National Teams
AFCON Qualifier: Augustine Eguavoen raises concerns over Victor Osimhen’s fitness
By Saheed Afolabi
Nigeria interim coach Augustine Eguavoen has addressed Victor Osimhen’s fitness issues, revealing that the striker wasn’t fully fit for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda.
Osimhen, who had a tumultuous transfer window before finalizing a deadline day loan move to Galatasaray, has been struggling with fitness concerns. Eguavoen defended the 25-year-old forward, acknowledging the challenges he faced at Napoli and his recent move to Turkey.
“Osimhen is our brother; you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. We know what he’s going through at Napoli,” Eguavoen stated during the post-match press conference in Kigali. “He just moved to Galatasaray and hasn’t been playing active football for a while now.”
Eguavoen confirmed that Osimhen was advised against playing a full 90 minutes due to his injury issues. “He played 25 minutes in the previous game, and today we had a word with him that he can’t play 90 minutes, or else he will get injured,” Eguavoen added.
Despite these challenges, Osimhen made a notable return to international duty, scoring a superb goal against Benin Republic in Uyo, marking his 22nd goal for Nigeria in 37 appearances.
