Brown Ideye has told Nigerian football fans to calm down. The former Super Eagles striker says there is no cause for panic over Victor Osimhen’s absence as Nigeria prepare for their crucial 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Tanzania — because the attackers already in camp have what it takes to get the job done.
Osimhen, Nigeria’s talisman and the reigning African Footballer of the Year, was left out of coach Eric Chelle’s 24-man squad after undergoing successful knee surgery on November 7. The Galatasaray striker is expected to be out for around three weeks, with reports in Turkey pointing to a return against Aston Villa in the Champions League on November 24. His absence has dominated the build-up to Friday’s must-win home game in Uyo, but Ideye insists the panic is misplaced.
“This time we don’t have Osimhen upfront, and everybody is in panic mode,” Ideye said. “It is not supposed to be so.”
Ideye spoke to The Nation ahead of Friday’s game.
The ones called up must step up, says Brown Ideye
The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner was blunt about what he expects from the men Chelle has chosen in Osimhen’s place. “The ones that have been called up are the ones that need to step up, put in their best and give Nigeria the best opportunity to qualify,” he added.
It is a message that will land well in a camp that finally has its full complement. All 24 players invited by Chelle are now in Uyo after a chaotic start to the week, when flight scheduling problems at Victor Attah International Airport delayed arrivals and left only 17 players for Tuesday’s first training session. Captain Wilfred Ndidi led the final group of seven into camp on Wednesday, and the squad has since trained together ahead of Friday’s game.
Who replaces Osimhen in Uyo?
Chelle is not short of attacking options. Ademola Lookman, Taiwo Awoniyi, Tolu Arokodare, Akor Adams, Moses Simon and Moses Usor are all in the squad, and Ideye believes any of them can fill the gap if they seize the opportunity.
Lookman, the team’s most in-form attacker, carries the biggest expectation, but Arokodare arrives in red-hot form after scoring twice for Ajax in a 6-1 win over Midtjylland last week, while Awoniyi and Adams offer the physical presence Chelle may want against a Tanzania side that will sit deep and frustrate. The question is not whether Nigeria have goals in the squad — it is whether someone is ready to own the number nine shirt for two games that will shape the entire qualifying campaign.
Ideye knows what that shirt demands. He won 28 caps for Nigeria and scored six goals, including the second in the 4-1 semi-final win over Mali on the way to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations title in South Africa. He later became West Bromwich Albion’s record signing in a reported £10 million move in 2014, and after a career that took him through Ukraine, Greece, China, Spain, Turkey and Kuwait, he returned home to finish with Enyimba before retiring in 2025. He now works as Director of Player Pathways and Partnerships at Atlantic Business Football Club.
No room for error against Tanzania
The stakes could hardly be higher. Nigeria sit second in Group L with three points from two games — a 2-1 win over Madagascar in Uyo followed by a humbling 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in Bissau. Tanzania have already qualified automatically as co-hosts of the 2027 finals, leaving only one ticket for Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Madagascar to fight over.
Anything less than victory at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Friday, with kick-off at 5pm, would leave the Super Eagles’ qualification hopes hanging by a thread before the return leg on Tuesday, November 17. That is why the message from the former striker matters: the players in camp, not the one in the treatment room, are the ones who will decide whether Nigeria are in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda next summer.
For the full build-up to Friday’s game, read our Nigeria vs Tanzania preview and check today’s predictions for the best tips on the qualifiers.
Photo: Brown Ideye warming up for West Bromwich Albion in 2014 — Warwick Gastinger, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Collage by SportsBuddy.
