Napoli hitman Victor Osimhen has moved to defend Fulham ace Alex Iwobi amid strong criticism in Nigeria.
The Africa Cup of Nations came to an end on Sunday night and it was a story of heartbreak for two Fulham stars.
Defender Calvin Bassey and midfielder Alex Iwobi both lined up for Nigeria as they met host nation Ivory Coast in the final.
At half-time, Bassey and Iwobi were dreaming of glory as William Troost-Ekong’s goal put Nigeria 1-0 up.
It all changed after the break though as Ivory Coast found two goals to turn the game on its head and win the Africa Cup of Nations, leaving Nigeria devastated.
Sadly, the backlash has been fierce and Fulham ace Iwobi has been coming in for major criticism, especially from Nigeria fans on social media.
Victor Osimhen moves to defend Fulham star Alex Iwobi
This kind of thing is always sad to see and we can now see that Iwobi’s Instagram page is completely empty.
We feel for Iwobi here and Nigeria teammate Victor Osimhen – one of the top strikers in world football – has now offered some support.
Osimhen has been quoted by Soccernet in Nigeria as saying that fans need to remember that the players are humans too and what Iwobi has received is ‘cyberbullying’.
The Napoli hitman added that the abuse towards Iwobi is ‘out of this world’ and fans need to understand how harmful their criticism can be.
Osimhen noted that he and his Nigeria teammates have spoken to Iwobi, checking on his mental well-being after a difficult few days.
“I urge Nigerians that cyberbullying is bad because we are also humans,” said Osimhen. “Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes, we have a good game, and we’ll get the hype. But of course, when you criticise, you have to be constructive when doing this type of things.
“I think, to be fair, what they have done to Alex [Iwobi] is out of this world and not good. They should also look at his mental health because there are some of us who can take this to heart and then keep on grinding. And there are some of us that it gets to our heads, and they will lose focus, and we will lose form. So I think we are rallying around him. We have spoken to him individually and collectively,” he added.
Iwobi returns to action for Fulham this weekend and will be in contention to face Aston Villa at Craven Cottage.
Marco Silva will be checking on Iwobi and making sure that he is ready to play – both mentally and physically.
Fulham fans will be ready to welcome Iwobi back with open arms and we can imagine that he will receive quite the ovation with supporters no doubt rallying behind him.
Iwobi, a £22million signing from Everton, has been a key player for Fulham this season and getting back to club action may be just what he needs right now.