By Kayode John
Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman has said it would be a special thing for him, his family and Nigeria if he is crowned the 2024 CAF Awards African Player of the Year.
Lookman has had an impressive year, scoring three goals and making one assist for the Super Eagles at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in January as they reached the final in Cote d’Ivoire, and registering 17 goals, including a hat-trick in the UEFA Europa League final, for Atalanta.
The former RB Leipzig winger has been shortlisted alongside nine others for the biggest individual prize in African football.
Lookman, who ranked 14th in the 2024 Ballon d’Or, insisted that he is relaxed despite being considered as the favourite to succeed Victor Osimhen as the best footballer on the continent.
“I don’t think I’m feeling any additional pressure, I think I’ve kept the same mindset,” he told 54footballx.
“I’ve kept the same work ethics, I just want to do my best on the pitch. I try to improve every single day and if I can win the award, it would be special most definitely for me, my family, my people, my country.
“That is the future and the future will come but right now, I’m just focused on doing my best.”
Lookman, who has scored two goals in three matches for Nigeria in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers, is thrilled with the progress the Super Eagles have made under interim coach Austin Eguavoen.
“It has been great. I have known him obviously the coach before because he gave me my first call-up to play for Nigeria, so I know him very well,” he said.
“We’ve shown good performances as a team in these AFCON qualifiers and now we need to do better on a consistent basis.
“We’ve won two games and drawn one game, so we will continue in this manner, and try to win our games.
“Obviously the goal is to qualify for the Afcon and World Cup, so we are looking to do those things.”
The Atalanta star emphasised that Nigeria will use the agony of losing this year’s AFCON final as a motivation in the next tournament.
“It’s disappointing to get to the final and to lose but life is like that sometimes. We took the pain and go stronger from that,” he said.
“For us as a team, we suffered in the final, we suffered those emotions. We will use that pain in the next AFCON coming up in Morocco in 2025. We look to do great things.”
This season, Lookman has continued where he left off last term, scoring five goals and bagging five assists in 11 games for his club.
He has also been shortlisted by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) for 2024 Men’s World Best Player Award.
