12th December, 2023
By Paul Dada
In this piece, P.M. News Deputy Editor, Paul Dada celebrates Victor Osimhen’s winning of the 2023 CAF Player of The Year Award, and justifies why he deserves it.
For the Super Falcons biggest player, Asisat Oshoala, winning the CAF Women Player of The Year for a record –extending sixth time was like holding on to a birthright, but for the 24-year-old Super Eagles and Napoli striker, Victor Osimhhen, his emergence as the CAF Player of The Year (Male Category) was a confirmation of a meteoric rise from grass to grace.
Osimhen’s undisputed coronation as the king of African football at Marakech, Morocco, is an eloquent testimony to how resilience, diligence and doggedness can take one from oblivion to fame. When Osimhen was just a Nigerian teenager from the Olusosun slum who sold pure water in Lagos traffic, he had dreams, but it is doubtful if they included becoming a Serie A champion, Nigeria’s most valuable player and winner of the 2023 CAF Player of The Year Award. Now, he is the first Nigerian to win the much prized award since 1999 when Kanu Nwakwo got it.
Recently, while reminiscing about his boyhood, Osimhen said, “Where I grew up in Lagos nothing is promising there because whatever you want to get, you have to work so hard for it. I could remember that when I was growing up I was cleaning the gutter for my landlord at N20.
“And I did some cleaning jobs for my neighbours; I fetched water for them at N80 but I found pleasure in doing this because I believe that when I work so hard to get this money, it is so important for me as I was cautious in spending. I also helped my family with the money.
“While growing up, my brother was selling newspapers, my sister was selling oranges while I was in traffic hawking water to the extent that I had to chase cars to sell water and give them change as well. I feel like the struggles have really helped me in life.
“I am grateful for where I am today because what I have been through has really shaped me to the man I am today”.
But Osimhen’s road to superstardom was paved when he won he scored 10 goals in seven games at the 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup and won the Golden Boot and Silver Ball awards in the tournament. He later won the CAF Youth Player of the Year award for the same year.
But the best was still to come for the lad whose light had started to glow. Osimhen who played for Wolsburg where he made his Bundesliga debut, moved to little known Belgian Club, Charleroi on loan, and crossed over Lille in France. But it was when he moved to Napoli, his current Serie A club, that he really won the hearts of Italy, Europe and Africa.
Osimhen’s strides for Napoli, no doubt, helped him to clinch the CAF crown, beating his formidable co-contenders, the Moroccan and PSG’s powerful winger, Achraf Hakimi and the Egyptian and Liverpool scoring machine, Mo Salah.
Osimhen in the 2022/2023 season helped Napoli to a Serie A title win, a feat that had eluded the club for 33 years. In that season, Osimhen was as constant as the northern star in goal-scoring. He netted 26 goals in 32 games. Osimhen also helped the team to a historic quarter final appearance in the UEFA Champions League. In that competition, he scored five goals in six games for Napoli and got them to a place they had never been. Not even soccer legend, Diego Maradona made such impact for Napoli.
Recognised as one of the world’s top five strikers, Osimhen is the highest-scoring African player in Serie A. His record surpasses those of the Cameroonian legend, Samuel Eto’o and the Liberianex-star, George Weah.
Before he won the CAF Player of The Year, Osimhen had been dressed in many enviable garlands this year. He had won the Serie A best striker, Serie A Goal of the Month in January, named in the Serie A Team of the Season, won Serie A Footballer of the Year, and was part of the Serie A Team of the Year. He was also the recipient of Ghana Football Awards’ Best African International.
Osimhen became the first Nigerian to secure a top-ten ranking in the Ballon d’Or. He was number 8. He was ahead of Salah who was ranked 11 and Hakimi who did not even make the top 30.
But Osimhen is not the kind of player that shines abroad and proves to be of little value at home. Osimhen finished as the Africa’s top goal-scorer in the qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. He scored ten goals. His closest challenger was the Senegalese, Sadio Mane who scored five goals.
Osimhen’s emergence as the best African player for 2023 should not be a surprise to anyone. The boy from Olusosun rules African football. There can be no controversy about that.