Soccer
Cyriel Dessers protests after a tackle during the Unity Cup London 2025 match between Ghana and the Super Eagles of Nigeria at Gtech Community Stadium, Brentford, England on 28 May 2025. [Photo Credit/ Imago].
Panathinaikos FC star Cyriel Dessers has broken his silence after being ruled out of the remainder of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 31-year-old confirmed that the injury has forced him to leave the Super Eagles camp at a crucial stage of the tournament.
The Panathinaikos forward took to social media to share his disappointment, where he described the setback as a difficult situation to accept. He further pledged his support for the team as Nigeria continue their AFCON 2025 campaign.
Soccer Cyriel Dessers reacts to AFCON setback
In an emotional post, the former Rangers striker revealed the impact of the injury on both his international and club ambitions.
“Unfortunately I sustained an injury at AFCON. It’s extremely difficult to accept that I will miss the remainder of the tournament and an important period at Panathinaikos,” Dessers wrote.
“I will be our biggest fan in these weeks, go full in rehab and hopefully we can celebrate a win and goal together soon.”
Dessers had been hoping to play a key role as Nigeria pushed deep into the tournament, but the injury has now ended his AFCON involvement prematurely.
Soccer What happened to Dessers?
Dessers picked up the knock during one of the Eagles’ training sessions just before their clash against Uganda. Following this, he was subsequently cleared to return to his club after medical assessments confirmed he would be sidelined for between 10 and 12 weeks. The decision was taken to prioritise his recovery, ruling him out of the remainder of the AFCON 2025 tournament in Morocco.
Nigeria have since continued with the core of the squad that dominated the group stage and progressed convincingly in the knockout rounds.
Soccer What Eric Chelle said about the injury
Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle had earlier confirmed that Dessers’ injury was significant enough to keep him out long-term, explaining that there was no point in taking unnecessary risks with the striker’s fitness.
Chelle stressed that the squad would adapt in Dessers’ absence, with other attacking options stepping up as Nigeria maintains their push for AFCON glory.
“Dessers spoke with me this morning. He has an injury and will be out for maybe 10 to 12 weeks,” Chelle said as monitored by Soccernet.ng.
“I’m disappointed for him, we need to play a good game for him tomorrow. We have to do the work in front of us. We don’t need to worry, we have to play a great game tomorrow,”
Soccer Super Eagles press on without Dessers
Despite the setback, the Super Eagles have shown no signs of slowing down, delivering emphatic performances and booking their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Dessers, meanwhile, will begin an intensive rehabilitation programme as he targets a return to action for Panathinaikos later in the season.
Ayomide Oguntimehin
Ayomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Editor at Soccernet.ng. He has interviewed Super Eagles stars like William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Ademola Lookman, and is known for breaking major transfer stories.
Ayomide has worked with Sports Brief, Naija News and served as Social Lead Editor at Legit.ng. He has also featured on Goal, TVC News, Sports Mole, and Milan News24. He holds a Master’s degree and is currently pursuing a PhD. Follow Ayomide on X (formerly Twitter): @ayo_oguntimehin
Read MoreAyomide Oguntimehin