“I failed in front of the world four years ago” — Lookman’s speech after winning CAF award

• Lookman received the award as the best African male footballer of 2024 in Marrakech, Morocco, after speaking after receiving the award.

Ademola Lookman, the Super Eagles winger, attributes his achievement as the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year to the lessons learned from a public failure four years earlier.

Lookman made these remarks after being honored as the best African male footballer of 2024 during a ceremony held in Marrakech, Morocco, on Monday.

At 27 years of age, he surpassed notable competitors such as Achraf Hakimi, Simon Adingra, Ronwen Williams, and Serhou Guirassy to claim this prestigious accolade for male African footballers.

He follows in the footsteps of Victor Osimhen, who received the same honor in 2023.

During the event, Lookman reflected on his unsuccessful penalty attempt while playing for Everton in November 2020.

He had the chance to secure a point for Fulham in an English Premier League match against West Ham United but failed to convert a Panenka penalty, which was easily saved by Lukasz Fabianski, resulting in a 1-0 defeat for Fulham. This incident led to ridicule on social media, and Scott Parker, the manager of Fulham, publicly criticized him.

“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.

“I want to say to the young children and people watching this: don’t let your failures weigh you down that they break your wings. Matter of fact, turn your pain into your power and continue to fight.

“Firstly. I want to thank the Almighty God for everything he has been doing in my life, and everything he has been blessing me with.

“I want to thank the president, I want to thank all my teammates- club and country. I want to thank them for all their support and love that they gave me.”

“This award today is a blessing to me, to my family, to my nation, and to be recognized as the best player in Africa. It’s something incredible and I’m extremely proud of.”

Following that season, Lookman departed Fulham for RB Salzburg in Germany, where he continued to develop his skills before making a significant move to Atalanta in the summer of 2022.