Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has said the on field incident between Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, in Monday’s AFCON 2025 round of 16 clash, is an internal one that will be handled privately.
A brace from Osimhen and and a goal each from Lookman and Akor Adams, sealed a comfortable win for the Super Eagles.
But in the 64th minute and the Super Eagles up by 3-0 against Mozambique, a visibly angry Osimhen was seen confronting Lookman inside the opponent’s box.
The cause of his annoyance is not unconnected to a goal opportunity which he felt Lookman should have passed to him, believing he was in a better scoring position.
Few minutes later Osimhen later requested to be replaced and went off for Moses Simon.
When asked in his post-match presser, about the incident and the effect it could have in the team, Chelle said:”This is a question about my management and what happened in the pitch will stay in the group, I don’t need to tell anyone what happened.
Also Read: 2025: How Super Eagles Rated In Big Win Over Mozambique
“I keep that for me and everything that happened in the group stay in the group so we will see after that and we will talk.”
Reflecting on the dominant 4-0 win against Mozambique, Chelle expressed his delight.
He, however, noted that they are not carried away by the big win as they have to stay focus.
“I’m happy about this game winning by four goals but in reality we didn’t do anything special, we just won one game. If we want to be ambitious we need to continue to improve and keep this quality on the pitch.
“My job now is to keep the players very focus about their training sessions and behaviour.”
By James Agberebi in Fes, Morocco
Photo by Ganiyu Yusuf in Fes, Morocco
12 Comments
One of the so many reason napoli dumped him in a third class tolotolo league…bad temperament… A motor park agberoish behaviour in my opinion…
Dear Osimhen, you are currently Nigeria’s leading football figure. Stay focused on your game and let your performances speak for you. Managing different personalities on the pitch requires maturity and strong soft skills. Learning from legends like Ronaldo Nazário is key—he needed only a few clear chances to make the difference, delivering decisive goals with calm and precision.
On the field, cooperation is always visible, just as a lack of it is. We can clearly see players who contribute to the collective effort and those who waste team momentum with reckless, low-percentage shots. Great teams are built on discipline, intelligence, and trust in one another.
I am with Osihmen on this one.
Selflessness has been the foundation upon which the teamplay infrastructure that has produced a record 12 goals for the Super Eagles is built.
And, no one has epitomised this philosophy like Osihmen who has often fed his fellow strikers when he was perfectly within his rights to pull the trigger himself.
For Osihmen to channel his anger at excising a corrosive attitude that has the possibility of derailing a philosophy that has served the team well has to be seen as a good thing.
Well done to the team for this emphatic win.
Mozambique were careless to have allowed Iwobi free reign in midfield. Other teams wouldn’t be so negligent.
The team is now at home within the fabric of of Chelle’s diamond 4-1-2-1-2 formation which becomes 4-3-1-2 when the team is setting out and when it is defending.
Adherence to positional discipline with strict attention to details gave birth to the empathetic victory.
It was like a Playstation game really: midfield locates support striker who runs and cuts back to attacking midfielder to score. Or, midfielder to attacking midfielder who lays it across to centre forward to stab home. Or, for the last goal, attacking midfielder locates support striker who makes no mistakes with an emphatic finish.
When you play football like AI, you get crazy Playstation scoreline; for the Super Eagles to blow Mozambique away with such an emphatic scoreline is simply bunkers.
This is the second round of the Afcon for crying out loud! Mighty Cameroon and Ivory Coast only managed to muster 1 goal advantage against this same Mozambique in this same tournament.
With this sort of ruthlessness from the Super Eagles powered by the locomotive of team-play on the tracks of selflessness, and you expect Osihmen not to be fuming!
He has every right to. Osihmen doesn’t want this team to lose its focus, Osihmen doesn’t want this team to lose its edge, Osihmen doesn’t want this team to lose it USP (Unique Selling Point).
Osihmen is acutely aware that greater challenges lie ahead. Not all teams will be as dumb as to afford Iwobi the key of the midfield. What happens then? If Iwobi is curtailed and the strikers at the front are criminally selfish, what happens then? If the team allows the spirit of “every man for himself’ pervade the team, what happens then?
Osihmen used his anger strategically this time around. He wilfully chose to make a big deal out of this issue to drive home the point that, on the surface it might seem harmless, but, overall, of unchecked, selfishness will derail the fragile ambitions of this team.
Notice I said fragile. Osihmen is aware that the team is fragile in places: Iwobi can be curtailed, Nwabali can been breached, the team’s entire infrastructure can be subdued, if care is not taken.
So, Osihmen is asking for maximum concentration, maximum application, maximum teamwork.
For that, I with not condemn is petulance.
Deo, i am one of ur admirers here, wen u write u rarely insult and u always look for positives which i admire alot, however in this case i would disagree with u. would u also agree with d notion dat each player should publicly yell at Osihmen wen he too is selfish (shoots from an acute angle whereas a better play might be to hold up play and wait for support to arrive) and strays to an offsite position.? What pipo are saying is dat this could’ve been handled better like in d dressing room in a calm matter. He could eadily call Lookman or any player to d side and tell dem “guy am always free, look for me” not yelling for d entire world to see. His is damaging his brand if he doesn’t know. Deo, u dat i read ur comments regularly here won’t condone ur kid doing dis if he were playing in an academy somewhere. Lets be honest, his attitude yesterday was poor. Osihmen does work for d team, no one disputes diz fact, he has created some assists for his teammates no doubt bt as a striker he is also very selfish which is normal, so should everyone be yelling at him wen he tries d spectacular and it doesn’t come off?
