Sunday Oliseh, former Super Eagles captain and coach, has blamed the “toxicity” of Victor Osimhen’s on-field outburst on some of his teammates for Nigeria’s failure to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
In a recent YouTube video, Oliseh claimed that the on-field
conflict destroyed the team’s chemistry for the remainder of the competition.
The Eagles finished third at the AFCON in Morocco. They lost
to the hosts in the semi-final but defeated Egypt in the third-placed match to
win bronze.
Nigeria also defeated Algeria 2-0 in the quarter-final.
However, in the second-round game against Mozambique, a nasty episode occurred
during the impressive Eagles’ 4-0 victory.
At a point in the match, Osimhen lost his head and berated
Lookman, along with a few teammates. Other players were required to calm the
situation.
Still boiling, the Galatasaray striker signalled to the
bench to be subbed off and was obliged. He was hooked, and Moses Simon was
brought in.
After the final whistle, he left straight for the tunnel and
refused to participate in the customary handshakes and prayer with his
teammates.
He was also the first Nigerian player to head for the team
bus.
Oliseh said Lookman was “one of our brightest lights” in the
competition, and he became a “shadow of himself” after the incident.
Oliseh added that Osimhen’s “public verbal abuse” broke
Lookman and the Eagles “lost the psychological edge needed to win”.
“Let’s look at the toxicity that might have cost us
(Nigeria) the AFCON title,” he said.
“We are confusing talent with license. Victor Osimhen is
world-class, but talent is not a license to destroy team chemistry.
“Look at the evidence. Since that public outburst against
Ademola Lookman, one of our brightest lights, Lookman became a shadow of
himself, and we lost the bite.
“When you publicly diminish your teammates, you break their
spirit. You destroy the very confidence a team needs to survive a semifinal.”
“Against a team as tactically sharp as Morocco, we needed
our best players at a hundred percent.
“Statistically, Ademola Lookman was the most dangerous
player in the tournament, until that public verbal abuse broke his focus.
“You can’t expect a playmaker to perform a miracle on the
pitch when he has been demoralised by his own teammate.”
“The conflict did its damage. We didn’t just lose a game, we
lost the psychological edge needed to win.”
Oliseh also criticised “the fan culture that now tolerates”
Osimhen’s on-field anger, adding that such actions breed “a culture of
entitlement where the player is treated as a god and the nation is treated as
an afterthought”.
“What is worse and most dangerous for our football is the
fan culture that now tolerates this,” the former Eagles coach said.
“It has reached a point where anybody who dares to point out the truth is immediately attacked online by a mob. We are breeding a culture of entitlement where the player is treated as a god and the nation is treated as an afterthought.
“When has it become a crime to demand discipline?”
A few days after the outburst, the Nigeria Football
Federation (NFF) said the “crisis” within the team had been resolved.
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