Ahead of Saturday’s AFCON quarter final game against Algeria, we pick five mistakes that the Super Eagles of Nigeria must avoid if they are to make it past Algeria.

Both teams head into the game with a hundred percent record after winning all of their games so far at the tournament. It has made the game, which is a repeat of the 2019 semi final one to watch among other games.

1. Make Their Chances Count – Despite scoring ten goals in their last three games, the Nigerian team have been wasteful in front of goal. Largely due to poor decision or a rush finish in front of goal. Against the tournament’s best defence they have to make sure it counts especially early chances.

2. Avoid Picking Up Unnecessary Bookings – It’s one part that has gone unnoticed in the Nigerian team. For instance despite hitting four past Mozambique in the quarter final.

They picked up three yellow cards. Knowing the North Africans very well. They will no doubt resort to play acting to get more Nigerian players booked. Calvin Bassey in particular has to be careful.

3. Be More Compact In Defence – The Super Eagles in all of their games so far in the tournament have conceded chances or goals from opening slicing their defence open with ease. Their high press is not helping matter and it has to be checked against a highly technical Tunisian side.

4. Be Wary Of Long Range Effort – If there is one thing Tunisia have shown in this tournament. It’s their ability from range. It’s one area that Nigeria must try to limit and above that make sure goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali who can be erratic keeps a calm head and also stay focused.

5. Defend Set Piece Better – As it is with most technical sides, Tunisia as well will try to make the best use of free kicks and corner kicks, especially as they have shown us that they are comfortable with their opponents having the ball.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria returned to training yesterday after skipping a session over unpaid bonuses for the first four games of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Yesterday after getting assurance from top officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the team returned to training and had a one and half hour session.

All eyes were on the team’s top striker Victor Osimhen after his bust up with fellow striker Ademola Lookman, during the course of the 4-0 win over Mozambique in the round of 16.

Osimhen cut a lone figure for most of the session, after missing out on a chance to tender a public apology to his teammates as expected by many. However his teammates don’t appear to be bothered.

” You people are just overreacting. Osimhen is like that even in training so it’s nothing new to the rest of the team. It’s in his nature to be that explosive but it’s nothing serious”, a player in the team said.

” As a new player in the team, the other senior players told us about similar incidents in the past which was amicably resolved. To you people outside it’s a big issue, but here we see it as normal because it happens almost every time”, he stated.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria are back in training ahead of their game against Algeria in the quarter final of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, after refusing to train and also travel to Marrakech in protest over unpaid bonuses, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

They boycotted yesterday’s recovery session after the 4-0 win over Mozambique in the round of 16. They were also due to travel to Marrakech today but refused on the grounds of unpaid bonuses.

Since the start of the tournament they have not been paid a single bonus, and ahead of Saturday’s game against Algeria they insisted on getting full payment before they will go out to train, or travel to the city of the game.

After a meeting with top officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the players returned to training today and will travel tomorrow after receiving assurances that the wages will be paid before the game.

In their explanation, the NFF said the funds have been approved and paid but is yet to hit the individual accounts of the players, due to the delay that is usually associated with converting Naira to Dollars via the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Just when we thought the players altercation in the aftermath of the match between Nigeria and Mozambique has been nipped in the bud and that sanity has returned to the Super Eagles camp, another issue capable of destroying of bringing the beautiful game into disrepute is again rearing it’s ugly head.

The players after series of meetings with the NFF had insisted that they will prefer to be paid in foreign currencies anytime they are on international assignment outside Nigeria.

The money for all group matches against Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda was ready since last week, the team secretary informed the players and asked if they will want the monies paid directly into their Naira account as this monies were paid in the Nigeria currency, but the players insisted that they want the money paid in dollars.

So what normally happens in such cases, is that the money is paid into their domiciliary accounts through the central bank of Nigeria. That process takes days and could extend into weeks.

Infact, my very reliable source told me that individual players have been shown evidence of payment, and have been advised to wait for the money to drop in just a matter of days.

I repeat, all first round bonuses have been paid and will drop in just a matter of days from now.

The NFF and indeed the Sports ministy have maintained regular contacts with the CBN and hopefully before the end of this weak, the players will start getting their money according to my source.

For the second round win against Mozambique, the money has been processed and will soon go through the same process and hopefully, the players will start getting their alerts soon as promised.

