33 year old West Ham United defender Angelo Ogbonna has reacted angrily to the decision of coach Roberto Mancini to leave him out of the squad of Italy for the European Championship.

Ogbonna who has Nigerian roots turned down the chance of playing for Nigeria in 2011 when he was approached by the Nigeria Football Federation after an impressive season for Torino.

He later moved to Juventus but didn’t quite establish himself before moving to West Ham where he has remained a stalwart in the heart of their defence.

In the just concluded season he was highly regarded as one of the best players of the Hammers who were by some way the surprise package of the season as they earned a UEFA Europa League place for the first time in their history.

His form made him feel that he should at least get into the Italian team for the Euros but he was snubbed by Mancini and he has now voiced out his disappointment at being unable to add to his 13 senior caps for Italy. He could have earned more if he had decided to stick with Nigeria.

Ogbonna’s frustration over his omission was magnified after seeing Chelsea duo Jorginho and Emerson Palmieri added to the Italy squad on Sunday.

“I am very amazed and also bitter, perhaps he did not take into consideration the West Ham championship,” the Hammers centre-half told Corriere della Sera.

“We fought until the end for the Champions League qualification with Jorginho and Palmieri’s Chelsea, who finished higher, but we showed that we can beat any team.”

Ogbonna added: “In sport, meritocracy must prevail, based on the championship in which one plays, on the statistics, on the value of the player.

“And this time, in my opinion, it did not prevail.”

A total of 17 players have arrived the camp of the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of the June 4th international friendly game against Cameroon.

Among the players in camp is Samson Tijjani who according to Gernot Rohr is injured and declined invitation as a replacement for Frank Onyeka who also pulled out due to injury.

However captain of the team Ahmed Musa is missing with news having it that he will be in camp by tomorrow as he will leave Nigeria later tonight for Germany.

Moses Simon will also arrive the camp of the team today to bring the number of the players in camp to 18 and they will have their first training session tomorrow.

Eagles in camp: Maduka Okoye, Francis Uzoho, John Noble, William Troost-Ekong, Alex Iwobi, Shehu Abdullahi, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Chidozie Awaziem, Jamilu Collins, Etebo Oghenekaro, Valentine Ozonwafor, Anayo Iwuala, Abraham Marcus, Terem Moffi, Peter Olayinka, Samson Tijani.

The camp of the senior national team of Nigeria is yet to come alive ahead of their upcoming friendly game against Cameroon on the 4th of June.

Nigeria will play two games in four days against the Indomitable Lions but the first game is under threat with players of the Nigerian team threatening to boycott the game.

As at the time of filing in his this report only William Troost Ekong is in the camp of the team with five other players. Already four players have informed the technical crew that they won’t be available for the game.

They cited injury as an excuse but some inside sources claim the players are not motivated to play the game as they have not been paid their bonuses since 2019. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) only recently paid the bonus for the AFCON 2019 third place match win over Tunisia.

Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered that some players are however expected to be in the camp of the team this evening with Maduka Okoye expected by noon today in Austria. Same as Moses Simon.

For now the home based duo of John Noble and Anayo Iwuala of Enyimba are in camp already same time with the duo of Oghenekaro Etebo and Kelechi Iheanacho.

Report has it that they left Frankfurt in Germany on same flight and all arrived the camp in the company of goalkeeper coach Alloy Agu. Marcus Abraham and Shehu Abdullahi are the other two players in camp.

The U21 coach of Ireland Jim Crawford says West Ham United teen sensation Mipo Odubeko has turned down the chance of representing Ireland as he awaits a call up from Nigeria.

The coach said the 18 year old who is viewed by many as the next big thing to emerge from the West Ham Academy said there is a high chance that Odubeko want to play for Nigeria and not Ireland.

According to reports in Ireland,Nigeria have already contacted the camp of the forward who is reportedly unhappy at being left out of the U17 squad of Ireland for the European Championship two years ago.

Crawford said he intends to sit and speak with the forward to formally hear why he turned down the chance to be a part of the U21. Coach of the senior national team of Ireland Stephen Kenny is also waiting on him to make a decision.

“That could happen but that’s out of our control,” Crawford said today when asked about a Nigerian charm offensive as the reason why Odupeko shunned the invitation.

“All we can do is to make sure that every player, no matter what their background is, every time they come into an Irish camp, they love putting on the green jersey and love being around the place.”

The coach of the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr is battling to get players who will represent Nigeria in next month friendly game against Cameroon in Austria.

Rohr told Colin Udoh of ESPN that five out of the 23 players in his revised list for the game have pulled out of the clash citing injury as their reason for opting out.

It means the team now has 18 players owing to the decision of Victor Osimhen, Simy Nwankwo, Tyronne Ebuehi, Frank Onyeka and Ola Aina to skip the game.

Austria based Samson Tijani was handed a chance to replace one of the players who pulled out of the game but the 18 year old who has one cap for the team picked up an injury in training.

It now left to be seen if Nigeria will be able to raise a team of 23 players for the back to back friendly game against Cameroon on the 4th and 8th of June respectively.

