear. Their target will be to make the top four, but right now, they are outsiders.

Everton, Wolves and maybe Leeds are outsiders worth staking on, but right now, it’s hard to look beyond Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.  

The first of Nigeria’s head-to-head friendlies came on Friday, with the Cameroons dominating the night, with the second ending in a head-scratching draw the following Tuesday. Overall, the two legs were nothing to write home about, and bookkeepers bet9ja may have had a hard time wrapping their heads around this as well.

Andre Anguissa’s strike in the 39th minute was all the Indomitable Lions needed to win their fifth and first since 2000 against Nigeria.

The Fulham midfielder took advantage of a loose ball from William Troost-Ekong before firing a shot from outside the box that knocked goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.

It was disappointing for the Super Eagles, as they were the better team on Friday night. However, in terms of play balance, the three-time African champions deserved at least a draw.

The Super Eagles showed a lack of decency in front of goal, while Cameroon goalkeeper Omossola repeatedly rejected any chances that made it on target. The three-time African champions had a chance at revenge when the two sides met again on Tuesday, but the result was a draw that was even more disappointing because it lacked any reassurance.

In all fairness, Rohr did not have the ideal preparation for the two games after six key players withdrew from the squad. The German strategist was denied the service of leaders such as Leon Balogun, Joe Aribo, Victor Osimhen and Zaidu Sanusi. However, that allowed Rohr to try new players, but the former Bordeaux coach stuck with the old guard and did not change until the 66th minute in the first game.

It was another strange decision by Rohr. The 67-year-old has confirmed two matches that will allow him to see new faces, which is why his decision not to change anytime soon is surprising.

It is difficult even to understand because the team is followed closely, and the players up front have missed the opportunity. For example, the former Burkina Faso coach should have put Terem Moffi earlier and Anayo Iwuala. Rohr has been criticized for his questionable decisions in recent Super Eagles games, and this newest outing shows the 67-year-old is unlikely to change for anyone.

Onuachu was Nigeria’s player of the year in the just-ended European club football season. The 27-year-old has scored 33 goals to help Genk become the top scorer in the Belgian league. However, despite his track record at club level, he has never been Rohr’s favourite.

Although he scored in wins over Benin and Lesotho in March, he was only substituted in both games. With Osimhen absent, Onuachu has a chance to convince Rohr to give him more playing time. He impresses but doesn’t do enough. Nigeria’s first real chance of the game went to him, but his header was beaten by Omossola in a Cameroon goal. His retention isn’t bad either. However, he failed to do the most important thing, which is to score. Onuachu had found promising positions, but he was lacklustre in both the opening and second half before being substituted for Moffi.

And with the fully equipped Super Eagles in the attacking department, Onuachu may have missed the opportunity to start more games.

Ahmed Musa is the current captain of the team, while Ekong is the vice-captain. Musa is no longer a starter on the team, which means Ekong will lead the team during games. Friday’s clash was no different, but there’s another player who could challenge Ekong for the captaincy when Musa retires, and that’s Wilfred Ndidi. The Leicester City star was one of the few players to impress on Friday night, but his leadership qualities stood out above his overall play.

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World Football governing body FIFA has cleared the duo of Ademola Lookman and Ovie Ejaria to play for Nigeria following their application to switch allegiance from England.

The duo applied for a nationality switch in 2019 but due to the complex nature of players switching from England it took two years for the process to be completed. Same length of time as it took for that of Ola Aina.

They both played for England at several youth levels but they will now be available for Nigeria in September when the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup begins.

“ Yes it’s done. Infact it was approved before the friendly games against Cameroon but the list was already out for the games. If both players do well next season they will play for Nigeria in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers”, a source told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Lookman impressed last season while on loan to Fulham from RB Leipzig despite the fact that they were relegated at the end of the season. Ejaria was one of the shinning light for Reading who were prime for a play off spot before suffering a dip towards the business end of the season.

The reason why the senior national team of Nigeria failed to score in both friendly games against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon has been laid bare by coach of the team Gernot Rohr.

Nigeria were beaten in Friday’s friendly by a lone goal and yesterday same opponent denied them a chance to score as it ended in a 0-0 draw.

Going into the games, the strength of the Nigerian team was picked by many as the attack with Paul Onuachu who had 35 goals for Genk leading the line. Kelechi Iheanacho with 17 goals for Leicester City was his partner in attack.

Despite that the duo failed to hit the back of the net in both games which they started and Rohr speaking after yesterday’s game explained why the team fired blanks.

“We didn’t want to concede a goal we wanted to score but we could not and when we are missing players like (Victor) Osimhen, (Joe) Aribo, (Samuel) Chukwueze, (Samuel) Kalu, Henry (Onyekuru), it’s not easy”, Rohr explained.

