Former Nigerian international John Mikel Obi has lavished praises on Victor Osimhen following his five-star performance against Benin Republic in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The Galatasaray striker scored a sensational hat-trick to help the Super Eagles thump Gernot Rohr's side 4-0 in the final group stage qualifier encounter.

Despite missing out on the automatic ticket to South Africa, the 4-0 thrashing was enough to secure a place in the playoffs for the three-time African champions.

Speaking on Nigeria's World Cup qualifiers campaign, Mikel Obi gave credit to the team, especially Victor Osimhen, as the player who single-handedly secured the playoff spot for Eric Chelle's team.

“Our World Cup dream is still alive. I spoke about it before the two games. I said whatever is going on with the FA, all the negativity, all the corruption and everything that is going on, those two games [Lesotho and Benin Republic] were must-win games, and we did that,” Obi Mikel said on The Obi One Podcast.

“Credit to the boys, they absolutely did that and, of course, the main man [Victor Osimhen] we have talked about so many times on this podcast.

“If we didn’t win that game, we wouldn’t be talking about trying to qualify for the World Cup.

“Victor Osimhen has single-handedly kept us alive. In one of the biggest games, he came out and scored a hat-trick.

“When the pressure is on, the big boys step up, and that is exactly what he has done. He is the big boy in that team right now, and we all need him.”

WDN