Izuchukwu OkosiSuper Eagles striker Victor Osimhen did not travel with the rest of the squad to the city of Bouake for Wednesday’s semifinals game against South Africa in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, Prime Business Africa scooped.
The team flew out of Abidjan Monday night with Osimhen conspicuously missing from the flight due to what the medical crew revealed was abdominal discomfort.
Information revealed by the team’s camp indicate that the SS Napoli striker has been placed under close watch with a member of the medical team staying behind with him.
If cleared of any complications, the 2023 African Footballer of The Year will fly out to Bouake with the medical staff in time before the team’sast training session at 5pm local time on Tuesday evening.
The Eagles will face South Africa in the first semifinals of the Afcon tournament, a repeat of the 2000 clash at the Lagos National stadium, as the Super Eagles defeated the Bafana Bafana 2-0 when they co-hosted the tournament with Ghana.
Osimhen was twice checked for possible drugs enhancement use in the course of the tournament after the games against Cameroon and Angola.
The Nigerian came off the pitch against Angola on Friday in the quarterfinals game at the Houphouët-Boigny stadium physically exhausted.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
