Nigeria’s Benjamin Fredrick Set to Miss AFCON 2025
Nigeria defender Benjamin Fredrick is set to miss the Africa Cup of Nations due to a knee injury.
Fredrick, 20, missed club side Dender’s Belgian Pro League victory over Royal Antwerp on Sunday due to the injury.
No timeframe has been given for his return to action but sources with knowledge of the situation indicated he is not expected to recover in time for AFCON 2025, which begins on December 21.
The versatile defender has been an important part of Eric Chelle’s squad since his senior debut in May, starting both of November’s World Cup play-off fixtures as Nigeria’s hopes of reaching next summer’s tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada were ended with a penalty shootout defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nigeria begin their AFCON campaign against Tanzania on December 21, before facing Tunisia and Uganda in their other two group stage fixtures. Nigeria reached the AFCON final in 2023, but were beaten by the Ivory Coast.
Fredrick joined Dender on a season-long loan from Brentford in the summer. He has made 15 appearances for the Belgian top-flight side this season.
What does Fredrick’s injury mean for Nigeria?
The bad news keeps piling up for Nigeria who failed to qualify for a second successive World Cup during the November international break. Nigeria’s squad boycotted training in the build-up to their play-off games due to a financial dispute with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
It might seem strange to label a 20-year-old defender with only seven caps as crucial for Nigeria but Fredrick’s performances have been excellent since he made his debut in May’s Unity Cup match against Jamaica.
Nigeria’s head coach Eric Chelle has used Fredrick at centre-back and right-back. When Semi Ajayi was ruled out of Nigeria’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Gabon through suspension, Chelle overlooked captain William Troost-Ekong and started Fredrick next to Calvin Bassey. He handled former Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang superbly as they won 4-1.
Frederick struggled in the first-half of their play-off final against DR Congo but improved after the break and completed the entire 120 minutes.
This is the latest injury setback for Nigeria ahead of AFCON and it damages their chances of winning the competition for the first time since 2013.
First-choice right-back Ola Aina is recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in October and is a doubt. It means Chelle might have to trust Bright Osayi-Samuel to start regularly. Star striker Victor Osimhen also suffered a muscle injury against DR Congo.
