Super Eagles winger Ademola Lookman has dismissed Victor Osimhen’s heated exchange with some teammates during Nigeria’s clash against Mozambique, describing the incident as “is just football”.
Nigeria cruised to a 4–0 victory over Mozambique in the Round of 16 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Monday to seal a place in the quarter-finals.
Osimhen netted twice in the encounter, while Lookman and Akor Adams added the other goals to complete a dominant performance by the Super Eagles.
Despite the convincing win, tensions briefly flared in the second half when Osimhen appeared to react angrily towards Lookman for reasons that remain unclear. The situation required the intervention of teammates to restore calm.
Still visibly upset moments later, the Galatasaray striker gestured to the bench to be substituted and was subsequently withdrawn, with Moses Simon introduced in his place.
Reacting to the incident after the match, Lookman played down its significance, insisting the disagreement “doesn’t matter”.
He also reaffirmed Osimhen’s importance to the team, describing him as the side’s “number one guy” and his “brother”.
“I have not seen Osimhen but I don’t think that matters, Vic is our number one guy, everybody knows this, he’s a top striker. So, all of that doesn’t matter,” Lookman said.
“It’s just football. It’s always football. He (Victor Osimhen) is my brother.”
The Super Eagles are set to face either Algeria or the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) in the quarter-final of the tournament on January 10.