SUPER EAGLES and Napoli of Italy striker Victor Oshimhen has lashed out at the former coach of the Super Eagles-Finidi George over allegations that he was avoiding playing some football matches for the senior national team.
Osimhen, the current African footballer of the year, criticised the coach for his comments of poor commitment to the national team despite being privy to his current injury.
He disclosed this in a live session on his Instagram account on Saturday, June 15.
His response was against the backdrop of coach Finidi’s comment in the media which accused him of faking injury and missing out in Nigeria’s recent World Cup qualifying games.
Osimhen was first included in the Eagles World Cup qualifying roster for their matchup with the Benin Republic and South Africa.
He, however, was forced to withdraw due to an injury, and a left-back player-Kenneth Igboke of Enugu Rangers got a call-up as his replacement.
However, the Super Eagles’ poor performance against South Africa and the Benin Republic informed the narrative surrounding Osimhen’s absence changed with recent Finidi’s comment.
Finidi had accused Osihmen of a poor show of commitment to the national team during a recent meeting with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and Minister of Sports Development John Enoh.
Osihmen in his response dislcosed that he had spoken with Finidi following a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) examination conducted by his medical team in Europe over an injury he sustained while plying his trade in Europe.
The current African Footballer of the year said he pleaded with the coach to allow him to stay with the players in the camp despite the injury, but the coach told him to stay with his “family”.
“I did the MRI scan, and the next day, I was called by the doctor to his office. Immediately, I called Finidi and I told one of my guys to do the video of my conversation with Finidi.
‘I will not address anything, and I will let anyone believe whatever they want. Everybody knows that whether I am playing for Eagles or Napoli, I play with my heart out,”
“But I will not allow disrespect from anybody. I will not allow that nonsense. I will not allow rubbish on my name. I do not care if what Finidi said is false or whatever. I will post the video and screenshots of my conversation with Finidi. I have lost the respect I have for that man,” Osimhen said.
The Super Eagles drew 1-1 against South Africa and lost 2-1 to the Benin Republic in the World Cup qualifier.
The result and the poor run of results by the coach football analysts said informed his decision to resign from the much coveted Super Eagles job.
A reporter with the ICIR
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