Charlton Athletic has gained notoriety following former player Ademola Lookman’s heroics in the Europa League Final for Atalanta last Wednesday.
The academy graduate scored a spectacular hat-trick to lead his team to a 3-0 victory in the European final, ending Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten record. Since joining the Italian team in August 2022, the 26-year-old has scored 30 goals in total.
Lookman spent one and a half years with the Valley, making 49 games and scoring 12 goals. The Nigerian has had a fantastic season in Italy, helping seal Champions League football with a fourth-place finish in Serie A and winning the Europa League.
Furthermore, the former Fulham star has joined an elite group of footballers. L’Equipe, a French sports news organization, is famously tough when it comes to rating player performance in football matches. Prior to Lookman’s hat-trick in Dublin, just fourteen players in the league’s 78-year history had received 10/10 match ratings.
Frank Sauzee and Bruno Martini became the first two perfect performances in a convincing victory for France’s Under-21s over the same-aged Greek team in 1988. Since then, prominent European players such as Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski, and Erling Haaland have earned the accolade.
The former England young player reached this elite group of outstanding footballers after taking the field in a European final. Arsenal is the only other English team to have produced an academy graduate with this feat, as Serge Gnabry achieved a perfect 10 following his Champions League defeat over Tottenham Hotspur in 2019.
Felix Emanus, Lookman’s previous grassroots football coach, told TNT Sports that he was thrilled with his former player’s performance and was extremely proud of the 26-year-old. “My emotions are so intense that I can’t express them to you. We’ve been fantasizing of this since Ade was a child at Waterloo.
“Excellent player; tonight was a dream come true. I burst into tears once the third goal was scored. “He works hard, and he’s a quiet boy who is sometimes misinterpreted because of that. But he’s a fantastic child who wants to learn, improve, and achieve the top.
Writer’s View
Lookman exemplifies how hard work and humility can lead to success in a football career. Despite not going through a regular academy system, the 26-year-old has developed into a standout talent.
This performance in a European final will definitely pique some interest this summer, and a record 10/10 in L’Equipe will be a memorable accomplishment that very few players can claim. Lookman has been a fantastically important player for Atalanta this season and deserves the recognition he is receiving.
