AFCON 2023: Osimhen set to face South Africa after arriving Bouake

Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen, is set to face South Africa whom the Super Eagles will meet in one of the semi-final games of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Wednesday.

It had appeared Osimhen would not play against the Bafana Bafana after missing the Super Eagles’ trip to Bouake on Monday night as a result of an abdominal discomfort.

A statement on the Super Eagles’ X handle revealed that members of the team traveled from Abidjan to Bouaké via a 10pm Air Cote D’Ivoire flight but Osimhen did not, however, make the trip.

The Super Eagles’ admin on X had also disclosed that medics confirmed that the striker was placed under close watch with a member of the medical team staying behind in Abidjan with him.

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Also according to the statement, if Osimhen was cleared by Tuesday morning, the reigning African Footballer of the year would join the rest of the squad before 5pm on the same day.

Various Nigerian reporters covering the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that the 25-year-old had indeed been cleared to join his teammates in Bouake.

“Victor Osimhen is enroute to joining the Super Eagles team in Bouake, Ivory Coast,” reporters and journalists from Nigeria posted on X.

“He has been given the clear from the medical team on the abdominal discomfort issue. He is fully fit and ready to play in the semi-finals against South Africa.”

Osimhen has so failed to find his scoring touch at the 2023 AFCON after netting only one goal in the Super Eagles’ 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea in their group A opener on January 14.

The Napoli striker has, however, been very useful for Nigeria in the attack and will aim to add to his goal tally against South Africa at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake on Wednesday.