“I gave up on football”

The young Nigerian striker is one of the hottest players in Belgium at the moment, but his football dream could have died years ago

Nigerian striker Victor Boniface has revealed that there was a time he gave up on football because of depression.

Boniface's career has grown tremendously in the last two years. The Nigerian striker was just struggling to get game time at Norwegian club Bodo Glimt two years ago.

However, he shot into prominence last season when he scored six goals in 15 games for Bodo Glimt.

Earlier this season, the 22-year-old striker scored five goals in the Champions League qualifiers before getting snapped up by Belgian high-flyers Royale Union SG last summer.

However, Boniface's career could have ended before it started. The Nigerian striker has suffered two serious injuries in his career. In 2018, He was out for six months because of a cruciate ligament rupture.

Also, Boniface suffered a similar injury two seasons ago. He was out for over a year, and he missed 46 games.

The Super Eagles hopeful has revealed that those were some of the most trying tune of his career. He lost his mum at almost the same time as his second injury layoff, and he admits that he almost quit at that point.

“I gave up. I was no longer interested in playing football,” Boniface told Ojora Babatunde.

“There was a period when I lost my mum, I also had a bad injury that was going to keep me out for 6-8 months, and I lost a good offer from Club Brugge.

“I lost interest in football, I forgot about my diets, I began to eat everything, I started living a normal life, I just wanted to be happy, I started partying and drinking.

“I don't drink normally, but I started it because I was depressed.

Boniface has not had a serious injury since 2021, and he has shone like a million stars since then. He has played 22 games this season and has four goals and four assists to his name.