Amuneke Reveals How He Almost Kicked Out Osimhen From Under-17 World Cup Team

Victor Osimhen made it into Nigeria’s Under-17 World Cup team by a very slim chance as the then coach of the side, Emmanuel Amuneke claimed he almost kicked out the striker ahead of the tournament.

Victor Osimhen like many other players who wanted to play professional football stormed the screening camp to be screened for the 2015 Under-17 World Cup.

While at the camp, Amuneke paired him with a team of players who didn’t play too well and Osimhen’s group lost out of the screening exercise. The coach said he planned to kick out each group that failed in the screening process.

Hence, Osimhen was meant to leave the camp and miss the 2015 Under-17 World Cup since his group failed in the screening exercise. This could have changed the course of his football career negatively.

Fortunately for him, a member of the coaching team urged Amuneke to take a second look at Victor Osimhen which he did and he performed well enough to be picked for the tournament.

At the tournament in Chile, Osimhen became Nigeria’s best player, scoring ten goals which helped the Golden Eaglets to win the tournament for the fifth time and he also emerged as the tournament’s highest goalscorer.

“We actually had a lot [of strikers] during the screening,” Amuneke said as quoted by the BBC earlier today, November 3.

“I paired each of the players in groups and his set played badly. I already ignored Victor with other players in his set but my backroom staff drew my attention to him.

“I gave him another chance and he proved himself to make the squad.”

After the tournament, Victor has gone on to play in Germany, France, and now in Italy where he is currently the talisman of Napoli. Recall that he scored 26 goals and provided five assists which helped Napoli to win the Scudetto for the first time in 33 years last season.

This outstanding performance made him the highest goalscoring African in Italy, won him the league’s Golden Boot, and also landed him in the 8th position in the 2023 Ballon d’Or, which makes him the first Nigerian player to be so rated.