Amuneke Identifies How Peseiro Underused Osimhen at AFCON Final, Cites Adingra As Example

• Emmanuel Amuneke has stated that Victor Osimhen did not play to his peak at AFCON 2023
• The former Super Eagles winger is in contention to become the national team's head coach
• Amuneke suggested that Nigeria would have won the trophy in Ivory Coast with a good coach

Former Nigerian international, Emmanuel Amuneke, has stated that Victor Osimhen was underused during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Napoli striker scored just one goal at the tournament, a shadow of his form with his Italian club.

Osimhen scored against Equatorial Guinea, won the penalty against Ivory Coast, assisted Lookman's first goal versus Cameroon, and his off-ball movement played a role in the winners against Guinea-Bissau and Angola.

However, Nigerians faulted him for his role in the final as Simon Adingra stole the show to set up two goals in Ivory Coast's triumph.

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With the Nigeria Football Federation ready to name the new Super Eagles coach, Amuneke, who is a leading candidate believes the Super Eagles is a quality team.

He reflected on the AFCON final, saying most of the invited players were not used to their strengths. Amuneke told Punch:

"At the last AFCON, we allowed a deadly striker like Victor Osimhen to defend so deep and run too much.

"That reduced his qualities a lot and he was blamed for not scoring more goals and missing several chances.

He’s a striker who moves in different directions a lot and needs players to get through balls to him to be effective and get the goals.

"For example, Simon Adingra didn’t play the first game against Nigeria in the group stage, but he was a menace to our defence in the final.

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"We have players that can do better than what Adingra did to our team in the final that day, but did we play to their strengths?"

Nwabali recounts how Nigeria defeated South Africa

Sports Brief earlier reported that Super Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, claimed that Bafana Bafana players were scared to take penalties against him at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

Eventual runners-up, Nigeria, defeated South Africa in a mouth-watering semi-final clash inside the Stade de la Paix in Bouake.

Nwabali saved spot-kicks from Teboho Mokoena and Evidence Makgopa to propel the three-time champions to the final match of the tournament.