Super Eagles head coach Éric Chelle insists his team have enough quality to beat Poland despite the absence of key stars Victor Osimhen, and Ademola Lookman, Completesports.com reports.
Osimhen and Lookman headline the list of notable absentees for the international friendly slated for the PGE Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw on Wednesday night.
The Super Eagles go into the encounter in high spirits after winning the Unity Cup invitational tournament in London last weekend.
The three-time African champions enjoyed a flawless campaign, winning both of their matches, and scoring five goals without conceding.
Super Eagles Ready For Battle
Chelle stated that the players in camp are fully prepared and determined to secure victory.
“I made this choice, dictated by personal reasons. But there are a lot of good players. It’s not about one specific player who happens to be missing, but about a group that is ready for a match here and now,” Chelle was quoted by przegladsportowy.onet.
Read Also:Friendly: Chelle Optimistic Of Super Eagles Victory Over Poland
” Everyone knows what is important, everyone knows the game plan, you just have to implement it on the pitch. We are in good mental condition.”
Chelle Not Thinking About World Cup
The Super Eagles, like Poland, will miss out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to begin next week.
Despite the setback, Chelle insisted the team has moved on from the disappointment, and is concentrating on future challenges.
“But that’s football, now we must focus on our vision, strength and future. We have an interesting match ahead of us against a good team and we are glad that we are here,” added Chelle.
Victory Very Important
Chelle also expressed his gratitude to the Polish people for their warm hospitality and thanked the Nigerian fans, including members of the Nigerian community in Poland, who turned out to welcome the Super Eagles upon their arrival at the airport.
“We were very pleased. For fans in our country, we need to create a good spectacle and achieve the right result,” he stated.
By Adeboye Amosu
18 Comments
If Osimhen dismisses Chelle’s press conference statement of him sorting out his future in a new environment,then what are his reasons for missing out on the friendlies?Or is he picking and choosing when to play for the super eagles?
Greenturf my bro….
You and I know who this guy osimhen is….
So why are you still asking…
Even finidi tried correcting this his proud and selecting which game to play for your country but he was misquoted and ridiculed before the whole world….
Nobody stood by him (finidi) even the nff….
Except me and some few….
The biggest problem are the fans….
Watch them coming to defend him every time even when he is wrong….
Hahahaha…….why is this one gnashing his teeth over the same player he claims is not good……. LMAOOO
Don’t you have your other “goal scoring legends” and “last men standing” in the team…..??! That the absence of an overrated player always makes you and your coaches weep like toddlers whose lollipop fell into the drains….??? LMAOoo
Why is Osimhen’s absence always a source of stomach ulcer for you….. LMAOOO
Oh yes he is arrogant…..he’s earned the right to be arrogant. If he was the 3rd choice striker for the SE and not the one who is about to be the all time top scorer for Nigeria, his arrogance would be misplaced.
Go and tell your lazy coaches to put their thinking caps on and start making the SE work without depending on an arrogant player that is not even good……. LMAOOO.
We played an entire world cup qualifying series and 1 man contributed half the number of goals we scored in half of the games played when legends and last men standing contributed almost nothing and the coaches still don’t have common sense to see that something drastic needs to be done…… LMAOOO.
Shameless bunch.
They’re all over the place crying over Osimhen’s unavailability for mere friendlies…… LMAOOO
What do you need Osimhen in friendlies for…..?!
We’ve still not found a replacement for him and still want him for friendlies….? So of what purpose are friendlies then…? If you want him to come and kill himself for you guys again in mere friendlies.
It’s just pure laziness on the part of coaches to want to keep having Osimhen for friendlies.
We all know the guy is injury prone…..and at this time when there are transfer specifications surrounding him, is it no just common sense he should be left out of these friendlies that serve little to no purpose…..?
What do you want to see from Osimhen in the friendlies that has not been seen…..?
Osimhen has the right to chose what matches to play…… he’s worked hard to earn that status. In business it’s called Monopoly.
The question is how did we get to the point where 1 player has such monopoly. We basically struggle to win games once Osimhen is not around…..only a 33% win probability.
It’s left for the lazy coaches and players to get their asses to work and break that monopoly.
@Dr drey , thanks
My brother. U spoke my mind and that of a sane super Eagle fans
He spoke your mind for calling I and Monkey Post shameless bunch,for sharing our thoughts..Any need for that?Certain people are making themselves god in a forum and the likes of you are puppet or stooge who are first to acknowledge their posts regardless how toxic!He’s probably seeing himself as the Osimhen of complete sports!Nonesense!
