Top four teams will qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup scheduled to place in Indonesia from 20th May to 11th June next year.

In the last 16 days, the Flying Eagles of Nigeria have been sweating it out at the FIFA Goal Project Pitch in Abuja.

So far, only home based players have been training under the watchful eyes of coach Ladan Bosso.

Below are six foreign based players who could help the team in Egypt.

6. Abel Ogwuche [Trelleborg]

Ogwuche is a symbol of the new direction Trelleborg have taken in Sweden. Developed by Tripple 44, Trelleborg invested heavily to make his move permanent this summer after the successful loan spell of the central defender.

His games is a lovely blend of calmness and aggression. He reads the game well and seems to have a good grasp of when to push wide or press up to extinguish dangerous attacks. The lad has good height at

5. Ahmed Abdullahi [Jong KAA Gent]

Playing for Jong KAA Gent has done wonders for HB Academy product Ahmed Abdullahi, who has played four games this season.

The 19-year-old is looking like a machine in Belgium and undeniably earning himself some Jong minutes so far. Fast and energetic. Bosso don’t dull.

4. Lekan Oyedele [Feirense U19]

Oyedele is a very promising athlete – he moves around the pitch comfortably and has room to fill out, possessing dynamic changes of pace with a good burst off his back foot. He has good body control in general, agile and well-balanced in most situations, while he is fairly robust in contact and able to withstand challenges. The Remo Stars product is a left back.

3. Ereku Temitayo [Brooke House FA]

Hopes have been high for Ereku for a while now. The central defender plays for Brooke House FA in the United Kingdom.

The 19-year-old has been sensational and shouldn’t have any issue getting a shirt in the Flying Eagles squad.

2. Innocent Christian [Ankara Keçiörengücü U19]

If there is an in-form player capable of creating and scoring goals for the Flying Eagles at the AFCON, then that person is Innocent Christian.

The 18-year-old has an absolute hit since joining Ankara Keçiörengücü U19 at the summer. The attacking midfielder has scored four goals and provided three assists in eight appearances, quickly proving himself as one of the country’s most promising prospects in the midfield. He can play left back too.

1. Olubi Adams [FK Zalgiris Vilnius]

Of all the names on this list, Adams involvement in the 2023 U20 AFCON seems the most certain. He’s already a regular for Flying Eagles and is still going from strength to strength.

Attack is perhaps the strongest area in Bosso’s squad and the FK Zalgiris Vilnius youngster is one of the stand-out names.

Adam is a strong dribbler under pressure with impressive coordination between technical skill and athleticism. He has a good sense of his surroundings and is adept at freezing opponents with intelligent body movements to create time and space.

Rilwanu, an attacker and Adam, a box to box midfielder are part of a list made up of five goalkeepers, nine defenders, 13 midfielders and 13 forwards with the players staying at the Serob Legacy Hotel in the Wuye area of the nation’s capital.

Mahanaim FC, based in Abuja are heavily invested in talents discovery as this project invites doesn’t come as a surprise to the management of the club who have been putting all measures in place for the growth of its players.

The 2023 Africa U20 Cup of Nations is to be staged in Egypt from the of 18th February to 12th March, 2023.

All four semi -finalists at the U20 AFCON will fly Africa’s flag at next year’s FIFA U20 World Cup finals holding in Indonesia.

Former Super Eagles captain, John Obi Mikel has announced his official retirement from active football after over two decades of professional career.

John Mikel, 35 who has enjoyed a blistering career from younger age announced the retirement today via his official Instagram account.

Discovered from Pepsi Football Academy, Mikel played for long list football clubs including Plateau United, Lyn FC of Norway, Chelsea, Middlesbrough among others.

He said the announcement was a start of new journey in his life as he thanked all those who made the journey a success for him.

According to Mikel’s post on IG: There is a saying that “all good things must come to an end”, and for my professional football career, that day is today.

“I look back at the past 20 years of my career, and I must say that I am very satisfied with all that I was able to achieve and more importantly the human it has helped shape.

“All of this would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my family, managers, clubs, coaches, teammates and most importantly my ever-loyal fans. You supported me through my highs and lows, even on days that I did not live up to your expectations. I say a big thank you.

