Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen has urged Nigerians to be fair in criticizing Super Eagles players, emphasizing the importance of constructive criticism.
The plea comes after the Super Eagles, including Osimhen himself, were hosted by President Bola Tinubu following their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
In the AFCON final held at the Olympic Stadium in Abidjan, Nigeria faced a 2-1 defeat to the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire.
Despite taking the lead with a powerful header from William Troost-Ekong in the first half, the Ivorians secured victory with goals from Franck Kessie and Sebastien Haller in the second half.
Following the match, Alex Iwobi became the target of social media trolls who criticized his performance during the tournament.
In response to the online backlash, Victor Osimhen joined the conversation, expressing support for Iwobi and urging fans to recognize the humanity of footballers.
Osimhen emphasized that footballers, like anyone else, make mistakes and deserve fair and constructive criticism.
He noted that the online attacks on Iwobi were out of this world” and emphasized the team’s solidarity and support for their teammate’s mental health.
Osimhen assured that the team had rallied around Iwobi, both individually and collectively, and expressed confidence in Iwobi’s resilience and commitment to continue giving his best for the nation.
“It is really sad, but happening for the past two weeks now. But of course, you will see there is a big solidarity in the team. And I urge Nigerians that cyberbullying is [bad],” the Napoli striker said.
“Because we are also human. Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes, we have a good game, and we’ll get the hype. But of course, when you criticise, you have to be constructive when doing this type of thing. I think, to be fair, what they have done to Alex is out of this world, and it is not good.
“They should also look at his mental health because there are some of us who can take this to heart and then keep on grinding. And there are some of us that he still gets to go ahead, and they will lose focus, and we lose form.
“So, I think we are rallying around him; we have spoken to him individually and collectively. So I think he’s a strong dude ready to continue giving his all for his nation.”
Watch the video below:
https://twitter.com/OneJoblessBoy/status/1757491603919258083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1757491603919258083%7Ctwgr%5E40dfe6194aee64031eae7134336b1777255c0d8f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.withinnigeria.com%2Fentertainment%2F2024%2F02%2F14%2Fwhat-fans-did-to-alex-iwobi-is-not-good-at-all-they-should-do-better-victor-osimhen%2F
KanyiDaily recalls that Nigerian football legend, Austin Jay Jay Okocha had also addressed those bullying his nephew, Alex Iwobi, over Super Eagles’ loss to Ivory Coast in the AFCON finals.