SERIE A
President Weah hails Osimhen, asks for more goals
Following his sterling performance Super Eagles’ striker and FC Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen, in the on-going Serie A season, President of Liberia and former ‘World Footballer of the Year’ recipient, George Weah, as urged in the in-form striker to do more in the coming season.
Osimhen was a leading light in Napoli’s first Scudetto for the first time since 1990 when Argentine late legend, Diego Maradona did it in grand style for the Naples side and moments after Osimhen scored the equaliser against Udinese, it was his 47th goal of the season which is one more that the Liberian leader record set in the 90s, he took to social media to salute the former AC Milan legend whom he saw as a hero while growing up.
The Liberian leader replied him with challenging notes on his verified Facebook account and encouraged the Nigerian to go further and score 100 goals, win more titles especially Ballon d’Or and many more.
“My heartfelt congratulations to you, Victor Osimhen! I am very glad that you have accomplished a major milestone in your football career, after scoring your 47th goal in the Italian Serie A league.
“The records show that with this goal, which you netted on Sunday, May 7, 2023 when your team Napoli went against Fiorentina, effectively makes you the African with the highest scoring record in the Italian Serie A league – surpassing my own account of 46 goals.
“I am so proud of your exploits and congratulate you on this remarkable achievement which is a result of your hard work, dedication and tenacity.
“I am also pleased with your kind words of honour in tribute to me upon reaching such a giant milestone.
“However, I want to admonish you not be contented. There are many more of my records for you to break. I wish you go on to achieve greater success.
“I watched your goal against Udinese when your 52nd -minute header won the Scudetto for Napoli.
“Your movement, your passion, your determination and hunger brought back many memories to me. I wait for your 100th Goal in all competitions in Italy so that you can celebrate (but don’t remove your shirt like I did or you will get a Yellow Card)
“You have won one Scudetto. Great! When I won my first Scudetto with Milan, I said to myself, why one, why not two? I went on to win another Scudetto with Milan. I went on to win the Ballon d’Or.
“So why not two or more for you Victor? The sky is your limit. With your dedication, commitment, humility, hard work, you can conquer the World. Africa needs another World Best. Africa needs another European Best. You, Victor, can deliver that for us.
“The records that I set were meant not as a challenge, but as a motivation to you and other African Players.
“We have the best of talents. You have to remain humble, tenacious and focused. Don’t be distracted,” he remarked.
He also noted that there are many great African players in European leagues that are already up against the hurdles of playing against many odds in leagues and stadiums so far away from home which present challenges for them.
SERIE A
Osimhen left out of Napoli squad for season
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Victor Osimhen has not been included in Napoli’s official 23-man Serie A squad for this season, after the Nigerian striker’s expected move away from the club failed to materialise.
Osimhen’s 26 goals helped Napoli to their Scudetto win two seasons ago, but it has all turned sour since and although the want-away player is still at the club, for now he plays no part in their plans.
The 25-year-old signed a contract extension with Napoli last December, keeping him at the club until 2026 and with a reported release clause of 130 million euros.
A month later, club president Aurelio De Laurentiis said Osimhen would leave at the end of the season, and in recent days his expected destination appeared to be Chelsea or Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli.
Negotiations went on until the transfer window closed in both Italy and England on Friday, but with Osimhen’s wage demands apparently not met by Chelsea it appeared he was on his way to Saudi Arabia.
Napoli, however, did not accept the offer from Al-Ahli, who then signed Ivan Toney from Brentford for a reported 40 million pounds, and signed Belgian Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea
-Reuters
SERIE A
Osimhen’s replacement, Lukaku fires up Napoli for late win over 10-man Parma
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Napoli’s Romelu Lukaku and Andre Zambo Anguissa scored in stoppage time to snatch a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over promoted Parma in Serie A on Saturday.
Antonio Conte’s side moved up to fourth in the standings following their second victory of the campaign.
Feisty Parma, who beat Milan last week, looked to be on their way to a second surprise win of the season thanks to a 19th-minute penalty from Ange-Yoan Bonny.
The visitors had chances to extend the lead but Napoli looked more threatening after the break when new signing Lukaku came on to the pitch.
The momentum changed significantly when Parma keeper Zion Suzuki was shown a second yellow card for a foul on David Neres, causing defender Enrico Del Prato to take over in goal with no further substitutions available.
Napoli thought they had won a penalty for a foul on Giovanni Simeone, only for it to be overturned by VAR in the 90th minute.
But Lukaku grabbed the equaliser two minutes later with a low shot from 12 yards from a Leonardo Spinazzolla through ball before Zambo Anguissa’s header sealed the win in front of an ecstatic home crowd in the 96th minute.
“It is an honour to play for this club, these fans and also for these lads, who gave me a really warm welcome,” former Chelsea and AS Roma forward Lukaku told DAZN.
“We worked really hard and the effort we put into training paid off. It is something of a habit that I score on my debut, but we won and that’s the most important thing.
“I am very happy, but now we need to work and keep winning.”
-Reuters
SERIE A
Ademola Lookman wins Atalanta’s ‘Player of The Season Award
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ademola-lookman.jpg)
Nigeria’s Super Eagles winger and silver medal winner with the country at the last AFCON 2023 tournament in Cote D’Ivoire, Ademola Lookman, has emerged as the Atalanta Player of the Season.
The pint-size forward has won the converted award Back-to-back with the Bergamo-based side after his exploit in the domestic and European matches for the side.
Atalanta qualified for two finals with the Nigerian International playing an active role in the campaign.
He was instrumental to Atalanta winning the UEFA Europa League beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the final with the Nigerian scoring all the goals.
The club announced on its official website on Thursday saying, “It’s him again, Ademola Lookman! The reigning champion defends his title and is crowned straight-a student for the second year in a row after staving off an unsparing competition, to the point of both bringing the contest to an overtime runoff and stepping the pose down up to the Instagram profile after the regular session ended in a tie. Kudos to Mola for his back-to-back Player of the Season!” it noted.
It went further that,” building on his 17 goals and 11 key passes in all competitions (making him the team’s second-best seasonal scorer and wingman) and with the hat-trick scored in the magical Dublin final as his main leg-up, Lookman tips the ItalianOptic branded crown once again,” the web remarked.
Aside from Ademola, the second and third-best positions were also announced as the midfield duo of Jose dos Santo Éderson and Teun Koopmeiners.
The Nigerian had a brilliant AFCON experience with Nigeria where he scored three goals and his exploits so far have put him in strong contention to win the next ‘African Footballer of the Year’ award which will come up before the end of the year at a venue yet to be announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen is the reigning winner of the award alongside Asissat Oshoola who retained the version.
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