Serie A Golden Boot winner Victor Osimhen will face Leo Messi and other European stars for his Ballon d’Or nomination.
Nigerian striker and Neapolitan superhero Victor Osimhen has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual award, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 24-year-old striker, currently enjoying his International break with the Super Eagles, will compete with the likes of Lionel Messi, Bukayo Saka, Rodri, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric, and Erling Haaland for this year’s Ballon d’Or.
With Osimhen’s nomination, he becomes the first Nigerian to be nominated for the prestigious prize, twenty-four years after Nwankwo Kanu was nominated in 1999, a year that saw Papilo take home his second African Footballer of the Year award.
The Napoli striker carted away with the Capocannoniere award, scoring twenty-six Serie A goals last term to lead the Partenopei to a Scudetto title for the first time in more than three decades.
He was also instrumental for the club as his five goals in the Champions League helped the Italian outfit to reach the quarter-final, and could have even gone further, had he not picked up an injury that kept him out of the first leg against Italian rivals, A.C. Milan.
Nominated for the 2023 Ballon d’Or @victorosimhen9 @sscnapoli @NGSuperEagles #ballondor pic.twitter.com/FkDOlclDE2
– Ballondor #ballondor (@ballondor) 6 2023 Jan 9 p>
Osimhen’s attacking partner, Hwicha Kvaradzgelia, has also been called up after an excellent season at Napoli.
The most valuable player in Serie A has proved his doubts wrong, as he tormented the league’s defenders, scoring 12 goals and setting up his teammates 10 times to get involved in 22 goals.
The Nigerian player faces tough competition from seven-time award winner Leo Messi after the Inter Miami forward led La Albiceleste to victory at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Erling Haaland is also a very close shooter, winning the Triple Crown with Manchester City and scoring 36 Premier League goals in the process. This is a feat neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Luis Suarez could achieve during their time in the league.
