Retired Nigerian international, Etim Esin has urged whoever starts in place of Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen to prove his worth in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Osimhen will not feature in the two World Cup qualification encounters due to the hamstring injury he picked up in Nigeria’s international friendly game against Saudi Arabia in Portugal last month.
Victor Boniface who has so far shone for Bayer Leverkusen this season with goals and assists, Terem Moffi of OGC Nice and Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi are the three strikers available.
In a chat with the Guardian on Wednesday, Esin who was a master dribbler and skillful midfielder in his playing days said Osimhen’s absence is an opportunity for the other strikers.
“Victor Osimhen’s injury has given the other strikers the opportunity to impress for the Super Eagles against Lesotho on Thursday and I can only implore them to make very good use of it,” Esin said.
“It is an opportunity but then, they just have to take it. We are still settled in the attack as we have got very good forward players but I would advise the Super Eagles not to underate Lesotho.
“We cannot afford to underate any country in Africa because everybody is going far so we wouldn’t be caught unawares. It is only after 90 minutes that we will know the winner of the match.
“Anyone coming in to start in place of osimhen will have to prove his worth. Like I said earlier, it is an opportunity for such a person whoever he is to prove a point.
“As far as I am concerned, Osimhen has proven his own point but someone else coming in to lead our strikeforce against Lesotho will help the Super Eagles to have options in that position.
“I remember back then when we were in Belgium and Clemens Westerhof (the former Super Eagles technical adviser) dropped all of us ahead of a match against Burkina Faso.
“Westerhof called up the likes of Finidi George, Daniel Amokachi, Sunday Oliseh and they all made very good use of the opportunity they got.
“Every opportunity any player has to play in the national team, they simply have to made good use of it because such might not come twice.
“You know Nigerians love the players who score goals and I must say Osimhen deserves all the praises he has been getting as he has been doing the business of scoring very well.
“So, someone else has to come in to lead the Super Eagles attack against Lesotho and take a little shine,” the ‘African Maradona’ told Complete Sports.
He also wished the Super Eagles all the best against Lesotho but added that the team would be playing in his own state and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) did not remember him.
The Super Eagles will host Lesotho at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom state on Thursday before travelling to face Zimbabwe in Rwanda three days later.
