Victor Osimhen receives Marc-Vivien Foé trophy three years after winning the award

Osimhen scored from Ademola Lookman’s cross to equalize for Nigeria in their draw against Equatorial Guinea in their first AFCON Group A game.

Super Eagles and Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen has received the Marc-Vivien Foé trophy three years after he was due to collect the award specified for African players, Soccernet.ng reports.

Osimhen, 25, played a season of football in the French Ligue 1 with Eden Hazard’s former side, LOSC Lille, where he scored eighteen goals in thirty-eight games for Les Dogues.

Osimhen saw off competition from Moses Simon, Denis Bouanga, Andy Delort, Islam Slimani, plus Rennes’ trio of Mbaye Niang, Hamari Traore and Edouard Mendy.

The Prix Marc-Vivien Foé is an award named after the late Marc-Vivien Foé, who died on the pitch while playing for Cameroon at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003.

He collapsed on the pitch in the game against Colombia in the 72nd minute, and despite several attempts to resuscitate him, he died. The death was later ruled to be due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease that causes the heart tissues to thicken.

The Marc-Vivien Foé Award is usually given to the best player who represents an African national football team in the French Ligue 1.

Victor Osimhen was due to receive the award in 2020 but was unable to due to COVID-19 restrictions, as he headed to Napoli in the summer after his stellar season in France.

Currently on International duty with Nigeria in Ivory Coast, the CAF Player of the Year was finally given the award he won three years ago.

Osimhen is the second Nigerian to receive the Marc-Vivien Foé Award after Vincent Enyeama won it with LOSC Lille in the 2013/2014 season.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gervinho, Nicolas Pepe, Andre Ayew and Jean-Michael Seri have also won the award in the past.