By Daily Sports Nigeria on May 14, 2024

When the 2023/24 Europa League final was scheduled for the Dublin Arena on Wednesday night, no one, not even football’s greatest experts, thought it would be Ademola Lookman’s night.

But it indeed turned out the Ademola Lookman final.

The Nigerian forward chose the big stage to showcase the stuff he’s made of, scoring a hat-trick against hitherto unbeaten Germans Bayer Leverkusen, the first by any player in a Europa final, to announce himself to the world in style.

The Super Eagles first struck in the 12th minute, ghosting into the box completely unmarked and fired a clinical, first-time strike past Matěj Kovář following some delightful link-up play involving Teun Koopmeiners and Davide Zappacosta.

The Nigerian winger then added to the tally with a sublime finish to the admiration of even Leverkusen players. He received the ball, went past Granit Xhaka, nutmegged the ex-Arsenal star, before launching a stunning long-range effort from the edge of the box, which went straight into the goal as he completed his brace within 26 minutes of the game.

Lookman then extinguished any hopes of Leverkusen forging a way back into this contest with a ferocious angled finish from the left-hand side after being teed up by Gianluca Scamacca.

The defeat ended Leverkusen’s – who featured Nigerians Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella on the night — 51-game unbeaten run.

Lookman’s fairytale rise to the pinnacle of global football had been nothing short of challenges in a chequered career that saw him facing hurdles after helping England win the U-20 World Cup in 2017.

Born to Nigerian parents in England, Lookman, who grew up in south London, had played for a whole host of clubs in England – as well as a loan spell in Germany – before settling down in Italy, finding a place to call home in Bergamo.

After his youth career at Waterloo (2008–2013) and Charlton Athletic (2013–2015), he got rapid promotion to the senior team of the latter, following his goalscoring record for their U-18 and U-21 and made his first-team debut for the Addicks November 3, 2015.

Lookman signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Everton January 5, 2017 for an undisclosed fee, reported as an initial £7.5m potentially rising to £11m with add-ons.

He had a dream debut for the Toffees 10 days later in a 4-0 victory over Manchester City, replacing Ross Barkley in the 90th minute and scoring the fourth goal.

And it was at Goodison Park his Europa League journey started, when he made his first European appearance in Everton’s 1-0 win over MFK Ružomberok in the competition’s third qualifying round first leg.

But he was considered not good enough and was soon loaned to Bundesliga club RB Leipzig until the end of the 2017/18 season. In his first game with Leipzig, he scored the winner in the away game against Borussia Mönchengladbach, after coming on as a late substitute.

At Leipzig, he embarked on further loan spells at Fulham and Leicester City but in England, he had been classed as the nearly man who bounced around loan spells. It was a nomadic existence.

On August 4, 2022, Lookman was on the move again, joining Atalanta on a four-year contract for a reported fee of €15m. Again, he scored on his debut, a 2-0 Serie A win over Sampdoria on August 13, 2022.

And thereafter, Lookman found home in Bergamo and on one night in Dublin, he scored three times as many goals as he managed in three Premier League seasons with Everton to send residents of the little town into rapturous celebrations.

Lookman laughed when an Italian journalist claimed a street may be named after him in Bergamo one day. The forward is one of about 120,000 people who live in the northern Italian city close to Milan.

“I feel the support from the fans from the first minute I was in Bergamo,” he said. “The city of Bergamo gives me a sense of calmness. It’s a very calm, relaxed city and that has helped me a lot with my living style. I’m focused on the important things.”

Lookman never managed double figures in a season for Charlton, Everton, Leipzig, Fulham or Leicester but now he has scored 30 goals in two seasons at Atalanta.

Earlier this season, as rated by OPTA, a sports data brand, he became the fifth player to score more than 20 goals and deliver more than 10 assists since the start of last season in Serie A, after Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, AC Milan’s Raphael Leão, Paulo Dybala of Roma and Milan’s Olivier Giroud.

Manager Gian Piero Gasparini, who became the fourth oldest manager to win a major European trophy after Raymond Goethals, Jupp Heynckes and Sir Alex Ferguson, admitted he has been surprised by the player’s development in Bergamo.

He said, “He wasn’t overly-prolific in England but I changed his position a little bit and played him in a slightly more attacking role – and now he has achieved something that will remain in the annals of football history.”

Back home in Nigeria, the social media has been awash with Lookman’s Wednesday night’s unbelievable performance.

Super Eagles head coach, Finidi George, hailed the 26-year-old’s performance while also applauding his compatriots, Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella, who featured for Leverkusen.

“Watching Ademola Lookman, Nathan Tella and Victor Boniface in the Europa League final was a thing of joy and national pride. Well done, guys. And what a performance that was from Lookman!,” Finidi wrote on X.

Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation, Austin Eguaveon, who handed Lookman his Nigeria debut in during the two-legged 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Ghana two years ago, added, “March 25, 2022, the day I gave Ademola Lookman his national debut for Nigeria, 1000 kilometres away in Kumasi. Fast forward two years, he’s starred at the AFCON in Ivory Coast and become the first player to score a hat-trick in a UEFA club final.”

Since his debut, Lookman has played 21 times for Nigeria, scoring six goals and grown to be one of the most influential members of the Eagles in two years.

He admitted the support he got from Nigeria’s vociferous fans since chosing to play for the Eagles has motivated him to be more consistent in his career.

“It’s incredible, I’ve said in previous interviews that the unwavering support and love I get from back home is unbelievable,” Lookman told Omasports TV.

“It gives me the motivation to try to inspire myself and evolve in different areas. Not just in my game.

“It has taken me to a new level, competing in the AFCON, even though we lost in the final has catapulted us as the Super Eagles and we keep getting the support.”

He is expected to be back in the national team for next month’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa (June 7) and Benin Republic (June 10).

And be sure, fans would be waiting to cheer on the Atalanta game-changer, who handed the Italians their first major trophy in 61 years.

Source Punch Ng

Posted May 24, 2024

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