Greenturf remember that was how he picked to miss the south african wc qualifiers game by faking an injury all in a bid so he can to stay fit so he can play in the champions league with his tolotolo gala team….
Now look at where we are now….
We ended up not qualifying for this year’s wc….
But guess what @greenturf?
Hahahahaha…
The same osimhen ended up picking up a real injury and his gala team was embarrassed out of the champions league by an dip in form liverpool side…..
Hahahahaha…
So my brother just forget…
Everybody will surely get what he/she wished for…
Everybody will reap what he/she sow…
Oluwa no dey sleep…
Him no go shame us….
There will be certainly repercussion for all our actions as humans….
Are you talking about the same Osimhen you asked to be banned from the SE till he apologises to Finidi……??
All of a sudden you are busy crying blood simply because he isnt available for a mere friendly
You wish him banned from the SE yet stool on yourself anytime he’s not available……LMAOoo….you wish his career goes down yet rant endlessly about him “faking” injuries……..LMAOooo. Stay in one place so that the evil (aside your current predicament) that will destroy you finally can locate you.
Cheap shameless liar, you claim Osimhen “faked” an injury to miss the match against South Africa in order to stay fit to play Liverpool…..LMAOooo….but we played South Africa in September 2025 and Galatasaray played Liverpool in the knockout stage of the UCL in March 2026…….LMAoooooo
I wonder how a player will fake an injury 6 months ahead …….LMAOooo
That is how daft you are. So daft that you cannot even lie intelligently………LMAOoooo.
So picking up an injury 6 months afterwards to you is the “everybody will reap what he/she sow”……??? LMAOOoooo
I never knew injuries is football is a result of “reaping what you sow”…….LMAOooo
And before you open your gutters to lie that you were refering to the group stage match……osimhen must have also faked the injury for another 3 weeks in order to miss 2 league games, 1 club game, play a 3rd league game in order to be fit to face liverpool……..LMAOoooo
Once again, this is how daft you are.
And even if it is true he did, I am sure it eventually paid off since Galatasaray ended up defeating Liverpool 2 out of 3 times and only failed to make it 3 in a row only after Osimhen was wheeled off the pitch.
So if you and your coaches too had sense, you would stop inviting him for useless games and preserve him for games that have major consequences, while working hard to make sure the other players in your team step up and be alive to their responsibilites whenever osimhen is not around.
And Pls when will your legends and Last men standing reap what they sow by not contributing anything to the SE once Osimhen is not available…..? Or for pulling out of friendlies with the lame excuse that they are “tired” despite barely completing back to back 90mins for their club since January…..LMAOooooo???
Okponu afenuhora….!!! Poverty raided fool……LMAOooo.
“….Clubbing is for people who are depressed…”….LMAOOooo.
Its evident you’ve had a very hard life and was brought up in abject deprivation……LMAOoo. The words of your mouth and your thought processes make it so easy to decipher. Your poverty (both material and in intellect) smells from a thousand miles away……..LMAOooooo
Your saving grace is the fact that you work for csn….
I wonder why most people have not figure it out….
I have responded several times but csn have not published a single one of them…
But they will rush to publish yours even when it contains derogatory and abusive language….
And little wonder why whenever you are called out on the comment section, you answer with the speed of light because cns is your bed space….
You have nothing else to do…
Hahaha
You have no other job…
Hahaha
You that has something else to do……we can see it from the alacrity, energy and time with which you jump on any news that has to do with Osimhen on CSN to vomit your usual heap of daftness…….LMAOoo.
I am supposed to be jobless……then in one fell swoop, I work for CSN…….LMAOooo.
That is why I stopped responding to you. What’s the point of engaging a lout who consistently and confidently contradicts himself, happy that he’s attracting attention……..LMAOooo.
Why fight someone who is already fighting himself?
At least I work…..what does your poverty reeking self do for a living if not scavenging for just enough to help your constantly visit CSN website…..???
“….Clubbing is for people who are depressed…”….LMAOOooo. Atoshi rairai. Poverty-stricken hobo……..LMAOoooo
I truly wish I worked for CSN. Your only hope for the attention you so badly crave out of a life of deprivation would have been long sealed.
