By Chukwuemeka Opara
Football fans in Ebonyi have hailed Super Eagles talisman, Victor Osimhen, over his Italian league title feat with Napoli Football Club of Naples, Italy.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osimhen’s 22nd goal of the season in a 1-1 draw with Udinese on Thursday night, handed the club the title.
The league title win with five games to play, was the club’s first since the late Diego Maradona’s inspired feat of 1990.
A cross section of fans interviewed by NAN on Friday in Abakaliki said that the feat was a bright spot in the gloom that has surrounded Nigeria’s football recently.
Ikenna Odo, a Member of the Ebonyi Football Association, said that it was heartwarming for the historic occasion to be centered around Osimhen.
“Victor has continued to be the shinning light of the nation’s football, churning impressive displays for his club weekly.
“He had weathered the early storms of Italian football such as its physical approach and racism, to become the toast of fans across the country,” he said.
Chief Julius Unya, a soccer historian, said that Osimhen was marked for stardom since his eye-popping displays at the FIFA Under-17 world cup in Chile, 2015.
“Osimhen was second overall best player of the competition with the silver ball award and scored 10 goals, a record for the cadet world cup,” he said.
Chima Achi, a Business man and Soccer Enthusiast, urged the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to duly award its best player award for 2023 to Osimhen.
“The Nigerian striker has garnered all the plaudits since the start of the current European season with sublime goals and breath-taking displays.
“We pray that what happened in 1998 would not repeat when Nigeria’s Augustine Okocha clearly deserved the award but it was given to Mustapha Hadji of Morocco,” he said.
Mrs Rachel Obi, a Female Football Coach in Ebonyi, urged Osimhen and other Super Eagles players to replicate such club forms in the Super Eagles.
“We unfortunately do not see such commitment and scintillating displays with their various clubs, in the Super Eagles.
“The Eagles could not have been in their present wretched situation if the players play for the team with their hearts,” she said. (NAN)
