Victor Osimhen: Breaking Speed Records On Bumpy Roads

The second roll touches on Osimhen - the new king of African football.

The masked marksman - Victor Osimhen

In Nigeria, there are no clear statistics as to the number of young prospective footballers who make it professionally.

Globally, it is only just over 1% of kids who hope to become footballers that go all the way to the professional level. Strip that number further down and it becomes bare - very few make it to the elite levels. Victor Osimhen is one of them.

The process of making it to the elite levels is difficult. The road varies in its bumpiness. While some footballers have had a smooth sailing journey to the big time, others have had to contend with difficult challenges. They hold different targets and carry different expectations but there’s no single football player who will reject success even if it comes with little effort.

For Osimhen, success didn’t come on a platter of gold; it also doesn’t have all its protagonists basking in the glory of triumph. Friends have becomes foes — some of the people whose shoulders the dream stood on have also fallen.

He’d look back to how it all started and wish some things never changed but that’s the sour taste of life’s lemons. The lemons he has made lemonades from.

His story is one of a hard-head who knows it’s all or bust. He fought through difficulties till his dreams came through; from the loneliness of Germany to the rejection, then acceptance of Belgium; from the marker in France to the sometimes bumpy journeys in Naples, he will remember 2023 for being the year things finally came into place. It took him some time but he’s here.

In one year, Osimhen has won the Serie A, helping Napoli win it for the first time in 33 years, won the Serie A golden boot and became the highest scoring African in the league - one which has had Samuel Eto’o and George Weah — African football legends Osimhen must see as standard; came 8th in the Ballon D’Or and became the highest-placed Nigerian in history of the awards, and most recently won the African Player of the Year - Nigeria’s first in 24 years. Everything that could go right for Osimhen has gone right in 2023 yet the journey wasn’t always clear. Sometimes, it seemed like a mirage - an optical illusion.

He has won his first title as a professional eight years after his coronation as one of the next big things to watch. He has come strong and has lived up to projection. His hunger and desire have never been questionable and that character has driven him all the way to where he currently is - a global superstar and one of the biggest players in the world.

The African King

A moment that seemed like it was all ending for him has given him a special identity. He has been branded by bruises. From the colour of his hair which came when his life seemed colourless to the mask on his face which has protected his face yet surged his visibility, Osimhen has overcome his career’s worst days.

Sometimes he’s deemed as too eccentric, overtly impatient and inordinately demanding, but those are the qualities that also stand him out. His greatest weaknesses are his greatest strengths when understood and rightfully deployed. Even Osimhen would not tell confidently if another year like 2023 will come in his career but it’s been a year he let it all out and let it all fly.

His handling of travails have shown some maturity and he has rejected life changing opportunities - low-hanging fruits that may leave sour tastes behind, for the assurance of a more organised future. The year comes so fast and moves like a speed train but Osimhen has been on its heels, almost at par with it and receiving its glad tidings as they moved.

When he looks back, he’d remember that these roads aren’t as smooth as they appear. There’s love at home but it’s not always peaceful too; he has been ridiculed by a zealous club handler and has had his loyalty questioned by a city he adores and adores him back. But despite these bumps, Osimhen has broken speed records.

He should give himself some credit; only a few make it out of where he comes from alive - only a handful make it to the premiership, and like Mario Balotelli said, he’d never understand the meaning of what he has achieved until he looks back in time.

PS: The roll call has seen;

*Rema

*Osimhen