Only yesterday, I wrote in one of my publications that players of the Super Eagles stand to get $12,500 each for their second round victory against Mozambique. $15,000 if they beat Algeria in the quarter final, $17,500 for a semi final victory and $20,000 each if they lift the trophy.

So why this fresh crisis? Let’s stay focused, these boys stand to be billionaires in few days if they can concentrate and complete the task ahead of them. Just few days ago, the Federal government fulfilled all outstanding promises and put smile on their faces, who is saying they cant do even more?

Written by- Adewale Ajayi

Players of the senior national team of Nigeria say they won’t train or travel to Marrakech for their quarter final game against Algeria on Saturday unless there outstanding bonuses are paid, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The players according to veteran Nigerian journalist Oluwashina Okeleji have not been paid any bonus since the start of the tournament, where they have won all of their four games so far.

They are saying that they want their bonuses from the games against Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Mozambique paid, else they won’t travel or train ahead of the game on Saturday.

Officials of the team are also not left out, and it’s a similar situation to the one that happened during the world cup qualifiers playoff, where the team refused to train ahead of the final game against DR Congo which they ended up losing.

Senior officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) led by chairman Shehu Dikko will meet with the team in a bid to find a solution to this impasse, which is threatening to rock the team’s fine ru at the tournament so far.

Officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will also be a part of the meeting in a bid to resolve the dispute.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Super Eagles legend Daniel Amokachi says the team’s breakaway star at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations ( AFCON) Jerome Akor is not like him following comparisons of their style of play, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Akor’s power playing style at the AFCON where he has two assists and a goal has drawn comparisons with the days of Amokachi, who was also very known for his pace, power and clinical finish.

Amokachi is also known and respected with his ability to play in the hole behind the main striker like Akor, but he said he is yet to see what led to the comparisons in the first place.

” Akor is a good player and like me his origin is Benue State. I will be very honest with you that I am yet to see how he plays like me during my days. But I like him a lot and pray he gets to the height of his career”, Amokachi said.

The Sevilla player is expected to keep his spot in the team for the quarter final game against Algeria on Saturday, and Amokachi is confident that the team can get a result against Algeria.

” For revenge sake I wanted DR Congo as the next opponent of the Super Eagles. Algeria did very well to beat them and I expect Nigeria not to underrate them on Saturday and hopefully they will progress”, he stated.

Ade Emmanuel

Victor Osimhen’s rant at Ademola Lookman during the Super Eagles 4-0 win over Mozambique in the quarter final of the AFCON didn’t come as a surprise to his teammates, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen who scored a brace in the game, with Ademola Lookman and Akor Adams rounding up the convincing win for Nigeria, but it was over shadowed by a bust up between Osimhen and Lookman.

Angry at the decision of Bruno Onyemaechi not to pass the ball to him in a promising position, Osimhen was told to calm down by Lookman who was also at the receiving end of a verbal rant by Osimhen a few minutes earlier.

His attempt to quell the disagreement was rebuffed by Osimhen, who had to be held by his teammates from going physical with Lookman, he subsequently stopped playing and asked to be subbed off.

He immediately left for the dressing room after the game snubbing the post match celebration with his teammates. He was also the first to leave the dressing room when the teams were leaving the stadium.

” You people are just overreacting. Osimhen is like that even in training so it’s nothing new to the rest of the team. It’s in his nature to be that explosive but it’s nothing serious”, a player in the team said.

” As a new player in the team, the other senior players told us about similar incidents in the past which was amicably resolved. To you people outside it’s a big issue, but here we see it as normal because it happens almost every time”, he stated.

The senior national team of Algeria are sweating on the fitness of midfielder Ismaël Bennacer ahead of their quarter final game against Nigeria in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Bennacer who has been ever present for the team at the tournament went off injured in the second half of the 1-0 win over DR Congo. He will undergo tests and scans to see if he will be ready for the game against Nigeria on Saturday.

Petkovic was however cautious about his availability for the game against Super Eagles. “Bennacer felt something, we’re going to do some tests to find out what it is ,” he explained after the game.

He also downplay the fact that they won’t have as many rest days as Nigeria, because they played a day later than their opponents ahead of their clash, and was quick to also suggest that they won’t miss Bennacer in the event that he is unfit for the game.

“Having three or four days to recover isn’t important right now,” he asserted, preferring to emphasize the depth of his squad. “The strength of our team comes from the fact that any player is ready to play. I’m very happy with what all 17 players are producing,” he concluded.