More details later.
Group E Standings
Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
Nigeria 6 4 1 1 14 6 +8 10
South Africa 5 2 3 0 9 1 +8 9
Libya 5 2 1 2 15 9 +6 7
Seychelles 6 – 1 5 3 25 -22 1
Super Eagles Striker, Henry Onyekuru has assured Nigerians that the team is ready to work hard for victory against Libya at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Saturday.
He said this in a tweet on Friday.
According to him, the players are aware of what the coach wants, and they are ready to give in their all against the Medettarian Knights.
“We know what the coach wants from us, which is to give our very best against Libya, that is exactly what we intend to do in both games. We will work hard to win and make our nation proud.”
The coach, Gernot Rohr, had earlier noted that the Super Eagles are preparing for the match like they did against Cameroon last year. For him, “Two games in four days means we have to be very fit”
The Super Eagles currently sit in third place in Group E with three points, with a win and a loss from the first two games. They therefore need a victory on Saturday in Uyo, and on Tuesday, when they travel to Tunisia for the second leg, to be sure of a place in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations
Super Eagles forward and former Eupen sensation Henry Onyekuru has returned to Everton to continue his recovery after being ruled out with a knee injury while on loan at Anderlecht.
The Belgian side released a statement last month saying that surgery was “inevitable” and the striker would be out for “several months in order to be able to recover optimally” after being forced off against his former club Eupen on December 22.
Onyekuru joined Everton in the summer before being sent out on loan to Anderlecht where he had scored nine goals in 19 appearances in the Jupiler Pro league and the 20-year-old shared a picture of his return to his parent club on social media as he continues his recovery even as he revealed his hope in God for the strenght to bounce back.
Back at @Everton a little earlier than expected, I am so grateful for the facilities and the medical team working hard to get me back playing ASAP! The Lord is my strength ??
The Nigeria international sealed a switch to Everton in June after a successful season at Eupen where he scored 20 goals.
Onyekuru was called up for the Super Eagles camp in May 2017,and made his senior debut for Nigeria in a 3–0 friendly win over Togo on 1 June 2017.Unless there is a fast track in his recovery,the 57 goals scorer for Eupen would have been technically ruled out from consideration for the World cup in Russia.
Super Eagles coach Genot Rohr had revealed that he is monitoring all players with a view to ensuring that only those in the best of form a lined up for the Mundial. The Eagles will face Argentina, Croatia and Iceland in the Group stage in Russia.
Nigeria are the only one of Africa’s five representatives from the last World Cup, who return for the 2018 edition in Russia and will be looking to better their place in the last 16 in Brazil.
A crop of exciting youngsters headline a team representing Africa’s most populous nation and who will play at the World Cup for the fifth time, having mostly underachieved in the past.
Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, Henry Onyekuru and Moses Simon represent a new generation that has emerged since the 2014 finals.
Nigeria surprisingly qualified easily from a tough group that included Algeria, who also reached the second round of the last World Cup, and African champions Cameroon.
Nigeria were the first African country to book a berth in Russia and finished unbeaten in Africa’s Group B, winning all their home games with two draws and a victory away under German coach Gernot Rohr.
The German was a surprise appointment just weeks before the start of the group phase of the preliminaries.
The 64-year-old Rohr is a former Girondins Bordeaux midfielder who returned to coach the French club to the 1996 UEFA Cup final, and in more recent years was national coach of Burkina Faso, Gabon and Niger.
He will have high hopes that Nigeria can make an impact at the finals, particularly after they beat Argentina 4-2 in a friendly in Russia earlier this month.
Africa’s best return at the World Cup was a quarter-final place for Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010).
But there will be concern about Nigeria’s dependency on Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel, with the level of performances over the last year falling dramatically when they were absent.
Obi Mikel now plays his club football in China while his old Chelsea team mate Moses is the biggest name in Nigeria’s team.
NAN
Super Eagles forward, Henry Onyekuru may leave premier league side Everton without kicking a ball for the club as Serie A giants Juventus and La Liga side, Atletico Madrid are keen to snap him up for £15m (N7billion), according to DailyMail.
The Toffees signed the 20-year-old Nigerian in a £7million deal from KAS Eupen last summer but had to send him out on loan to Belgium club Anderlecht because of work permit issues.
Onyekuru has since been banging in goals, scoring six times in his last five games and caught the attention of both Juventus and Atletico with a brilliant performance against Paris Saint German in the UEFA Champions League where he destroyed Brazilian defender Dani Alves before hitting the woodwork.
Anderlecht went on to lose 4-0 but the on loan Everton star did enough to make Diego Simeone consider him as a potential long time replacement for Fernando Torres at Atletico while the Old Lady are desperate to add a forward player after missing out on Senegal international Keita Balde to AS Monaco.
