Lille metropole attacker, Victor Osimhen has commended his under 17 coach Emmanuel Amunike for coming hard on him and his never say die attitude during their days in the under 17 camp.
The former VfL Wolfsburg man also commented on how the coach’s attitude contributed to his success in the Golden Eaglet camp when he was giving an account of everything that transpired during their under 17 campaign.
In an interview on Niaja info, Osimhen describe the former Golden Eaglets gaffer as very difficult to please. In his words, ” Amunike does not hype his players, he insulted us. He always criticise me. Even when I scored, he will not praise me. He always criticise me. I thought he hated me.” but the striker said despite his insults, he took it as a morale buster, and never allowed the words to get to him because it was for the better.
The Super Eagles centre forward also recounted their experiences during their outing in Niger. That year, the Golden Eaglets finished a disappointing 4th. Though Osimhen scored a total of 4 goals which made him the highest goal scorer in the competition, but the nation was not satisfied. No one came to welcome them at the airport. “I could remember in Abuja, no one came to welcome us”Osimhen added.
In preparation for the world cup in Chile 2015, the team camped in Argentina and some of the players were dropped. As Osimhen tells his story, ” in Argentina, the players that were dropped were crying profusely” and Amunike urged the remaining of us to do well.
The biggest motivation come when we saw those dropped crying and Amunike told the rest of us “do this for those that want you to fail. As you could remember in the African championships, no one came to welcome you because you didn’t do well”
As he continues his account, Osimhen said the secretary of team was who bought a pair of boots for him. “I didn’t have a boot. The Secretary bought me a boot. Mine didn’t arrive on time. Two days to the match against the USA.”… ” Even when we won the first game, Amunike said “stay calm”
The Golden Eaglets fought their way through to the final. With Osimhen scoring in all the matches. “against Chile, the field was full to capacity. 55,000. The stadium was surrounded by mountains which were also filled with spectators, it was as if we were playing against the whole of Chile. But Amunike calmed us down. Talked to use that it was eleven against eleven and the rest was history. ” Amunike was the reason we won the world cup.
