Former Super Eagles and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sunday Oliseh has revealed Victor Osimhen's importance in Nigeria's World Cup qualifying campaign, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Galatasaray striker scored a hat-trick against the Republic of Benin in the Super Eagles final qualifying game to secure a play-off spot.
Nigeria will now play against Gabon next month in Morocco. While Osimhen rose to the occasion at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium a few days back, many have questioned if Eric Chelle's system is overly dependent on the former Napoli forward.
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Oliseh pleads against Osimhen's over-dependence
The former Juventus midfielder played a crucial role in sending the Super Eagles to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and revealed that an impending doom awaits Nigeria if Osimhen gets injured, urging Eric Chelle to change his game plan.
“To start with, play-offs are not like other kinds of games; it's a one-off game. So that means you don't go into a play-off trying to be the one who scores the most,” the 51-year-old said on Penalty spot with Toyo.
“Instead, you go into play-offs trying to be the team that concedes the fewest goals. This means it's one game after the other.”
“These are the games where we score one or two goals and close the door.
“Our priority now should be consolidating our defence line because now we're playing like the FA Cup, one game after another.
“Since Osimhen is extremely important for us, we cannot afford as a nation to build our World Cup campaign and say if one player isn't there, we won't go ahead.
“Osimhen scored one goal in the last AFCON, and we got to the final.
“So, we have to find a solution to this, and because we don't want the players to listen to this and hear that an Osimhen injury means their chances of qualification are gone.
“They should also believe in themselves, and that's from a nationalistic point of view,” Oliseh continued.
While the former Super Eagles captain urged against an over-dependence on the Galatasaray man, he also revealed how vital his goal presence will be as Nigeria gears up for the clash against Gabon.
“However, to be realistic, if Osimhen gets injured, we are in trouble. That's what I can say now, because we are playing against Gabon in the first game.
“Gabon is coming at Nigeria with one of the most experienced and talented, and sometimes underrated players in the history of Africa.
“I'm speaking of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. We need our own general [Osimhen] to be in that game as well.
“At the moment, say what you like, Osimhen is the general of this Super Eagles team. So, we need him to be fit and not injured,” the ex-Ajax man concluded.