I could agree to your argument of Osimhen being prone to injury,and with potential of getting involved in transfers this summer,will make sense to leave him out.But the young fella dismissed that,leading to my argument,because aside transfers or injuries, i do not see any reasons why he won’t be part of the friendlies, even if he will sit out one and get involved with the other.
But to say he has monopoly and also has the right to pick and choose what games to play,is taken it to the extreme or overboard..
I understand he’s a superstar and can have exceptions at some time,but don’t you think him having a monopoly is a bridge too far?
Besides,that mindset often creates double standards in teams.While superstars for their qualities and the immense value they bring to the team,letting them bypass rules or toxic behaviour damages overall morale and long-term success!
Greenturf you don’t expect him to ridicule his club. Una for understand football politics o. Yes he will be transferred but he can not speak until it’s all done. Naija sha. Greenturf don’t join monkey in his Banana games.
Messi and CR7 of this world never dictate or chose which games to played for their NT even @ advance age close to 40.
No player has monopoly to choose which game to play or not provided you are called by the NT coach bar for injury or tangible reason known to the coach.
4 matches and the coach has already excused you from first 2, are we saying matches vs Poland with great Lewandowski and Portugal with cr7 isn’t big enough?
Nice one Femi!
You are such a good guy…
I can feel it from your comments here most times
Don’t know why I beef with you sometimes over osimhen….
You say the truth without minding who it may hurt…
Sallah has passed if not I would have waybilled some sallah ram to you in appreciation for this your great comment
Hahahaha…..Messi has only played 63 out of a possible 113 friendly games for Argentina, CR7 too has played just 55 out of a possible 95…….LMAOooo……learn to get your facts right before making categorical statements in public.
Elite players do choose international games to play, especially if they are inconsequential.
Some will even retire partially from the national team but make themselves available for competitions. Everybody knows how they manage their work load once they’ve attain star status in their national team.
Even when both players are chasing the 1000 goal record, Messi and CR7 have, at different times in the recent past selected games to play, only opting for major matches or matches that catch their fancy. Moreover, some countries insist as part of the contract for friendly games, that certain players must be made available. Otherwise, their abstinence rates would even be higher.
A year or two ago, some fans in Asia were refunded their tickets because one of CR7 or Messi decided they were not going to play.
So, yes……Elite players choose games.
And yes…….players do have Monopoly of positions they play in their teams as well as monopoly of decisions that concern their careers. Some even have Monopoly of their jersey numbers……LMAOooo……so calm down on those blanket declarations of yours.
There are other strikers in the national team who barely get game time once Osimhen is around……..now that we have friendlies, it is still Osimehn that should come and play.
I repeat SHAMELESS BUNCH. And I have no apologies for that.
What is the essence of friendlies then…..???
What else do you want to see from Osimhen that we’ve not already seen….?
Its not like he’s going to be playing with a new set of team mates…….he’s going to be playing with the same Moses Simon, Ndidi, Chukwueze, etc. that he’s been playing with since 2017 when he made his debut……So what exactly are you testing in these “test matches” called friendlies……..LMAOooo
Oh…..I guess its the subconscious fact that we only have a 33% win probability without Osimhen that is bothering some of you. Y’all are afraid we may not win once he’s not there.
We have a plethora of strikers who need more game time in the team, than to be crying over Osimhen.
We all know come competitive games, he will literally walk back into the starting XI unchallenged. That in itself is also MONOPOL. I dont need to remind anyone how we struggle to score when he’s not there, and then goals start coming once he’s back.
All these emotional rants wont kill even a bug…….LMAOoooo.
Tell your coaches and other players to sit up if you dont want to see Osimhen selecting matches anymore.
If Osimhen were to be our 3rd choice striker, none of you would have given a hoot.
Imagine Awoniyi also asked to be excused from the friendlies, and nobody has said a word.
You can make your point without being abusive!
Engaging in forums or online discussions effectively doesn’t require aggression or abusive language.Focus on the argument,not the person DOCTOR!!
Declaring you owe no one an apology after engaging in verbal abuse is toxic and little very little of you BIG MAN!
You getting walked up already, untop what exactly? Nobody is forcing him to report to camp or mandate him to represent the country now habba. With or without him, win or lose, the SE name won’t change from been the SE.
If he decide to put an end to his NT duty, who care, we just played two matches without him, scored 5 good goals and conceded none.
In a nutshell nobody is bigger than the NT, provided the coach is okay with whatever excuse he gave, fine and good.
Absolutely!@Femi..