On loan FC Porto defender Chidozie Awaziem says his aim with the senior national team of Nigeria is to force his way into the starting lineup in his preferred position in central defence.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has relied heavily on the central defence pairing of Leon Balogun and William Troost Ekong for the five years he has been with the team.

Awaziem stole a spot at the 2019 AFCON but he was played out of a position as a right back and even though he didn’t disappoint his aim still remain to break the famous Oyibo Wall pairing of Balogun and Ekong.

The defender who has impressed mightily at Boavista where he is on loan from Porto said he is ready now more than ever to break the monopoly of the duo in central defence.

“ You’re happy when you win as a team but deep down inside you want to play as well. As much as I am happy to play anywhere for the good of the team like I did at the last AFCON. My aim is to play in central defence”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

On his second red card in nine games which he picked up over the weekend against Boavista, Awaziem said it’s about what can happen at times when you’re charged for a game.

“ I put my hands up because I should have done better no doubt but it does happen and I have to move on from it. Truly it hurts but it’s also a learning curve for me”.

In form Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho is keen on replicating his form for the English Premier League side with the senior national team of Nigeria, when they take on Benin Republic and Lesotho in the AFCON 2022 qualifiers.

Iheanacho is battling to regain relevance in the Nigeria national team set up after missing out on the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. He recently started in the 0-0 draw against Sierra Leone which was largely due to the absence of top striker Victor Osimhen.

This season he has forged a near perfect relationship with Jamie Vardy off late for Leicester City, a player whose style of play is not too different from that of Osimhen making Iheanacho to hope for same partnership in the Super Eagles.

With six goals to his name including five in his last three games following his hattrick over the weekend, he is keen on maintaining his form ahead of the national team commitments.

“ It’s a no brainer that he want to play in a similar style in the national team with Osimhen. He love to play just behind the main striker and that he has been doing to good effect with Vardy. He want same with Osimhen in the Super Eagles”, his representative told Owngoalnigeria.com.

On loan Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has admitted that Napoli forward Victor Osimhen was a tough opponent when his loan team AC Milan lost 0-1 to the Naples based side.

Osimhen was introduced in the second half of the game with Napoli leading courtesy of a goal from Matteo Politano which ended as the lone goal of the game.

According to Tomori, the Nigerian helped Napoli execute their aim of wanting to play counter attack football as they bid to preserve their lead and pick all three points.

He admitted that the pace of Osimhen meant even though Napoli were defending deep late into the game he couldn’t join the attack so as not to leave space for the Nigerian to wreck havoc.

“ They player on the counter with Osimhen on and we have to deal with him which isn’t easy because of his pace. It was impossible to move forward knowing he is on the pitch and can make use of space if given any”,Tomori said after the game.

A close source to Reading midfielder Michael Olise has revealed that the coach of the U21 team of France Sylvian Ripoli tried to talk the 19 year old out of switching allegiance to Nigeria, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Olise is well known to the coach who tracked his performance for the U18s and is keen on making him a part of his U21 set up after his breakthrough season in the English Championship with Reading.

The coach spoke with the midfielder three days ago before naming his squad for the U21 Euros, but Olise remained adamant on his decision to switch to Nigeria unlike Colin Dagba who accepted to shun Benin Repulsive and was subsequently named in the squad.

“ It was a long discussion but Olise has made up his mind on Nigeria and nothing can change it for now. His dream is to represent Nigeria at the next Africa Cup of Nations and also the World Cup in Qatar”,he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

“ Olise is on the standby list because he doesn’t have a Nigerian passport yet. He has applied for one and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is working round the clock to make it happen”.

Coach of Leicester City Brendan Rodgers has given his opinion on the hattrick scored by Nigeria international forward Kelechi Iheanacho in their 5-0 win over Sheffield United.

Iheanacho scored his first English Premier League hattrick to take his season tally to six in sixteen games with three in his last three games as he looks to establish himself in the squad of the Foxes.

Rodgers who has kept faith in the 24 yet old and even blocked him from a move away in the summer and also in the January transfer window says he has more to his games than goal.

The coach seems to have found a system with Iheanacho which is helping them to overcome the absence of James Maddison and Harvey Barnes who are all out injured.

“He was outstanding, not just in his goals, but his overall work-rate,” the 48-year-old added. “He had a big responsibility today, in terms of dropping into the space, finding that pocket that was just on the back of the midfield, and I thought he did that very, very well.

“He’s a great guy. He deserved the three goals. He had one or two other opportunities, but we’re all delighted for him.”

PSG star Kylian Mbappe says their inability to deal with the pace of Nantes forward line led by Moses Simon proved costly as the struggling ligue 1 side picked up a shock 2-1 win against the champions.

Mbappe was guilty of giving the ball away for the first goal scorer by Randal Kolo Muani which canceled out Julian Draxler opener for PSG which handed them a half time lead.

