Victor Osimhen, author of a double during the Super Eagles' demonstration against Mozambique in the round of 16 of CAN 2025, notably railed against his Nigerian teammate Ademola Lookman, shortly before being replaced. He then shunned the collective celebration before joining, alone, the locker room after the victory which allowed the Super Eagles to face Algeria or the Democratic Republic of Congo in the quarterfinals.
Published on: 01/06/2026 - 1:32 p.m.
The scene observed within the Fez sports complex, Monday January 5, made the rounds on social networks: in the 63rd minute of the round of 16 of the CAN 2025 between Nigeria and Mozambique, while the Super Eagles were already leading 3-0, their star Victor Osimhen, author of two goals on two passes from Lookman, criticized the latter for not having given him an obvious ball and almost ended up head to head with his partner.
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Still very upset, the masked striker was replaced three minutes later by Paris FC player, Moses Simon, and he did not take part in the gathering of the Nigerian group on the pitch after the final whistle to celebrate their qualification for the quarter-finals.
Osimhen returned directly to the locker room after the big victory (4-0) and, a little later, left alone and first into the mixed zone without a word to the journalists.
Already in the 9th minute of the match, he had already attacked Lookman, guilty, according to him, of having taken too long to pass him a ball, when he believed he was in a good position to strike. He also had lively exchanges with his partners Wilfred Ndidi and Frank Onyeka during the meeting.
“It will remain within the group”
The Atalanta Bergamo striker returned to the incident after the match: "I haven't seen Osimhen yet, but I don't think it's very important. 'Vic' is our number one asset, everyone knows that, he's a great striker. So all that doesn't matter that much," Lookman downplayed.
His coach, the Malian Eric Chelle, without denying the incident, did not want to talk about it. “This question concerns my management of the team and what happened on the pitch,” he said. "It will stay within the group. I don't need to tell you what happened or what will happen," he responded firmly to a journalist who asked him to comment on the clash.
Read alsoFootball: after Mali, Éric Chelle takes the reins of Nigeria
The Super Eagles will face in the quarter-finals the winner of the most undecided round of 16, also the most anticipated of the competition between Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday January 6, in Rabat.
With AFP
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