The first full training session of the Super Eagles of Nigeria took place yesterday evening with the team stepping up their preparations for tomorrow’s game against Sierra Leone.

Coach of the team Gernot Rohr supervised the session which lasted for one hour, thirty minutes at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, Edo State.

16 players took part in the drills with three others training separately. The players were involved in a practice match with two goalkeepers at both goal post.

Ikechukwu Ezenwa who gatecrashed the team wasn’t part of the latter stages of the session with the duo of Maduka Okoye and Sebastian Osigwe sharing the goalkeepers duty.

Ezenwa sat out the session after the warm up by sitting on a ball while the rest of his teammates were up against each other for one hour in a game using just half of the length of the pitch.

Meanwhile as at the time of filing in this report Daniel Akpeyi is yet to join the team in training with Rohr confirming after the game that, the Kaizer Chiefs first choice is yet to arrive camp alongside Shehu Abdullahi who later turned up yesterday evening.

The goalkeepers of the senior national team of Nigeria were today subjected to drills to keep them in shape for Friday’s AFCON 2021 qualifiers against Sierra Leone.

Owngoalnigeria.com witnessed the session and the drills that was supervised by coach Alloy Agu had Maduka Okoye, Sebastian Osigwe and Ikechukwu Ezenwa in attendance.

Okoye was by far the most impressive of the trio taking part in play with the outfield players before turning up for the drills where he showed his reflexes during the shooting drills.

The Sparta Rotterdam shot stopper stopped all but two of the efforts aimed at him much to the excitement of the technical crew who all applauded his reaction and agility between the sticks.

His performance was by far better than that of Ezenwa who looked rusty as he hasn’t played a minute of competitive football since March with his slow reaction after a save.

It his expected that he won’t be in the match day squad with Daniel Akpeyi, the player he was tipped to replace in the team according to some reports arriving camp this afternoon.

While the duo were subjected to rigorous drills and shooting sessions, FC Lugano goalkeeper Sebastain Osigwe trainee with the other outfield players during the session but he is expected to take part in drills with the goalkeepers this evening.

Club Brugge of Belgium forward Dennis Emmanuel Bonaventure had a mixed performance during the Super Eagles training session ahead of Friday’s game against Sierra Leone.

The forward who is staging a return to the team since his debut game against Ukraine showed flashes of the brilliance that has made him a feared force in Belgium.

He was quick to take out his man using his quick feet and his pace to good effect while shaking off his markers. He also showed good positioning make him always available for a pass.

While his dribbling excited the coaches and players the one area of his game that left many frustrated was his decision making in key areas and also at particular time.

For instance he hit a wayward shot when a pass would have been the best option and during the shooting drills his performance ranked among the worst as his efforts were mostly wayward.

The senior national team of Nigeria had their first full training session in preparation for Friday’s AFCON 2021 qualifiers game against Sierra Leone.

Owngoalnigeria.com witnessed the session and picked five players who were impressive during the drills that was supervised by coach of the team Gernot Rohr.

Top of the list is Rangers of Scotland midfielder Joe Aribo who showed how much the team missed his presence in the last two friendly games with an energetic showing as he rove from box to box.

Back in the team after a two years absence Tyronne Ebuehi showed no sign of the player who has been away from the team with the way he acquitted himself. He was class all through and has added more muscle to aid his physical approach .

Also at his best was Leon Balogun as he weave class with touches and passes from the back that is slowly becoming his trademark style of play from the back.

FC Porto Zaidu Sanusi was another who was in top top shape as he was not just brilliant in winning duels he also joined the attack at will and had a cracking effort that almost resulted in a goal.

There is still no clear cut reason on the presence of goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa in the camp of the Super Eagles despite earlier reports that he has taken the spot of Daniel Akpeyi in the squad for Nigeria’s AFCON 2021 qualifiers.

Ezenwa arrived the camp of the Nigerian team in Benin City earlier today with camp sources revealing that he was invited as a replacement for Akpeyi who was having problems securing an entry visa into Nigeria.

However that report seems not to be entirely accurate as sources close to Akpeyi revealed that the Kaizer Chiefs shot stopper is in Lagos enroute Benin City to join the team ahead of the game against Sierra Leone on Friday.

Akpeyi’s arrival has somehow brought about confusion on why Ezenwa who was originally in the standby list is camp. The Heartland FC of Owerri goalkeeper hasn’t played any form of football since March when the Nigeria Professional Football League was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahmed Musa has made a 10 Million Naira pledge to players of the Nigeria U20 team if they qualify for the U20 Cup of Nations.