“I will also like to encourage everyone who I may have inspired one way or the other in the course of my career to never give up on their dreams, for every time you think about quitting, remind yourself why you started.

This is not goodbye, it’s the start of another journey, another chapter of my life. I look forward to what the future holds and I hope you will walk with me. Thank you.”

He scored six goals in 91 appearances while for Nigeria national teams.

Mikel won African Cup of Nations (AFCON) title work Super Eagles in 2013 with several runners up titles with the Eagles.

He also won the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup as well as Club World Cup with Chelsea.

Former Bayelsa United coach, Ada Gwegwe, has clamoured for the inclusion of former Al Ahly of Egypt striker, Peter Ebimobowei in the new look Super Eagles under head coach, Jose Peseiro ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations doubleheader against Guinea Bissau.

Ebimobowei who currently plays for Abahani Chittagong in the Bangladesh Premier League where is the leading scorer with 18 goals from 19 league games is in the form of his life presently and Gwegwe who was among the consortium of coaches that helped mould the hitman said the attacker should be given a chance to prove himself.

Gwegwe told journalists: “Peter Ebimobowei should be invited by Coach Jose Peseiro to the Super Eagles Squad for the September AFCON Qualifiers double header against Guinea Bissau.

On his ability to deliver when invited, the former Ocean Boys of Brass Coach notes that, Peter is strong, versatile and commands the experience to compete in the National Team set up going by his record of goal scoring in the Nigerian League , Africa,Asia and Europe which has accumulated to about one hundred twenty five career goals in the last Thirteen years of a purposeful football career.

He also expressed believe that his goal scoring form this season in Bangladesh is an indication that the Ebimobowei is technically good to succeed at any level when given opportunity to showcase his talent.

Ebimobowei is a Bayelsa born Professional Footballer who was discovered in the creek of Ndoro Community, Ekeremor Council area of the Ijaw homogenous State far back in year 2005.

He was later admitted into Bayelsa United Feeders team in 2007, where he was exposed to Professional Football ethics, groomed into a prolific attacker under the guidance of Coach Moses Aduku, Domo Okara, Ada Gwegwe and eventually, he got promoted to the Bayelsa United First team in 2009 as a teenager.

Seven years later, the talented striker rose to international stardom when Egyptian giant, Al Ahly Sports Club announced his signing from Bayelsa United Fc on a three year Deal.

Peter’s goal scoring records as a clinical finisher in the history book could be traced to the 2009-10 Nigerian elite season when the right footed Forward made his Nigeria Professional Football League debut under David Ngodigha, despite the limited playing time he had as a results of the star studded Bayelsa United team, he proved his potential as a young Player in few matches he played before Bayelsa United team was relegated to the second tier league that same season.

Following the departure of first team regulars like, Stanley Ohawuchi to Heartland, Manir Ubale to Kano Pillars, Andrew Michael to defunct Sharks of Port Harcourt and others that left for other NPFL teams, Ebimobowei established himself as the hitman for Bayelsa United team in the lower league in 2010.

The Young Striker who was then managed by the present Bayelsa United Technical Adviser, Moses Teibowei grew in confidence and his improvement on speed, technique,game vision and ball shooting guided him to a decent National League Season with 14 goals to his name.

In the following season, Ebimobowei was identified as one of the rising young strikers when he netted 16 goals to help his team back to the NPFL in 2012.

During the 2012/2013 Season, the player fondly called Mr. P continued with his fine form in his second season in the Nigerian topflight league and again he scored over ten goals .

He continued with that pace and during the 2013/2014 Season, Ebimobowei made the list of the league top three highest goal Scorers with an impressive 18 goals that placed him behind Enyimba’s Mfon Udoh (23 goals) and Dolphins’ Emem Eduok (20 goals)

Since he left the shores of the country, the 28 year old Attacker had played for Al Ahly Sc, Eltag El Harby of Egypt, Al -Mesaimeer Sports Club Qatar, Binati Ysk, Magusa Turk Gucu of Northern Cyprus, Bahla Club, Al – Nahda of Oman and in November last year, the Former Owu Sports Wear Ambassador joined Bangladesh side, Abahani Chittagong.

