Victor Ikpeba has advised Napoli striker Victor Osimhen to emulate the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané if he is to excel in football The Trumpet gathered.
Osimhen and Ikpeba have recently been engaged in a warfare of words after Nigeria was unable to secure the World Cup ticket to Qatar 2022.
Nigeria, in the second leg match against the Black Stars of Ghana that ended 1-1 at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, could not proceed following the away goal rule.
Ikpeba, who was the African footballer of the year in 1997, pointed out that Osimhen could have taken a different approach towards finishing a golden opportunity to hand Nigeria the much-needed win.
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In reaction, the former Lille forward on Asisat Oshoala post on Instagram said the pundit would not tell him what to do.
However, Ikpeba recalled that he has seen Osimhen before who as a young man, is calm and unassuming.
On Channels Tv, Ikpeba said “I have seen the timeline of what happened, I can be the father to the young Victor, I have seen Victor before, very modest good young lad.
“A lot of things came to play, sometimes players can take decisions because of emotions and respond, so I’ve really moved on,” he added.
The SuperSport football analyst noted that the Napoli striker still has a lot to achieve in his career and for the national team.
He continued, “Victor is one of those players that have a lot of character. He still needs to grow up, he’s not yet the finished article, he’s going to be one of our top players in the future, but he needs to humble himself and try to learn.
“It’s a learning process, he knows how many years it took him to be in Napoli so my only advice to him is to look at the way the likes of Salah, Mane carry themselves and concentrate on his footballing career,” Ikpeba added.
