Nigeria may have to wrap star striker Victor Osimhen in cotton wool, put him in a bubble, place bodyguards around him during training, and inspect the pitch for anything with the potential to cause injury until they kick off their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations title hunt.
On Friday, Paul Onuachu became the third replacement player to be called up for Nigeria ahead of their opening game against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, named in place of the injured Sadiq Umar, who suffered a knee injury in Monday's friendly game against Guinea.
Umar's departure came just days after Victor Boniface had also been forced to withdraw with injury. The Bayer Leverkusen striker underwent surgery the same day Umar was withdrawing from the squad. He was replaced by OGC Nice forward Terem Moffi.
This run of ill-luck has left the Super Eagles without at least five of their best players going into Africa's showpiece competition. For a team whose strength centred on a terrifying attacking talent featuring the likes of Osimhen, Taiwo Awoniyi, Boniface, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ademola Lookman, Umar amongst others, they have now been reduced to almost scraping the barrel for goalscoring forwards.
Despite the injuries, Nigeria have such an abundance of talent that the replacements are almost as good as the players lost. Yobo feels the only concern is whether they are mentally prepared: "The only thing is, are they mentally ready for AFCON right now?
Saturday, January 13, 2024
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