Charlton Athletic recently found a claim to fame, following former player, Ademola Lookman’s heroics in the Europa League Final for Atalanta last Wednesday.
The academy graduate scored a phenomenal hat-trick to not only spearhead a 3-0 victory in the European final, but it also ended Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten streak. The 26-year-old has now taken his goalscoring tally up to 30 for the Italian side, since joining in August 2022.
History maker 💫
Congratulations, @Alookman_! 👏
We’re all so proud of you ❤️#cafc | @CharltonAcademy | @ValleyGold pic.twitter.com/2YtKqhTDuS
— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) May 22, 2024
Lookman, who spent one and a half years at the Valley, made 49 appearances for his boyhood club and found the net 12 times during his stay. The Nigerian has had a brilliant season in Italy, by helping secure Champions League football through a fourth-placed finish in Serie A and by winning the Europa League.
Furthermore, the former Fulham ace has landed himself in an exclusive collection of players. French sport news outlet, L’Equipe, are notoriously harsh when assessing player performances in football matches. This means that over the course of its 78-year existence, only fourteen players had received 10/10 match ratings prior to Lookman’s hat-trick in Dublin.
Frank Sauzee and Bruno Martini became the first two perfect performers following an emphatic win in 1988, where the two participated for France’s Under-21s against the same-aged Greek side. Since then, elite European talents such as: Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski, and Erling Haaland have received the honour.
The former England youth player joined this exclusive assortment of talented footballers after stepping up to the mantle in a European final. Arsenal are the only other English team to have produced their own academy graduate with this achievement – when Serge Gnabry attained a perfect 10 following his Champions League decimation of Tottenham Hotspur in 2019.
Speaking on TNT Sports, Lookman’s former grassroots football coach, Felix Emanus, was delighted by the performance of his old player, and was immensely proud of the 26-year-old:
“I really can’t tell you my emotions; sky high. We’ve been dreaming about this for a long time – since Ade was a kid at Waterloo.
“Fantastic player – tonight was a dream come true. I cried when the third goal went in.
“He works hard, he’s a quiet lad; sometimes misunderstood because of his quietness. But he’s a great kid, wants to learn, wants to always get better, wants to reach the top.”
"I cried when the third goal went in"
One of Ademola Lookman's former youth coaches with an emotional interview after his MOTM performance in a European final ❤️ pic.twitter.com/MW45Mgn3yF
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 22, 2024
Writer’s View
Lookman is a prime example of how to achieve success through hard work and humility in the approach to a footballing career. Despite not going through a traditional academy route, the 26-year-old has finally flourished into a stand-out performer.
This feat in a European final will undoubtedly warrant some inevitable interest this summer, and a record 10/10 in L’Equipe will be a lasting achievement that very, very few players share. Lookman has been a phenomenally important player for Atalanta this season and deserves the plaudits he is getting.
