Victor Osimhen reveals key message to Nigeria team-mates before extra-time goals as World Cup dream lives on | OneFootball

Super Eagles talisman responded to horror late miss against Gabon with decisive brace in play-off semi-final thriller

Victor Osimhen has revealed the confident message he delivered to his Nigeria team-mates after a horror late miss against Gabon as he rebounded to score twice in extra time in a thrilling encounter.

The Super Eagles prevailed in Thursday night’s tense CAF World Cup play-off semi-final tie in Rabat, eventually winning 4-1 to keep their dreams of qualification for next summer’s tournament in North America alive.

Though the scoreline was emphatic in the end, it did not tell the full story of the game as Gabon were contentiously denied an early second-half penalty following a lengthy VAR review for a shirt pull inside the box by Bright Osayi-Samuel on Aaron Appindangoye.

Nigeria eventually took the lead at Morocco’s Moulay Hassan Stadium with 12 minutes to play after Sevilla forward Akor Adams seized on an error by Appindangoye, but there was more drama to come as Osimhen’s Galatasaray team-mate Mario Lemina deflected in past Stanley Nwabali to level.

Osimhen spurned two golden opportunities to avoid extra time and send Eric Chelle’s side into Sunday’s final, where they will face the DR Congo for a place in the wider six-team inter-confederation play-offs in Mexico in March after the latter beat Cameroon 1-0 later in the evening in Rabat courtesy of a late goal from Chancel Mbemba.

That included a glaring miss in the 12th and final minute of stoppage time as Osimhen was sent through one-on-one with Gabon goalkeeper Loyce Mbaba after a swift counter-attack but fired off target.

It did not prove costly as Nigeria were far superior in extra time, with Osimhen netting a stylish brace with two tidy finishes - and being booked for removing his shirt during the celebrations - after their lead had been restored through Chidera Ejuke.

“I was gutted,” Osimhen said of his last-gasp miss in normal time, per ESPN Africa. “But as a person and as a striker, I had to keep it moving.

“It was bad. After I missed the opportunity, I saw the referee said we were going into extra time. I told my team-mates I’m sorry guys, I will correct it in extra time.

“If I let it get into my head, I don’t think I would have been able to grab those two goals. For me it’s important because sometimes as a striker, you score the one... people believe that you cannot score.

“And then you miss the one that people say you can score, which is normal. But I’m human, I make mistakes, which is normal. For me, I just had to keep it moving and congratulations also to the team for this performance.”

Thursday’s game was marred by lasers repeatedly being shone at players from the crowd, including Osimhen, who did not let it affect his concentration.

“I actually saw the person pointing the laser at me,” he said. “But the person was in the stand, I couldn’t go there. For me it’s normal, they know the kind of quality we possess so they're trying to use the lasers to distract so many of us. I just keep it moving, I don’t even think about it.”