Love might not be in the air as the next round of the UEFA Champions League resumes 24 hours after Valentine’s Day. The biggest and arguably the most interesting club competition on earth is in its knockout stage and five Nigerians will be a part of the show. Samuel Chukwueze and Arnaut Danjuma will be in action for the Spanish side Villareal while Samson Tijani, Karim Adeyemi, and Noah Okafor cannot wait to feature for this year’s underdogs RB Salzburg of Austria.
But which Nigerians are the most successful players in the competition’s history? We use the word ‘successful’ to mean those who have won the competition. We shall later look at other categories of success and extend it to other UEFA club competitions (UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, UEFA Super Cup, European/South American Cup, and UEFA Intertoto Cup).
Finidi George & Nwankwo Kanu
Former Super Eagles captain and coach, Stephen Keshi, was the first Nigerian to appear in a major UEFA club competition when his team, Anderlecht met Sampdoria in the 1990 final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup. The Big Boss, as he was fondly called, and his teammates lost 2-0 to the Italian side. Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu did better than their compatriot as they won the UEFA Champions League with the Dutch side, Ajax on May 24, 1995.
George’s speed, insight, and technique rattled the defence of AC Milan as the Italian side lost 1-0 in the pulsating final played at the Ernst-Happel stadium, Vienna, Austria.
Nwankwo Kanu came off the bench in the 53rd minute and flashed an effort centimetre wide, but it was a fellow substitute, Patrick Kluivert, who had the final say. The most patient of approaches considering only six minutes remained, with Finidi George, Marc Overmars, Edgar Davids, and Frank Rijkaard involved, finally unlocked a typically miserly Italian defence. Kluivert’s power, pace, and poise personified did the rest despite immense pressure.
George and Kanu both scored a goal in the competition. Kanu was on the scorers’ sheet when Ajax defeated Hajduk Split of Poland 3-0 in a second-leg quarter-final match. The first leg ended 0-0. The Nigerian was on target in the 39th minute of the match. George’s solitary goal came in the 41st minute of his team’s 5-2 win against German side Bayern Munich in a second-leg semi-final match. The first leg in Germany ended 0-0.
George and Kanu remained with Ajax and would go on to make another final appearance in 1996. They weren’t lucky this time around as another Italian side, Juventus, beat them on penalties.
George featured for Real Betis of Spain in the UEFA Cup. But his finest moment in Europe’s club competitions was with Ajax. Kanu won the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan in 1998 but like his compatriot, George, Ajax’s 1-0 win against AC Milan remains his finest hour in UEFA club competitions.
Mikel Obi
It took 536,198,400 seconds (16 years, 11 months, 26 days) for another Nigerian to join this exclusive list. Mikel Obi achieved this feat when he won the cup on May 19, 2012, with Chelsea who beat Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties after the full time ended 1-1 at the Alliance Arena, Munich. It was the first time the Blues would win the trophy.
The Nigerian benefitted from fellow midfielder Michael Essien’s injury layoff and thus found more playing time. He played the full 90 minutes and extra time of the match.
Bayern Munich opened the scoring in the 88th minute of the match. With hope seemingly lost for Chelsea, Didier Drogba scored the equaliser two minutes to the end of the match to send the game to extra time. Mikel Obi took no part in the penalty shootouts. However, he was instrumental in the game. He won tackles everywhere, broke up the play at the right time, and made timely interceptions. Most pundits felt he could have won the Man-of-the-match award if not for the heroics of fellow African and teammate, Drogba.
Beyond Nigeria, the following African players have won the UEFA Champions League.
