Super Eagles star Osimhen loses his good luck charm with Nigeria

Samuel Chukweze and Victor Osimhen will Nigeria's WCQ matches this month. Photo credit: Imago

Super Eagles star Osimhen loses his good luck charm with Nigeria

Joba Ogunwale 16:29 - 05.04.2023

The Nigerian international lost a precious possession while on duty with the Super Eagles during the international break.

Super Eagles star Victor Osimhen will play with a new mask when he returns from an adductor injury. 

Osimhen has been donning a mask since he underwent surgery on his fractured face following Napoli’s 3-2 defeat to Inter Milan in their Serie A clash last season. 

Osimhen- the man behind the mask 

The mask has been Osimhen’s good luck charm, scoring ten goals in the second half of last season while he also leads the Serie A scorer’s chart this season. 

The mask has become Osimhen's sginature wear
Victor Osimhen has donned the mask in all games he has played this season

Osimhen has scored 21 goals in 23 league games for Napoli this season, setting up another five goals while wearing the mask. 

The Super Eagles star also has four goals in five Champions League matches this season ahead of Napoli’s quarter-final clash against AC Milan. 

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.co.ke/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

The mask has become one of Osimhen’s matchday belongings, bringing him good luck. However, the 24-year-old will now have to play with a new mask after losing the old one while on international duty. 

According to Di Marzio, Osimhen misplaced the mask while he was in Nigeria for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea-Bissau. 

Osimhen misplaced the mask while with the Super Eagles
Victor Osimhen in Super Eagles' colours

Although he will get a new one, Osimhen will be disappointed with the development as he once claimed the mask brought him good luck. 

Osimhen to get a new mask

It remains to be seen if the new mask will be as potent as the old one. Osimhen is yet to play with the new mask, though, as he is currently injured. 

The Super Eagles star missed Napoli’s 4-0 defeat to AC Milan due to an adductor injury. He has been placed in therapy, but it is not clear yet if he will be available for the Serie A clash against Lecce this week. 

Osimhen is expected to retrurn to action against Napoli
Victor Osimhen is currently injured

However, the Neapolitans are hopeful that the Nigeria international will recover in time for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash against AC Milan next week. 

Related content