Former international, Mutiu Adepoju, has described as a good omen for the African football, as five players from the continent will be featuring for their clubs in today’s final of the world’s most prestigious club competition, the UEFA Champions League.
This is the first time five African players, including the current African Footballer of Year, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Senegalese Sadio Mane and Cameroun’s Joel Matip adorning Liverpool’s jerseys and Cote d’Ivoire’s Serge Aurier and Victor Wanyama wearing the Hotspur’s shirts will play in the European Cup final.
Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Adepoju said having as many as five players in the European Cup final means our players are also playing at the highest level in the world.
“Five African players in today’s Champions League final say a lot about our football. It means we are also playing at the highest level. And I don’t think we’ve ever had that number of Africans playing for their countries on the continent like this in the final. It is a good thing and it is going to make the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) very exciting and competitive.
Adepoju, who is an ambassador of La Liga, Spanish league football, however, said that the country’s players also needed to start playing competitively to rekindle the golden days of Nigeria football.
“Though we have lots of new bunch of young talents, who I think have the potential to reach their peak. They too need to start working harder so that they can get into the big clubs and start playing at the highest level. I believed with time they will get there,” he stated.