“I invited the player Tijani from Salzburg who has told me that he is injured in training yesterday… hamstring. And Frank Onyeka from Midjtylland, I called him but he cannot come either,” Rohr told ESPN.

The Super Eagles squad for the upcoming friendly game against Cameroon has been decimated further by the withdrawal of five players in the revised list for the game.

Coach of the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr called up 31 players in his provisional list before trimming it down to 23 players for the game in Austria.

That same list will have to be tempered with again with four players confirming that they won’t be available for the game according to coach of the team Gernot Rohr.

Rohr said Victor Osimhen, Simy Nwankwo, Frank Onyeka , Ola Aina and Tyronne Ebuehi have all reached out to say they won’t be available and with little or no room to add more players, the squad is heavily decimated.

“Ola Aina told me yesterday that his ankle is painful and he cannot make it and the club physio said he cannot play. Then we have (Kevin) Akpoguma, we knew already he is injured and cannot play.

“Victor Osimhen is injured. He send us an attestation. The meniscus in his knee is painful.

“(Zaidu) Sanusi is injured. He was in Paris to see a doctor, for surgery perhaps but not for the moment. (Tyronne) Ebuehi sent us a message with a medical attestation that he cannot make it. And Semi Ajayi also says he has problems with his back and the Physio says he needs two weeks of rest.

“Simy Nwankwo also, they send us attestation from his club that he cannot make it because he is injured.”

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr trimmed his squad of 31 players to 23 ahead of the upcoming friendly game against Cameroon in Austria.

Some players who have been ever present in the past squads will omitted by the Franco German coach who gave no reason for their omission.

Findings by the editorial team of Owngoalnigeria.com revealed that five players were dropped for reasons not related to their abilities but a compromise between them and the coach.

FC Porto Zaidu Sanusi was left out due to the injury that made him miss Porto’s last set of games with Rohr leaving him out to allow him recover fully.

Joe Aribo was also left out for same reason as he picked up a knock which will require time to hence the decision to leave him out of the team.

Hoffenheim defender Kevin Akpoguma returned from injury three weeks ago but Rohr isn’t keen on rushing him back into the international fold. He is expected to be in the squad for the next round of competitive games.

For Semi Ajayi his club future was primarily why he was axed by Rohr as he is keen on leaving West Brom following their relegation from the English Premier League. He was excused to allow him time to decide on his next career move.

Henry Onyekuru also has an unsettled future with Monaco but it wasn’t the reason why he was left out. He asked to be left out of the team due to his mother’s burial ceremony which will be around same time with the game.

Nantes moved a step closer to staying in the French Ligue 1 with a 2-1 win away at Toulouse in the first leg of their relegation playoff.

A final day 1-2 loss to Montpellier pushed them to the play off spot against the 3rd placed team in Ligue 2 and they have started on a positive note.

Nigeria international winger Moses Simon who has six goals and five assists for the team after setting up the first of their two goals yesterday has urged his teammates not to rest on yesterday’s result.

He said attention should now be channeled towards the return leg on Sunday where a draw or a win will be sufficient for them to preserve their Ligue 1 status.

“ It’s not over yet. We still have another cup final like game to look forward on Sunday. The return leg should be given same respect like the first despite the fact that we won away. There is still all to play for”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has handed the duo of Sadeeq Yusuf and Muhammad Zulkifilu a first time call up to the senior national team of Nigeria, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

They are among the players picked by Rohr for the July friendly game against Mexico in Los Angeles which will largely be prosecuted by players plying their trade in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

Sadeeq is presently the top scorer in the NPFL with 9 goals for a Sunshine Stars team that is yet to win a game since January, he has however continue to impress and a move abroad is reportedly on the card in the summer.

On his part, Zulkifilu who is primarily a defensive midfielder or a full back has excelled in a new role as striker with 8 goals this season for Plateau United. He has been one of the surprises of the season so far.

Ebere Eze’s teammate at Crystal Palace Androos Townsend says the 22 year old received a message from England that he will be in the squad for the European Championship seconds after discovering he suffered a nasty injury.

Eze suffered an injury to his Achilles and it will time him out until 2022 according to reports, Townsend who shares close relationship with the midfielder revealed what happened afterwards.

In his first season in the English Premier League, Eze scored four goals and six assists but coach of the England senior team Gareth Southgate deem it fit to include him in his squad.

Linked with a nationality switch to Nigeria with the coach of the Nigerian team a firm admirer of the player who trained with Nigeria In 2016, It would have been all over for Nigeria in their quest to lure him if not for the injury according to Townsend.

Eze was mocked by a section of the Nigerian populace after this non inclusion in the English squad even though it was injury induced but it wouldn’t have been so, “As soon as he got in the dressing room and turned on his phone there was a message from England to say he was in the provisional squad”, he told TalkSport.

“That compounded his misery and a lot of us were in tears. It was a sad day.

“He’s had his surgery now and hopefully he’s on the mend and I know the player he is and character he is, he’s going to come back strong.”