The decision by the coach Fatai Amoo led crew of the Nigeria U17 team to drop three players who have been impressive in the screening exercise of the team has sparked outrage.

As part of their preparations for the WAFU B championship, the team have been in Abuja with the coaches picking players from a pool of players who have turned up for selection.

Three players who were very impressive in four different training session were however the talk of almost everyone who was there when they were dropped by the coaches.

While players who appear to be heavily developed are quickly made to undergo the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Test (MRI) to ascertain if they are within the age bracket. The trio were dropped over their facial appearance.

“ They were asked to go home after training on Friday with the coaches using their facial appearance to drop them. None of them have beards and two are still in secondary school. The other one is even writing WAEC now”, the coach of the trio told Owngoalnigeria.com.

“ It’s shocking that they weren’t even asked to go for MRI scan like the rest but just told to go home. That’s not fair to the players considering how well they performed in training”.

Manager of Manchester City Pep Guardiola says one of the difficulties in playing against FC Porto is the speed at which their fullbacks turn defence into attack.

The coach made this admission after his team’s 0-0 draw against the Portuguese side in the UEFA Champions League which helped them to secure top spot in the group.

“We played with huge personality; with courage. It is not easy with eight players in the box. They are so strong with the full-backs, they are so fast. Even with that, we created enough chances to win. This is the most important thing”, he said after the game.

One of the fullbacks talked about by the Spanish coach is Zaidu Sanusi who operates from the left full back position for the entire duration of both games against the English side.

The Nigeria international played a huge role in the game ending 0-0 with his goal line clearance in the 37th minute keeping scores at 0-0 before the halftime break.

Danish side FC Midtjylland picked up a shock 1-1 draw against Serie A free scoring side Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League yesterday.

Their Nigerian midfielder Frank Onyeka was pivotal in helping them to a point with his dominance in the midfield restricting the Italian side from having a free run at their defence.

22 year old Onyeka has a passing accuracy of 77% with 26 passes completed with five of them coming in the form of long balls to help his team’s transition.

He recovered the ball twelve times for his team and didn’t shy away from getting invoked with five tackles won alongside eight aerial duels. He also made five interceptions to stop Atalanta from making incursions into their box.

His performance has no doubt put him in the frame for the highly talked about January transfer move after he was priced out of a move away in the summer transfer window.

Crystal Palace midfielder Ebere Eze has once again turn down the chance to represent Nigeria at senior level with hope of progressing with the U21 of England.

The €19.5 million signing from QPR in the summer trailed with the senior national team of Nigeria in 2017 but he has since gone on to represent England at U21 level.

He twice met with the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick but even at that refused to start the process of his switch of allegiance to Nigeria.

This season he has slowly walked his way into the starting lineup of Crystal Palace with a goal to his name and also a man of the match award for his performance against Leeds United.

His performance sparked calls for Nigeria to once again push for his services but the 22 year old says he is focused on England now but he will likely play for Nigeria in the future.

“I can [still play for Nigeria],” said Eze. “At the moment, I’m focused on my England Under-21 camp. I don’t want to put any type of pressure on myself and try to force anything now.

I’m focused on the Under-21s, playing for the Under-21s, training, trying to play as many games as I can, and I think that’s the most important thing right now for my development.”

Former Manchester City defender Tosin Adarabioyo who has impressed mightily since joining Fulham in the summer will be available for Nigeria next year, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Adarabioyo has represented England at several youth levels but sometimes around last year agreed to switch allegiance to Nigeria and also commenced the process of his switch.

Just as it was with the duo of Ademola Lookman and Ovie Ejaria, Adarabioyo too will get the all clear from world football body FIFA at the start of next year making him eligible for Nigeria.

“ Adarabioyo will play for Nigeria next year. The switch is almost done and he has also impressed at Fulham. He is keen to team up with Nigeria and next year will likely be when he will make his debut”, a member of his representative team told Owngoalnigeria.com.

“ Nigerians will like him because he will add something different to the defence of the team. I saw they only kept one clean sheet this year. No doubt Adarabioyo will improve them as he is now getting big time lessons playing in the English top flight”.

Former coach of Oostende Gert Verheyen has taken out time in his column for Het Nieuwsblad to explain how important a player like Paul Onuachu is to any team.

The ex footballer who now writes as a columnist had nothing but praises for the 26 year old Onuachu who has taken Belgium by storm this season with 12 goals in 13 games.

However his form at Genk is totally different from the Nigeria National where he has continue to divide opinions owing to his poor showings in the games he has played for Nigeria.

