Super Eagles and Fulham defender Calvin Bassey has revealed the AFCON 2025 absence of his national teammate is a sad incident, Soccernet.ng reports.
Benjamin Frederick made his debut during the 2025 Unity Cup in May at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford. Since then, he became a regular in the Nigerian starting eleven, displacing William Troost-Ekong to become Calvin Bassey's partner at the back.
However, a knee injury in Nigeria's loss to DR Congo last month confirmed that the 20-year-old will miss his first-ever AFCON tournament.
Super Eagles: Calvin Bassey bemoans Benjamin Frederick absence
Moses Simon, the owner of the Simoiben Academy where Benjamin Frederick made the leap to Europe from, confirmed the absence of the Brentford defender from the Super Eagles AFCON squad is indeed a sad occurrence.
Bassey shared the same opinion, claiming the competition in Morocco would've been the perfect stage for the youngster to showcase his talent.
“I haven't spoken to him, but, I'm very sad, very upset for him because it would've been an amazing place for him to showcase his talent,” the Fulham defender said in an interview with Official 54x.
“At this stage, I just want to wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully, he can be better for us next time.
Away from Benjamin Frederick, the Fulham centre-back was clear that the Super Eagles are not feeling any pressure to over-perform after they failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“I don't feel any need to make amends for anything. I just think we should go everywhere, every game, trying to give our best.
“Sometimes it's God's will, and sometimes it's not. So, we can't really focus on the past; we have to focus on the future because we can't change the past.
“That's the main thing, I don't think it's about any pressure. We're Nigeria, there's always going to be pressure because of that, from ourselves, from the country, we'll just focus on the job we have to do.
Additionally, the 25-year-old wants the Fulham trio to replicate their chemistry at club level when it comes to playing in the Nigerian national team.
“Of course, playing with each other for a long time, we have a great understanding of each other. We know each other's strengths.
“So, hopefully we can bring our chemistry to the team, with Chukwueze also,” Bassey concluded.
Nigeria begin their AFCON 2025 campaign today at the Complexe Sportif de Fès, with kick-off slated for 6:30 PM WAT.
