The Super Eagles of Nigeria will play in a 4-1-4-1 formation when they take on Tunisia later today in an international friendly game in Austria.

In goal Maduka Okoye will start with the quarter of Kevin Akpoguma, Kenneth Omeruo, Leon Balogun and Zaidu Sanusi as the back four.

Akpoguma and Sanusi will play as right and left back respectively while the central defence pairing will be Omeruo and Balogun with Willam Troost Ekong back at his base in England.

Semi Ajayi retains his spot in defensive midfield while Alex Iwobi will play as the attacking midfielder of the team. While the duo of Moses Simon and Simon Chukwueze playing on the left and right flanks respectively as inverted wingers. Kelechi Iheanacho will operate behind the main striker Ahmed Musa.

Musa will lead the attack with Onuachu dropping to the bench alongside Samuel Kalu, Tyronne Ebuehi, Frank Onyeka and Willam Troost Ekong out of the team for various reasons.

Maduka Okoye
Kevin Akpoguma
Zaidu Sanusi
Kenneth Omeruo
Leon Balogun
Semi Ajayi
Moses Simon
Samuel Chukwueze
Ahmed Musa
Alex Iwobi
Kelechi Iheanacho

CSKA Moscow wing forward Chidera Ejuke will make his international bow for Nigeria today against Tunisia after impressing coach Gernot Rohr with his dribbling abilities in training.

The coach plan to use his dribbling in key part of the game which is most likely in the second half of the game when the opponents are wary.

Ejuke will be introduced in the second half of the game to play alongside Samuel Chukwueze who is expected to start from the right side of attack as it has been in the past few games.

Rohr has been very impressed with his performance in training particularly his abilities to wriggle out of tight spaces under pressure. We gathered he was on fire during their last training session ahead of today’s game.

Coach is the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has made five changes to the starting lineup that lost the last friendly game 0-1 against Algeria for today’s game against Tunisia.

Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered that the Franco German coach has made changes in defense and also in attack with two new players in defence and three in attack.

The coach also set up his team in a new formation different from the one they used in prosecuting the last friendly game. 4-3-2-1 has been jettisoned for a more robust formation.

According to sources at the camp of the team, the idea is to go all out and attack the Tunisians unlike in the last game where they played with their hands on the break.

They will be aiming to return back to winning ways ahead of their first competitive game this year against Sierra Leone in November.

Coach Gernot Rohr has settled for the duo of Ahmed Musa and Kelechi Iheanacho as the forwards for tomorrow’s friendly game against Tunisia.

They will form part of the changes in the starting lineup for tomorrow’s game with Rohr keen on having a result that will erode the memories of the 0-1 loss suffered against Algeria on Friday.

Paul Onuachu who led the attack on Friday drops to the bench while Cyriel Dessers will have to wait for his debut which will most likely come in the way of him getting introduced as a substitute.

Iheanacho will play just behind Musa in attack from the start of the game unlike on Friday when they were both introduced as substitutes. The formation the team will play is still unclear.

It seems like that won’t be the only change in the lineup as we also gathered that the coach will likely make as much as three more changes to the team that will start tomorrow’s game.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr will have to pick the players he will use to prosecute tomorrow’s friendly game from a pool of 22 players.

Two players of the team have been excused to leave the camp of the team in Austria after the friendly game against Algeria which Nigeria lost on Friday at same venue for tomorrow’s game.

Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered that the duo of Samuel Kalu and Williams Troost Ekong were excused from the camp of the team for various reasons and they have both travelled back to their base.

Kalu picked up an injury on Friday against Algeria that led to his substitution hence won’t be available for the game while Ekong who was on for the entire duration was allowed to go back to England where he only recently joined Watford.

Both players have departed the camp of the team already and won’t be part of the squad for the game against Algeria.

FC Porto left back Zaidu Sanusi who was by far one of the most impressive players for Nigeria in the 0-1 loss to Algeria on Friday has opened up on playing against Riyad Mahrez.

The 22 year old was handed his international debut by coach of the Nigerian team in Friday’s friendly game with the coach putting him up against Algeria’s dangerman Mahrez.

Zaidu responded with a solid showing restricting the Manchester City forward to playing wide away from the goal of Nigeria hence denying him the chance to have a clear sight at the goal of Nigeria.

The coach of the Algerian team Djamel Belmadi substituted Mahrez one hour into the game and after the game he was forced to defend his poor showing against the little known Nigerian.

Speaking on his performance, Zaidu said it’s nothing really special to him as he will face more players of the qualities of Mahrez in the future. He said it’s one of the games where he played to the instructions of the coach.

“ Before the game I have an idea of what to expect from him. So that helped a lot in keeping him in check. I really don’t see it as something special because I will face players of his quality in the future. Secondly I played to the instructions of the coaches. It helped to listen to them”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has dropped three players from the team that lost 0-1 to Algeria in an international friendly on Friday, Owngoalnigeria.com understands.

