Two legendary personalities in African football retired Cameroonian striker Patrick Mboma and nomadic French coach Claude Le Roy believed Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze is destined for the top with sterling performances for both club and country.
Leroy who led Cameron to win thec1988 AFCON in Morocco at the expense of Nigeria and Mboma who top strike as the Indomitable Lions yet again edged Nigeria to win the 2000 AFCON in Lagos,were quests on Monday night at Canal Plus Afrique studio in Paris to discuss the 65th edition of the Ballon d’Or award held at the Chatelet Theatre in central Paris.
The other in the studio were Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr and French journalist Nabil Djellit as the panellists further discussed recent developments in African football.
“ Of course, the Ballon d’Or Awards is always a subject of interesting discussion and together with Claude Leroy, Patrick Mboma and Nabil Djellit, we had an interesting night at Canal Plus Afrique to discuss the awards and African football,” Rohr told NationSport .
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Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi edged prolific Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Chelsea’s Italy midfielder Jorginho into second and third positions respectively to be crowned the men’s Ballon d’Or award for a record-extending seventh time.
“ For me and the three other colleagues, Lewandowski should have been the winner, “ Rohr who incidentally star for Bayern Munich in his heyday, explained. “ Also, we were also of the opinion that Chelsea and Senegal goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy, should have won the Trophee Yachine (awarded to PSG’s Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma) for the best goalkeeper.”
Yet the 22-year-old Chukwueze who has been turning the eyes with Villarreal as he scored the Yellow Submarines’ opening goal in the 3-1 loss to Barcelona last weekend in the Spanish La Liga, was reportedly a subject of interesting discussion as the panellists weighed on Africa’s leading lights in Europe.
“ I think an African player can still win the Ballon d’Or in the future and during our discussion, they presented Chukwueze’s goal and we spoke about his brilliant future,” Rohr explained. “ There is so much talents in Africa and for instance a lot of big clubs in Europe are already talking about Ivorian Karim Konaté, the 17-year-old ASEC Mimosas’ striker,