Ademola Lookman
has stolen the limelight from star man Victor Osimhen on Nigeria's run to the
Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals, with the former England youth international
scoring all their goals so far in the knockout stage.
While
reigning African footballer of the year Osimhen has not found the net at
the tournament since the Super Eagles' opening 1-1 draw with Equatorial
Guinea, Lookman bagged a brace in the 2-0 defeat of Cameroon in the last 16 and followed
that with the only goal in the 1-0 defeat of Angola in the
quarter-finals.
Nigeria may
need Lookman to
extend that run against South Africa on Wednesday, with Osimhen a
major doubt for the game with an abdominal problem. Most analysis of Nigeria
has focused on Osimhen's lack of goals as well as the approach adopted
by coach Jose Peseiro, who has successfully put the emphasis on not conceding.
"I have
chosen another strategy. The players believe in it - don't
concede goals because we will score at least one," Peseiro said
in one press briefing in Abidjan. His side have kept four straight clean sheets
en route to the semi-finals, following a switch to a three-man central
defence.
However, the
26-year-old Lookman is the difference-maker just now and has
quickly made it impossible for Peseiro to drop him. That is despite the
formidable depth available to Nigeria in attack, with AC Milan's Samuel
Chukwueze, Kelechi Iheanacho and the veteran Ahmed Musa
kicking their heels on the bench.
Perhaps Lookman
never would have started in the first place but for an injury to
Victor Boniface which ruled the Bayer Leverkusen forward out just before the
AFCON began. Yet there is a sense that every Nigeria player is pulling
in the same direction as they set their sights on winning a fourth Cup
of Nations crown for Africa's most populous country.
"We are
behind each other. We don't take anything for granted. I think
that shows in our work ethic, how we fight for each other, how we
defend, how we attack," Lookman said after collecting the award for man of
the match against Cameroon.
Settled at
Atalanta
He was not
part of the Nigerian team that bowed out of the last AFCON in the last 16 in
Cameroon in 2022, but that was the year big changes happened in Lookman's
career. The Nigeria Football Federation had already been trying for some time
to get London-born Lookman to change allegiance despite having
represented England as a youth, just like Alex Iwobi and Victor Moses had
done previously.
He
eventually made his debut in a decisive World Cup qualifying play-off
against Ghana in March 2022 and has not looked back. "Both of
my parents are Nigerian and my two older sisters were also born in
Nigeria. So I was the only one out of us to be born here," he
told British newspaper 'The Guardian' in 2021.
Lookman began
his career at Charlton Athletic but was
in the Premier League with Everton by the time he played in
the England team that won the Under-20 World Cup in 2017 alongside the likes of
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Dominic Solanke and Fikayo Tomori. He has since
played for RB Leipzig, Fulham and Leicester City, but is now
flourishing at international level at a time when he appears in better form
than ever in his club career.
A move to Italy
to sign for Atalanta in August 2022 has been key,
as he quickly settled and scored 15 goals in his first season there. Lookman
has added seven more so far in this campaign, and playing under Gian Piero
Gasperini for one of Serie A's best sides has helped him become established in
the Nigeria side.
"I
definitely have a defensive role, to help the team within the
structure, but that defensive role also allows me to attack," Lookman told
'The Times' in an interview last year of his club manager. "Italian
football is known for structure... They're so drilled on structure
here." From Bergamo to Bouake, where Peseiro's well-drilled team face
South Africa as Lookman aims to take a step closer to adding the AFCON
title with Nigeria to that Under-20 World Cup winner's medal he picked
up in the colours of England.
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