Three Nigerian-born players were on the team lists Wednesday night in the UEFA Europa League final, but Tammy Abraham had the last laugh, as Aston Villa silenced SC Freiburg of Germany, who had Noah Atubolu in goal and Bruno Ifechukwu Ogbus on their bench.
Sports247 reports that Abraham was also left on Villa’s bench for the entire duration of the match in Istanbul, Turkey, but his teammates did the honours for him.
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It meant Abraham joined a rare class of players who have won the competition with two different clubs, having previously gained it with AS Roma of Italy in August 2022.
Wednesday marked another historic moment of double joy for Abraham, although he was benched for all 90 minutes by the English Premier League side, as they stopped Atubolu from winning this year’s title.
Abraham stayed rooted to Villa’s bench during the game at the base of his immediate last club, Besiktas of Turkey, while Atubolu was on for 90 minutes of the encounter, but could not prevent a 3-0 defeat for his side.
Goals by by Youri Tielemans (41′), Emiliano Buendía (45+2′) and Morgan Rogers (58′) sailed past Atubolu during Wednesday night’s final at Beşiktaş Park, where Abraham previously featured as a key player before moving to Vlla Park in January.
Atubolu’s side initially proved themselves well for long periods in the first half, but Lucas Höler dragged an effort wide following a Vincenzo Grifo free-kick, before Johan Manzambi tested the reflexes of Villa goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez from distance.
However, just as the half looked destined to end goalless, Tielemans crashed in a brilliant volley to break the deadlock, following which Buendía beat Atubolu from range to leave Die Breisgauer with a mountain to climb.
It went from bad to worse for Freiburg after the restart as Morgan Rogers turned in Buendía’s pass from close range with just 58 minutes on the clock and Atubolu’s unfancied Black Forest team lost a major final for the second time in their history.
Abraham eventually got off the bench to join in Villa’s celebrations after the final whistle, as the squad brought back memories of a night long ago in Rotterdam in 1982, when the Birmingham City-based side had their first feel of European glory.
“Born less than a month after Peter Withe’s goal sunk Bayern Munich in the European Cup Final, Prince William will never forget being in the stands to cheer Villa to their first major trophy since Brian Little’s team won the League Cup in 1996.
“The Prince of Wales celebrated his side’s goals as raucously as anyone and at one stage even appeared on the verge of tears. Emiliano Martinez carried Unai Emery on his shoulders in front of the Villa supporters,” a report by UK’s Daily Mail added.
