Football: Why were Super Eagles stars Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman left out of the Unity Cup squad?
Eric Chelle explains Osimhen, Lookman’s Unity Cup exclusion
Nigeria's national team head coach came under scrutiny ahead of the team's Unity Cup campaign when the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) revealed the squad that would travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to face familiar foes, Ghana.
Questions were raised as two of the Super Eagles' star players, Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, were left out of the travelling squad despite being fully fit and available, with the majority of leagues across Europe now on summer vacation.
Ahmed Musa, who has been left out of the Nigerian team in recent times, was chosen to lead the Super Eagles at the competition, while the likes of Moses Simon, Stanley Nwabali and Wilfred Ndidi all made the cut to feature at the home of Brentford.
However, Chelle addressed the issue by explaining his reason for leaving out the star African duo was in an attempt to usher in new talent ahead of their World Cup qualifiers and the AFCON, which we will be covering with our football predictions. In an interview with the Nigeria Football Federation Communications, Chelle said:
“We have a lot of players in Nigeria, so we need to give chances to them so they can show us their quality, so it’s difficult for me to talk or think about anything else. The Unity Cup is a great tournament to try out some players or try out some systems to be ready in September.”
While some considered Chelle’s explanation to be plausible, others suggested that several of the Super Eagles' best players had asked to be left out in order to take the summer to decide on their futures at club level.
Osimhen spent the season at Galatasaray, and his loan deal with the Turkish giants ended at the start of this month, while several reports in recent weeks have revealed that Lookman is actively looking for a move away from the Serie A despite Atalanta securing Champions League qualification.
Nigeria defend Unity Cup title with victory over Jamaica
Despite the absence of several of their best players, Nigeria secured victory at the Unity Cup by beating Jamaica 5-4 on penalties after the teams played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in regulation time.
Moses Simon and Samuel Chukwueze found the net for the Super Eagles either side of the halftime interval, while Christantus Uche stuck away the winning penalty to help his side defend the title that they won almost two decades ago during the last edition of the tournament.
Earlier in the competition, Nigeria took down regional rivals Ghana 2-1, with Rangers frontman Cyriel Dessers scoring the opening goal. The victory marked the first piece of silverware Chelle has earned since taking on the head coach role of the Super Eagles.
Nigeria will be in action later today in Moscow when they face Russia in an international friendly, which will form part of the preparation for their crucial World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and South Africa at the start of September.
