Jose Peseiro has defended Victor Osimhen who did not score in the last two of Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers despite rich form for Napoli.
Osimhen struggled to get shots on target in the entire 180 minutes plus against Guinea-Bissau.
However, the closest Osimhen came was hitting the inside of the upright in Bissau but the ball bounced back into play and eventually, the danger was cleared.
Peseiro has now explained why it is not easy for the Napoli forward to shine for the national team as he has done at the club level.
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“Osimhen came here to fight for our shirt, for the Super Eagles. Osimhen now feels the pressure more with our national team than in Napoli, it’s not good.
“I spoke with him, the first match, he started the match in Nigeria. He started feeling the pressure – I need to score, I need to do everything well.
“When a player puts it in his mind I need to do everything well, sometimes he doesn’t do well, but he made a fantastic sacrifice.
“When our players put on the shirt to defend the Super Eagles, they are under more pressure. The fans, and people need to understand that. They feel too much pressure because they want to do well for the country, family, flag, and Super Eagles. That moment, they commit more mistakes, and they don’t do things well.”
