No Osimhen, no problem — Eric Chelle confident ahead of Madagascar clash

The Galatasaray striker continues to recover from a muscle strain sustained earlier this month and has been ruled out of the double-header against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.

Coventry striker Taiwo Awoniyi has been drafted into the squad as his replacement.

Speaking ahead of the match, Chelle remained upbeat. “We have a lot of injured players, Victor Osimhen, Alhassan Yusuf and Dele-Bashiru, but it’s not a problem for us,” the Malian coach said.

“We are ready. It will be difficult because Madagascar is a big team. It will be a fight; they defeated Nigeria in 2019.”

While Chelle is correct to project confidence, Osimhen’s importance to the Super Eagles can not be overstated.

During the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. Nigeria failed to win any of the matches the striker missed, managing just one goal in several of those games and ultimately missing out on qualification.

Despite that recent history, Chelle believes the depth in his squad is enough to overcome Madagascar at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.

The likes of Awoniyi, Akor Adams, and Tolu Arokodare will be relied upon to provide the necessary firepower across these two games.