The Nigerian national team is currently facing some issues within their camp. After a series of disappointing results in the FIFA World qualifiers, with four games played and no wins, their coach Finidi George has decided to resign.
Shortly after his resignation, he took a swipe at Victor Osimhen, the poster boy of the team, for not participating in the campaign. The team drew three games and suffered a loss to underdogs Benin.
Finidi George stated that he could not plead with Osimhen to play for the team. Earlier reports on June 14th suggested that George had questioned Osimhen’s dedication to the squad when he missed the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and the Benin Republic.
Osimhen was unable to participate in these matches due to a four-week injury.
According to the report from SCORENigeria, Finidi was critical of the commitment of certain players, singling out Osimhen for making himself unavailable.
He was quoted as saying that he could not beg Osimhen to play for the national team after the player withdrew from the last two qualifiers due to injury.
In response to Finidi’s comments, Osimhen claimed that he had informed Finidi about his injury and had even expressed his desire to join the team in camp, but the former coach declined his offer.
He said, “I knew things like these would happen and that’s why I have the videos and screenshots of when I called Finidi while I was with the doctor in Germany.
“I got injured in our (Napoli’s) last game against Lecce and I went to the MRI scan. And I called Finidi there for him to listen to the doctor too. “I asked Finidi George to allow me stay with the players in the camp, but Finidi asked me not to bother that I should stay with my family.
“I’m not addressing anything, everybody knows I play my heart out whenever I’m playing for the club or national team.
“I’ll share the screenshot and videos of my conversation with Finidi for the sake of those believing what Finidi said.
“I’ve lost respect for that man because before I disrespect anybody, I always respect them.
Don’t miss out! Get your daily dose of Entertainment news and more straight to your phone. Join Ghana Street Journal Whatsapp channel now!
