The largest query on the lips of each African soccer fan resulting in Monday evening was who can be named African Participant of the Yr on the CAF Awards in Morocco. Was it going to be Ademola Lookman or Achraf Hakimi?
We lastly obtained the long-awaited reply late Monday evening when FIFA President Gianni Infantino introduced the winner alongside his host, Patrice Motsepe.
Ademola Lookman turned the most recent Nigerian footballer to be topped African Footballer of the Yr. He follows within the illustrious footsteps of legends Rasheed Yekini, Emmanuel Amuneke, Victor Ikpeba, and Nwankwo Kanu, in addition to his teammate, Victor Osimhen, who gained the award final 12 months.
Lookman additionally turned the primary Nigerian participant born exterior the nation to win the coveted prize. He and captain William Troost-Ekong had been additionally the primary Nigerian gamers born exterior the nation to be nominated for the award.
A son of the soil second
Wearing an immaculate flowing darkish inexperienced agbada with fila and black beads, Lookman, born in south London, appeared like Yoruba royalty on the evening. The very first thing he did was acknowledge his roots.
“Nigeria, mo ki gbogbo yin, adupe,” Lookman mentioned in Yoruba, acknowledging the immense assist he has obtained from again house. (Nigeria, I greet you all; thanks).
Just a few years in the past, he was a part of the England squad that gained the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup. Nonetheless, as his early membership profession struggled, the England senior aspect ignored him. He plodded on, combating by means of mortgage offers earlier than establishing himself at Serie A aspect Atalanta Bergamo, from the place he pledged allegiance to Nigeria, his dad and mom’ nation of start.
The Nigerian Prince is formally topped . #CAFAwards2024 pic.twitter.com/FPKXp8JovR
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) December 16, 2024
In 2023, he achieved the uncommon feat of main his nation and membership to the finals of main competitions. Whereas the Tremendous Eagles didn’t win the Africa Cup of Nations title in Abidjan in February, he dusted all of it off as he scored a hat trick to steer Atalanta to a 3-0 defeat of Leverkusen within the UEFA Europa League closing.
“This award is a blessing to me and my household. 4 years in the past, I used to be down,” he mentioned. “Don’t let your failures weigh you down [so much] that they break your wings. Flip your ache into energy and fly,” he concluded with a bit of recommendation to each younger individual working in direction of a profession breakthrough.
Nigeria’s new golden technology?
It’s not typically {that a} nation produces back-to-back Participant of the Yr winners. It’s uncommon to discover a nation with two gamers worthy of that accolade on the identical staff concurrently.
Aside from Cote d’Ivoire, which was blessed to have two POTY winners in Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure concurrently, no different African staff has had that luxurious high quality within the final 15 years. Nonetheless, even the Elephants struggled to win the AFCON, solely profitable it after Drogba retired from the squad in 2015.
Earlier than then, Nigeria’s Yekini and Amuneke within the mid-Nineties and Cameroon’s Patrick Mboma and Samuel Etoo within the early 2000s all gained the AFCON.
So, what can Nigeria do to make an affect now that it has two top-quality Participant of the Yr winners?
The Tremendous Eagles have already certified for subsequent 12 months’s AFCON, which shall be performed in Morocco. With Osimhen and Lookman main their assault, they may as soon as once more be among the many favourites to win the event. They should win it to cement their continental legacy.
Each gamers appear to have a very good rapport. Lookman acknowledged Osimhen as one of many individuals who welcomed him with open arms and went forward to show him Yoruba throughout coaching.
Nonetheless, the measure of this technology shall be their qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Nigeria failed to achieve Qatar 2022, the place Lookman debuted within the closing qualifying matches in opposition to Ghana. This time round, they’re already struggling within the qualifiers, fifth in a bunch of six, together with Rwanda, South Africa, Benin, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe.
Can the superstars of Nigeria flip issues round when the qualifying matches resume in March 2025? Or will teaching issues proceed to be the Achilles’ heel of this golden technology?
Lookman’s Participant of the Yr win encourages one to be constructive for the long run. One can solely hope that the remainder of the staff rises in unison to show the tables in our favour.