Osimhen pleaded to be excused from AFCON – Super Eagles boss Eguavoen says

The Interim coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles Augustine Eguavoen revealed that star forward Victor Osimhen pleaded to be excused from the Africa Cup of Nations, which begins January 9 in Cameroon.

Osimhen sustained a head injury back in November which was expected to rule him out of the tournament, but the Napoli forward declared himself fit to play last month and was included in Nigeria’s final 28-man squad.

However, the 22-year-old is still recovering from facial fractures, and his latest coronavirus problem combined with Napoli’s reluctance to release him for the tournament led to the player sending an official letter.

Despite being keen to travel to Cameroon for the continental showpiece, Osimhen told Eguavoen that “he doesn’t want to go to AFCON and not give a 100%.”

“It’s a pity that he’s not going to be in AFCON,” Eguavoen told NFF TV. “He practically pleaded and I could see reasons. We tried for hours.

“When we spoke, he was disappointed. He said to me, ‘coach I love to but you have to understand for the fact that I’m not okay. I don’t want to go to AFCON and not a give a 100% – that’d not be good.’ I said okay. I gave him few hours, called him back, same story,” Eguavoen disclosed.

“He [Osimhen] has to do some evaluations on his surgery on the 4th or 5th before they even give final nod. And with that sort of injury, you have to consider the young man’s health as well.

“It was a tough one – we spoke on three or four different occasions before finally agreeing. We said let it be, there’s always a tomorrow.”

Before his injury, Osimhen had registered nine goals and two assists for Napoli this season as well as four goals for Nigeria in their 2022 World Cup qualifiers.