Ebimobowei Currently leads the Bangladesh Premier League top scorer chart with 18 goals and he is closely followed by 31 years old Malian Striker, Souleymane Diabate, who is on 15 goals while Brazilian Forward, Robson Azevedo da Silva who plays for Bushundhara Kings FC is in third Position with 13 goals.

Nigeria Pillar of Sports Chief Donatus Agu Ejidike has charged the Super Falcons of Nigeria to sustain their greatness as Africa Women soccer giant even as they seek more glorious outing in the AWCON 2022 championship in Morocco.

Chief Ejidike who described the prowess of the Super Falcons in Africa as an invincible leadership said the Nigeria Football followers have great Hopes in them to make the country proud.

The Pillar of sports in a statement released on Thursday and made available to newsmen expressed joy over the preparation ahead of the championship and praised the Nigeria Football Federation for the encouragement given the the Ladies ahead of the games.

Chief Ejidike admonished them not to be complacent as no country is a push over in global Football of nowadays.

He particularly commended the discipline and commitment by the Technical crew and players in the build up to the championship and charged them to keep their heads high as Africa number in women Football.

Nigeria Super Falcons will lock horns with other African counterparts as the AWCON championship kicks off in Rabark Morocco.

Titled ‘Beauty And Brains’, is an afro fusion highlife and was produced by Dr. Bigmoney Beats who is with Afro Jam records.

Vera Chukwu is a Nigerian Singer and songwriter. Born in Edo State and currently resides in Lagos State Nigeria.

She hails from Enugu State. With an Igbo Dad and Edo mother.

The songwriter, when asked for the reason behind ‘Beauty and Brains, she said: “Coming from this part of the World, our women are often times looked at just being beautiful, which is not true.”

Over the past few years, the Super Falcons have been successful with 9 African titles and have made it to every World Cup since it’s inception.

“It is beyond our ladies being beautiful, but they show it on the pitch hence the brain aspect, they have got skills, finesse and strength, I want to use this song to spur them towards getting the La Decima,” Vera said.

It will be recalled Vera Chukwu in 2019, did a song for the Super Eagles “Helelema” ahead of the Nations Cup in Egypt which gained global acceptance.

The Super Falcons are already in Morroco and will begin their campaign against South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in Rabat on Monday, 4th July.

The Falcons will also play Botswana (Thursday, 7th July) and Burundi (Sunday, 10th July) in the group phase.

Click the below link to listen and download

Victor Osimhen, who also scored the winner against Sierra Leone in Abuja on Thursday, scored four of the goals, starting his account with a powerful header that goalkeeper Anastacio Braganca could not just stop in the 9^th minute. As early as the second minute, Osimhen, always fully charged, had flicked the ball with his head from a Zaidu Sanusi pull-out, but there was no Eagle to connect.

In the 19^th minute, Terem Moffi’s shot was saved by Braganca as Nigeria dominated easily and with much efficiency, and four minutes later, a good Osimhen header from Ademola Lookman’s corner was again saved by Braganca.

In the 28^th minute, defender Ola Aina’s pull-out found Osihmen, who laid for Moses Simon to tap beyond the flailing hands of Braganca for Nigeria’s second. Four minutes later, Sao Tome and Principe had their first shot at Francis Uzoho’s goal, but Luis Leal’s effort went off target.

Moffi wasted two excellent opportunities to take Nigeria higher on the scoreline, in the 36^th amd 40^th minute, but did just that in the 43^rd minute when he beat two defenders to slam into the net from a great Osimhen pass.

In the secong half, it was all Nigeria. Osimhen’s firm header from pull-out by Lookman in the 48^th minute went in for the fourth goal, and seven minutes later, Oghenekaro Etebo fired his 20 –yard free-kick into the underside of the bar and into the net for Nigeria’s fifth. Osimhen thought he had scored a sixth for Nigeria in the 57^th minute, but it was ruled off-side.

