By Our Sports Reporter
The African Nation’s Cup is just about two weeks away. The biennial soccer show piece would be hosted by Cameroon amidst concerns over the omicron strain of the Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to spread like wild fire across Nations.
Nigeria, still uncertain about who would lead the Super Eagles to the championship after the sack of long-time manager, Gernot Rohr, Will be relying on talented striker, Victor Osimhen who is still recovering from the facial injury he sustained in a Seria A match between his club Napoli, and Inter Milan in November.
Osimhen recently declared himself fit for AFCON. He has repeatedly said he would be available if selected by the coaches. The President of the Nigerian Football Federation NFF, Amaju Pinnick told Correspondents that he was optimistic about the inclusion of Osimhen in the squad.
“Osimhen is fine. He’s eager and hungry to play at the Nation’s Cup. I speak with him always and he wants to be the highest goal scorer in AFCON” according to the NFF President.
“All those talk of him not featuring is politics. Leave that aspect to us. I can tell you confidently that all Nigerian players listed by the coach will be in Cameroon”, Amaju emphasized.
The NFF President dismissed suggestions that AFCON could be postponed over health concerns. “There were issues on health as it concern the highly contagious Omicron but Cameroon would come up with top notch protocol in that regard.
“The host country is ready and they have built a lot of infrastructure. There won’t be any postponements”, he added.
Meanwhile, the European Football League season is at its peak. In this winter season, the shape of the league would be framed as the clubs enter the crucial months. It then becomes difficult to release African players in those clubs, to feature for their respective nations in AFCON.
Consequently, many clubs are calling for the postponement of AFCON till the summer months when the European leagues would be on break. How this would work out remains to be seen.
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