\n
Ademola Lookman has stepped up as Nigeria\u2019s unexpected talisman at the Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n
Before a ball was kicked at the tournament, star striker Victor Osimhen was heralded as the Super Eagles\u2019 best chance of a fourth continental triumph.<\/p>\n
But Atalanta winger Lookman has instead been the team\u2019s main attacking threat en route to a final showdown with host nation Ivory Coast on Sunday.<\/p>\n
After Nigeria\u2019s semi-final victory over South Africa on penalties, we shine the spotlight on one of the stars of AFCON 2023.<\/p>\n
Career rebuild<\/h2>\n
Lookman has not had an easy ride, with underwhelming stints at Everton, RB Leipzig, Fulham and Leicester threatening to cast a shadow over his obvious talent.<\/p>\n
However, moving to Serie A outfit Atalanta in August 2022 has proven to be an inspired decision.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old scored 15 goals and registered eight assists in 33 appearances across all competitions in 2022-23 on his way to being named the club\u2019s Player of the Season.<\/p>\n
He has 10 more goal contributions to his name this term, while also currently ranking inside Serie A\u2019s top 30 for take-ons completed, big chances created and shots on target.<\/p>\n
Lookman\u2019s success in Bergamo has not been without difficulties, though.<\/p>\n
Following a 3-2 defeat to Lazio last October, Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini questioned his mentality after a disappointing cameo from the bench.<\/p>\n
The Italian coach said: \u201cHis [Lookman\u2019s] attitude was almost as if being a substitute was unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
But rather than wallowing in self pity, Lookman used the public criticism as motivation fuel, netting five goals and contributing three assists in the next 10 league matches before his AFCON call-up.<\/p>\n
International success<\/h2>\n
London-born Lookman was capped by England at youth level, tallying 11 appearances for the Three Lions\u2019 Under-21s before choosing to represent Nigeria in January 2020.<\/p>\n
His request was finally approved by FIFA in February 2022, with the Charlton academy graduate making his senior international bow a month later against Ghana.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lookman took a little while to flap his wings as a Super Eagle but has taken this edition of AFCON by storm.<\/p>\n
He netted both goals in the 2-0 win over Cameroon in the last 16 before bagging the solitary strike in Nigeria\u2019s 1-0 quarter-final triumph over Angola.<\/p>\n
Forming part of a dangerous front three alongside Osimhen and Moses Simon, Lookman will be desperate to deliver another match-winning display in Sunday\u2019s final.<\/p>\n
Final showdown<\/h2>\n
Lookman and Nigeria will face a fired-up Ivory Coast outfit desperate for revenge on home soil.<\/p>\n
The two nations met in the group stage of the tournament, with the Super Eagles winning 1-0 courtesy of a second-half penalty by captain William Troost-Ekong.<\/p>\n
Two-time winners Ivory Coast sacked manager Jean-Louis Gasset after losing their next group match 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea but scraped through in third place and have since impressed in the knockouts by eliminating Senegal, Mali and DR Congo.<\/p>\n
Lookman will need to be at the peak of his powers if he is to get the better of a defence containing Nottingham Forest\u2019s Willy Boly and Roma ace Evan Ndicka.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But if form is anything to go by, it could be a long night for the Elephants\u2019 back-line \u2014 and may well end with Lookman lifting the first senior trophy of his career.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ademola Lookman has stepped up as Nigeria\u2019s unexpected talisman at the Africa Cup of Nations. Before a ball was kicked at the tournament, star striker Victor Osimhen was heralded as the Super Eagles\u2019 best chance of a fourth continental triumph. But Atalanta winger Lookman has instead been the team\u2019s main attacking threat en route to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n
Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ademola Lookman has stepped up as Nigeria\u2019s unexpected talisman at the Africa Cup of Nations. Before a ball was kicked at the tournament, star striker Victor Osimhen was heralded as the Super Eagles\u2019 best chance of a fourth continental triumph. But Atalanta winger Lookman has instead been the team\u2019s main attacking threat en route to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-09T16:55:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-645.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"398\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"headline\":\"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-09T16:55:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":549,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/image-645.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013 - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/image-645.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-09T16:55:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/image-645.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/image-645.png\",\"width\":707,\"height\":398},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/09\\\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/author\\\/ghanamma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013 - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013 - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"Ademola Lookman has stepped up as Nigeria\u2019s unexpected talisman at the Africa Cup of Nations. Before a ball was kicked at the tournament, star striker Victor Osimhen was heralded as the Super Eagles\u2019 best chance of a fourth continental triumph. But Atalanta winger Lookman has instead been the team\u2019s main attacking threat en route to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2024-02-09T16:55:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":707,"height":398,"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-645.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"headline":"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013","datePublished":"2024-02-09T16:55:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/"},"wordCount":549,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-645.png","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/","name":"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013 - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-645.png","datePublished":"2024-02-09T16:55:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-645.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-645.png","width":707,"height":398},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/09\/lookman-flying-for-super-eagles-ahead-of-afcon-final\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lookman flying for Super Eagles ahead of AFCON final \u2013"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}