Despite starting his international career with a goal on his debut he has since struggled to impress yet alone add another one in the colors of Nigeria.

“Just take a look at how many of our ( Belgium) big clubs are out of luck with their number 9. The exception is Racing Genk. Mbokani also scores, but he is still experiencing a dip in form, Verheyen said in his column on Het Nieuwsblad.

“What Onuachu does very well is always his desire to score. His positional play is excellent. His decisions whether or not to come for the man are very often the right one. That’s something you can’t learn.”

He added : “Like that first goal against Cercle Brugge, that deviation on the low cross. There he didn’t make the logical choice, but opted for the far corner. Something Didillon (goalkeeper of Cercle Brugge) did not expect.

“Onuachu pays off as center forward in a 3-4 -3, flanked by Ito and Bongonda. It is that trio that helped Genk achieve results”.

If Onuachu continues to perform in this manner, he could surpass his personal record for goals in a single season; the 23 he netted in all competitions for FC Midtjylland over the course of the 2016-17 campaign.

Captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahmed Musa has gotten his wish to returning to Europe after quitting Saudi Arabia where he was the highest paid player in the league with Al Nasr.

Sources close to the player told this portal that he made up his mind to relinquish his huge salary few months ago in the summer, as he apparently grew frustrated after a loan deal to West Brom fell through in the last days of the summer transfer window.

A return to CSKA Moscow was amongst the possibilities on the cards as reported by this portal but it appears the report was wild off the cards as a Turkish club has managed to sway the Nigerian captain.

Galatasary and Fernabache have both shown serious interest in the winger since last year with Gala coach Fatih Terim said to be a big admirer of the Super Eagles captain .

Efforts to get information from the player about the move to Turkey proved abortive, He simply said “my agent is working on it, I can not confirm or deny anything thats it. When we reach an agreement with a club, you will all know”.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr was among the few permitted to watch one of Nigeria’s representative in this year CAF Champions League Plateau United against Simba FC of Tanzania.

The game which was played behind close doors had the coach in attendance alongside other members of the technical department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in Austin Eguavoen and Paul Aigbogun.

Their mission was to spot players with the potential to play for the senior national team of Nigeria but they were left disappointed not just by the 0-1 loss but also by the quality of play by the Nigerian representatives.

As a matter of fact, the coach was far more impressed with the display of the Tanzanians as they were better organized and play with a style that suits the result they got in the game, “ To be fair Rohr saw nothing to be excited about in Plateau United. Some fine individual display but it wasn’t anything close to what the Tanzania team offered”, a source told Owngoalnigeria.com.

“ He was even more impressed with the way Simba were set up particularly as they executed their game plan perfectly. Hopefully when he watches the other teams he will see a better display. Our teams need to up how they recruit players”.

When Nigeria begin their campaign in the U20 WAFU Championship relatively unknown Chukwubuikem Ikwuemessi will be the man to spearhead the attack of the team.

The forward has beaten all comers including ex Nigeria U17 and Hapoel Ranana of Israel B team player Peter Olawale to the position of first choice striker.

Quick, strong and with an eye for goal which he matches with clinical finishing, he has been the standout performer in attack for the Nigeria U20 team since the start of training.

“ I got him from an unusual source in Anambra State. The guy who recommended him to me use to know me while I was handling Ifeanyi Ubah FC. We call him Mourinho”, coach of the team Ladan Bosso told Owngoalnigeria.com.

“ He kept telling me he has a striker who can fit into my team. Reluctantly I asked him to send the boy over and in his first training session he scored a hattrick. I was impressed but needed to see him in a match situation.

“ So in the next friendly game we played following his arrival I decided to introduce him from the bench. He showed us what he is all about by hitting a brace. The next game he was also on target and he has maintained that consistency”, Bosso revealed.

The captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahmed Musa has finally decided on a move to Russian side CSKA Moscow despite a big money offer from Turkish side Galatasary.

Musa who left Saudi Arabia side Al Nassr is available on a free transfer after mutually terminating his deal. His availability sparked interest from a host of teams around Europe including one in China.

His desire was a return to England and despite offers from teams in that country he decided against it as most of the terms he was offered were short terms deals with options to extend base on performance.

Galatasary offered him more money but the forward has decided on a third spell with Russian side CSKA Moscow and will have his medicals next week after agreeing a two year plus option of another year deal at the club where he made his mark.

Barring a last minute change of mind he will be having his medicals next week ahead of his unveiling same week as he bid to relaunch his career in Europe after two years in Asia.