If Osimhen gets injured, we are in trouble — Former Super Eagles coach explains best way to approach World Cup playoffs

Super Eagles legend Sunday Oliseh said that Nigeria must devise a pragmatic approach to the World Cup playoffs. He advised that the Super Eagles must prioritise defending in such a way that the Victor Osimhen dependency becomes a moot point. 

Osimhen, 26, is the undisputed talisman of Eric Chelle's side. He scored a hat-trick against the Benin Republic to help Nigeria reach the playoffs after an abysmal start to the qualifiers in his absence. 

Nigeria won four of the five games Osimhen was available for, and failed to pick up a win in the five games he missed. Given the Galatasaray man’s injury history, the dependency on his goals could become fatal in one-off matches like the playoffs. 

The former Dortmund midfielder was presented with the possibility of Osimhen missing playoff games due to injury, but he insisted that priority must be placed on avoiding goals.

“To start with, play-offs are not like other kinds of games; it's a one-off game. So that means you don't go into a play-off trying to be the one who scores the most,” he said on Penalty Spot with Toyo.

“Instead, you go into play-offs trying to be the team that concedes the fewest goals. This means it's one game after the other. These are the games where we score one or two goals and close the door.

“Our priority now should be consolidating our defence line because now we're playing like the FA Cup, one game after another.”

The 1994 World Cup star said Nigeria cannot continue to rely exclusively on Victor Osimhen, urging other players to step up. 

“Since Osimhen is extremely important for us, we cannot afford as a nation to build our World Cup campaign and say if one player isn't there, we won't go ahead.”

“Osimhen scored one goal in the last AFCON, and we got to the final. So, we have to find a solution to this, and because we don't want the players to listen to this and hear that an Osimhen injury means their chances of qualification are gone.

“They should also believe in themselves, and that's from a nationalistic point of view.

“To be realistic, if Osimhen gets injured, we are in trouble. That's what I can say now, because we are playing against Gabon in the first game.

“Gabon is coming at Nigeria with one of the most experienced and talented, and sometimes underrated players in the history of Africa.

“I'm speaking of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. We need our own general [Osimhen] to be in that game as well.

“At the moment, say what you like, Osimhen is the general of this Super Eagles team. So, we need him to be fit and not injured.”