On the hour mark, substitute Ahmed Musa, only two minutes on the pitch, found an onrushing Sanusi whose cross found Terem Moffi well-placed to slam the ball into the net for Nigeria’s sixth. It was Moffi’s first goal for the Super Eagles.

Three minutes later, there was another first. Ademola Lookman found the roof of the net after another Musa pass found Moffi and he chipped over onrushing goalie Braganca. It was Lookman’s first goal for Nigeria.

Osimhen, ever too much to handle, got his hat-trick in the 65^th minute when laid on by a sweet Ahmed Musa pass, and in the 84^th minute, another brilliant Musa pass found Osimhen in the right place to score his fourth and Nigeria’s ninth.

Substitute Emmanuel Dennis won and converted a penalty kick on the dot of 90 minutes to round up a goal-spangled afternoon for Nigeria in Morocco’s southern coastal city.

The Super Eagles’ next games in the qualification are against Guinea-Bissau home and away in September.  

Photo Credits: Victor Modo

Former Italian National team goalkeeper and Manager at Cagliari, Walter Zenga has revealed his intention to coach the Super Eagles of Nigeria is borne out of the desire to leave a lasting legacy in country, by building a viable national team starting with the home based players.

The Coach who spoke through his Agent Alberto “Jimmy” Fontana, said no Coach can be successful in a country like Nigeria, without first identifying the young and talented players based at home, before scouting for the overseas based players.

The Coach who was born on 28 April 1960 and last managed Serie A club Cagliari, said he would always relate with the foreign based players regularly, and bring them down to the do the job.

According to him, he believes that it is not just coaching a National team, or playing and qualifying for the World Cup and Nations Cup, but building a lasting legacy as his contract lasts.

The long-time goalkeeper for Inter Milan and the Italian National team said “I already have a three 3 years action plan, and we would need to work closely with the technical committee to get it actualize, because the job is not a one man show. We would involve all members of the committee to develop the game in the country. Nigeria has abudant of talents that needs to be harness to make them realize the Super Eagles that will be the best in the world “. He said that there is a need to bring back the honours to the Super Eagles, and that he has all it takes to do that.

Former Stationery Stores of Lagos defensive midfielder and a Nigerian coach in Thailand, Adebayo Gbadebo has expressed optimism on the ability of the Super Eagles to win the AFCON tournament in Cameroon, but with good managerial motivation.

Coach Gbadebo who was the Special Guest at the monthly Ex-University of Ibadan Footballers Association virtual interactive session said no one can say that Nigeria can win the AFCON in Cameroon, because so many things will be involved.

Gbadebo Adebayo a graduate from the Sociology Department of the Premier University, said “Nigeria is one of the favorite for the tournament trophy, because they have the players who are doing exceptionally well in their various clubs presently. They have the quality in the like of Aribo, Iheanacho, Oshimen, Ohachu, Ndidi, Chukwueze among others . These are players that can give any team a run for their money any time any day. I believe we are a favorite to the tournament , but winning the trophy is another thing entirely”.

The former Eagle Cement of Port Harcourt player said for the team to win the trophy, everything must be in place for the team to perform “you must know that football is a team game, every aspect of it must be in place before winning can occur. None is done in isolation. The boys have all it takes to make us smile in Cameroon, but everything must be in place” he concluded.

He singled out the likes of Saidu Sanusi, Wilfred Ndidi, Samuel Chukwueze among others as some of the players that will excel in the tournament.

As the five time U17 World cup champions, Golden eaglets of Nigeria prepare to battle other African countries for the U17 AFCON title and a place at the global cadet championship later in the year.

The attention of the entire country will be on the young, promising and bright prospects assembled by Coach Fatai Amoo.

Kogi born Benjamin Mustapha who was part of the Fatai Amoo led team that executed the WAFU B tournament in Lome, Togo has made the final list to Morocco.

The young promising prospect from Igalaland, eastern senatorial zone of Kogi state, a product of the popular Kamar Football Academy, Idah will be on the plane with other future Nigerian stars to the North African nation aiming to rewrite Nigeria’s name in the history books of football.

The U17 AFCON slated for Morocco will take centre stage between 13th to 31st March and the five time world champions will kick start their campaign against Tanzania.