By Albert Akota
The President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau yesterday visited former Nigeria captain Henry Nwosu at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba where the legend has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment for some weeks now.
Nwosu, the youngest player in the Nigeria squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations title on home soil in 1980, had been in the hospital for some time now, with top politicians, captains of industry and football chieftains all showing interest in his health status.
“I can assure you that all Nigerians, from our political leaders to business gurus and all football people, are interested in seeing you recover from this illness. Everyone, within Nigeria and in the diaspora, is praying for your recovery and eventual recuperation,” Gusau told the legend in the hospital located in the Delta State capital.
Nwosu, a formidable force in the Senior Men National Team of Nigeria in the 1980s, played in three Africa Cup of Nations finals (1980, 1984 and 1988) and was one of the best players of the 1984 and 1988 editions, both of which Nigeria lost to Cameroon in the Final.
He scored a stellar goal against the Indomitable Lions in the 1988 Final in Morocco, disallowed by Mauritanian referee Idrissa Sarr, and that incident remains of the evergreen talking points in the 65-year history of Africa’s flagship football championship. Cameroon went on to win by the odd goal scored from the penalty spot in the second half.
“The NFF will continue to monitor your situation and will be ready to offer whatever support it can while also calling on all those who can lend their support for you to return to your healthy self to act in the nation’s interest,” Gusau told Nwosu.
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