Kolo Muani was also involved in the second goal scored by Simon in the 71st minute which ended as the winner to help breathe life into the chances of Nantes beating the drop.

It is the second time in a row that Simon is scoring against the Ligue 1 giants making Mbappe to admit that his pace alongside the others was part of their pre match plan by coach Mauricio Pochettino.

“ We gave them space to play to their strength which the coach warned us about before the game. They can hurt any team with the pace of Simon in attack on the counter. It’s a sad loss and we have to bounce back”.

PSV midfielder Noni Madueke has accepted a spot in the England U21 team for the European Championship ahead of a chance with the senior national team of Nigeria.

Madueke is eligible for Nigeria through his parents and in December he spoke about leaving his options open until the future when he will decide between both nations.

“I am only 18 so I have got to be open to everything,” Madueke told The Sun in December.

“If I had a closed mindset I would not be where I am now so for sure I am open to both. We just have to see in the future what is best.

Eight days ago after scoring a potential goal of the season contender in their 3-1 win over Fortuna Sittard he once again reiterated his choice of either England or Nigeria while ruling out an invitation to the Dutch team.

He will be eligible for the Dutch side in two and half years time but during the course of the interview he was clear that it’s either England or Nigeria that he will be pick.

“ I have two other nations, Nigeria and England that I can play for so I don’t know these are choices like I said I have to make later but for now I am just focused on PSV and playing my football and winning games”, he said.

Earlier today he was named in the English U21 team for the European Championship effectively putting Nigeria behind in the quest for his international future which has dominated discussions the past few months.

The decision to stick with Nigeria international goalkeeper Maduka Okoye as first choice of Dutch Eredivisie side Sparta Rotterdam caused a disagreement between the technical crew.

Okoye has impressed this season and as expected a link to top league side Ajax Amsterdam in the summer has been speculated for the 21 year old. However it hasn’t been all rosy.

The shot stopper drew the ire of the goalkeepers coach of the team Frank Kooiman when he ignored the instructions of the 51 year old in the 1-1 draw against Willem II and FC Emmen respectively.

In both game they conceded via the spot with Okoye reportedly ignoring the instructions of the goalkeeper’s coach by using his instincts to dive in opposite direction as against what the coach said and what they did in training.

In both cases he conceded and it proved costly making the coach to put pressure on the head coach to replace the Nigerian as first choice.

The head coach Henk Fraser stuck with him and he has responded with two clean sheets in his last two games including a late save to help them see out a 1-0 win away to VVV Venmo.

The disagreement was largely responsible for his gesture at the end where he was moved to tears and hugged the head coach for keeping faith in him after his misunderstanding with the goalkeeper’s coach.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has named Galatasary wing forward Henry Onyekuru as replacement for Samuel Kalu In his squad for AFCON 2022 qualifiers.

Kalu went off injured with a thigh injury and he will be out for one month hence ruling him out of the Super Eagles international games against Benin Republic and Lesotho respectively.

Onyekuru was stepped up from the standby list into the main list ahead of Slavia Prague Peter Olayinka who has been very impressive this season in the Europa League.

However Rohr opt for Onyekuru who has also had a turn around in his form since his move from Monaco to Galatasary on loan with five goals and two assists in nine games.

Two days ago he scored a brace to help them to a 3-0 win over Kayerispor after coming on as a substitute. It was his second brace for the Turkish side since his loan move.

The first choice goalkeeper of Enyimba John Noble was a shock inclusion in the Super Eagles squad for AFCON 2022 qualifiers coming in as one of the three goalkeepers.

Noble was largely unknown in Nigeria before his remarkable rise from third choice at Enyimba to first choice the last one month. He started the season behind the duo of Olufemi Kayode and Sabirou Bassa Djeri.

Prior to his move to Enyimba, Noble hasn’t played for any top division team in Nigeria and he was slowly becoming a journey man with spells in around six teams but none can be said to be at the level of Enyimba.

The Rivers born goalkeeper had stints at Toro Sports Academy, Kilsi United FC, Garden City Panthers, Gokana United, Cynosure FC and Togolese side Kotoko FC. However it was at fellow Togolese side ASCK de Kara that he finally hit the limelight.

He was first choice goalkeeper when they won the league and cup in 2018. Same year he was in goal for them against Nigerian side Enugu Rangers. That was how Enyimba spotted and signed him in 2020.

The move to Enyimba didn’t come directly though as he had a short stint in Cameroon with top division side Panthere Nde from 2018 to 2019 before returning home to join Cynosure FC. One of the numerous youth teams he played for in Nigeria before his sojourn abroad.

His transfer from Enyimba was from the Abakaliki non league side and upon his signing many talked about his abilities to stop spot kicks and that was part of how he got his first call up.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr was among the spectators when Noble denied his home team Rivers United a spot in the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup.

He stopped two of Rivers United spot kick during the shot out and went ahead to crown his heroics effort by scoring the vital kick that sealed his side passage on a 5-4 win.