Lookman eyes Yekini’s AFCON record

Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman, will aim to equal the record set by the late Rashidi Yekini at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations by scoring a goal when the three-time African champions take on Angola in Friday’s quarter-final tie in Abidjan, The PUNCH reports.

Lookman, making his debut at the AFCON in Ivory Coast, bagged a brace against Cameroon in the round of 16 tie last Saturday to match the goals record set by duo Emmanuel Emenike and Sunday Mba in the knockout stage of the AFCON and could be the fourth Nigerian in history to achieve the feat of scoring three or more goals in the knockout stages of a single competition.

Yekini also scored three times in the knockout stage of the 1994 edition of the tournament. He scored a second-half brace against DR Congo, formerly Zaire, in the quarter-final and was also on target in the Eagles semi-final win against Ivory Coast.

Yekini finished as the top scorer of the tournament with five goals and the best player as well.

Former captain Austin Okocha and striker Odion Ighalo are the other Nigerians to have scored more knockout goals (four) than Yekini and the 26-year-old Atalanta forward could match the record if he adds to his tally at the tournament.

At the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, Ighalo scored four times to help Nigeria claim the bronze medal. The Al Wehda FC striker scored twice against Cameroon as the Eagles edged the Indomitable Lions 3-2 in a round of 16 tie in Alexandria.

In the semi-finals, Ighalo also scored  against Algeria.

His fourth came against Tunisia in the third-place match of the tournament.

For Okocha, the midfielder scored three times in the knockout stage of the 2004 edition of the AFCON in Tunisia. He was on target against Cameroon in the quarter-final,Tunisia  in the last four as well as in the third place match against Mali.

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