An injury copped by SSC Napoli of Italy striker, Victor Osimhen during Friday’s 4-4 draw between the Super Eagles and Leone Stars of Sierra Leone has left doctors in the Nigerian team running helter-skelter in search of medical tricks that could make the youngster ready for Tuesday’s reverse fixture in Freetown.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, with Friday’s first leg turning to be tougher than expected and the Eagles crumbling like a pack of cards after Osimhen was forced off with a wrist complaint, the Nigerian team’s technical crew looked truly worried about what would happen without the Napoli sensation starting the reverse fixture.
That occasioned some quick thinking by the Eagles’ medics, as they put on their thinking caps in the hunt for creative ideas that could possible ensure speedy recovery for the former VfL Wolfsburg of Germany, Sporting Charleroi of Belgium and Lille Metropole of France star, who got one of Nigeria’s four goals in the first half of Friday’s game.
Sierra Leone shocked Nigeria with a remarkable second half comeback in the first leg of their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations double-qualifiers, as Genort Rohr’s squad tumbled in the exit of Osimhen, despite having earlier raced into a 4-0 lead within 30 minutes, but The Leone Stars scored late on to end the first half 4-1 at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
The game fell in its head in the second half, as the visitors scored three times to level scores at 4-4 and the Eagles’ woes were compounded when Osimhen, who got Nigeria’s second goal after Alex Iwobi’s fourth-minute opener, suffered a wrist injury.
The Napoli striker, who forward suffered the injury when he fell awkwardly after clashing with a Leone Stars’ defender, was replaced by Paul Onuachu and Osimhen looks set to miss Tuesday’s return leg in Freetown, amidst worries that he might even spend a long period on the sidelines.
Osimhen was challenging an opposing defender when he fell on his wrist, following which he was taken from the pitch on a motorised stretcher, but Rohr will be hoping that the freak injury copped by his prized striker, who has contributed four goals in his last four games, will not keep him out of the return leg billed for Freetown on Tuesday.
Osimhen has already received comforting words from Nigerians, among who is ex-international, Mutiu Adepoju (Headmaster), who took to social media to express his sympathy for the 21-year-old striker, and he posted: “Get well soon Victor Osimhen and I hope the injury won’t keep you out for long.”
