Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman has been crowned ‘Footballer of the Year’ by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
His win was announced at a gala in Marrakesh, Morocco by the Presidents of FIFA, Gianni Infantino and CAF, Patrice Motsepe, with both men handing Lookman the giant award memorabilia.
An elated Lookman made Nigeria truly proud as he commenced his appreciation remarks by greeting the audience in Yoruba followed by the loud shout of the name of his country. NIGERIA!
Lookman polled the highest number of votes to defeat rivals like Achraf Hakimi, Simon Adingra, Ronwen Williams and Serhou Guirassy to win the coveted individual prize for male African footballers.
The Atalanta and Super Eagles winger had an impressive run in the season under review for both club and country. Lookman scored 17 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions last season for Atalanta, which retained its status as one of the best in Serie A.
This win puts Lookman in the same stead as compatriots like Victor Ikpeba, Rasheed Yekini, Kanu Nwankwo, Victor Osimhe who won the Player of the Year in Africa at various times in their footballing career.
Apart from his superlative performance for Nigeria at various tournaments within the year, the icing on the cake for Ademola was scoring the hattrick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen that enabled Atalanta to win their first-ever European title.
