Former Nigerian striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni says Nigeria’s over-reliance on Victor Osimhen was the key factor behind the country’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, SportPremi reports.
The Super Eagles failed to qualify for a second consecutive edition of the World Cup, following their penalty shootout defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo last Sunday.
Victor Osimhen, who had scored five times in his last two appearances for the side, was substituted at halftime after suffering a muscle injury.
The 26-year-old’s presence was greatly missed as Nigeria failed to trouble the opposition defense in the second half of the clash, before ultimately losing out in the resulting shootout.
Eric Chelle’s men had defeated Gabon 4-1 in the first round of the CAF playoffs and knew a victory over the Leopards in the final held in Morocco would book their spot at next year’s intercontinental playoffs.
DR Congo, on the other hand, narrowly edged Cameroon 1-0 in their own encounter and capped off a remarkable run with another win over Nigeria.
Aiyegbeni speaks on Nigeria’s World Cup failure
Yakubu Aiyegbeni, who is fondly remembered by most Nigerians for his open goal miss at the 2010 FIFA World Cup against South Korea, spoke for the first time since the country failed to reach the World Cup.
‘The Yak’ blamed the over-dependence on Galatasaray forward Victor Osimhen and also pointed out some errors in Eric Chelle’s tactical plans for the clash.
“When you see the lineup, it was a red flag because we only have one striker in that team for Nigeria. We have like four other strikers, but only one delivers. Only one plays like a madman on the pitch. He’s aggressive and livid when things go wrong”, Yakubu revealed.
“We only have Osimhen. I think the rest are just happy to be in the national team. Back in my days, we had me, Julius Aghahowa, Obafemi Martins, Victor Agali. Everyone wanted to play.
“If I were on the bench, I was vexed, but these players, if they don’t play, they’ve accepted Victor is the deserving starter.
“Don’t get me wrong, Victor is number one, one of the best in the World, but the other strikers we have are not ready to play.
When they come in, they have no impact, so when Osimhen doesn’t play, we go nowhere”, the former Everton striker continued.
On Eric Chelle
“He [Eric] brought Tolu [Arokodare] in, and they started to kick it long, but there was no one to pick up the second ball. Lookman isn’t in shape because of the situation at his club, but he still tries.
“Why do we always find it difficult to get a decisive coach when it matters. We say we need a foreign coach, and I agree, we still need a foreign coach”, he admitted.
“Oliseh is currently better than what [the coach] we have now, but I think we should just allow him to take the country to the AFCON 2025 tournament.
“It’s too close to bring in another coach. I don’t think Sia Sia or Eguavoen are needed anymore. We’ve gone past that era.
“I think we should try to sit together and look for whom to bring. It’s time to move forward, not backwards,” Yakubu concluded.
