Sports
Osimhen Scores Hat-Trick, Becomes Napoli’s 13th All-Time Scorer
Striker, Victor Osimhen, moved to 13th spot in Napoli’s all-time scorers chart after he bagged his first hat-trick of the season within 16 minutes as the Partenopei annihilated Sassuolo 6-1 away in a Serie A game on Wednesday, Tidesports source reports.
It was his second hat-trick against Sassuolo since arriving in Italy in 2020. The former Lille striker scored his first against the Neroverdi on October 29, 2022.
The 25-year-old also had an assist for Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, who scored twice in the encounter as new management Francesco Calzona recorded his first win after three games.
The treble also took Osimhen’s tally to five in three games for Napoli since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations and his 13th across all competitions this season.
Sassuolo had raced to an early lead in the 17th minute when Uros Racic curled in an inch-perfect low drive from the edge of the box but Amir Rrahmani drew Napoli level 12 minutes later after finishing off a well-worked team play involving Di Lorenzo and Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa down the right flank.
Osimhen gave Napoli a deserved lead two minutes later when he made it 2-1 after firing in from seven yards off a pass from Matteo Politano.
The Nigerian scored his second goal of the game after he capitalised on an error from goalkeeper Andrea Consigli to tap in from close range.
He completed his hat-trick straight after the restart, thanks to some suicidal defending from Sassuolo. Ruan Tressoldi tried to play it out from the back but passed it straight to Kvaratskhelia, who rolled across for the Nigerian to score.
With this treble, Osimhen becomes the third player in Napoli’s history to score at least 10 goals in four consecutive Serie A seasons after the late Diego Maradona (between 1984/85 and 1987/88) and Attila Sallustro (between 1929/30 and 1932/33), according to Opta.
Osimhen has now scored 72 goals in 122 games for Napoli and he is now joint fourth with Paulo Dybala in Serie A top scorers standings with 11 goals from 15 games.
The result keeps the champions in ninth place but they are now just eight points off the top four.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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