Victor Boniface unfazed with critics despite goal drought at Bremen

Nigeria forward Victor Boniface has remained confident of winning back his critics following a poor start to his campaign at German Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen.

Boniface joined Bremen from Bayer Leverkusen on a season-long loan on September 1, the last day of the summer transfer window. At Bayer, the Super Eagle had scored 32 goals and 12 assists in 61 total matches across all competitions.

In the 2023-24 season, he scored 21 goals in 34 appearances, and in the 2024-25 season, he scored 11 goals in 27 appearances. He was also part of the team that won the Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal in the 2023-24 season.

However, since moving to Bremen, Boniface has been a shadow of himself failing to find the back of the net. He has featured 10 times in the Bundesliga, only providing two assists.

‘I’m no longer afraid’

“Life is like a shoe, you can’t drink a cow because the earth is a carrot. Think about it. From my time in Norway until now, I’ve had a lot of pain, but I’ve made it this far,” said Boniface in a chat with Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.

“I’m really very happy that I’ve even managed to play football for such top clubs, so I’m no longer afraid. I have to live with it. In football, it’s like this: if you play well one season and score goals, everyone expects you to repeat that in exactly the same way the following season. Otherwise, people start talking.

“We were then unfairly criticised, even though we finished second and reached the cup semi-finals,” he said. “If I’m not mistaken, I scored the third-most goals for the team that season, despite missing 16 or 17 games due to injury. So was it really such a bad season for me?”