Chelle downplays Osimhen, Lookman on pitch fracas

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has confirmed that the 64th-minute on-field confrontation between Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman during Nigeria’s AFCON 2025 Round of 16 clash against Mozambique is an internal matter that will be resolved privately within the team.

Nigeria cruised to a dominant 4-0 victory at the Fes Stadium , Morocco on Monday, powered by a talismanic performance from Osimhen, who currently plays his club football for Galatasaray, netting a crucial brace.

Lookman opened the scoring, while Akor Adams registered his maiden AFCON goal to cap a comfortable win that sealed Nigeria’s passage into the quarter-finals.

Despite the emphatic scoreline, the game briefly boiled over in the second half.

With the Super Eagles already 3-0 ahead, Osimhen was seen furiously confronting Lookman inside Mozambique’s penalty box, gesticulating animatedly as play paused.

Sources close to the pitchside exchanges indicate the striker’s frustration stemmed from a missed goal-scoring opportunity, where he felt Lookman should have squared the ball to him instead of taking the shot, believing he was better positioned to score.

Minutes after the incident, a visibly upset Osimhen signalled to the bench to be substituted.

Chelle responded by withdrawing the forward in the 67th minute, replacing him with Moses Simon, a change that did little to dampen Nigeria’s momentum.

When pressed about the altercation in his post-match press conference, Chelle shut down external speculation, stressing his leadership approach.

“This is a question about my management, and what happened on the pitch will stay in the group.

” I don’t need to tell anyone what happened,” Chelle stated.

“Everything that happened in the group stays in the group. We will see after that and we will talk.”

Shifting attention back to the result, Chelle expressed satisfaction with his team’s professionalism but warned against complacency.

“I’m happy about this game, winning by four goals, but in reality we didn’t do anything special — we just won one game,” he said.

“If we want to be ambitious, we need to continue to improve and keep this quality on the pitch.”

He also emphasized the importance of discipline as Nigeria enters the knockout business end of the tournament.

“My job now is to keep the players very focused on training sessions and behaviour,” Chelle added.

“The next challenge is the real test. We must stay sharp.”

Nigeria now turns its focus to the quarter-finals, where tactical cohesion, squad harmony, and ruthless execution will be key to sustaining their title charge.

While the brief disagreement between two of Nigeria’s biggest attacking weapons raised eyebrows, Chelle’s calm but authoritative handling signals a coach keen on protecting team unity as the Super Eagles hunt a fourth continental crown.