Sources who have witnessed the training of the team since the 0-1 loss to Algeria of told this portal that some major changes will take place in the team base on what coach Gernot Rohr has been experimenting with in training.

We gathered Paul Onuachu, Semi Ajayi and William Troost Ekong are likely to be axed from the starting lineup with Rohr not entirely happy with the way they performed against Algeria. Samuel Kalu is also not safe from the chop.

Later today team will have their final training session ahead of tomorrow’s game and a clear picture on how they will likely lineup will be known after the session. A change of tactics might also be on the cards , sources have revealed.

Genk of Belgium forward Paul Onuachu failed to take his chance when he started for Nigeria yesterday against Algeria. A game that ended 1-0 in favor of the Desert Foxes.

Onuachu was handed a late call to the team after Victor Osimhen was granted permission to miss the game but that didn’t stop Rohr from handing him a start.

He however struggled to impress for the period of time he was on the pitch before he was subbed off for Kelechi Iheanacho ten minutes after the hour mark.

His performance has drawn criticism from a lot of people but four players of the team have defended his showing insisting that the team as a whole failed to function as a unit.

Two of them faulted why he was left isolated in attack as the midfielders who are suppose to be close to him where far off the pitch leaving him with three Algerians anytime he is in the box.

“ We were told to play close to each other before the game but Paul was left alone with three Algerians all the time. The midfielders were too far behind. Not fair to blame him”, they both chorused.

Another of the player decried the lack of balls in the box to the point man who has to rely on balls hopped into the box for him to get involved. “ The crosses into the box were not coming. Our wingers were eager to shoot instead of playing him in. When the crosses started coming in he has been subbed off”, he said.

Djamel Belmadi has revealed the secret behind his team’s 1-0 win over Nigeria yesterday in an international friendly game played in Austria.

The coach of the Algerian team masterminded his ward to yet again another win over the Super Eagles of Nigeria after the semi final win in AFCON 2019.

A solitary strike from Ramy Bensebaini In the 6th minute settled the tie in favour of the Desert Foxes and Belmadi was full of praise for his wards on how they executed the game.

“ We has spotted two or three weaknesses that they could tactically have with certain players. Today, they actually played others so it disturbed some of the information I was able to give to the players a bit, but they adapted to this situation”, Belmadi said after the game.

“ We responded well against a team which is tactically in good shape. We have a physical response with a lot of intensity in the midfield and in the pressing. These are things that we were able to work on. I think our players have been almost perfect against a strong team.

“ We came to find difficulty. We were tactically fair. We did everything we had prepared this week. Great credit to the players”, he concluded.

The Desert Foxes of Algeria confirmed their status as African Champions with a 1-0 win over Nigeria in an international friendly game played in Austria.

Owngoalnigeria.com rates the player on parade for Nigeria in the game.

Maduka Okoye – Can’t be faulted for the goal scored by Algeria. Showed remarkable composure to stop Algeria from extending their lead in the first half….6/10

Tyronne Ebuehi – Very lively going forward and also did his job defensively. Very assured in his role as right back. Truly back to his best. Almost drew Nigeria level with a grounder from range…6/10

Zaidu Sanusi- Can easily pass as Nigeria’s best player of the half. Kept Riyad Mahrez at bay and also did his bit going forward with two good crosses into the box. Base on the strength of his performance hard to see Jamilu Collins displacing him anytime soon…7/10

Willam Ekong – Didn’t cover himself in glory with the way he played as he relied on Balogun to bail him out. Clearly rusty as he hasn’t tasted a minute of action this season both at Udinese and Watford….4/10

Leon Balogun- Monster performance from
the Rangers of Scotland man. Cool in defence and composed in possession. By far one of his best performance for Nigeria since 2018…6/10

Frank Onyeka- Surprisingly yanked off at the half time break. Didn’t start too well but recovered as the half went on. Pressed really high up the pitch for the period he was on the pitch…4/10

Semi Ajayi – Playing In an unfamiliar role in defensive midfield. The West Brom defender struggled to assert himself. Did win back possession but generally he was very poor in using the ball….5/10

Alex Iwobi- Ended the first half very well and even came close to scoring with an effort that sailed narrowly wide. Didn’t do much in the second half…..6/10

Samuel Kalu – Guilty of squandering possession in key areas and didn’t do anything remarkable off the ball. Deserved to be subbed off a lot earlier than when he was replaced by Moses Simon…4/10

Samuel Chukwueze- His performance faded in the second half as he didn’t do as much as he did in the first half. Still did a lot better than most of the players who played upfront….6/10

Paul Onuachu- The lanky forward failed to convince once again. Looked out of sort, lost and poor in all areas. Has played himself out of a future call up…4/10

Substitutes:

Mikel Agu – Struggled to cope with the pace of the game when he was introduced. Gave away possession cheaply and didn’t show why he was introduced….3/10

Moses Simon – Added pace to the attack and also his link up play was good. Also put in a good shift in defence as well…5/10

Kevin Akpoguma- Won his duels and was fearless in his approach. Should be heavily involved in subsequent games…5/10