Victor Boniface made his debut for Nigeria a month ago, in a 6-0 win against Sao Tome and Principe, an achievement, which the 22-year-old said made him “really proud.”
Boniface, who played for Union Saint-Gilliose in the Belgian Pro Division before moving to the German Bundesliga in July, supplied the assist for the Super Eagles’ sixth goal in the Afcon qualifiers.
“I was really proud,” the Bayer Leverkusen striker told Omasports. “I waited for the moment for a long time right from my time in Belgium – playing and hoping I’d get called up.
“It’s every footballer’s dream to represent their country.”
Boniface is now an addition to a team that boasts an array of attacking talents, including Victor Osimhen – who scored a hat-trick against Sao Tome n Principe.
Boniface’s debut was made all the more special as he got to share the pitch with Osimhen, who currently spearheads the attack for Serie A club, Napoli. Boniface had nothing but admiration for his compatriot.
“It’s a dream come true to play alongside Osimhen,” he said. “Osimhen is a good guy, he’s a motivation to me. Most of us look up to him and playing alongside him is really good.”
With both Boniface and Osimhen known for their prowess as strikers at their respective clubs, the question arises of how the Super Eagles coach will decide on the starting XI and the striking partnership. But Boniface emphasized that it’s not essential to have both of them on the pitch together, with the 22-year-old maintaining a team-first mentality.
“It’s not compulsory to use both of us. It’s not just about me and him also, we have amazing strikers. When given an opportunity, we just want to make our country proud. Mine is to help my team.
“We will let the coach decide. As long as we are getting the result. The most important thing is representing the country and winning games,” he said.