{"id":124748,"date":"2026-01-01T19:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T18:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=124748"},"modified":"2026-01-01T19:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T18:08:10","slug":"afcon-2025-osimhen-plays-down-yekinis-record-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/afcon-2025-osimhen-plays-down-yekinis-record-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"AFCON 2025: Osimhen plays down Yekini&#8217;s record pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m#msg-f:1853129055115582650\" class=\"mail-message expanded\">\n<div id=\"m#msg-f:1853129055115582650-header\" class=\"mail-message-header spacer\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Oscar Okhifo<\/div>\n<div id=\"m#msg-f:1853129055115582650-content\" class=\"mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images \">\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has brushed aside comparison with late Nigerian legend Rashidi Yekini, saying he is not under pressure to break the country\u2019s all-time scoring record.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Osimhen, who captained Nigeria to a 3-1 win over Uganda on Tuesday, said he remains unfazed by talk of overtaking Yekini\u2019s record, stressing that such discussions do not influence his mindset or approach to games.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cTo be honest, I never go to bed thinking about trying to equal or surpass the record,\u201d the Galatasaray forward said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He said his main concern is making meaningful contributions to the team, whether through goals, assists or tireless work on the pitch, rather than pursuing personal achievements.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Osimhen noted that records will eventually be broken in the natural course of the game, but insisted this should not come at the cost of team harmony, objectives or the joy of playing football.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The 27-year-old striker has scored 31 goals for Nigeria, leaving him six shy of Yekini\u2019s long-standing national record, and has found the net just once in three matches at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Although he failed to score against Uganda, Osimhen led by example as Paul Onuachu and Raphael Onyedika, who struck twice, ensured the Super Eagles secured all three points.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nigeria ended the group stage with a perfect nine points from three matches, finishing top of Group C and booking a confident place in the Round of 16.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Osimhen said his focus remains firmly on leadership, teamwork and winning matches, adding that personal glory means little compared to collective success.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The former Napoli forward stressed that his ultimate goal is to help Nigeria secure a fourth AFCON title in Morocco, having previously lifted the trophy in 1980 as the Green Eagles and later in 1994 and 2013 as the Super Eagles.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The World Cup has slipped away from the super eagles, bringing home the AFCON cup would sure send Nigerians to the seventh Heaven.<\/div>\n<div id=\"m_997900031392584623ymail_android_signature\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oscar Okhifo Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has brushed aside comparison with late Nigerian legend Rashidi Yekini, saying he is not under pressure to break the country\u2019s all-time scoring&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":124749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AFCON 2025: Osimhen plays down Yekini&#039;s record pressure - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/afcon-2025-osimhen-plays-down-yekinis-record-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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