Gent of Belgium rave of the moment Gift Orban has been handed his first call up to the senior national team of Nigeria, OGN can exclusively reveal.
20 year old Orban has emerged as one of the most sought after property in European football after scoring 19 goals in 19 games for Gent, the team he joined in January from Norwegian second division side Stabæk.
We exclusively gathered that head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro told him of his inclusion in the team when the pair met in Belgium, when the coach visited two months ago.
He cleared the air on why he snubbed a call up to the Nigeria U23 team for the U23 AFCON qualifiers and his explanation was taken by the coach. He was set to be disciplined by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over the act.
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His invitation will be for the final round of qualifiers games for the AFCON 2023, where Nigeria will take on Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe respectively for a spot in the tournament, which will be hosted by Cote D’Ivoire.
The list of players for the games is expected to be made public in around two weeks time. Orban who is wanted by a host of teams in Europe is expected to take the spot of Paul Onuachu, who will likely miss out after a barren run since his move to relegated English Premier League side Southampton.
Damian Waziri