Liverpool destroyed Galatasaray but Super Eagles lost something far bigger than a football match at Anfield

Victor Osimhen walked into Anfield on Wednesday night as the most dangerous Nigerian footballer on the planet. 

However, he walked out at half-time with a fractured right arm, having played through 45 minutes of a Champions League knockout match in visible agony because that is the kind of footballer he is. 

It didn't save Turkish champions Galatasaray and without him, they collapsed entirely. Zero shots on target in the second half. Liverpool scored three goals in eleven minutes and made it look easy.

But the injury is not even the full story. Before kick-off, Eric Chelle had already released his 23-man Super Eagles squad for Nigeria's upcoming friendlies against Iran and Jordan and Osimhen's name was not on it. 

19 goals and five assists in all competitions this season, seven goals and one assist in the Champions League. 

The most in-form Nigerian in Europe, already left out before Anfield even happened. Now set to sit in a hospital with a broken arm, watching the squad train without him for games that serve as preparation for a World Cup Nigeria isn't attending.

That World Cup absence is a wound that has not healed. Calvin Bassey missed a penalty in Rabat, Moses Simon missed, too. 

Nigeria lost to DR Congo in a shootout last November and off the pitch in March, and will spend this summer watching Morocco, Senegal, Egypt and South Africa represent Africa while they stay home after back-to-back World Cup absences for the first time since 1994. 

The financial cost alone runs into tens of millions of dollars. The human cost is harder to calculate.

Lookman will lead the attack in Turkey, after the game was moved from the Jordanian capital, Amman to the city of Antalya, and Ndidi will captain the side. 

New faces will get their chance, Nigerian football does not stop. But Osimhen is not just a player, he is the symbol of what this generation of Nigerian football was supposed to feel like. 

When he is absent, something is missing that no squad list can replace.

Liverpool won, Anfield roared as predicted. But somewhere in that tunnel, a boy from Olusosun walked off holding his broken arm, and Nigerian football held its breath again. 

The World Cup is gone, FIFA confirmed that. Osimhen’s arm is broken and the wait for something to finally go right continues.