Victor Osimhen, a Super Eagles in the firmament of African football

Published on : 12/12/2023 – 07:10

6 mins

Who could deny victory to Victor Osimhen? The 24-year-old Nigerian was crowned African player of the year on Monday December 11. A just reward after a brilliant season with Napoli and Nigeria, which he respectively led to the Serie A coronation and qualification for the CAN which begins in January 2024.

In the ranking established by a panel of CAF experts, he is ahead of the Egyptian Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and the Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain). The logic was respected: on October 30, he was ranked 8^e Ballon d’Or and best African in the ranking. He was also the first Nigerian to make the top 10.

“It’s a dream come true for me. I would like to thank everyone who has accompanied me throughout my journey to realize my dreams and achieve my goals,” the Nigerian said during an expeditious conference. press, the fault of a plane having to bring him back to Europe in time for his Champions League match.

A difficult childhood in Lagos

Perhaps he quickly retraced this tortuous path traveled to get there when CAF President Patrice Motsepe presented him with the golden trophy… Did he notably relive his childhood at the foot of Olusosun, the huge landfill in Lagos, where he grew up as the youngest of seven children?

Daily life is difficult there as Victor quickly loses his mother while his father struggles to find work. The kid from Lagos clings to football like a lifeline and his big brother Andrew sacrifices his own career dreams to help him. While his father dreams of becoming a doctor, he insists on joining the Ultimate Strikers Academy in Lagos.

“From a very young age, I wanted to dedicate myself to football because it was the ball that always made me happy and helped me forget what was around me,” he told Napoli Magazine in 2022. “Even when I was playing barefoot in Nigeria, when I wasn’t living my days but only thinking about surviving each day. And for a child, that’s not easy.”

His destiny changed when he joined the national youth teams. Emmanuel Amunike, Nigerian football legend and Super Eagles under-17 coach, was convinced by the young man’s talent and decided to take him to compete in the 2015 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

He scored four times and finished as the competition’s top scorer. Logically, he continued the adventure with Amunike and competed in the U17 World Cup. Ten goals later – a record – Victor Osimhen lifted the young Nigerians to the roof of the world. And the prodigy attracts attention in the four corners of Europe.

The struggle in Germany, the outbreak in Belgium and Lille

It was ultimately the German club Wolfsburg who won the jackpot. He signed his contract at the beginning of 2017 but Victor Osimhen multiplied the problems. Injuries are recurrent, adaptation to the European climate is going poorly and he hardly plays for his first half-season. Worse, after a visit to his family during the summer break, he contracts malaria, which deprives him of preparation for the start of the season. The German club therefore no longer counts on him.

Offered on loan, Osimhen therefore landed in Belgium at Charleroi, lacking confidence and short of form. But the miracle works; the Nigerian finally lives up to the promises placed in him. His record makes him one of the most prominent fireworks players in his championship, with 19 goals scored in the 2018/2019 season. Charleroi exercises the purchase option and immediately resells it to Lille.

At Losc, he has the heavy responsibility of succeeding the Ivorian Nicolas Pépé, as spearhead of the attack. Another successful bet with an end-of-season report, even truncated by the health crisis linked to Covid-19, more than positive: 13 goals and four assists in 27 matches. In a nod to history, he succeeds Pépé in the Marc-Vivien Foé Prize, awarded by France 24 and RFI to the best African player in Ligue 1.

Sacred with Naples

Enough to once again attract envy… It is ultimately Naples which breaks the bank for 80 million. And Victor Osimhen will prove himself worthy of the trust placed in him: he very quickly becomes indisputable and even carries the team to its third Italian championship title, scoring 26 goals, including the one which officially crowns Diego’s club Maradona 5 days from the end. He is also the first African to finish top scorer in the Italian championship.

Victor Osimhen is one of the fans’ favorites who sometimes call him the “masked scorer”. Since a brutal shock at the end of 2021 which caused him multiple fractures of the eye socket and left cheekbone, the Nigerian international striker has been wearing a protective mask bearing the VO9 logo, which has become a coveted fetish object. by fans and fans of the Super Eagles.

Shine with Nigeria, the next challenge

For Victor Osimhen, Nigeria will be the next challenge to take on. After a brilliant start among young people, he struggled to obtain results that matched his potential. Certainly, he already has a podium to his credit but during this 2019 edition, he only played 45 minutes.

In Cameroon, in 2022, the Super Eagles first impressed in the group before completely collapsing in the round of 16. They also fail to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“We have a lot of talented players with Nigeria,” says Victor Osimhen, who wants to be ambitious. “This was just the beginning. The goal will be to win the CAN in January. We will be 100% focused.”

A great performance in Ivory Coast would be another beautiful nod in history. He would shine in front of Didier Drogba, his lifelong idol.