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A recent update on the Ballon d’Or voting showed Ademola Lookman as a first.
Days after Rodri was announced as the winner of the Ballon d’Or, French publication L’Equipe published the breakdown of the voting.
The France Football prize is voted by 100 journalists from the top 100 FIFA federations, which includes Nigeria. Samm Audu had the Nigerian vote, and his selection piqued interest.
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All the Nigerian players painting Europe with goals led by Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
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Ademola Lookman was delighted with Atalanta’s win over VfB Stuttgart in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
How Samm Audu voted
According to the report released by L’Equipe, the Nigerian journalist, in an incredible display of patriotism, voted his compatriot, Ademola Lookman, for first place, and Rodri, who eventually won the prize, was picked 4th by Audu. He placed Real Madrid’s duo of Vinicius and Jude Bellingham as second and third, respectively.
1. Ademola Lookman (Nigeria, Atalanta)
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Ademola Lookman at the red carpet of the 2024 Ballon d’Or awards | Credit: Getty
2. Vinicius Jr. (Brazil, Real Madrid)
3. Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid)
4. Rodri (Spain, Manchester City)
5. Phil Foden (England, Manchester City)
6. Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City)
7. Nico Williams (Spain, Athletic Club)
8. Dani Olmo (Spain, Barcelona)
9. Harry Kane (England, Bayern Munich)
10 Rüdiger (Germany, Real Madrid)
Lookman eventually finished 14th in the final result, as he did not receive such a high placement from any other voter.
The Nigerian vote earned him 15 points, while he also got solid placement from Greece (12 points) and Cote d’Ivoire (7 points). Gabon and Cameroon are the remaining two federations from the top 5 places the Nigerian got the most points. He got four points, respectively, from the journalist in both federations.
Ademola enjoys favour Kanu or Osimhen did not
Before Lookman, Nigeria has had players who have previously finished in the top 30 of the Ballon d’Or. Just last year, Osimhen finished 8th, inside the top 10, six places better than the Atalanta star did this year.
Unlike Lookman, however, Osimhen did not enjoy the favouritism of being placed first by the journalist who voted from his federation, as the Nigerian delegate from last year picked him as fourth, behind Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.
Kanu Nwankwo, on the other hand, who came 11th in 1996 and finished joint 23rd in 1999, played in an era when the voting was done exclusively by journalists from UEFA member nations.
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