Former France and Barcelona defender, Samuel Yves Umtiti has told Super Eagles player, Ademola Lookman to stay focused and keep performing well.
The 32-year-old was at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium when Atletico Madrid beat his old team, Barcelona, with a score of 4-0 in the first match of the Copa Del Rey semi-final.
Lookman, Julian Alvarez, and Umtiti’s ex-France teammate, Antoine Griezmann, all scored goals in a really impressive display.
After the game, Griezmann gave Lookman’s jersey to Umtiti because the Nigerian player became the main talking point after a fantastic performance that included his first goals scored in front of Atletico Madrid’s home fans.
The defender who won the 2018 FIFA World Cup was at the Wanda Metropolitano doing commentary for DAZN.
He praised Lookman for his good timing in making smart choices and told him to stay focused and keep working hard to keep achieving what he’s done so far.
“Keep going like this, you have to keep going,” said the two-time La Liga winner to Lookman.
“Players like Antoine (Griezmann) are really smart, and Julian (Alvarez) is also very skilled with the ball. So you have to keep going,” Umtiti said again, encouraging the 2024 CAF Player of the Year to maintain good teamwork and play well with his teammates.
Lookman said, “I think all the players are really good at that, so they kind of know where everyone else is on the field,” praising the awareness of the Atleti players.
“So, it’s mostly about knowing what to do and when to do it, which is nice to play with them.”
Lookman has now scored two goals and given two assists in three games for Diego Simeone’s team in all competitions.