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Osimhen not leaving AFCON camp, outburst with Lookman settled — NFF official
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A top official of the Nigerian Football Federation has dismissed the rumour making the rounds that Super Eagles forward and Galatasaray striker, Victor Osimhen, is leaving the 2025 African Cup of Nations camp in Morocco.
This was disclosed by a FIFA and CAF-accredited journalist, Adepoju Samuel, who spoke with the official about the outburst between Osimhen and Ademola Lookman during the round of 16 game against Mozambique, which ended 4-0 in favour of the Super Eagles.
Samuel wrote on his X handle on Tuesday, “A top team official just confirmed the latest situation over yesterday’s incident.
“The official said everything has been sorted since last night, and we are all good. There was no discussion about Osimhen leaving the tournament. The issue has been resolved as a family.”
Recall that Nigerian football fans criticised Osimhen for his angry outburst at Lookman during the game.
The Galatasaray striker was captured on camera yelling at Lookman in the 63rd minute after the Atalanta man missed a chance when Osimhen was open.
Lookman had already created two chances for Osimhen at that point, with one being a direct assist and the other coming through Akor Adams.
In the footage, Osimhen first pulled away from captain Wilfred Ndidi, then pointed his finger angrily at Lookman before shouting his displeasure at his teammate. At the end, he could be heard saying in pidgin, “No try am again,” which means “do not try that again.”
Osimhen asked to be subbed off subsequently and was then booed off the pitch by the fans as Moses Simon came on for the striker.
The incident sparked widespread criticism on the social media platform X, with fans questioning Osimhen’s attitude despite the team’s dominant performance.
However, reacting on Tuesday, Lookman shared pictures of himself alongside Victor Osimhen and Bruno Onyemaechi on the pitch following Nigeria’s win against Mozambique at the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16, which was played on Monday.
The footballer shared the post on his official Instagram page on Tuesday with the caption, “TOGETHER ALWAYS”.
Also, both the Eagles coach, Eric Chelle and the captain, Wilfred Ndidi, have dismissed the rumoured misunderstanding between the duo talismen while urging Nigerians to keep backing the team as they focus on their next outing against either Algeria or DR Congo in the quarter finals.
England had been on course to reach their first World Cup final since 1966 after Anthony Gordon fired them into the lead 10 minutes after half-time in the semi-final in front of 68,239 fans in Atlanta.
But the great rivalry between these nations has produced several memorable contests on the World Cup stage down the years, and this will be remembered as the stuff of legends in Argentina as the South Americans denied England with two late sucker punches.
Messi set up Enzo Fernandez to fire in an 85th-minute equaliser and then, with extra time looming, crossed for substitute Lautaro Martinez to head in the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
It was maybe not quite up there with Diego Maradona’s legendary display in putting England to the sword in 1986, but the goals this time brought Argentina back from the dead and kept alive their hopes of winning back-to-back World Cups.
Argentina are in the final of the World Cup! The defending champions fought back from one goal down to defeat England and book a date in Sunday’s game.
Argentina will face Spain in the final on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
World football governing body, FIFA, has made a key video assistant referee, VAR decision ahead of the much exected World Cup semi-final match between England and Argentina.
The match will be played in Atlanta on Wednesday.
FIFA has opted to deploy an on-site VAR team for this high-profile encounter.
Previously, the VAR team had been functioning from a central hub located at the International Broadcast Centre in Dallas, regardless of the venue of each match.
However, for this particular game, the on-site officials will act as a backup in the event of any technical or communication difficulties.
Dan Hunt, a member of the Organising Committee, elaborated on the decision to have VAR operate on-site for the second semi-final as reported by Sport Bible.
He said, “There is a significant amount of drama that occurs during these matches. Moreover, when only four officials are tasked with overseeing the action on a field that is considerably larger than an American football field, it becomes quite challenging
“I am pleased that there will be on-site officials. I am uncertain about how the communication will be managed.”
FIFA has faced considerable criticism for the inconsistent VAR decisions throughout the tournament, with the defending champions Argentina benefiting from favorable calls without any against them, while England has experienced the opposite, resulting in a net negative outcome.
Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry, has reacted to the Les Bleus’ World Cup semi-final 2-0 defeat to Spain.
Henry said that the La Roja were far superior to France during the encounter.
Spain defeated France on Tuesday to qualify for the World Cup final, thanks to goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro.
“Too little from France at the end of the day. Spain controlled the game on and off the ball,” Henry said on Fox Sports.
“They showed why they are European champions, they are showing why they are going into the final.
“Nothing to add, they were far superior, and there is nothing to say about it. Spain, congratulations. you deserves to go to the final,” he said.
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