Heracles Almelo marksman Cyriel Dessers saw his dream of making his international debut for Nigeria against Sierra Leone go up in smoke due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In the battle for a starting shirt in attack in the postponed Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, the Belgian-born player faced competition from two former U17 World Cup winners in the shape of Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho.

Dessers admitted that he was already looking forward to linking up with his international teammates, Osimhen in particular.

"I know it's a young team, a lot of players playing in Europe, so I think that the adaptation would be fine and I hope when I come into the team they accept me," said Dessers to BBC.

"I am looking forward to seeing Victor Osimhen, I like to watch a lot of football and watch the strikers and I think he is a great striker, and I hope I can help him and support him."

With 15 goals to his name from 26 matches, Dessers finished the 2019-2020 season as the unofficial joint top scorer in the Eredivisie.

Igho Kingsley