From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, the Bible tells us. It is what you think and desire that you speak.
For you to realize the desire or dream therefore, you must put your brain, mouth, eyes and leg to action.
Most importantly for those who believe in God, every desire of the heart should be gladly tabled before God and He will grant it to you as we are told in Psalm 37:4.
Last week I wrote that the Super Eagles need a Caleb whose faith can move him to achieve results, no matter how insurmountable they may appear.
I related it to how our own Caleb, the son of Agada whose faith moved him to fight or ‘die’ for Nigeria by joining his teammates in the senior men’s basketball team, the D’Tigers to pull the chestnut out of the fire to qualify for the 2025 FIBA Afrobasket coming up in Angola later in the year.
I related it to the feats of the Flying Eagles of 1989 and the Olympic team of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
I remember saying that their fighting spirit that made them achieve the unthinkable is what the current players in the Super Eagles lack, except for two of them, Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman who play their hearts out each time they appear in the country’s green and white jersey.
Only last Tuesday, Super Eagles Coach, Eric Chelle released the final list of 23 players he needs to prosecute the six remaining crucial qualifying matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
With his name as one of the eight strikers picked for the first two matches against Rwanda in Kigali and Zimbabwe in Uyo, Osimhen is already brimming with enthusiasm to put in his best.
First he says he can’t wait to train under the new coach Chelle who he has spoken with and understands the objectives the coach has set for himself and for the players.
However, he believes that “it takes more than a coach to win football matches”, as “players must show commitment”. They say once beaten, twice shy. Osimhen was part of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers when they lost the ticket to Ghana on away goals rule following their 0-0 and 1-1
results in Accra and Abuja respectively.
That would have been his first World Cup appearance
for Nigeria. He doesn’t want a repeat of the nightmare of missing a consecutive World Cup because as he said, it is the dream of every player to play in the Mundial.
It is that burning desire that keeps pushing him to do his best for club and country anytime he is on the pitch. A bull on the pitch, so to speak.
And just seven days to the Kigali encounter last Friday in a Turkish league game against Antalyaspor, Osimhen recorded his first hat-trick in Galatasaray colours as they trounced the visitors 4-0.
This is a morale booster for him as the Super Eagles camp opens in Kigali today. It is equally a soul-lifting news for Chelle, who is unarguably under pressure to impress in his first assignment in charge.
The performance against Antalyaspor is also a signal for the Rwandese and their coach, Adel Amrouche who like Chelle, is also new in the saddle.
Aside the desire to help the team qualify for the 2026 World Cup, Osimhen’s other desire is personal to him. That is scoring at least a goal, to surpass former Green Eagles winger, Segun Odegbami on the team’s top scorers chart.
Right now, Odegbami and Osimhen are tied on 23 goals with Osimhen on lesser number of matches played, 26 to Odegbami’s 36.
One more goal in the two upcoming matches will put the Edo-born Galatasaray loanee firmly as second top scorer with 24 goals.
That will still be a long road to go in pursuit of top scorer, late Rashidi Yekini who has 37 goals. Osimhen needs 13 to equal that record before thinking of surpassing it.
Who says he can’t equal the record, not when he still has age on his side and some more years to feature for the Super Eagles.
The nearest player to Osimhen who is still active, though sparingly playing for the team, is Kelechi Iheanacho, who has 10 goals less than Osimhen.
Osimhen may say he is not looking for personal glory but the success of the entire team. If and when the personal glory comes, it is sure he would grab it with both hands.
That is why he keeps saying that “I want to keep on doing well and scoring goals for my club and country, this is the most important thing for me”.
As the Super Eagles camp opens today therefore, Osimhen is prepared for what Chelle will throw at them and has thus told his teammates to be prepared to work hard.
He said the coach has reached out to him, assuring him of a good working relationship but with him and other players reciprocating with commitment.
According to Osimhen, Chelle loves to play and fight at the same time and “he is going to be very demanding”. That to Chelle, “anyone who does not run or fight for every ball will not play”.
For a coach who is under pressure to perform, he wants to prove a point with the first two matches at least, therefore he may not give room for lackadaisical attitude by any player, no matter how big.
The message Osimhen has for his colleagues therefore is this: “If you’re privileged to put on the Super Eagles jersey, you have to give everything. We’ve gotten a coach that is very demanding.”
The post Osimhen’s burning desires and Chelle’s demands, by Patrick Omorodion appeared first on Vanguard News.
