Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has shed some more light on the on-field argument that happened between Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Footynaija.com reports.
Recall that Osimhen and Lookman got into a verbal altercation during Nigeria’s Round of 16 clash against Mozambique, with the Galatasaray striker reportedly expressing displeasure at his teammate’s failure to set him up when he was in a good position to score.
The situation wasn’t helped by Osimhen’s request to be substituted and refusal to partake in subsequent passages of play. Media clips of the striker storming out of the match venue instead of celebrating with his teammates after the game also left a bad look.
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However, Chelle has now offered clarity on the incident, downplaying the controversy and explaining that the clash was simply the product of two elite forwards driven by an obsession to score and win.
“In front of goal, those two guys are top-level. Even better, this tension would almost make sense when you’re talking about two strikers obsessed with scoring,” he told After Foot RMC.
“Victor is a machine. If he doesn’t do his specific striker drills, if he doesn’t score in training, it drives him crazy. He wants to win everything.
“For him, it’s not a funfair. Lookman is the same, but calmer. Frankly, I’ve seen strikers, but to strike the ball like they do, right foot, left foot, that’s a very, very high level.
“On the pitch, there was a discussion with Lookman. Victor told him, ‘We need to stop playing in front of goal.’ Things got a little heated, a minor altercation, but that’s part of locker room life.
“At the end of the match, he went home upset; he needed time to calm down. And once he did, he became the Victor we know again. There was never any question of him not playing against Algeria, never.
“What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. I didn’t even need to intervene. We went back to the hotel, they talked it over, and that was it.”
Both players moved on quickly from that incident and played crucial roles in an utterly dominant quarter-final display against the Fennec Foxes of Algeria.
However, they were unable to inspire the Super Eagles past host nation Morocco in the semi-finals, with Nigeria eventually settling for a bronze finish after defeating Egypt on penalties in the third-place playoff.
