* As he aims to lead Nigeria to the AFCON title whose tournament has seen endless shock results
* Osimhen plays with passion — that’s what every country wants their players to do—former Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan
Maravi Express
Many of the biggest stars at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023 have already been eliminated before the quarterfinals, but the continent’s reigning player of the year, Victor Osimhen is still standing as he aims to lead Nigeria to the title.
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The Super Eagles will face Angola in the opening quarter-finals of the tomorrow at the famous Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
Osimhen, the 25-year-old Napoli striker, may have been the obvious bet to finish as the tournament’s top scorer, having netted 10 times in qualifying, twice as many goals as the next most prolific marksmen.
Nevertheless, he has found the net just once going into Friday’s last-eight tie against outsiders Angola in Abidjan. However, that does not tell anything like the whole story of the masked forward’s AFCON so far.
Osimhen scored in Nigeria’s first match in Côte d’Ivoire, which ended in an underwhelming 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea and he won the penalty which captain William Troost-Ekong scored in the 1-0 victory over Côte d’Ivoire, and then played all 90 minutes of the final group game against Guinea-Bissau when he could well have been rested.
Osimhen then turned in an awe-inspiring performance in the 2-0 last-16 win over the Super Eagles’ old rivals Cameroon, harassing and pressing the opposition defence all evening and setting up the opening goal.
“He didn’t score but he had a fantastic game,” Nigeria’s charismatic coach, Jose Peseiro told SuperSport. “It is not easy to stop that guy! Ask the defenders of the opposition how they suffer.”
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The Portuguese manager has made clear that he sees not conceding goals as the key to success at the tournament, despite boasting an embarrassment of attacking riches beyond Osimhen.
But his tireless No 9 is the first line of defence with the amount of running he puts in, which is all the more impressive in the sapping heat and humidity of West Africa.
Osimhen collapsed to the turf at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium when the halftime whistle went against Cameroon, but recovered suitably to continue chasing down the opposition defence in the second half while also whipping the Abidjan crowd up into a frenzy.
“Osimhen plays with passion. That’s what every country wants their players to do,” former Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan, Africa’s all-time top scorer at World Cups who played in two Cup of Nations finals with the Black Stars, wrote on X.
As for the goals, Osimhen and Nigeria will hope he is saving them up for the final stages of the competition.
According to data made available by statisticians at Opta Analyst, Osimhen has had 15 shots at this AFCON, at least two more than any other player and only three of those have been on target and he has just that one goal, but his “expected goals”, or XG, is 2.78, the highest in the tournament – higher even than five-goal top scorer Emilio Nsue.
Emilio Nsue
More than anything, however, Osimhen’s performances and his incredible work-rate back up what he told AFP in an interview at the Nigeria team base earlier in the tournament.
“I don’t want to put myself in the centre but of course a lot of people say this. But I think more like a team player,” he said. “I really don’t care even whether I start or not. For me to be there playing with them is a big one for me. I just want to keep on helping the team.”
As modest as he may be, Osimhen must be the first name on Peseiro’s teamsheet as Nigeria eye their fourth continental crown.
From endless shock results to a goal glut and vibrant crowds, it has been an action-packed Côte d’Ivoire 2023, and there are still eight matches to go in the Ivory Coast.
The record number of goals scored in the 24-team AFCON is 102 at the 2019 tournament in Egypt, where Nigerian Odion Ighalo was the leading individual with five — but that mark has already been overtaken in the Côte d’Ivoire 2023, where there have been 105 goals in 44 matches played so far.
Emilio Nsue, a 34-year-old who plays in the Spanish third division, tops the charts with five goals, but cannot increase his tally as Equatorial Guinea were last-16 losers.
Herve Renard
Frenchman Herve Renard is the only coach to win the AFCON with two countries, guiding Zambia to glory in 2012 and repeating the feat with Côte d’Ivoire three years later.
Now, veteran Belgian Hugo Broos has a chance to equal the record with South Africa, having taken Cameroon to the title in 2017 while Charles Gyamfi of Ghana and Hassan Shehata of Egypt hold the record for AFCON titles with three each.
While victory for South Africa over 2022 World Cup semifinalists Morocco on Tuesday took many followers by surprise, Côte d’Ivoire legend Yaya Toure was not among them.
Speaking before the tournament kicked off, the former Manchester City midfield star included Bafana Bafana among the teams he believed could go far in the competition.
Claude Le Roy, the Frenchman who coached at nine previous Cup of Nations tournaments with six different countries, also backed 1996 champions South Africa to be serious contenders.
Sothe stage is set for the quarter-finals expected to serve some interesting fixtures across the 3 host cities. The round of 16 provided some exciting games coupled with shocks and some of the favorites ended up exiting the competition including defending champions and 2022 World Cup semi finalists, Morocco.
Nigeria v Angola
The Super Eagles will face Angola in the opening quarter-finals tomorrow with the Negras Palancas hoping to continue their fairytale against one of the tournament’s favorite.
Nigeria’s resolute defensive unit in William Troost-Ekong, Calvin Bassey and Semi Ajayi will be put to test by Angola’s forward’s, Jacinto Dala, Gilberto and Mabululu in this fixture.
DR Congo v Guinea
Mohamed Bayo has twice been the saviour for Guinea in the AFCON having scored against Cameroon to help them secure a point and was on target against Equatorial Guinea in the Round of 16.
With the 2009 CHAN success in Cotê d’Ivoire in sight, DR Congo will give it their all against an equally motivated Guinean side — also to be played tomorrow.
Mali v Cotê d’Ivoire
The host put up a solid performance to eliminate defending champions, Senegal on penalties in the Round of 16 — following a disappointing end to their group stage campaign where they lost to both Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea and went ahead to concede 5 goals.
Cotê d’Ivoire have failed to score from open play in their last three games and will be hoping to make amends with the return of Sébastien Haller upfront.
Mali, despite a shaky performance in the group stage, put up an improved performance against Burkina Faso in the Round of 16.
Cape Verde v South Africa
Unbeaten Cape Verde will face South Africa who eliminated as the Blue Sharks have had a smooth run throughout the competition unlike South Africa who have been inconsistent with results.
Hugo Broos will count on Evidence Makgopa, Percy Tau and Themba Zwane to deliver against Cape Verde and though a tough one but Cape Verde have seen it all against experienced countries and have had their way through.
CAF president Motsepe
An interesting feature at the Côte d’Ivoire 2023 is CAF president Patrice Motsepe. As the TV cameras scanned the crowds at the eight last-16 ties across the west African country, he was one person who was visible at each match.
Traditionally, the top African football official would attend one venue each day, but the South African billionaire businessman Motsepe has taken match attendance to a new level.
Explaining how Motsepe could watch matches in northern city Korhogo and southwestern city San-Pedro in the same evening, a CAF official said Motsepe uses a private jet.—Reporting by Supersport & CAFonline
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