Nigeria Football Federation president Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau today paid a visit to former Nigeria captain Henry Nwosu at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba.
The legendary midfielder has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment for some weeks now in the Delta State capital.
Nwosu, at 17 years old the youngest player in the Green Eagles squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations title on home soil in 1980, had been in the hospital for some time now, with the Nigerian football fraternity 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 Nwosu at the hospital.
Nwosu, now 59, featured at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments for Nigeria, winning the country’s first title in 1980 and finishing in second place in 1984 and 1988.
He 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 brilliant goal against the Indomitable Lions in the 1988 final in Morocco, which was controversially disallowed by Mauritanian referee Idrissa Sarr, and that incident remains one of the evergreen talking points in the history of the African showpiece.
“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 added.
Nwosu has also served as coach at different times with Nigerian national teams.
