Nigeria Coach Eric Chelle has watered down the heated confrontation between his players Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman during their AFCON Round of 16 clash on Monday.
The Super Eagles qualified to the Quarterfinals after a 4-0 victory over Mozambique at Fez Stadium.
However, the victory was overshadowed by an ugly incident in the 63rd minute when the Super Eagles were 3-0 up when Osimhen confronted Lookman (and Bruno Onyemaechi) for not passing him the ball.
This attracted captain Wilfred Ndidi and other teammate Calvin Bassey to physically intervene and separate the two stars.
Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle said the argument between Lookman and Osimhen is just an internal team matter.
He added that what happens on the pitch and within the group stays there; he won’t disclose details publicly. They’ll address it privately.
“It’s a question about my management, and what happens on the pitch will stay in the group, I don’t need to tell you what happened or what will happen, I keep that for me and everything that will happen in life of the group will stay with the life of the group,” said Chelle.
Osimhen scored a brace, and a goal each from Ademola Lookman and Akor Adams sent Nigeria through in a game Lookman made two assists including one to Osimhen.
After the altercation, Osimhen asked to be substituted, which the coach obliged, and he was replaced by Moses Simon amidst boos.
Lookman, after the match, told reporters that there was no bad blood, calling Osimhen a “top player, our number one guy and my brother” adding “the rest is not really important, it’s just football.”
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