Super Eagles’ Cyriel Dessers Confirms Nature Of His Injury

Super Eagles of Nigeria striker, Cyriel Dessers, has confirmed that he has suffered an ankle injury during the Scottish Cup final between his club, Glasgow Rangers and Celtic on Saturday, May 25.

Cyriel Dessers, who was in fair form in his debut season at Rangers, started the Scottish Cup final but couldn’t complete it due to an ankle injury.

The 29-year-old Nigerian striker was substituted in the first minute of the first half with 22-year-old Senegalese forward, Abdallah Sima.

In the 60th minute, the Rangers had a goal ruled out after a Video Assistant Referee intervention, and the Celtics waited until the 90th minute of the game before they scored the heart-breaking winning goal through the boots of Adam Idah.

The 1-0 win earned Celtic the 2023-2024 Scottish Cup, which means they beat Rangers to the Scottish Premiership title and the league cup.

After the Scottish Cup final, Cyriel Dessers told reporters that coach Philippe Clement had to substitute him because the pain of the injury didn’t allow him to continue with the game.

“I got injured in the first half, after around 25 minutes, it’s my ankle”, the Nigeria international said.

“I tried to go on because obviously it was the game of the year, the big final at the end of the season, one big push. But I had to come off. I’ll get it assessed in the next few days.”

Recall that Cyriel Dessers joined Rangers from the Italian club, Cremonese for a transfer fee worth €5 million on July 6, 2023. Since then, the former Feyenoord striker has scored 22 goals and provided 8 assists in 53 games in all competitions.

Despite his form, Dessers, who has played six times for Nigeria since making his international debut on October 13, 2020, was not invited to the Super Eagles’ 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Africa on June 7 and against Benin Republic on June 10.