Everton lost 5-2 to Arsenal Sunday in the premier league and their topscorer is Wayne Rooney with four goals, two less than Onyekuru.
Everton are set to double their money on Henry Onyekuru, without the Nigeria striker kicking a ball for the Toffees following his £7million summer arrival from KAS Eupen.
According to sportsrollcall.com Juventus and Atletico Madrid want the 20-year-old, who was loaned to Anderlecht over work-permit problems after arriving at Goodison in the summer.
Onyekuru cost £7million from KAS Eupen but has increased his value with six goals in his last five games in the Belgian League.
He also impressed in Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain in which he struck the woodwork.
But frustratingly he has not been given the chance to replace Romelu Lukaku up front for Koeman.
Juve have started to pay close attention to Onyekuru after losing out to Monaco for the signature of Senegal international Keita Balde while Atletico see him as a long-term replacement for Fernando Torres.
Everton must now decide whether to push for a work permit – or cash in and invest the money elsewhere.
Onyekuru made his international debut for Nigeria earlier this year and has a chance of making their World Cup squad to Russia.
West Ham have been told they will need to pay Eupen £7.87million for Henry Onyekuru to ensure he qualifies for a work permit.
The Nigerian wants to play for the London Stadium side despite reports in Belgium saying Eupen wanted him to go to a more prestigious club.
Onyekuru, who has one international cap, has spoken to Chelsea’s Victor Moses about living in London and has been encouraged to make the move to West Ham where Moses played on loan in 2015-16.
The fee increase is significant as it helps add to the player’s points tally for his work permit application under the totting-up procedure. Should a player score four points or more the panel can recommend an application is granted.
If the transfer fee is in the top 25percent of all transfer fees to Premier League clubs in the previous two windows, that earns three points but is only two points should it fall between the 50percent and 75percent mark of those same fees.
Onyekuru would also gain three points if the wages being paid to him are in the top 25percent of the top 30 earners at the club.
The 20-year-old scored 25 goals for unfashionable Eupen last season and added 14 assists as they pushed for Europa League qualification.
Nigerian prodigy Henry Onyekuru can hardly wait to celebrate his 20th birthday come June 5 and dreams of having Super Eagles resounding victory against South Africa come June 10 as the icing on the cake.
The revelation of the season in Belgium for newly promoted Eupen, has been named in Coach Gernot Rohr’s squad to confront Bafana Bafana in Uyo, even as the list of clubs hoping to sign him ahead the new season keeps rising by the day.
His 12 goals in 28 regular season matches followed by another 11 goals in 10 games during the play-offs for Europa spot, has made him center of attention.
Onyekuru who dreams of playing for Arsenal, has former Gunners’ great Henry Thierry, as his idol which is why he prefers to have only his first name ‘Henry’ at the back of his shirt and is hoping to ultimately follow Thierry Henry’s footsteps when he eventually settles at the Emirates.
Interestingly some analysts have noted that Onyekuru’s style is similar to that of Thierry Henry.
The Nigerian claims that centre-forward is his best position but he’s frequently used on the left wing.
Some coaches he has worked with believe his dribbling skill is phenomenal while some are rather tickled by his precision while running at defenders at full speed.
For some other analysts however, Onyekuru is still very inexperienced at a high level, as he is yet to make his international debut for Nigeria and can’t be fully judged by his efforts against mediocre opposition in Belgium.
But all that looks set to change within a few hours with strong indications that he will be handed playing opportunity against Hawks on Thursday in a friendly and then to the big one against South Africa. And with reports that Arsenal has agreed terms with Eupen, all that is needed is for him to agree personal terms to signal possible rise in career profile
While Thursday’s friendly against Hawks of Togo will provide Eagles an opportunity to blend properly, the June 10 show down will offer Onyekuru and an opportunity to show what makes him tick, in the hope that his effort and that of the his teammates will earn the much needed victory to serve as garnishing to his 20th birthday .
Scottish top side, Celtic, has tabled an official bid for Nigerian youngster, Henry Onyekuru, who has taken the Belgian league by storm this season.
After a superlative debut season in the Belgian top flight, the 19-year-old Onyekuru has interested several top clubs across Europe including top German clubs Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig as well as Russian champions CSKA Moscow and Turkish giants Fenerbache.
Onyekuru told AfricanFootball.com Celtic is now locked up in discussions with his Belgian club AS Eupen.
“A lot of teams have shown interest in signing me – from France, Germany and Turkey. Celtic is interested in me and the club has tabled an official bid for me,” he added.