Turkiye and Cagliari forward Semih Kılıçsoy has named a Super Eagles defender as the toughest-ever defender he’s faced in his football career, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 20-year-old, who can play as a left-winger and a centre-forward, started his career with the Besiktas youth team before breaking into the first team in the 2022/2023 season.
His breakout campaign came the following year as he scored 12 goals and provided four assists in 35 games for the Black Eagles.
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Semih Kılıçsoy credits Bright Osayi-Samuel
The Turkish youngster, alongside Osayi-Samuel, both left the Turkish Super Lig this summer. Kılıçsoy left Besiktas on loan to Genoa, while Bright Osayi-Samuel left Fenerbahce on a free deal to join EFL Championship side Birmingham City.
During their time in the Turkish Super Lig, Osayi and Kılıçsoy faced each other just two times, although the Nigerian mostly came out on top in those duels.
In those two games, Fenerbahçe won once, while Beşiktaş secured a narrow 1-0 win in the other game.
In a report by superlighaberler, Kılıçsoy named Bright Osayi-Samuel as his most challenging opponent so far.
Osayi’s performance for the Super Eagles so far
The 27-year-old was born in Okija, Nigeria, and moved to England at the age of ten, following a brief spell in Spain.
Although he has an English passport, Osayi opted to play for Nigeria, making his debut in 2022.
He’s then gone on to play 25 games for the Nigerian national team, featuring in the AFCON 2023 tournament.
Of the 25 games that Osayi has been on the pitch for Nigeria, the Super Eagles lost just six games.