World cup play-offs: Victor Osimhen’s Goal Celebration, A Costly Risk Nigeria Can’t Afford
Victor Osihmen
From our sports desk, Benin
Victor Osimhen is currently sitting on one yellow card after his celebration against Gabon and under FIFA rules, these cards carry over across World Cup qualifiers.
This means if he picks up just one more yellow in the upcoming clash against DR Congo, he will be automatically suspended for Nigeria’s next match even if we win.
We have seen this before. Wilfred Ndidi suffered a similar fate in the previous qualifier, and losing a key player at a crucial moment can completely disrupt team strategy.
With Osimhen being one of Nigeria’s most important attackers, the coaching crew must manage him wisely to avoid jeopardizing our qualification chances.
And this is exactly why his last celebration was unnecessary.
Scoring a goal is emotional, but getting a cheap yellow card for a celebration is like taking your final malaria treatment and then going to sleep unprotected in a mosquito-infested room, avoidable and risky.
Osimhen is a high-press, high-intensity player. If he enters the DR Congo game worrying about another yellow card, how much pressing and charging can we realistically expect from him?
Personally, I have never understood why players remove their jerseys after scoring.
Even we fans with no referees flashing cards at us, don’t celebrate shirtless. It is like grabbing your wife’s friend’s butts out of excitement totally unnecessary and asking for trouble.
Nigeria needs Osimhen fully available. Let’s cut out avoidable mistakes and stay focused on qualification.
Source: Facebook
