The Galatasaray striker will miss Tuesday’s vital clash as the three-time African champions take on Hugo Broos’ side in a must-win game to boost their World Cup qualification hopes.
Osimhen started in Saturday’s hard-fought 1-0 victory over Rwanda but was forced off in the 35th minute following a heavy challenge from Claude Niyomugabo and was replaced by Cyriel Dessers.
Before departing for Bloemfontein, the national team assessed the impact of Osimhen’s knock and confirmed that the former Napoli striker will miss the clash against the Group C leaders at the Free State Stadium.
Addressing the media ahead of the match, the Franco-Malian coach emphasised that he has a squad with enough quality to get the job done.
"Osimhen is a big star, a very good player. Like I said, I have a strong squad too, with great players in my head, on my side," Chelle said.
"They are more than players for me, for sure. I can tell you something, they want to play a great game here once again.
"I’m focused on my players, and my team. I know South Africa is a good team. They have a lot of good players, and also a good coach and technical staff.
"We know this is a big game. I’m really happy to play this game like my players. They are happy. This is a moment to do a great job."
South Africa could face sanctions from FIFA after fielding Teboho Mokoena, an ineligible player, in their recent match against Lesotho.
When asked for his thoughts on the matter and FIFA’s slow response, the former Mali international chose not to comment, focusing instead on his immediate mission: finding a way to silence Bafana Bafana in Tuesday’s crucial World Cup qualifier.
"I’m just the coach, I lead my team, what happens around my team and around this game in terms of the yellow card (on Mokoena), there’s an organisation whose name is FIFA, they need to manage it,” continued Chelle.
"Now, this is not my problem. My problem is my players first because they are focused. They want to play a great game here and I feel like we have to think about our game, not about what happens around the game and around the story.
"However, the reality if I can tell you, I think FIFA needs to manage it quickly."
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