{"id":829361,"date":"2025-02-24T10:13:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T16:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/i-spoke-with-eric-chelle-osimhen-reacts-to-super-eagles-afcon-2025-group-draw\/"},"modified":"2025-02-24T10:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T16:13:12","slug":"i-spoke-with-eric-chelle-osimhen-reacts-to-super-eagles-afcon-2025-group-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/i-spoke-with-eric-chelle-osimhen-reacts-to-super-eagles-afcon-2025-group-draw\/","title":{"rendered":"I spoke with Eric Chelle \u2013 Osimhen reacts to Super Eagles AFCON 2025 group draw"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has shared his thoughts on Nigeria\u2019s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations group stage draw, <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Napoli-owned forward, who is currently plying his trade in Turkey, acknowledged the challenges ahead while expressing confidence in the team\u2019s ability<\/p>\n<p>The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has placed Nigeria in Group C alongside Tunisia, Uganda, and Tanzania. This sets up a competitive path for the three-time African champions as they aim for glory in Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/oluwashina\/status\/1893577260843630660\" target=\"_blank\">BBC journalist Oluwashina Okeleji<\/a>, Osimhen admitted that the group stage would not be easy but remains optimistic that the team will perform well under newly appointed head coach Eric Chelle.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">2023 African Footballer of the Year, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/victorosimhen9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@victorosimhen9<\/a>, is eager to play in a World Cup with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Nigeria?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#Nigeria<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Napoli loanee missed the previous four 2026 World Cup qualifying games with injury.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Galatasaray?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#Galatasaray<\/a> man talks about his ambition and expectations under new coach Eric Chell\u00e9. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ti5UIDW8BY\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/ti5UIDW8BY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Oluwashina Okeleji (@oluwashina) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/oluwashina\/status\/1893577260843630660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4>Osimhen: AFCON Will Not Be Easy, But We Are Ready<\/h4>\n<p>Speaking on the nature of African football, the former LOSC Lille forward has revealed that the AFCON tournament is full of surprises.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not gonna be easy. Just like we all know, this is African football, this is AFCON. You can get a lot of surprises. But we are going to take each game as it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Osimhen also revealed that he has already been in communication with Chelle and is eager to work under the Malian tactician, who will take charge of Nigeria\u2019s World Cup qualifiers in March before leading the team to AFCON.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150537\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-150537\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/02\/newcastle-united-victor-osimhen.html\/abidjan-cote-d-ivore-january-14-alex-iwobi-victor-osimhen-of-nigeria-during-the-totalenergies-caf-africa-cup-of-nat-2\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-150537\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/imago1039112887-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Victor Osimhen \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\"  ><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-150537\">Alex Iwobi, Victor Osimhen of Nigeria during the Afcon 2023 match between Nigeria and Equitorial Guinea at Stade D Ebimpe on January 14, 2024 in Abidjan, Cote d Ivore. [Photo Credit\/ Imago].<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe have a new coach [Eric Chelle]. I spoke with him a couple of times, and I know the kind of objectives he has set for the players. I am looking forward to the first training of the game [against Rwanda] so we can also feel his presence,\u201d Osimhen added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4>Super Eagles Eye a Strong Start Under Chelle<\/h4>\n<p>Nigeria\u2019s first competitive test under Chelle will come in March when they face Rwanda and Zimbabwe in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. These matches will allow the new coach to assess his squad before AFCON 2025.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_149455\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-149455\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/02\/etebo-praises-victor-osimhen.html\/african-cup-of-nations-final-ivory-coast-vs-nigeria-2024-february-11-2024-victor-james-osimhen-nigeria-gestures-du\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-149455\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/imago1040397442-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Victor Osimhen and Alex Iwobi\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1649\"  ><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-149455\">Victor Osimhen and Alex Iwobi (Photo credit: Imago)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With Osimhen potentially leading the attack, the Super Eagles will aim for a strong campaign in Morocco as they seek to add a fourth AFCON title to their trophy gallery.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Soccer Ayomide Oguntimehin\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ayomide-Oguntimehin-pics-150x150.jpg\"  height=\"80\" width=\"80\">\t\t<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/author\/ayomide-oguntimehin-2\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Editor at Soccernet.ng, with a proven track record in conducting interviews with Super Eagles stars such as William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Ademola Lookman, and many others. He has also made a significant impact in breaking transfer news stories.<\/p>\n<p>Grounded in video editing, video journalism, social media management, and content strategy, Ayomide brings a wealth of expertise to his work.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/02\/eric-chelle-osimhen-super-eagles-afcon-2025.html\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Ayomide Oguntimehin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has shared his thoughts on Nigeria\u2019s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations group stage draw, Soccernet.ng reports. The Napoli-owned forward, who is currently plying his trade in Turkey, acknowledged the challenges ahead while expressing confidence in the team\u2019s ability The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has placed Nigeria in Group [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":829362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140853,2005,1072],"tags":[140851,11837],"class_list":{"0":"post-829361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chelle","8":"category-soccer","9":"category-spoke","10":"tag-chelle","11":"tag-spoke"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}