One Nigerian player, who will celebrate more if the Super Eagles beat the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in tomorrow’s final of the 34th Africa Cup of Nations is Napoli star, Victor Osimhen.
At the 32nd edition of the AFCON held in Egypt in 2019, Osimhen could not realise his dream of winning the title, as the Super Eagles could only settle for a bronze after beating Tunisia 1-0 in the third place match.
At Egypt 2019, Osimhen, who was then plying his soccer trade with Lille of France, played for only 45 minutes in the entire competition. He told The Guardian at the Le Meridian Cairo Airport hotel after the third place match that Egypt 2019 AFCON was a major learning process for him and some other young players.
“I am delighted to have gained some valuable senior tournament experience in this competition,” he said. “Everyone, particularly myself, is still in the process of learning. It is on record I played my first AFCON here in Egypt 2019. This is the biggest stage in African football and it is a massive achievement for me.
“This is a stepping-stone for my generation. “We own this space, and in the future we are going to dominate the African Nations Cup. So the experiences I gathered here in Egypt will surely help me,” Osimhen stated then.
Two years after, Osimhen could not ‘dominate the space’ at the 2021 AFCON held in Cameroun. He was left out of the Super Eagles squad owing to injury.
Tomorrow in Abidjan, Osimhen will lead the Super Eagles attack against the ‘born again’ Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in the final, and he is hoping to lift the title to join other Nigerian legends, who had won it in 1980, 1994 and 2013.