Musa made the pledge while addressing the players at their training camp in Abuja where they are fine tuning preparations for the WAFU B tournament which serves as qualifiers for the U20 AFCON.

The former Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia forward also told the players that he will give them $1,000 for every goal scored during the tournament as his way of motivating them.

His promise to the players light up the mood in the camp as they continue to gear up for their campaign following the postponement of the WAFU B tournament.

It was postponed indefinitely after Togo the host nation pulled out of hosting the championship citing the rising cases of coronavirus in the country as their reason.

A new host is yet to be named for the championship but CAF has confirmed that the tournament will still go ahead as planned and they will name a new host soon.

Because of a delayed end tothepandemic-hit 2019/20 season, the Champions League returned to entertain football fans across world faster than usual. As the new season is well underway , the question rises again, who will win the Champions League this season?

Last season, none of the final four contestants were representing the Premier League or La Liga Europe’s most financially successful domestic leagues , which have millions of fans following worldwide. What does the gala event of European club football have in store for us this time around?

What Do Bookies Say?

Before the start of the tournament , Manchester City and Bayern Munich werethemostfavouredteambybookmakers. Both teams had 4/1 odds of winning the trophy going into this season. Liverpool are the closest with 11/2 odds.

Champions League estimations from prominent data analysis website 538 echo the gambling world’s anticipations. 538 foresees a 21% probability of Bayern Munich becoming only the second club in history to win back-to-back Champions Leagues.If you are looking for a bookmaker,to place a Champions League bet you should have a look at Bettingformat.

Manchester City came second in 538’s predictions with a 16% possibility of winning the Champions League forthefirst time in theirhistory. Their manager Pep Guardiola had won the trophy with Barcelona before, but he is yet to repeat that feat with any other club.

Who’s Our Pick?

We are backing Bayern Munich to win the Champions League again as well. Apart from a surprise 4-1 thrashing to Hoffenheim, Hansi Flick’s men have shown no signs of losing their brilliant last season form. They are topping the Bundesliga table as expected, with 5 wins and 1 loss.

The Bavarians have started their Champions League campaign emphatically as well. In their first match, they blasted 4 goals past a resolute Atletico Madrid defence. Then, they picked up a 2-1 away win at Spartak Moscow before demolishing RB Leipzig 6-2.

Bayern has lost their midfield general Thiago to Liverpool in the summer, but they replenished their already formidable squad with the likes of Leroy Sane, Marc Roca, and brought back Douglas Costa to the club for a second spell.

We should also point out that Manchester City, who are tipped to be Bayern’s biggest threat to retaining their European throne, has had a difficult start to their domestic league campaign . They did alright in Europe so far, but their league form doesn’t make us overly enthusiastic .

Real Madrid had to wait till their third match to pick up a win in the Champions League after beating Inter Milan 3-2. But, the lack of attacking options up front makes it harder for them to challenge this season. Koeman’s Barcelona didn’t give us any reason to be come hyped too.

With Cristiano Ronaldo at their folds, you can’t rule out Juventus mounting a serious title challenge in Europe. But, on paper, they lack the steel in midfield to do so. Liverpool lost their defensive core as Virgil Van Dijk got injured for the season. So, Bayern seems to be the obvious pick.

Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus midfielder Shehu Abdullahi has been picked by coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr as replacement for Frank Onyeka.

The Midtjylland midfielder was ruled out of the game due to injury bringing to three the number of players who have pulled out of the game with Moses Simon and Kenneth Omeruo also out due to injuries.

Paul Onuachu was called up as replacement for Moses Simon while no one will be replacing Omeruo with Rohr satisfied with the defenders in his team ahead of the games against Sierra Leone.

Abdullahi was picked ahead of Kelechi Nwakali of Huesca who is a natural midfielder in the standby list. Abdullahi has played most of his club and national team career at right back even though he can also play as a defensive midfielder.

Augsburg defender Felix Uduokhai has reacted to his first call up to the senior national team of Germany for their upcoming games during the international break.

Uduokhai was courted by the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr with the coach confirming that he has met with the 23 year old, and a decision will be made after his participation with Germany at the Olympics.

His call up to the senior national team of Germany means that plan will likely not come to fruition as according to the forward his aim is to establish himself with the senior team of Germany.

Explaining his decision, Uduokhai said he imagined playing for Nigeria where his father was born but he just can’t say no to playing for Germany.

“ My father was born in Nigeria, so I imagine playing for Nigeria but I was born in Germany, grew up here and have also played for the youth teams of Germany. So I’m proud to have this chance in the senior national team now”, he told his club’s website.