Osimhen, Amunike’s son in football: “He believed in me”

Last December 11 Victor Osimhen, a 25-year-old Nigerian striker for Napoli, has been crowned African Footballer of the Year, the continent’s most prestigious award given by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). He replaced the Senegalese in 2023 Sadio Mane (2022 and 2019) and from Egyptian Mohamed Salah (2018 and 2017). From Nwankwo Kanu in 1999 that a Nigerian footballer did not win the award. Excited, dressed in an elegant green suit, he collected the award at the Marrakech Congress Palace, headquarters of the Gala. And the first thing he did on the stand was point Emmanuel Amunikepresent in the audience, to thank him “because he believed in me from the beginning.” Amunike He played between 1996 and 2000 for FC Barcelona, ​​Osimhen’s opponent this Wednesday (9 pm) in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 to be played at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

“I am grateful Emmanuel Amunike. He believed in me from the beginning and was at the center of our success at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile. He gave me the opportunity to really show myself and when things were not going well for me, he was the brain behind the motivation and it was absolutely right for me to meet him on the biggest stage because, behind the closed doors, he helped me. many. “He’s here to witness what he did,” he proclaimed. Osimhen on the verge of tears.

And their relationship didn’t start well. Amunike is the coach of Nigeria U17 at the 2015 World Cup in Chile, an event where he summoned a tall, promising and clueless teenager, born in Lagos (Nigeria) and still training at the Ultimate Strikers Academy. His name is Victor Osimhen and he is in danger of going astray without proper guidance, something he struggles to understand.

“When I came to U-17, I had the impression that he didn’t like me. Every time he talks to me, he yells at me. He asked me so much that I thought he wanted to torture me. There was a moment when I wanted to leave the concentration of the national team. I spoke to the coordinator and he asked me for patience because the coach knows what he is doing. And so it was. Discipline comes first and I am very happy to pass through the hands of Amunike” he explained a few years later Osimhenwho was grateful before accepting the African Footballer of the Year award: “Everything I am now, everything I will be in the future, is because Amunike. I attribute half of my success to him. He marked my path, he made me understand that life is not just about talent. You have to work hard, be disciplined and listen to the coach’s instructions on and off the field.”

The explosion

Champion, Golden Boot and Silver Ball

What started with doubts about the U-17 World Cup ended with Osimhen become the star he is now: Nigerian champion, Golden Boot with 10 goals and Silver Ball for best player. Offers from European clubs poured in and when he turned 18 he made the leap.

In January 2017 he signed on Wolfsburg for 3.5 million and made his debut in the Bundesliga, but an injury stopped him. Without goals, he was loaned out in 2018 to Sporting Charleroi, a club that exercised a purchase option for the same amount (3.5) after he scored 20 goals in 36 official matches. The Belgians transferred him for around 15 million in 2019 to Lille, where he scored 18 goals in 37 official matches. And he came Naples in 2020 with 71.3 million (+10 in variables) to sign him through 2025.