In their 137 years history, Leicester City fans have only but waited for a day like yesterday when history was made in the chronological books of the club. A Youri Tielemans’ 63rd minute outside-the-box ferocious thunderbolt sealed victory for Leicester City in front of 22,000 fans (14-month English sporting biggest crowd due to the pandemic) at Wembley.
Instrumental to Leicester’s victory were Nigerian sensations, Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi ‘Senior man Kelz’ Iheanacho, who gave their all, not only in the final match, but from the onset of the cup tournament. Consequently, they have become the joint 8th Super Eagles to win the English FA Cup, joining the other seven winners viz; Daniel Amokachi, Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, John Utaka, John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi. King Kanu Papilo Nwankwo remains the greatest achiever here given the fact he remains the only Nigerian player to have scored in the FA Cup final and also named the Man of the Match when he scored Portsmouth’s only goal in 2008 against Cardiff.
Ndidi and Iheanacho played in all games from the 3rd round with the latter missing the first two. Iheanacho became the team’s best player from the 5th round and carried them despite incessant injuries to key players like Jamie Vardy.
He started scoring game after game and scored the winner with the last play of the game in the fifth round 1-0 win over Brighton before a fantastic brace in the quarterfinals against Manchester United.
The scoring streak continued with the lone goal in the semifinals against Southampton thereby booking a date with Chelsea and history in the finals.
Wilfred Ndidi may not have scored in the tournament this season but he was rock solid in the middle of the pack and held sway for the Foxes when the chips were down in central midfield. He started five of the six games, including the final and was magnificent all through.
In the finals at Wembley, he started rather slowly but grew with the game to help Leicester City gain more control in midfield. He worked well with Tielemans in midfield, matched everyone in Chelsea’s midfield well. It was a constant battle for the midfield possession between Ngolo Kante and himself, thereby neutralizing Chelsea’s technical ability to initiate attacks from the defence.
A near perfect blend of the team saw the Foxes celebrating another moment of history after winning the EPL five years ago.
At full-time of a major final in one of Europe’s top leagues, the Nigerian flag was flown and well enveloped the two victorious Super Eagles to send Nigerian fans to wild celebrations back home, irrespective of the clubs they supported in the Premier League.
In the dressing room, popular Nigerian songs were heard blasting away as the team celebrated with Dr Sid’s ‘Over the Moon’ among top songs making the moments colourfully historic.
Nigerians took to Twitter and other social media platforms to celebrate their own. It was a massive achievement indeed and done in great style. That Tieleman’s ferocious yarder came from nowhere and took the Foxes ‘over the moon.’
Azuka Edokobi is a Writer , a Farmer, a Supply Chain Expert and an Entrepreneur
