Ademola Lookman has been named the CAF African Footballer of the year on Monday after a long wait. Question is, did he really deserve the award. Did Ademola Lookman deserve CAF African player of the year 2024?
The award ceremony took place at Marrakech in Morrocco after a steller season with Atalanta and Nigeria National team.
The 27 year old, scored a hat-trick in the Europa league final to help his team earn their first ever European title and also the second major trophy in their 117 year history.
Ademola lookman also scored three times as Nigeria reached the final of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations where they were edged out by Sebastian Haller’s late goal for Ivory Coast in the final.
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What contributed in pushing Lookman to CAF glory?
Lookman has been on top of his form since 2023-24 campaign, he scored 17 goals and contributed 10 assists in 45 games across all competitions for Atalanta in the 2023-24 season and has made a similarly productive start to the season.
Finding the back of the net 11 times in 19 club games as Atalanta sit on the top of the table with two points ahead of Napoli in serie A
He also scored a hat-trick in the Europa league final which helped the club to earn their first ever European title.
He also scored three times in the Africa Cup of Nations, where Sebastain Haller denied the super Eagles their AFCON glory by scoring a late goal that gave Ivory Coast the trophy.
During the award Lookman said.. “This award is a blessing to be recognized as best player in Africa is something incredible,” he said as he picked up the trophy.
“four years ago my career felt down but now I am here as the best player in Africa. Don’t let your failures stop your dreams.”
The other nominees were Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, Borussia Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy, and Brighton’s Ivorian winger Simon Adingra.
Ademola lookman succeeds fellow Nigerian Victor Oshimen as the winner of the prestigious award.
Brief history of CAF award.
The African footballer of the year was first established by France football magazine 54 years ago, with the confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) taking over the award in 1992.
The former Mali international Salif Keita was the very first recipient in 1970, he earned this feat while he was playing for Saint-Etienne in France.
He scored a total of 42 goals alone in the 1970-71 season when St Etienne finished second to Marseille where he eventually moved in 1972.
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The France Football award continued until 1994, by which time CAF has created their own prize two years earlier.
Abedi pele of Ghana claimed the award three years in a row between 1991-1993 and the record for the most Men’s player of the year titles in Africa was shared between ex-Cameroon International Samuel Eto’o and former Cote d’Ivoire midfielder Yaya Toure.
Toure is the only player to lift the award four years in a row. Among current players, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah has two wins and Senegal forward Sadio Mane also a brace of Victories.
Now let’s see players who has claimed the CAF prize in recent years.
5. Mohamed Salah (2018)
The Liverpool forward held off competition from teammate Sadio mane and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to land the award.
He was outstanding and consistent in play so he was selected as the continent’s outstanding Footballer of the year in 2018
The Egyptian received the accolade at a ceremony in Dakar, Senegal, where he was also included in the Africa best XI for 2018 alongside Mane and Naby Keita.
He scored 44 times during the 2017-18 campaign in which he helped his club reach the Champions league final netting twice during the world cup.
He further scored 16 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool while he also contributed four goals in three Africa cup of nations qualification outings for his country in 2018.
4. Sadio Mane (2019)
Senegal and Liverpool forward Sadio Mane was awarded the African best player in 2019 in Hurghada, a city in Egypt. He became the final awardee for the decade.
He succeeded his teammate Mohamed Salah who was also shortlisted along with Manchester city’s Riyad Mahrez who led Algeria to AFCON glory in 2019.
Mane helped his club side win the UEFA Champions league in the 2018-19 season and was captain of the Senegal side that lost the 2019 AFCON to Algeria in Egypt.
That was the fourth straight time he was shortlisted for the awrd. He lost in 2016 to Gabon’s Aubameyang (when he was still with Dortmund). Then Mane missed out to Salah twice in 2017 and 2018.
Then in 2019 he was finally named the winner of CAF best player of the year. The Senegal talisman Mane has been tagged as favourite for the award which will be his first after making the shortlist for three times in a role.
3. Sadio Mane (2022)
Due to Covid-19 Pandemic the award was to given in 2020 and 2021. Then after the Pandemic Sadio Mane won the prize again making him the 10th player to win the Africa Football of the year award more than once.
The award ceremony was held in morocco. He was announced as the 2022 winner at the confederation of Africa Football’s awards ceremony in Rabat, Morocco.
He topped the vote ahead of former Liverpool teammate Mo Salah and former Chelsea’s Senegalese Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Salah was a standout player in England’s premier league that season, winning the Golden boot with 23 goals and topping the assists Chart with 13.
But Mane, who left Liverpool to sign for Bayern Munich, twice got the better of Salah at international level.
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Mane’ Senegal beat Salah’s Egypt in the AFCON finals and then again in a World Cup qualification play-off.
2. Victor Osimhen (2023)
The Super Eagles superstar claimed the CAF award after his goal glut inspired Napoli’s League title triumph last season.
Osimhen saw off challenges from Achraf Hakimi and Mohamed Salah to land African football’s biggest individual prize.
He was able to gain this feat after firing his club to a first Serie A title in over three decades. The honor capped a remarkable year for the powerful front man who also helped the Super Eagles to the 2023 AFON with 10 goals to finish as the to scorer of the qualifiers.
The Italy front man scored 27 goals across all fronts as the Napoli entertainers lit up Italian football.
With this Osimhen became the first Napoli player to finish top scorer in Italian football since Diego Maradona in 1987-88
He also became the first Nigerian winner of the men’s award since Kanu Nwankwo in 1999.
1. Ademola Lookman (2024)
And Ademola Lookman, another Nigerian, was named the CAF best player of the year in Morocco.
He won the price after leading his Italian club Atalanta to Europa League Glory in may, scoring all three goals and breaking a record of scoring a hat-trick in the men’s Europa league since 1975.
Three months earlier in AFCON, he scored three goals and helped propel the Super Eagles to the finals. He is the second Nigerian player to win the award in two years, following striker Victor Osimhen.
