AFCON 2025: “Victor Osimhen played through the tournament while injured,” reveals Éric Chelle

Limited by a hamstring injury, Victor Osimhen nevertheless shone in Morocco, to the point of earning a place in the tournament’s Team of the Tournament, despite delicate fitness management, according to Nigeria coach Eric Chelle.

The Super Eagles coach, Eric Chelle, revealed that Victor Osimhen played the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations while physically hampered. The Nigerian striker suffered a hamstring injury throughout the tournament, held in Morocco. Despite these issues, the Galatasaray forward stood out as one of the competition’s leading players. With four goals and two assists in six matches, Osimhen was rightly rewarded with a place in the AFCON Team of the Tournament selected by the Confederation of African Football.

Throughout the tournament, the Nigerian striker did not play the full 90 minutes on only two occasions, against Tunisia and Algeria, two North African nations. A careful management of his playing time, dictated by his physical condition, as his coach explained. Eric Chelle also commented on the semi-final loss to Morocco, saying that the fatigue accumulated had weighed heavily on his team’s performance. “After the match against Algeria in Marrakech, we returned to Fez, then we joined Rabat to play only 48 hours later. We did not have a cryotherapy chamber to recover,” he told After Foot on RMC Sport.

“At this level, the details make the difference. Recovery was very challenging and, after several training sessions and little rest, the team was really exhausted,” he continued. The Nigerian attacking trio, Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen, thus did not regain their usual effectiveness against the Atlas Lions. “Victor’s case is peculiar. He played in AFCON with a small hamstring tear that had to be managed,” Chelle explained. He was hurt and kept out, Osimhen ultimately did not take part in the third-place match against Egypt, although he appeared on the match sheet.