We witnessed a masterful performance of desire and grit in Tuesday’s final Group C FIFA World Cup match in Uyo between Nigeria and Benin. When you needed someone to rise to the occasion, Victor Osimhen did just that.
His incredible ability to run at defenders was on display as he scored a hat trick in that 4-0 win against the Cheetahs to send the Super Eagles into the playoff round. It was a performance that was badly needed at the time.
But it surely did not come out of nowhere. I have witnessed it before.
In April 2023, I was pitchside at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples to witness another of Osimhen’s gritty performances. On that rainy UEFA Champions League night, Napoli needed to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Italian rivals AC Milan to reach their first semifinal.
Osimhen had missed the first leg due to injury and was expected to make a miracle happen in this very important game at home. And he did. Despite the man-marking that Milan deployed, as Fikayo Tomori shadowed his every step, Osimhen managed to put one past Mike Maignan in goal.
Even though the game ended in a 1-1 draw and Napoli’s elimination that night, I saw from close how incredible an athlete Osimhen is.
So I was not surprised when the hungry Osimhen turned up for the game against Benin in Uyo.
Despite the team’s near air mishap when the windshield of their Valuejet plane cracked mid-air during their flight from Angola, which delayed their arrival in Uyo by several hours, the Super Eagles delivered a performance worthy of their name.
Osimhen wormed his way through the Benin defence to score his third Nigeria hat-trick before Frank Onyeka’s thunderous shot made it four and secured safe passage into the African playoffs.
It begs the question: where was this ability all this time that left us with calculators in our hands and our hearts and veins palpitating as we entered the final day?
But it was all down to one man’s desire, Victor Osimhen’s. He took the game personally and delivered a killer blow to the Cheetahs that will not soon be forgotten by our small neighbours.
It was a punch that killed the ambitions of Benin reaching their first-ever World Cup. And I must say, it left a bitter pill in the mouths of people across the border.
I saw a social media video by a Beninois man expressing anger at being denied such a great opportunity of reaching the World Cup by their Nigerian ‘kin’. After all, it was only the sleight of hand of European colonialism that separated what were the same people over 140 years ago in a Berlin roundtable.
A renewed Super Eagles?
Nigeria will now face Gabon in the semifinal of the playoffs in Morocco next month. And with a man like Osimhen leading the pack, one hopes that the Eagles have found a new zest for the game that would see them through the challenges ahead.
The path to the World Cup is still long. Two potential games in Morocco, followed by another set in Mexico for the Intercontinental Playoffs, await.
I saw a team that is willing to give it all, on or off the pitch. Despite his suspension from the game, Ademola Lookman stayed in camp and suffered with them from the bleachers as the team took that big step. One recalls that he made his Nigeria debut in the playoff against Ghana for the 2022 World Cup ticket. I hope that his return to the side against Gabon will bring a positive result to the team.
I noticed how William Troost-Ekong, despite not playing, celebrated the victory from the sidelines. The team’s captain has come under criticism in recent days. But he led from the sidelines.
After Osimehn’s opening goal, he gave a little pep talk to the boys on the sidelines. This is what it means when the entire team is pulling in one direction with the same goal.
The journey ahead will be tough, but Nigeria could yet make the World Cup. Can the passion of Victor Osimhen take Nigeria to the World Cup? This team has given us hope again.
