Osimhen may miss 2021 AFCON over injury

Victor Osimhen

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Kelvin Ekerete

Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, is set to miss the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon next year after suffering an orbital and cheekbone injury which will see him miss out of action for at least two months.

The Nigeria international suffered the injury in Napoli’s 3-2 loss to champions Inter Milan at the San Siro after colliding with Inter defender Milan Skriniar on Sunday.

He was taken to the hospital immediately after leaving the pitch and was discharged on Monday after being diagnosed with an orbital and cheekbone injury with the striker scheduled to go into surgery today.

The 22-year-old has been Nigeria’s first-choice striker since 2019 after the retirement of Odion Ighalo. He has been in good form for the national team scoring four goals in their Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying Group C

According to Calciomercato.com, he could return on December 19 against Milan, but it’s still difficult to make predictions about the actual date of his comeback.

Italian journalist Matteo Bonetti on Twitter wrote, “Victor Osimhen will be out for at least the next two months after fracturing both his orbital and cheekbone in a violent head clash with Milan Skriniar this weekend.”

However, research from our correspondent shows that it takes at least six weeks to fully recover after a cheekbone surgery while it takes two weeks to fully recover from orbital surgery.

The 2021 AFCON is billed to hold in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6.

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