Sochaux defender Valentine Ozornwafor has replaced Leon Balogun in the Super Eagles 25-man squad ahead of this month’s friendly game against Algeria in Oran.
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) revealed this on their Twitter handle.
According to the NFF, Ozornwafor was called up due to injury to Queens Park Rangers new signing Balogun.
The former Rangers star featured for QPR and helped them keep a clean sheet in their goalless draw at home against Stoke City on Saturday.
“Update: Valentine Ozornwafor replaces injured Leon Balogun for #Algeria clash,” the NFF wrote on Twitter.
Ozornwafor was first called up to the Super Eagles in March 2019, for a friendly game against Seychelles and Egypt but was only an unused substitute.
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He eventually made his debut with the Eagles in a 1–0 friendly loss to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon on 4 June 2021.
The Eagles will be hoping to record a first win against Algeria since 2016 when they claimed a 3-1 win during qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The friendly game comes up inside the Stade Olympique d’Oran on Tuesday, 27 September.
13 Comments
While the likes of Senegal, Morocco, Cameroun, Algeria, and even Mali have their first eleven players and substitutes playing in 1st division and reputable leagues we are gradually descending to having players in the second division in our team. Ekong, ozornwafor, Semi, Okoye, and if Nottingham Forest is not careful, we will have Awoniyi and Dennis too…. Ndidi has not been himself this season and Iheanacho’s career seems stagnant. The only thing to cheer about is our forwards. I hope peseiro can start searching for midfielders and defenders cuz this might eventually catch up with us big time…. Honestly some super eagles’ players are not ambitious judging from their transfers. Any word on Onuachu?
To add to it I think Leicester might be candidates for relegation this season except Rogers is fired and they buy more players in January. Dude has run out of ideas and is predictable…. Vardy is getting old and Iheanacho is the sub specialist a familiar game plan to other teams.
As long as the voice of wisdom is not needed then failure becomes company.some of us have stated that the central defense is aging and it is time to start trying out younger prospects. The young man Marvin Ekpiteta from Blackpool Fc should have been called up. Leon at 34 yrs plays a game and is injured already. It is when we get to cup competitions that this things come to hunt us.The average age a footballer retires is 35 and leon is 34 already nearing the retirement line. Should it not be wisdom to start lining up possible replacements but criminal elements that surround the coach would drown the voices of reason . Some fans are also complicit, you have a marvin who is playing regularly but you bring Ekong who has been warming the bench, you invite Onyeka who has been doing same and leave out Alhassan who has been in great form. The list has the finger prints of Nigerians at NFF. How they expect to succeed beats me. The last time Nigeria was a fearful team was in 1994 , when we had a coach who was in total charge of the team.
Anyway, if we refuse to do the right things then the end result awaits . We would all share in the heart break.
I said the same thing about the Blackpool player who at least you can invite for the friendly, but someone said he is average…. Dude has played in every game this season clocking 90 minutes every game, but they claim Ekong has more experience, but he makes schoolboy mistakes often and has only played 3 full games in months and his experience has not gotten him a club in a top league. So, in all of Europe or even in the local league we don’t have defensive prospects we can give a try for friendlies?
Big Lies..! Balogun is not injured. He was in action for full duration and his club kept the second clean sheets in Balogun’s second game of the season.
May be he requested to be removed from the list.
I was wondering too…. He played full 90 minutes but maybe he has a knock. Might be a subtle message to the coaching crew that he wants out.
When they hid the list from fans for a period longer than necessary, I knew something fishy was going on behind the scene. I’m sure this is not Jose Peseiro’s list. If it was Peseiro that released the list,then those people at the NFF in their usual characteristics may have tampered with the list. Royal Antwerp of Belgium and FC Sochaux of France had acknowledged the invitations of Alhassan Yusuf and Valentine Ozornwafor respectively even before the list was made public,only for the two players to be omitted when they eventually decided to release the list. Joe Aribo may have offended someone at the NFf hence his snub.I concur with those who deem Leon Balogun ageing at 34,Chidozie Awaziem is in the less fancied Croatian league,Semi Ajayi is injured and with the unstable William Troost-Ekong as well as Kenneth Omeruo in the second division in Spain,the Super Eagles central defence is now the weakest link in the team.Players like Marvin Ekpiteta,Osaze Urhoghide,Ayo Obileye,Izuchukwu Anthony,Igoh Ogbu,Junior Pius,Bruno Onyemaechi,Michael Ologo,Michael Ihiekwe,Joshua Akpudje should have been tried or we could fastrack the nationality switches of Caleb Okoli,Tunji Akinola,Jonas David,Felix Uduokhai,Tosin Adarabioyo,Jordan Torunarigha,Dominic Iorfa etc.
Since the Super Eagles have no immediate competitive engagement till March,2003,these two friendly games with Algeria and Portugal should have been used to groom and run the rule on fresh players who can replace the ageing,off-form and injured ones as other countries are doing. But Jose Peseiro and those at the NFF have other plans! May God help us.
It’s Ironic that Sopuruchukwu Onyemaechi also known as Bruno Onyemachi was jusst bought as a central defender for Boavista just recently while Chidozie Awaziem was shipped out to a less glamorous league….IT kind of shows how the club rate him and also lack of suitors from better clubs. You would think that such friendlies will be used to try players for our weak link. Even if they don’t have to play in the friendly but a close assessment during training will afford the coach the opportunity to see if they are capable of replacing the aging ones or the inactive ones…. NFF is crooked, and I hope the next FA president is not like Amaju or worse. I have a feeling they influenced something in the list, but I might be wrong but only a dummy will keep using the same method to fix mistakes he already made.
I have to say if there was one thing Rohr was good at it was scouting new players. The current Super Eagles are becoming a ‘job for life’ like the Civil Service. Certain players never get dropped, even when they have lost form and there are better alternatives. How many of us thanked God when Ekong was injured? Was he missed in the next match where we thrashed Sao Tome?
The senior players, Captain and Vice Captain, instead of inspiring the team are a drag on the team.
The way to go before we get into the deep business end of 2025 AFCON qualifiers is to begin the process of FAST TRACKING the nationality switch of the following players;
1. Caleb OKOLI at Napoli
2. Shawn ADEWOYE @ WALWIRCK
3. EKPITETA @ Blackpool
4. Tiago Ilori @Pacos Fereira
Caleb Okoli of Atalanta is on the pathway for Italy. He has represented them at every age group level from under 15 to under 21. I doubt he’ll be swayed
Shawn Adewoye is a prospect as is Marvin Ekpetita who has trained with our U17 in 2012 with Ndidi and Iheanacho. Those two I would definately agree with.
Finally Thiago Illori? Really? A player who at almost 30 has never once been good enough for Portugal? Whom did not play a single game last season and only 14 in 2019/20 season?
There are other players whom can give us more that do not need to switch nationality:
Bruno Onyemaechi, Ndah, Akpudje, Igoh Ogbu, etc.
If we were serious, we would have a standing U23 team that could be used to prepare these players for the step up
Well said Brotherman Big D. You know football wella.
@ Mahmud Shuaib, sure Belgian-born Shawn Adewoye is presently turning heads at the heart of defence at RKC Waalwijk in the Netherlands. Nothing stops the NFF and Coach Peseiro from approaching him,his parents and his agents for a possible switch of nationality to Nigeria. Not sure if former Portugal youth teammer,Tiago Abiola Ilori will agree to a switch having spurned Nigeria’s offer in the past. Of a truth,Super Eagles Central defence position needs urgent surgical operation and immediate overhaul to forestall looming calamity.