Fans have criticised Victor Osimhen following an on-field confrontation with teammate Ademola Lookman during Monday’s 4-0 victory over Mozambique in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16.
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 for a chance.
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.”
Subsequently, Mr Osimhen, whom captain Wilfred Ndidi tried to calm, signalled to head coach Eric Chelle to sub him off and immediately stopped taking part in the match before he was eventually replaced by Moses Simon in the 68th minute.
Mr Osimhen’s outburst continued after the final whistle as he stormed down the tunnel to the dressing room, refusing to celebrate the victory and participate in the traditional hurdle on the pitch with his teammates.
Meanwhile, Mr Lookman downplayed the incident as a mere on-field incident while addressing reporters at the post match press conference, stating, “The team won 4-0. Vic is our number one guy. Everybody knows this. He is a top striker and a top player. All the rest of that is not important.”
He added, “There’s no issue,” Lookman continued. “It’s just football. Always football. He (Osimhen) is my brother.”
Commenting on the situation, head coach Eric Chelle stressed that what happens on the pitch stays there, noting that he would talk to the players privately about the issue.
“What happened on the pitch will stay with the group. I don’t need to tell people what happened. I will keep that for the group and me. We will talk afterwards,” he stated.
“We just won one game. If we want to be ambitious, we must keep the quality on the pitch. And you know positive dynamics can easily turn to negative ones,” the coach said. “My job now is to keep the players very focused on their training sessions and their behaviour.”
The incident sparked widespread criticism on social media platform X, with fans questioning Osimhen’s attitude despite the team’s dominant performance.
Social media influencer Emma Ik Umeh (@emmaikumeh) wrote, “Victor Osimhen had a quarrel with his teammate Lookman. Crazy, but this same Lookman provided him with an assist for his second goal earlier.
“The guy should f**k off with this nonsense attitude. It’s so annoying.”
A football enthusiast, SHAYEE (@tier_1st), suggested that Osimhen’s attitude may be one reason top European clubs have been reluctant to sign him.
“A player with no discipline. He does this all the time, shouting at an important member of the squad just because the other player is calm-headed. This is one of the attitude issues Chelsea PR have complained about,” he wrote.
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Godwin Wilson described the behaviour as “Very silly behaviour as usual. Nonsense.”
Oladapo Omolade expressed confusion over the striker’s reaction, saying, “I really don’t understand why the guy is behaving like that… he really needs to calm down on that unnecessary attitude.”
Victor Adeboje simply called it “Very irritating.”
Edwin Uka added, “Can you imagine the attitude he displayed there? Mtcheeeew.”
His Majesty (@TalmudicSage), wrote “My unsolicited advice to Eric Chelle is simple: it may be time to send Osimhen home. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen him display such an attitude. No one should be bigger than the team. Even Messi doesn’t insult his teammates in that manner.”
ID (@oluwatunmilara1) questioned the timing of the outburst, writing, “What’s the meaning of this one? The team is winning and playing well. Why do you want to spoil it with this temper tantrum?”
Bigrated (@the_boy_rated) suggested Osimhen’s pride was the issue, “The guy too proud, he thinks he’s better than everyone in the team.”
Stanley Ogb (@stanogbo97) concluded, “Very unprofessional of Osimhen…He got some attitude problem right there.”
“Osimhen needs proper psychological support; without it, even his immense talent may not be enough to sustain his career trajectory,” he posted.
Despite Victor Osimhen’s outburst and the dramatic moments on the pitch, nothing could overshadow the jubilation that followed Nigeria’s emphatic victory over Mozambique to seal a place in the semi-finals.
A brace from Osimhen, combined with goals from Ademola Lookman and Akor Adams, powered the Super Eagles to a commanding win and secured their passage into the last eight of the competition.
Nigeria, flying high under the guidance of coach Eric Chelle, remain unbeaten in the tournament, having scored 12 goals so far.
Monday’s triumph over the Mambas stands as the biggest win of the ongoing AFCON, with the Super Eagles conceding just four goals in total.
With Mozambique dispatched, Nigeria’s focus now turns to the quarter-finals, where they will face either DR Congo or Algeria on Tuesday.