While Nigerians are celebrating one Super Eagles man, Victor Osimhen, for winning the Italian Serie A, they will now be sending words of support to two other Super Eagles prospects Cyriel Dessers and David Okereke, who both suffered relegation from the same league with their club, Cremonese.
It has been a season to forget for the humble football team from Cremona. Despite the best efforts of Okereke, Dessers and the others, they could not close the gulf between the established Serie A teams and themselves, who were only participating in their first Serie A season since the 1995/96 season.
Cremonese Relegated After Spezia and Lecce Ended Goalless
Cremonese are currently 19th on the Italian Serie A table with two games left to play to call it a wrap on the 2023/24 season.
David Okereke & Cyriel Dessers have both been relegated to the Italian Serie B with US Cremonese following their embarrassing [1-5] defeat against Bologna today.#Okereke #Dessers #SerieA #EaglesTracker 🦅🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/eVabvO5W5v
— Home of Nigerian Football (@EaglesTrackerNG) May 20, 2023
They won promotion to the 2022/23 Serie A season on the back of an excellent outing in Serie B in 2021/22, which saw them finish in second place.
They quickly recruited Nigeria national football team striker Dessers, who had led Feyenoord Rotterdam to the UEFA European Conference League final last season with his goals which also earned him the top scorer award in the maiden edition of the tournament.
Okereke also came in after a solid outing with Venezia, who were also relegated in the 2021/22 season.
Adaptation to the league would take some time for the newly-promoted side but Dessers and Okereke would prove their goal-scoring ability with the chances they were given.
Both players, who will surely not be making it into José Peseiro's AFCON 2023 squad should Nigeria qualify for the tournament, scored a combined 13 goals and are in the top three scorers for the team this season.
However, their fate hinged on the game between fellow relegation strugglers Spezia and Lecce. Cremonese needed a Lecce victory but both teams would play out a 0 – 0 draw on Sunday afternoon. This came after they lost to Bologna on Saturday at home by a 5 – 1 scoreline.
What Next For Dessers And Okereke?
Both players have done enough to earn a move to another Serie A club as Cremonese would be looking to shed some financial weight down in Serie B.
There are no reports about either players being looked at by clubs ahead of the summer transfer window, but it is understood that both men are valuable assets for the team who can bring in good money when they are sold.
Dessers, 28, has had a journeyman career but is currently one of a small number of active Super Eagles players to have scored over 100 career goals.
🔝 Most goals in a knockout campaign…
6️⃣ Cyriel Dessers
6️⃣ Yira Sor
6️⃣ Arthur Cabral #UECL pic.twitter.com/0jRYEcyqwr— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) May 15, 2023
The Belgian-born Nigerian initially wanted to pursue a career in Economics, but football took off for him while he was taking a gap year to mentally prepare for the world of academics.
It will be too early to consider retirement but this will surely spur him on to aim higher.
His distance from the Super Eagles is also getting wider, and having tasted national team action, he will be pining for a return.
Dessers might likely b on his way out of Cremonese this summer but even if he decides to stay in Serie B, fans can still place bets on the foward, using the insights to play along and earn big rewards. Use the Betway sign up code and 1xbet promo code if you're a new user in Nigeria.
This article was most recently revised and updated 10 months ago
