Victor Osimhen: Criticism got me AFCON spot

Pilloried for a poor start to his professional football career at German Bundesliga side, Wolfsburg, Victor Osimhen bounced back with goal scoring aplomb as a loanee to Belgian Jupiler side Charleroi and deservedly secured a spot with the Super Eagles to the Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Egypt 2019, reports MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN.

Victor Osimhen, the in-form Charleroi’s Nigeria striker, literarily turned lemon to lemonade in the recently concluded European league season with a sterling performance after an interregnum; and the youngster has yet spoken candidly about how criticism ironically bolstered his confidence to secure a spot in Nigeria’s squad for the Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Egypt 2019.

Besides, Osimhen has equally identified his sister as one other key factor that helped his cause when he was besieged with vicissitudes of life while at German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg before he set the Belgian Jupiler League on fire.

“My sister and I are like ‘five and six’ and we are just too close,” Osimhen, who will be 20 on 29th December, said in an exclusive interview with The Nation. “She’s second to the last born while I’m the last born and that really cemented our relationship. We are very close to each other.

“Apart from being my sister, she’s is surely my best friend. Frankly, I don’t know how to describe her but she has been one of the key factors to the success of my career as a footballer; she’s my friend and prayer warrior too.

“She has been so helpful to me in so many ways. I can’t describe the kind of love and affection that I have for her because she usually goes out of her way to do so much sisterly things for me.

“She is the head of my prayer warriors in my family; she’s the closest person to me and I really thank God she’s part of my life.”

Also Read: French side LOSC Lille eager to sign Victor Osimhen

Yet speaking about his plight at Wolfsburg before his dream move to Charleroi, Osimhen stated matter-of-factly that the knocks he received from some hecklers certainly spurred him to greater height.

He said: “I think the first and foremost reason I did well last season was the rejection I suffered at Zulte Waregem when they refused to sign me on loan from Wolfsburg, and it actually served as a motivation for me and when I signed for Charleroi, I knew I was going to face one of the clubs that rejected me.

“But I have good and positive people around me.  My sister usually speaks to me on phone late into the night just to pray for me; she really encourages me. She is a key factor in my progress and the president of Charleroi was also sympathetic to my cause and helpful to me. I can’t forget the first 15 minutes meeting I had with him, because that was the turning point for me. That meeting changed my life.

“It was important for me to do well; and I was happy that I let them realise they made a mistake by not signing me when I scored the winner against them when we met in the league.

“The criticism really helped me to play beyond their expectations in Belgium. Going to Charleroi gave me the opportunity to keep their mouth shut. Some of the comments I read online and on social media were demoralising but I never allowed that to discourage me; rather, it served as a motivation for me to do extremely well with Charleroi.

“People tend to forget that I grew up in an environment where we were not allowed to give up and maybe the only time you’re allowed to give up is when you’re dead.

“This is one thing that has kept me going and that’s why I would always strive for greatness, no matter the circumstance I find myself and irrespective of my previous setbacks. I’m really thankful that God has been helping me to weather through the storms.”

Osimhen, just like a storm-trooper, practically billowed through the Belgian Jupiler League with goals during his season-long loan spell with Charleroi.

He remarkably scored 20 goals, including the record-breaking quickest goal in the history of the Belgian First Division A with an 8.15second opening goal against Antwerp on 26th May. He was also declared the club’s player of the season.

“I think my first goal, the back-heeled goal against Waasland-Beveren, will go down as one of the most important goals of my career because it was my first goal as a professional player. This was the goal I had been looking for almost two years of my professional career.

“The second goal would be the one I scored against Kortrijk when I flashed the ball into the net immediately I received the pass and I think these are my two favourite goals at Charleroi; but all the 20 goals I scored were very important to me because in some instances they contributed to victories to our team. I’m happy with what I have achieved so far.”

With a benefit of hindsight, Osimhen truly has every reason to be happy with his steady progress after rising from the obscurity of hawking sachet water on the streets of Lagos to the charmed life of a Europe-based professional footballer.

“I’m proud of myself and how far I have come in life though it has never been easy,” stated Osimhen who broke the long-standing FIFA U-17 World Cup record of nine goals in a single tournament previously jointly held by Frenchman Florent Sinama Pongolle and Ivorian Souleymane Coulibaly when he cracked 10 goals that partly helped Nigeria to a historic fifth title at the Chile 2015 World Cup.

