Victor Osimhen made it into Nigeria’s Under-17 World Cup team by a very slim chance as the then coach of the side, Emmanuel Amuneke claimed he almost kicked out the striker ahead of the tournament.
Victor Osimhen like many other players who wanted to play professional football stormed the screening camp to be screened for the 2015 Under-17 World Cup. While at the camp, Amuneke paired him with a team of players who didn’t play too well and Osimhen’s group lost out of the screening exercise. The coach said he planned to kick out each group that failed in the screening process.
Hence, Osimhen was meant to leave the camp and miss the 2015 Under-17 World Cup since his group failed in the screening exercise. This could have changed the course of his football career negatively.
Fortunately for him, a member of the coaching team urged Amuneke to take a second look at Victor Osimhen which he did and he performed well enough to be picked for the tournament.
At the tournament in Chile, Osimhen became Nigeria’s best player, scoring ten goals which helped the Golden Eaglets to win the tournament for the fifth time and he also emerged as the tournament’s highest goalscorer.
