'Scientifically proven' - Eguavoen justifies decision not to start with Osimhen in goalless draw v Rwanda

Nigeria's caretaker manager Eguavoen has revealed the reason behind not starting Victor Osimhen in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification games against Benin and Rwanda.

The Napoli loanee was brought on for Victor Boniface against the Cheetahs to help Nigeria put the game to bed, and he did that six minutes after he came on, lashing on to a pass from Wilfred Ndidi.

Despite finding the back of the against Gernot Rohr's side, he was named among the substitutes for the second consecutive game against Rwanda today as Boniface was handed a start yet again.

He replaced the Bayer Leverkusen forward at the start of the second half and just like the former, he was unable to beat Fiacre Ntwari, the Wasps' goalkeeper who was brilliant all game.

Reacting to the question about his refusal not to start the reigning African Men's Player of the Year, Eguavoen stated that the lanky striker was unfit enough to start and it could have been harmful to him if he had played the entire game.

"You know Osimhen is our brother, our son, is our own. You can not throw away water with the baby," Eguavoen said at the post-match press conference. 

"You know what he is going through in Napoli and he is just moved to Galatasaray now and he hasn't been playing active football for a while.

"So, it is something we try to manage from the inside as well, he came in the last 25 minutes in the last game at home and today we had a word with him that he has to play."

"He can't play 90 minutes, otherwise he is going to get injured, scientifically proven."

Eguavoen added: "Awoniyi also if you look at the stats, the last game before they all came, he only has few minutes before the game.

"The bottom line is , we have 40,50 talented players which we can pick from in any given time. But the thing is you cannot play more than the number of players that can execute a game at the same time.

"So, it is a difficult one, we have talents, but we can only play with 11 and the good thing is that they understand.

"The understanding is there, we have talked about it, it is acceptable to everyone but sometimes players can be frustrated which is normal but within we know there is an accord, there is agreement, when called to play, if you are not called, if you are not called, you stick to the team."

Osimhen hasn't played competitive football since coming in as a substitute in Napoli's last Serie A fixture last term and was unable to participate during the pre-season as he was focused on leaving the Italian outfit.

The 25-year-old could only resolve his future after the Super Eagles had started preparation for the qualifiers and it is unsurprising to see him get the number of minutes he was given.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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