“My dream as a kid was to become a professional footballer. And now I’m here breaking and setting new records. There are no better feelings to describe where I’m right now but I don’t want it to stop now.

“Growing up in a family when it was hard to get three square meals in a day and I can say that I have seen it all in life; and most recently the hardest part was when I was at Wolfsburg. It was really a tough period for me and at some point, I started doubting my abilities.

“I had thought that everything was going to be smooth after my days with the Golden Eaglets, but I thank God for the experience I went through at Wolfsburg and it made me realise that life is not that easy as it seems.

“It has really prepared me for a better future and I just want to keep on going. I have developed a thick skin now to criticisms and the more I get them the better I will become.

“I have prepared myself so hard that I’m not going to give up no matter how life throws punches at me. I know who I am and by the grace of God, I know where I’m heading to and I will strive to make my family and fans very proud of me.”

This year, Osimhen has proudly transferred his charismatic configuration with Charleroi to the national teams starring for both the Super Eagles and Olympic Eagles with aplomb as he grabbed a rare hat-trick in the 4-0 demolition of Libya in the 2020 Olympic Football Tournament qualifier in April.

“I felt so proud that I was able to score those goals against Libya in Asaba  because some really felt there was nothing too big I was doing with Charleroi in the Belgian League and scoring the three goals against Libya has probably shown a lot of people what I can also do at the big stage,” he explained.

“I was really happy when coach Gernot Rohr drafted me into the U-23 team because it was a great opportunity to reunite with some of my former teammates with whom we won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile and some others that we’d played together at the U-20 level also.

“It was nice to play again along with Samuel Chukwueze, Orji Okonkwo, Kelechi Nwakali and a host of other players because we all have great qualities and any one of us can singlehandedly win games.

“Personally, I was happy to have scored those three goals at that point and it was another proud moment for me and my family.”

Just four years after he stole the headlines as the top scorer at the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations en route to Chile 2015 where he carted virtually individual prizes as winner of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Boot and FIFA U-17 World Cup Silver Ball, Osimhen now relishes his inclusion into the Super Eagles’ 23-man list for Egypt 2019.

“I’m happy to be included in the team for the AFCON in Egypt and I’m ready to do my best anytime I’m called upon to play,” he explained.

“We have so many senior great players in the attack and I think Odion Ighalo is ahead of everyone. We just have to learn from him and also be ready when called upon to play and, personally, I’m forever ready.

“Of course, I can also transfer the good season I had with Charleroi to play for the Super Eagles and I’m ready to contribute to the success of the team and I think this can also be said about all the younger players in the team.

“I’m  lucky to be part of this generation of players you mentioned (Chukwueze, Nwakali, Orji and the rest), because these are players with good qualities and they can play anywhere in the world. Just look at what Chukwueze did with Villarreal in the Spanish La Liga by taking on the giants like Barcelona and Real Madrid.

“It’s not a day’s job and he (Chukwueze) must have been practising his craft and we have been together for the past five years in the national team set up – from the Golden Eaglets to the Flying Eagles and now in the Super Eagles. It has been dedication and years of training and I think we have a good number of players that will still be part of the Super Eagles in the nearest future.

“We are lucky to have a coach that believes so much in the youths and it’s important that we are learning from the likes of captain John Mikel, Odion Ighalo, Ahmed Musa and other senior players in the Super Eagles. I believe that Nigeria is capable of doing so well at this AFCON as well as the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“I have always admired Ighalo, Mikel and Obafemi Martins because of what they have been able to achieve playing at the highest level. “Playing along with Ighalo and Mikel now in the Super Eagles is a big motivation for me.”

Though he has been subjected to intense speculations about a possible move away from Charleroi in the Belgian Jupiler League next season, Osimhen said he was still weighing his options and would only decide about his future after the AFCON in Egypt.

He volunteered: “I actually wanted the season to end before I decided about my future because some clubs actually came up during the last transfer window and there are lots of clubs that have also showed interest.

“I’m really flattered that a lot of clubs have come up; AC Milan, Southampton, Sevilla, Espanyol and others. I would have to wait till the end of the AFCON to decide about my next move, but all things being equal, I will definitely move away from Charleroi in the coming season.

“It’s not something I have to decide on my own but my people will look at all the offers before we can decide on the next move,” he noted.