Osimhen Returns With Sterling Performance, Shuts Up Critics

Victor Osimhen, Nigeria’s best striker at the moment, returned to national assignment on Saturday at the Uyo Stadium and banged in a super goal in the 3-0 victory of the Super Eagles against the Beninoise Cheetahs and shut the mouth of his critics.
It was the first time Osimhen was playing for the Super Eagles after a superlative performance at the African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, where Nigeria won the silver medal behind the hosts early in the year.
He was absent in three subsequent national qualifiers for the next AFCON championships during which the country lost two matches and drew one to place it far behind less fancied countries like Libya, Benin and Rwanda.
A controversy that followed his absence led to a spat between him and the Super Eagles Coach, Finidi George that split supporters of the Super Eagles. Many of his critics slammed him for being disrespectful in the way he addressed Finidi, who had accused him of refusing to honour national assignments.
Finidi soon afterwards resigned his position as National Coach and Team manager of the Super Eagles. But Osimhen’s critics did not leave it there.
Just as the international transfer window was about to close, confusion over Osimhen’s move or stay at Napoli FC of Italy created a stalemate for him. His Nigerian critics attributed his situation to his insolent spat with Finidi and declared that his career would nosedive if he did not apologise to Finidi for his impudence.
Chelsea FC of England had made a move for him but arguments over transfer fees and other conditions attached to it stalled the move. Afterwards, he was to make a move to Saudi Arabia where he would have earned a whopping $40 million fee. Though many people felt it would have been too early for him to move to the Saudi league seen to be retirement grounds for stars on their way out of real football action. The deal too failed.
The fallback position was for him to play second fiddle to Romelu Lukaki in the striking position in Napoli, something that was seen to be a humiliation for him, who had for several seasons topped the scoring chart not only for Napoli but also in Italy.
Then from nowhere came the deal to move on loan to Galatasaray FC of Turkey, where the fans have been head over heels for him.
It was after signing the dotted lines at Galatasaray that he was called up to play in the match against Benin Republic at Uyo. The fans were not in any celebration mood for him as he was even benched.
But he electrified the arena six minutes after he substituted another player to score a blistering goal with a flying kick. He remained on song till the end of the game. His supporters in the spat with Finidi gradually found their voice back and challenged his critics to speak if they could still find their voice. But some of his diehard critics have responded feebly that he still owed an apology to Finidi and the nation notwithstanding his performance at Uyo.