Amuneke shaped my career – Osimhen

Super Eagles player, Victor Osimhen has praised former Golden Eaglets coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, for shaping his career.

Speaking in an interview on the Super Eagles YouTube channel, Osimhen stated that the discipline instilled in him by Amuneke made him the top class player he is today.

“I would rewind to when I joined the U-17 and when I first went to the camp. In my own mentality, I felt the coach didn’t like me. Every time, he would speak to me and yell at me on the pitch. For me, I thought maybe he was making me to suffer,” Osimhen said.

“There was a time I wanted to leave the camp, I spoke to the coordinator and he told me to be calm that the coach knew what he was doing.

“For me, I think when you have chosen this path, you have to be disciplined, discipline is the first thing, whether you have a coach or you don’t have a coach guiding you, I think discipline is the first thing. And I am really happy I went through coach Emmanuel Amuneke.

“Everything I am today, everything I would be in the future, I attribute almost half of my success to him. Whatever I have achieved, he really set my path, he made me to understand life isn’t all about talent, you have to work hard, you have to be disciplined and listen to the coach’s instructions either on or off the pitch. I think other players that played under him can also testify, not just me.

“So, I think whatever path you choose, be it football or music or any other thing, you have to be disciplined and know what you are doing and what you want.

The Golden Eaglets won their fifth U-17 world cup title under Amuneke in 2015 on Chile. Osimhen scored ten goals at the tournament.

Spekaing on joining Lille and opting for the number 7 jersey, Osimhen who made the move for €15m from Sporting Charleroi last August said:

“When they (Lille) first presented the numbers that they had, I went for the No. 7, because the player who wore the jersey before (Rafael Leao) was a very good one, and he had a lot of luck and he has a lot of talent also.

“They asked me why I chose the number, and I told them I really wanted it and that was what my my chose. When I picked the number, I also presented it to God and of course, you can see that everything is going on well.

“After my debut, Rafael Leao messaged me on Instagram and we had a little chat about everything and about the club and we both wished ourselves well,” he added