Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen, acknowledged that winning the CAF African Footballer of The Year, will motivate him and his teammates ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
Osimhen’s extraordinary journey for club and country in the past year saw him beat out Moroccan full-back Achraf Hakimi and Egyptian forward Mohammed Salah on Monday.
“We are ready and preparing very well,” Osimhen told CAF.
“The squad is in high spirits. We are raring to go and hope that we shall do well there,”
Nigeria won the AFCON three times in 1980, 1994 and 2013.
The Super Eagles are in Group A with the hosts, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau.
Osimhen hopes to replicate his fine form next year that has seen him score 27 goals in all competitions for Napoli this year – the joint-most by an African player in the big five European leagues tied with Egyptian Mohamed Salah.
In May 2023, Osimhen scored against Fiorentina, netting his 47th goal in the Serie A, overtaking George Weah (46) as the highest goal-scoring African player in the competition’s history.
Osimhen was also the highest goal scorer in the AFCON 2023 qualifiers with 10 goals.