“But they (players) did well, we had a lot of chances in this two games we couldn’t score but the match today was interesting. We missed a little bit of realism in front of goal”.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has praises the performance of Valentine Ozornwafor in the Super Eagles 0-0 draw against Cameroon in yesterday’s friendly game.

Ozornwafor was called up as back up due to several withdrawals despite playing just eight minutes of club football last season with Galatasary. He was thrown into the second friendly game from the start by Rohr.

Due to the injury suffered by William Ekong, the 22 year old was handed his first start in the colours of Nigeria pairing Chidozie Awaziem in central defence and keeping a clean sheet.

He had a nervous start to the game but grew into it as it progresses and Rohr who was heavily criticized for calling him up due to his lack of games at club level said he has proved his doubters wrong with his performance.

“We had a problem in the defense so for the first time we played Valentine. He did very well and we finished the match with Simon who is a winger playing left-back and we didn’t concede a goal”, Rohr said after the game.

“I’m very happy for Valentine because a lot of people did not understand why he was with us.” He showed today the reason why he can play with us, he did very well with his left foot in central defence.”

The Super Eagles of Nigeria once again failed to get the better of the senior national team of Cameroon drawing 0-0 after the first game which ended 1-0 in favour of the Indomitable Lions.

Owngoalnigeria.com rates the players on parade for Nigeria in the game.

Maduka Okoye – His confidence level isn’t quite high base on face value and it led to him almost gifting the Cameroonians a goal. Recovered brilliantly to deny Choupo Moting a clear chance to open scoring. His distribution need work – 6/10

Shehu Abdullahi- Stuck to his task of keeping his man in check but did nothing spectacular going forward. Also didn’t strike any sort of rhythm with Ahmed Musa on the right. Did venture forward but not to much effect in the second half- 6/10

Jamilu Collins – Not a game he will want to remember in a hurry. Sloppy in possession and in tackles. Didn’t make use of Simon’s darting runs – 4/10

Valentine Ozornwafor- Not quite At this level and it clearly showed. Poor in possession, caught out of position severally. Still has some way to go before he get to this level. Marginally fared better in the second half- 5/10

Chidozie Awaziem- Forced to play the role of two players with Ozornwafor looking lost. Did his job brilliantly although he didn’t help team mount attack from the back with his wayward passes – 6/10

Wilfred Ndidi – Busy as a bee in the middle . Created space for Iwobi and Iheanacho just ahead of him to thrive. Had a very good game – 7/10

Alex Iwobi – A better performance than on Friday. Missed a chance that looks easier to score than miss. Other than that he has a performance slightly above average – 6/10

Kelechi Iheanacho- Took up good positions and received the ball in promising positions. He somehow seem to have lost the spark that he ended the season with at Leicester City but still looked deadly – 6/10

Moses Simon- Always looking to play forward and it helped the team push the Cameroonians back. Had a very good game like he did on Friday. Dropped to left back and still held his own – 7/10

Ahmed Musa – One trademark run in the second half saw him set Iwobi up for Super Eagles clearest chance to take the lead. Bar that he looked uninterested and off color – 4/10

Paul Onuachu- Another frustrating performance from the recently crowned top scorer, best player and best black player in Belgium. Two games, two poor showings means displacing Victor Osimhen still remains a dream – 4/10

Substitutes

Terem Moffi- His presence immediately galvanized the team. Held up play nicely but fail to hit the target after using his strength and quick feet to create a space to shoot – 6.5/10

Marcus Abraham- Neat and tidy on the ball which helped the team build some momentum. Strayed three passes from promising positions but was solid – 5/10

Anayo Iwuala – Another game and another chance to make an impression gone. Might hardly gets another chance as he hasn’t convinced in all but one of the four games he has played so far- 3/10

The Super Eagles of Nigeria once again failed to get the better of the senior national team of Cameroon drawing 0-0 after the first game which ended 1-0 in favour of the Indomitable Lions.

Cameroon started the game on the front foot and twice came close to scoring in the opening 15 minutes with Eric Maxim Choupo Moting denied at close range by Maduka Okoye minutes after Valentine Ozornwafor cleared a goal bound move off the line.

As the half wore on Nigeria saw lot of the balls but it was the Cameroonians who looked more likely to score but poor finishing meant the half ended in a barren affair.

Just as it was in the first affair between both nations, the Super Eagles improved after the break and showed better coordination in defence and attack which almost resulted in a goal.

Alex Iwobi missed the best chance of the game where he was clear on goal after a quick interchange of passes with Ahmed Musa but with the goalkeeper beaten he missed when it would have been easier to score.

That chance was the best of the game as it snowballed into half chances for both teams before the whistle was sounded for full time.