Superhero Osimhen: bomber, driver and unbeatable head

You see a player by courage, by altruism, by imagination. He sings De Gregori and the Nino in Victor Osimhen has listened to him. Because after the missed penalty against Liverpool (and the injury) the Nigerian child has changed gear and we are not just talking about goals. Because there are details by which a player can be judged. And we like to call the top scorer of the championship as a child for the way he rejoices, after a goal and a victory: with his teammates, with the public. Pause to admire it jumping in a disheveled manner, with its long and muscular levers, suddenly it becomes articulated like a happy child. And this is pure joy for the fans who now fill Maradona at every appointment.

The new Victor

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He became a leader not only because he scores, but because of how he plays the game. The way he mentally entered the game. Before he was almost absent at certain moments of the game. Now he is always on the piece and not just for the great nose for goals. “I want to win the trophy with this team. I would be happy if I won the top scorer, but I would never put my goals ahead of those of the team ”. Music for the ears of Luciano Spalletti who is the architect of change. There are some very significant images in the match against Udinese, complicated to win in its dynamics. In the first half, after scoring the 1-0, Victor flies to the left and tries to serve the unmarked Lozano in the middle: he misses the measure of the pass and gets angry with himself. Last season’s Osimhen would have arrived at the shot with his head down, without passing the ball. Then the stupendous movement with which in the second half he brings half a defense behind him, leaving the field open to Elmas for the 3-0. And in the final, with the team in trouble at 3-2, he not only tells Ostigard to stay behind on a set piece, but in the first person he goes to press or put himself in his own area to soar with his extraordinary elevation, the same one that led him to head for the eighth time this 2022: only Harry Kane with Tottenham has done better in Europe, nine.

Doubts and certainties

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When he returned from injury in October – with Raspadori and Simeone scoring repeatedly and the team always winning – someone wondered what the … relocation of the Nigerian would be like. The answer is in the numbers: 7 league goals in just six games. All decisive goals for this breakaway in the head which is acquiring sensational proportions, considering that today at least two of the five major pursuers will have to leave points, due to the direct clashes. And if we also count the Champions since the return Victor has scored 8 goals in as many matches. “I am very happy for this match, especially intense for Udinese’s return to the final. The most important thing is to keep winning ”. The new Osimhen, already in double figures in the season (10 centers) in the month that had usually been fatal for him with injuries, looks ahead with a different spirit. Now there is not only his ego in front of him: “Elmas gave me a great ball on the occasion of the advantage. I’m happy not so much for the goal but for the contribution I give to the team by scoring.” Here is the new Victor you recognize not only by courage but also by altruism. And the whole stadium that marks his name “open stage” is the demonstration that the message of change has arrived loud and clear.