Bruce Grobbelaar (Zimbabwe) – Liverpool, 1983-1984
Rabah Madjer (Algeria) – FC Porto, 1986-1987
Abedi Pelé (Ghana) – Olympique de Marseille, 1992-1993
Ibrahim Tanko (Ghana) – Borussia Dortmund, 1997
Samuel Kuffour (Ghana) – Bayern Munich 2000-2001
Geremi (Cameroon) – Real Madrid, 2000 & 2002
Benni McCarthy (South Africa) – Porto, 2003-2004
Djimi Traoré (Mali) – Liverpool, 2004-2005
Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon) – Barcelona, 2006, 2009 & Inter Milan, 2010
Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast) – Barcelona, 2008-2009
Seydou Keita (Mali) – Barcelona, 2008-2009, 2010-2011
Sulley Muntari (Ghana) – Inter Milan, 2009-2010
McDonald Mariga (Kenya) – Inter Milan 2009-2010
Michael Essien (Ghana) – Chelsea, 2011-2012
Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast) – Chelsea, 2011-2012
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) – Chelsea, 2011-2012
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) – Real Madrid, 2017-2018
Mohamed Salah (Egypt) – Liverpool, 2019
Sadio Mane (Senegal) – Liverpool, 2019
Joel Matip (Cameroon) – Liverpool, 2019
Naby Keita (Guinea) – Liverpool, 2019
Édouard Mendy (Senegal) – Chelsea, 2021
Hakim Ziyech (Morocco) – Chelsea, 2021
Most appearances by a Nigerian player in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
60: Nwankwo Kanu (Ajax, Arsenal)
59: John Obi Mikel (Chelsea)
36: Obafemi Martins (Inter Milan, Wolfsburg, Rubin)
35: Taye Taiwo (Marseille, AC Milan, Dynamo Kyiv)
29: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moskva, Leicester)
28: Efe Ambrose (Celtic)
26: Julius Aghahowa (Shakhtar Donetsk)
26: Atanda Ayila Yussuf (Dynamo Kyiv)
25: Chidi Odiah (Sheriff, CSKA Moskva)
21: Celestine Babayaro (Anderlecht, Chelsea)
21: Viktor Ikpeba (Monaco, Borussia Dortmund)
Top-scoring Nigerians in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
10: Obafemi Martins (Inter Milan, Wolfsburg, Rubin)
7: Julius Aghahowa (Shakhtar Donetsk)
7: Emmanuel Emenike (Spartak Moskva, Fenerbahçe, Olympiacos)
7: Viktor Ikpeba (Monaco, Borussia Dortmund)
7: Ayegbeni Yakubu (Maccabi Haifa)
6: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moskva, Leicester)
5: Brown Ideye (Dynamo Kyiv, Olympiacos)
5: Nwankwo Kanu (Ajax, Arsenal)
4: Emmanuel Bonaventure (Club Brugge)
4: Anthony Nwakaeme (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
4: Michael Obiku (Feyenoord, Anorthosis Famagusta)
Most appearances by a Nigerian player in all UEFA club competitions
81: Nwankwo Kanu (Ajax, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Portsmouth)
78: Taye Taiwo (Marseille, AC Milan, Dynamo Kyiv, Bursaspor, HJK Helsinki, RoPS Rovaniemi)
70: John Obi Mikel (Chelsea, Trabzonspor)
63: Obafemi Martins (Inter Milan, Newcastle, Wolfsburg, Rubin, Levante)
53: Celestine Babayaro (Anderlecht, Chelsea, Newcastle United)
52: Jay-Jay Okocha (Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahçe, Paris Saint-Germain, Bolton Wanderers)
51: Shola Ameobi (Newcastle United)
51: Atanda Ayila Yussuf (Dynamo Kyiv, Metalist Kharkiv)
50: Finidi George (Ajax, Real Betis, Ipswich Town, RCD Mallorca)
50: Vincent Enyeama (Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, LOSC)
Top-scoring Nigerians in all UEFA club competitions
23: Obafemi Martins (Inter Milan, Newcastle United, Wolfsburg, Rubin, Levante)
15: Shola Ameobi (Newcastle United)
15: Viktor Ikpeba (RFC Liège, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund)
13: Jay-Jay Okocha (Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahçe, Paris Saint-Germain, Bolton Wanderers)
13: Ayegbeni Yakubu (Maccabi Haifa, Middlesbrough, Everton)
12: Michael Obiku (Anorthosis Famagusta, Feyenoord, APOEL)
11: Joseph Akpala (Club Brugge, Kardemir Karabükspor)
10: Julius Aghahowa (Shakhtar, Kayserispor)
10: Benedict Akwuegbu (Grazer AK)
10: Brown Ideye (Dynamo Kyiv, Olympiacos)
Nigerians who have won a UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League final
Taribo West (Lazio 0-3 Inter Milan, 1998)
Chidi Odiah (Sporting CP 1-3 CSKA Moskva, 2005)
Samuel Chukwueze (Manchester United 11-12 Villarreal, 2021)
Conclusion
This season, another Nigerian won’t be added to the trio who have won the UEFA Champions League. The chances of Villarreal or RB Salzburg winning the diadem is not slim. It is nonexistent.