4 Nigerian Players Who Scored on Their Ligue 1 Debuts After Chuba Akpom for Lille
- The French Ligue 1 has been home to Nigerian footballers from the time when they have been playing in Europe
- Two of them have had outstanding seasons and won the famous Marc Vivien-Foe award for best African in France
- Super Eagles hopeful Chuba Akpom joined Lille on loan and scored on his debut making history with the goal
Nigerian footballers have played in their numbers in the French Ligue 1 since the time they have been making it out of the country and playing European football.
They have made impacts across all positions and some of the notable stars were goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, left-back Taye Taiwo, and forward Victor Osimhen.
Source: Twitter
Enyeama and Osimhen won the prestigious Marc Vivien-Foe award for being the best African in the league for a season under review.
According to All Nigeria Soccer, four Nigerian strikers have had the honour of scoring on their debut including Super Eagles hopeful Chuba Akpom, who joined Lille on loan in January.
Legit.ng looks at the four Nigerians who scored on their French Ligue 1 debuts.
Nigerians who scored on Ligue 1 debut
1. Chuba Akpom
Akpom has been at AFC Ajax since the summer of 2023 before leaving the Dutch side to join Lille on loan until the end of the season as noted by The Athletic. He came off the bench to score during the team's disappointing 2-1 loss to Le Havre, becoming the fourth Nigerian to do so.
His goal earned him the praises of manager Bruno Genesio.
“Scoring is always a good sign for a striker. Chuba was opportunistic on that play. He still needs time to adapt to our system and understand what we expect from him,” he said.
“His goal will boost his confidence and hopefully be a valuable asset for us in the final stretch of the season.”
2. Terem Moffi
Moffi joined FC Lorient from Belgian club Kortrijk in October 2020 and scored on his league debut to help the team beat Stade Reims 3-1, with his goal coming to wrap up the victory. He had an impressive time in Lorient and it earned him a move to OGC Nice in 2023 and has remained there.
3. Moses Simon
Simon joined Nantes on loan in the 2019/20 season from Spanish side Levante and made an instant impact by scoring on his debut against SC Amiens, with his goal earning the team all three points. The French club triggered the option to sign him permanently and he has been one of their key players since then.
4. Victor Osimhen
Osimhen spent one season in France, the 2019/20 season which was truncated by the coronavirus pandemic. He scored 13 league goals including two on his debut in the 2-1 win over Nantes.
He won the Marc Vivien-Foe award that season before joining Napoli. He had the chance to return to France with Paris Saint-Germain last summer but Napoli botched the move.
Akpom laments Super Eagles' snub
Legit.ng reported that Chuba Akpom laments Super Eagles’ snub after the failure to earn a call-up or make a first-team appearance since switching his international allegiance.
Akpom played for England at all youth levels and decided to represent Nigeria at senior level in 2019, but surprisingly has yet to earn a call-up to the Super Eagles.
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Source: Legit.ng
