Osimhen must up his game to be in AFCON Best XI, says Adelabu

Former Green Eagles winger, Adegoke Adelabu, says the decision by the Confederations of African Football (CAF) Technical Group to leave out Super Eagles point man, Victor Osimhen, on the list of the Best 11 at the end of the 34th African Cup of Nations is in order.

Osimhen, who is the current African Footballer of the Year, was tipped to top the goals chart in Cote d’Ivoire, but he ended up with just one goal, the equaliser against Equatorial Guinea. The anticipated star man of the AFCON was not listed in the CAF Technical Study Group’s tournament-best 11.

Speaking with The Guardian, yesterday, Adelabu, a former player of Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan said: “We could see that Osimhen was not among the best of Africa, which means he did not meet the criteria as one of the best in Africa.

“Past glory is not sufficient for today’s challenge. Osimhen has to step up his performance and play to instructions.”

While CAF ignored the Napoli striker, three of his teammates in the Super Eagles are on the list. They are Ola Aina, William Troost-Ekong and Ademola Lookman.

Ekong emerged as the most valuable player of the tournament – the first time that a defender would win that accolade. He also became the first player to score against Cote d’Ivoire in an AFCON final match. The previous final matches that Cote d’Ivoire played ended goalless.