Our headline this week is a conditional statement – one that depends on something that happens before it and is bound to cause something else after it. Essentially, it infers a case of cause and effect.
So, the obvious question should be: ‘What will happen if Algeria defeat the Super Eagles in their Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals clash on Saturday?’ The simplest answer is: Nigerian football fans will be sad once again.
Read Also: Leroy Warns Algeria: Stopping Osimhen–Lookman Key To Beating Nigeria
That would be in contrast with the roars of delight, upbeat chants and high level of euphoria that have been rolling across the nation since December 23rd, 2025 – when the Super Eagles ambled to a 2-1 victory over Tanzania in their first match of the ongoing AFCON.
After that, the team appeared to improve with every game, as they survived a near implosion to beat Tunisia 3-2 in their next fixture, then silenced Uganda 3-1, and just this past Monday they hit Mozambique 4-0.
Ironically, though, the Eagles’ biggest result so far at AFCON 2025 turned out to be the most worrisome of all. Not due to technical or tactical issues, but on account of attitude and attrition.
An on-field altercation between our number one hitman, Victor Osimhen, and the team’s best star of the competition so far, Ademola Lookman, turned our night of delight into a flight filled with fright.
While we should have been celebrating all through the night into early hours of the next day, trepidation and worry held sway. Talk about dancing turning into mourning!
The issue appeared to escalate the next day, with a myriad of reports inferring that Osimhen threw away his accreditation card and threatened to leave the team altogether.
Sadly, for the issue to have reached that level, the trail could leave only sordid implications and foretell ugly repercussions – negative cause and adverse effect.
Lookman played his part well by openly dousing the flames immediately at the post-match press conference, Eric Chelle took an officious stand by waving it aside as an internal matter that would be settled within and team coordinator, Dayo Enebi Achor later disclosed on Tuesday evening that the matter had been sorted in a ‘brotherly’ way.
However, for me, the damage had already been done. That Osimhen even took the tact of openly confronting someone we all thought was his best friend in the team signals too many negative things about the Galatasaray striker and the Eagles as a whole:
1. He is over ambitious and desperate to break Rashidi Yekini’s record.
2. He is proud and pompous, thinking the team can’t win without him.
3. His teammates are envious of his strides and want to cut his wings.
4. The players are not as united and close-knit as they want us to believe.
Sadly, even when Osimhen came out with his side of the story, he never gave an apology. His comments only served to buttress two ominous undercurrents in the Eagles: He sees himself as Lord of the team, and he is desperate to be the top scorer at AFCON 2025. He also seems to suspect Lookman and others of trying to sabotage his aspirations.
We can reach that conclusion after Osimhen pointedly declared: ‘The whole weight is on me. If we fail to win, Nigerians will attack us … especially me.’ Such poignant words can only come from a haughty mind!
The bottom line of all this is that the Super Eagles are not a united team! Sadly, this stark revelation comes just a few days before they tango one of our eternal rivals in a crucial quarter-final fixture.
The Bible reminds us that ‘a house divided against itself cannot stand’ and ‘united we stand divided we fall.’
So, ‘if the Super Eagles lose to Algeria on Saturday’ we know who to blame …
It simply has to be Victor Osimhen – for exhibiting misgivings with his teammates in public and allowing the spirit of discord reign within the Nigerian camp. We all know that the only aftermath of discord is distress…
