Former Nigeria captain and coach Sunday Oliseh has criticised the Super Eagles' bronze medal celebrations after they finished third at the Africa Cup of Nations, and claimed that star striker Victor Osimhen's public confrontation with teammate Ademola Lookman hampered team chemistry and cost Nigeria the continental title.
Nigeria defeated Egypt 4-2 on penalties last Saturday to claim a record-extending ninth bronze medal at the tournament, extending their perfect record in third-place playoffs. But Oliseh, who won the tournament with Nigeria in 1994, and captained them to silver in 2000 and bronze in 2002, says celebrating anything less than gold has created a culture of mediocrity that threatens Nigerian football.
This latest bronze medal took the Super Eagles to a haul of nine third-place finishes at AFCON -- more than any other nation in tournament history. They also share the record with Egypt for most semifinal appearances at 17, but have only three AFCON titles compared to Egypt's seven, Cameroon's five and Ghana's four.
"Before the final in Rabat, a video went viral of our superheroes celebrating widely for winning third place against Egypt," Oliseh said.
"In the media tribune, where I sat, I watched as African and European pundits mocked us. They couldn't believe it. There was a time when the Super Eagles shed tears at second place. Because to us, anything but the trophy was a failure. Celebrating third place builds a culture of mediocrity."
Nigeria reached the AFCON final in 2024 in Ivory Coast, losing to the hosts, and were rewarded with cash, land and national awards by Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Following the victory over Egypt, the president commended the team and said the "bronze surely feels good like gold." Oliseh strongly disagreed.
"We must remember, the decline of our dominance began exactly when we started being content with bronze," he said on his Global Football Insight Podcast.
"If we want to be Africa's best again, the wild celebration for anything less than gold must stop immediately."
Oliseh, who earned 55 caps for Nigeria and later coached the Super Eagles, argued that Osimhen's confrontation with Lookman during their 4-0 round of 16 victory over Mozambique played a big part in Nigeria's failure to win the tournament
"We are confusing talent with license," Oliseh said.
"Victor Osimhen is world class, but talent is not a license to destroy team chemistry. Look at the evidence. Since that public outburst against Ademola Lookman, one of our brightest lights, Lookman became a shadow of himself, and we lost the bite."
Although the issue appeared to have been resolved after, and the team went on to beat Algeria convincingly in the very next game, Oliseh said the damage had already been done. Nigeria lost to Morocco on penalties in the semifinals after a goalless draw, with Osimhen substituted three minutes before the crucial penalty shootout.
"When you publicly diminish your teammates, you break their spirit. You destroy the very confidence a team needs to survive the semifinal. Against a team as tactically sharp as Morocco, we needed our best players at one hundred percent," he said.
"Statistically, Lookman was the most dangerous player in the tournament, until that public verbal abuse broke his focus. You cannot expect a playmaker to perform miracles on the pitch when he has been demoralized by his own teammate.
"The conflict did its damage. We didn't just lose a game. We lost the psychological edge we needed to win."
In the wake of that incident, the 50-year-old former midfielder, who played professionally for clubs including Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, also criticized what he called a toxic fan culture that shields players from accountability.
"What is worse, and frankly, what is most dangerous for our football is the fan culture that now tolerates this," he said.
"We have reached a point where anybody who dares to point out the truth is immediately attacked, or threatened online by a mob of followers. We are breeding a culture of entitlement where the player is treated as a god, and the nation is treated as an afterthought."
Oliseh specifically addressed Osimhen's history of confrontations with Nigerian football figures, including former striker Victor Ikpeba and his widely publicized dispute with former coach Finidi George, which led to the Nigeria Football Federation hiring a foreign coach and forcing George to resign.
"Scoring goals for Nigeria doesn't give you a license to disrespect certified legends like Finidi George, or Victor Ikpeba," Oliseh said.
"It doesn't give you the right to disrespect coaches or teammates. If goals alone justified arrogance, what should the legends who actually put Nigeria at the pinnacle of world football like Amokachi, Amunike, Okocha, Babangida, and myself do?
"Walk on people's heads? No. We respected the jersey. We realize that victory is temporary, but character is permanent."
Oliseh condemned Nigeria's formal protest to FIFA over the eligibility of Democratic Republic of Congo players used in their World Cup playoff defeat in November. The Nigeria Football Federation alleged that between six to nine players used by Congo DR may have switched international allegiances, but did not give up their European passports in line with Congolese law before representing the country.
Nigeria lost the playoff 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, ending their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in North America.
"We failed to qualify for the World Cup on the pitch. Where it actually matters," he said.
"Instead of looking in the mirror, and taking responsibility, we see this desperate protest to FIFA against the DR Congo. Have we not realized what is happening here? Since the announcement of this protest, the conversation has shifted. Many are no longer pointing fingers at those truly responsible for our failure. Instead, they are cursing DR Congo."