Proudly 9ja,
If I condemn Osihmen, Osihmen will put me in my place. Not that, that has stopped me from condemning some of his actions that I see fit, but who am I to see Osihmen’s action as being fit or not?
For me, it’s about knowing who you are dealing with and dealing with that person as you have come to know them.
Osihmen is a firebrand, a hot head and at times, a ticking time bomb. He makes up for this “human weaknesses” with impeccable work ethics, exceptional application and undeniable end-product.
As most of you know, I have gone back to watch the match and, as early as the first half, Osihmen has been complaining that some of his colleagues are holding on to the ball far longer than necessary in contravention of the team-spirit philosophy that has been the bedrock of this team’s approach all through the tournament.
Rather than change tack, the same team members continued to do the same thing and, well, they got the same result from Osihmen: exploding like an atomic bomb dropped in the middle of Oshodi bus terminal!
It is up to all of us to manage Osihmen’s temperament, not Osihmen alone. Osihmen has led by example in this particular matter. He fed Onuachu when he himself could have gone for the goal the other day. Osihmen has functioned with one philosophy: look to see if your colleague is in a better position before you decide to pull the trigger. Also, Akor Adams has lived by the same philosophy, which is why, despite being an average striker, a teamwork philosophy has helped him secure a starting 11 place.
I can’t believe what I am about to say, but we are actually now as close to being Afcon winners as we can ever be. Yet Osihmen has seen that a worthless, selfish, every-man-for-yourself mentality is about to derail all that. So he did what only Osihmen does: he goes ballistic!
And, if that is what we need to get us across the line, to wake his colleagues up to the fact that only teamwork can guarantee success, well, what do you want me to say? The end justifies the means, I guess!
The on-field camera picked up Osimhen’s words when talking to Lookman, and it was something like, “Hey, hey, hey. We need to play for the team, okay. We all play for the team…”
Lookman was calmly trying to explain himself, while Ndidi quickly intervened before things escalated. We used to play some street and school soccer back then, and you’d have different characters, the fiery and the calm ones like Osimhen and Lookman. And professional players understand these dynamics among their teammates.
Still, no one is bigger than the team, and no one is perfect. Mistakes will come. Criticisms of players’ actions should be internal and only discussed in the dressing room, at half-time or final whistle, not aired for the world to see.
We know Osimhen’s passions tend to get the better of him, but he should be careful not to inadvertently put a negative label on it. I’m sure he can handle the wages of a personal coach/trainer/PR. Won’t be a bad idea.
No disrespect to the other SE players, but if both of these players are not at their 100% best and commitment, we’re 50% weaker. Akor, Onuachu, Chukwueze, and Ejuke can only do so much.
Please, please and please I beg you, DO NOT LET this your attitudes deprive us of the nations cup.
If you want to fight, win the nations cup first and you can go to your backyard and box yourself.
Osimhen should just know how to calm his nerves
If care is not taking he his gonna end up in Saudi arabia after Gala
No big clubs, coaches and fans will tolerate this type of premature behaviour
A friend from Belgium while watching the match yesterday in a cold snowing weather said hell no this guy will not play in any big clubs if he continues like this
Osimhen is a great player however just I like him I still reiterate my opinion, he could be a problem to Nigeria again just as it happened in World Cup qualifier.
Over reliance on Osimhen portends a great danger to Nigeria !
Imagine Osimhen is off game or injured (God forbids) what happened to Super Eagles? Do you notice whenever Osimhen is not playing Super Eagles are always struggling?
Hmmm, the coach should do something quickly on Super Eagles without Osimhen!
As much as I have been his critic, like ı stated after the game against Tunisia; Chelle is improving in every match and that has been beneficial to the team. He has a clear understanding of his players and formation now and understands how he wants to play. More importantly, the players are keying into his system and playing accordingly. For this, Chelle deserves some praise. I always appreciate a man willing to learn and improve.
I am overly confident that whoever we meet next, be it Algeria or the DR Congo, we are definitely going to beat them. My prayer is that Osimhen settles his minor rift with his teammates, so we all remain focus.
We all react to situations in a different way, Osimhen is a sensitive personality, very passionate about the game, that is his drive. As much as Lookman and a few others like Osayi, Onyemeachi grew selfish with the ball and almost lost focus, there’s no reason for Osimhen to overly react like he did. There are better ways to communicate with your teammates than flaring up like he did. Afterall, they are all adults. I hope he learns and make peace with his teammates. We need one unit to going forward.
I wish the team continual success.
I really don’t understand this kind of mindset of some Nigerians, did any of you actually listen to the burst up conversation? No. Did Osimhen abuse anyone? No; Was he right in his action to emphasise team play? Yes
Osimhen admonished Bruno that he could’ve passed to him or Lookman instead of attempting a shot in a crowded space, then Lookman retorted saying, semi you already got 2 goals. Then Osimhen was angry at such comment, and said to Lookman, Hey look, it’s a Team Game, it’s a team game!!!
So how was he wrong for saying this?
And talking about the tone he used, have we forgotten that it is Nigerian way of talking especially when we are angry?
A white friend of mine once asked, why do you Nigerians always shout at each other in an argument as if you are fighting? I answered that, it’s never a fight but just our way of driving home a point
Osimhen was very wrong to treat Lookman this way. I will advise him to humble himself before God humbles him. Lookman is equally a star and has contributed more goals and assists than anyone in this tournament.
Osimhen should calm down he is too hot that he is mostly offside as well. Someone needs to caution him. Yes we have defended him on this forum but yesterday he treated his no1 man very bad.
I hope this does not have negative impact on team Nigeria and his career because he will have himself to blame. Osimhen Osimhen chant should not enter his head. Shake my head….