Ademola Lookman, Super Eagles winger and winner of the 2024 CAF men’s player of the year, has revealed that the win came after he “failed in front of the world” four years prior.
The 27-year-old finished ahead of Achraf Hakimi, Simon Adingra, Ronwen Williams and Serhou Guirassy to win the coveted individual prize for male African footballers.
Lookman referenced his failure to convert a penalty for Everton in November 2020.
He had the opportunity to earn a point for Fulham in their English Premier League (EPL) match against West Ham United. Instead, he failed to execute a Panenka penalty kick easily saved by Lukasz Fabianski as West Ham won 1-0.
The penalty attempt earned him mockery on social media, and Scott Parker, Fulham’s manager, ripped into the player in public.
“Just over four years ago I failed in front of the world. Fast forward four years, I’m the best player in Africa,” Lookman said after receiving the award.
However, before Monday, Ademola had spoken about his family challenges as a little boy struggling to find a path for himself in football.
He said: “Football changed our lives, my parents used to work 8 hours daily but still we were poor, struggling to survive. We were once thrown out of our rented apartment because my parents couldn’t afford the rent.
“I was small then but I could remember everything, so when I started playing football and earning huge salary I decided to buy the house we were thrown out from to keep the memories.
“My parents really sacrificed everything for me, sometimes they borrowed money to get me a football boots and today I can afford everything I want. I dedicated my Europa League trophy to my parents because they won it not me”
