Osimhen’s indiscipline cost Nigeria the AFCON title. He is world-class but talent is not a license to destroy team chemistry — Oliseh

Former Super Eagles captain Sunday Oliseh has blamed Nigerias failure to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco on what he termed indiscipline by Victor Osimhen, arguing that individual excesses damaged team unity at a crucial stage of the tournament.Speaking on his YouTube channel, Oliseh said Osimhens public confrontation with teammate Ademola Lookman during Nigerias 40 Round of 16 win over Mozambique disrupted the squads chemistry and weakened their title chances. During the match, Osimhen appeared to rebuke Lookman for not releasing the ball in an attacking move, an incident that drew backlash from fans who criticised the strikers conduct as unprofessional.Oliseh claimed the consequences were felt beyond the Mozambique fixture, insisting Lookmans form dipped noticeably afterwards, affecting Nigerias attacking potency in the semifinal.Lets look at the toxicity that might have cost us the AFCON title, he said. We are confusing talent with licence. Victor Osimhen is world-class, but talent is not a license to destroy team chemistry.Look at the evidence. Since that public outburst against Ademola Lookman, one of our brightest lights, he became a shadow of himself, and we lost our bite. When you publicly diminish your teammates, you break their spirit.He added that Lookman had been the most dangerous player in the tournament until that public verbal abuse broke his focus, arguing that Nigeria lost the psychological edge needed to win against a disciplined Moroccan side in the semifinal.Oliseh also criticised what he described as a fan culture that now tolerates such behaviour: Whats worse, and frankly, whats most dangerous for our football is the fan culture that now tolerates this.His critique widened to include Osimhens earlier public comments attacking former Super Eagles coach Finidi George. While acknowledging Osimhens value, Oliseh stressed that no player is bigger than the national team.Scoring goals for Nigeria doesnt give you a licence to disrespect certified legends like Finidi George or Victor Ikpeba. It doesnt give you the right to disrespect your coaches or teammates, he said. If goals alone justified arrogance, what should the legends who put Nigeria at the pinnacle of world football, like Amokachi, Amunike, Okocha, Babangida and myself, do? Walk on peoples heads?Oliseh warned that continued indiscipline and poor administration would damage the teams future: If we dont fix the discipline and the administration, there wont be a Super Eagles left to support.He also criticised the celebrations that followed Nigerias third-place finish, when the Super Eagles beat Egypt on penalties. There was a time the Super Eagles shed tears at second place, because to us anything but the trophy was a failure; celebrating third place built a culture of mediocrity, he said.The post Osimhens indiscipline cost Nigeria the AFCON title. He is world-class but talent is not a license to destroy team chemistry Oliseh appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.