Amuneke-Osimhen saga: 5 things to know about Super Eagles legend picking Salah above his compatriot

Everything you need to know about the CAF Awards saga involving POTY Victor Osimhen and Super Eagles legend Emmanuel Amunike.

Victor Osimhen ended Nigeria’s 24-year wait to see a son of the soil stand above all in the continent’s pecking order for male football stars. 

Before the gala, however, a slight controversy ensued when Emmanuel Amuneke, who is credited with giving the striker his big break, was shown in a clip to have picked Salah over Osimhen for the award.

Amuneke came out to clear the air the morning after the award; however, before that, the striker specifically thanked the former Barcelona forward during his award acceptance speech, with the viral video yet to be addressed.  

Pulse Sports has now collated five important things to know from the saga:

Amuneke was Osimhen's under-17 coach

Given the lack of a proper structure or pipeline for talents in the country into the big leagues, the U-17 tournament plays a big role in introducing and familiarising young Nigerian footballers with foreign agents.  

Simply put, the level of difficulty of the already daunting task of making it to the European leagues is significantly higher for Nigerian talents who do not follow the U-17 pipeline. 

Osimhen earned the move to Wolfsburg, his first European club, thanks to his golden boot-winning performance at the 2015 U-17 World Cup, and as the player himself has narrated on multiple occasions, Amuneke identified his talent among the numerous bidding to represent Nigeria in Chile. 

Osimhen thanked Amuneke 

The Napoli ace understands how Amuneke opting for him back then altered the course of his life, and on the continent's biggest stage—the CAF Awards—the Lagos-born striker ensured to thank the man himself, who had a front-row seat to witness Osimhen's triumph.

Amuneke did not pick Salah over Osimhen

As Pulse Sports reported, Amuneke has addressed the viral video that depicted him picking Mohammed Salah over Osimhen for the CAF POTY, explaining that the clip was devoid of context. 

Amuneke explained that he was only asked to pick between the Egyptian and Achraf Hakimi and Osimhen was never in the conversation, hence his answering the question with Salah. 

“I was never elected to vote in the CAF Awards,” he said.

“A Moroccan journalist came to me and asked, ‘Hakimi or Salah’. I said Salah because I played in Egypt. I lived in Egypt and I know some of the guys there. Osimhen was never in the conversation.”

Amuneke is the assistant coach of the Super Eagles 

The 52-year-old has a current working relationship with Victor Osimhen, as he is currently employed as an assistant coach for the Super Eagles under Portuguese boss Jose Peseiro. 

Amuneke in line for the Super Eagles' top Job

Osimhen has picked up the APOTY, but he still needs to deliver the AFCON to truly cement his legacy in Nigerian football, and his fate could be in the hands of Emmanuel Amuneke, who is reportedly in line to replace Jose Peseiro. 

He already has the support of fans of the Green-White-Green, as following the disappointing performance by the Super Eagles in the World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, Nigerian fans voted overwhelmingly in favour of Emmanuel Amuneke to replace Jose Peseiro.

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