By Victor Osimhen, who has been in excellent form for Napoli but failed to score in Nigeria’s previous two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, has been guarded by José Peseiro.
WHAT HAPPENED: Over the full 180 minutes against Guinea-Bissau, Osimhen had trouble getting shots on goal.
The Super Eagles suffered a one-goal defeat in Abuja, but they exacted revenge by winning by the same score on Monday.
Osimhen only managed to get as near as hitting the inside of the upright in Bissau, but the ball bounced back into play and the threat was eventually over.
Peseiro has now clarified why the Napoli forward finds it as challenging to excel for the national team as he has at the club level.
Victor is one of Europe’s top scorers, but it does happen. People occasionally criticize the players, yet it is untrue that they lack commitment. According to Peseiro, the players experience pressure and tension when they are here.
“I spoke with him, and he started the first game in Nigeria. He began to feel the pressure: I need to score, and I need to perform flawlessly.
“When a player thinks, ‘I need to do everything correctly,’ he occasionally performs poorly, but he made an incredible sacrifice.
“The pressure is increased when our players don the Super Eagles shirt to defend their team. The general public and the supporters must comprehend that. Because they want to succeed for their nation, family, flag, and Super Eagles, they feel an excessive amount of pressure. At that point, they continue to make mistakes and perform poorly.”
And to make matters worse, the tactician expressed more worries following the two games against their Group A opponent.
“Because of how well we played on Friday, we could have won 6-1 in Abuja and 5-0 here in Bissau [on Monday]. “But that is football, sometimes you play better than your opponents, but the outcome will indicate otherwise,” Peseiro said.
Osimhen arrived here to defend the Super Eagles and our jersey. It’s not good because Osimhen is currently under more strain playing for our national team than for Napoli.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: For Napoli, who are attempting to win their first Serie A league championship in more than three decades, Osimhen has 21 goals in 23 games.
The 24-year-participation old’s was crucial for the Super Eagles, who are now on nine points and at the top of Group A of the Afcon qualifiers, despite not scoring for Nigeria in the last two games. Their entry for the Ivory Coast finals will be guaranteed with a win in their upcoming encounter.
