Africa Footballer of the Year, Ademola Lookman has described the award as a blessing for him, his parents and Nigeria, Sports247 reports.
The Nigerian forward receives 2024 CAF African Footballer of the Year award, in Marrakech, Morocco, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 after a superb 2023/2024 season for both country and club.
The Atalanta FC forward beat Ivorian Simon Adingra, Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, and South Africa’s Ronwen Williams to the prestigious gong.
In his remark, after his Superb performance was recorded with the gold plated award said :
“First, I want to thank Almighty God for all the blessings in my life. I also want to express my gratitude to the president and all my teammates, both at club and national levels, for their unwavering support”.
” This award is a blessing for me, my family, and my country, and being recognized as Africa’s best player is truly incredible. I am extremely proud.”
Lookman, 27, netted a three goals for Nigeria at the last Africa Cup of Nations to win a silver medal for Nigeria.
He scored Hattrick in for Atalanta in the Europa League final versus Bayer Leverkusen in May to help the Bergamo based Serie A win their first ever Europa league trophy .
He is the highest ranked African in the 2024 Balon d’Or award where he finished in 14th position on the final standings.
Ademola Lookman succeeded compatriot, Victor Osimhen to make the second instance where Nigeria will have consecutive male winners of the award.
The first was in 1993 when Rashidi Yekini won the award and handed it over to Emmanuel Amuneke in 1994 while Kanu Nwankwo won it in 1996 and he was succeeded by Victor Ikpeba in 1997.
Lookman, was born by Nigerian parents and played for the English youth national teams before switching allegiance to Nigeria in 2023, since then his career rise has been phenomenal and winning the award is a reward for his hard work and determination to succeed.
