African players don’t really get the chance to make the Champions League finals, as very few of them enjoy their career in an elite European club side that always participates in the competition.
Here, Futballnews brings you six of the African Players who have lost in a Champions League Final.
Number two and three will surprise you as many have almost forgotten these players ever participated in the prestigious competition and almost won it with their respective clubs.
Riyad Mahrez
Mahrez is the most recent loser on this list; despite being a four-time Premier League winner and one of the best players in the English league over the last seven years, the Algerian virtuoso has yet to win the Champions League.
Last year, he was a member of a Manchester City team that made it to the final, only to lose to Chelsea in Porto.
Mahrez started the game alongside Raheem Sterling up front, but the Citizens were defeated once again as Kai Havertz scored the game’s only goal.
Emmanuel Adebayor
In 2004, an improbable Champions League final arose, with AS Monaco facing FC Porto in a showdown that would crown Jose Mourinho as the Special One.
Both teams featured African players on the bench, with Porto’s Benni McCarthy coming off the bench and Tony Sylva, Shabani Nonda, and Emmanuel Adebayor all on the bench.
Adebayo didn’t play a single minute as Monaco were beaten 3-0 in a lopsided match, and that was the closest he came to winning the title.
Despite playing for some of Europe’s most prestigious clubs, including Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, and Real Madrid, the Togo striker never conquered the continent and was cup-tied for Arsenal’s 2006 final against Barcelona.
Kolo Toure
Arsenal defender Kolo Toure played the entire 90 minutes with compatriot Emmanuel Eboue as the Londoners came close to defeating Barcelona in the 2006 final.
It was a spectacular final, with the Londoners gaining the lead through Sol Campbell in the first half, but then losing Jens Lehmann to a red card for more than 70 minutes.
Barca turned the game around at the Stade de France with late goals from Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti, breaking Arsenal’s hearts and denying Kolo the chance to become the Ivory Coast’s first UCL victor.
Three years later, his brother Yaya became the Elephants’ first European champion with Barca.
Thomas Partey
In an all-Spanish final in 2016, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid battled head-to-head, but Los Merengues won on penalties after Juanfran fluffed his lines.
At this point, Partey was on the field, having replaced Koke in the 116th minute of a grueling match.
He lost out on following in the footsteps of Abedi Pele, Sammy Kuffour, and Michael Essien, and he doesn’t appear to be in any danger of doing so again with Arsenal.
Victor Wanyama
Wanyama, who was a finalist in 2019, hoped to follow in the footsteps of his brother McDonald Mariga, who won the European championship with Internazionale in 2011.
Big Vic played a key role in Tottenham Hotspur’s path to the final but was relegated to the bench for the final following a poor performance against Ajax in the semi-final.
Mauricio Pochettino chose Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko in midfield for the final against Liverpool—a game in which Spurs looked jaded- the Londoners went behind early.
Kwadwo Asamoah
Real Madrid and Juventus have failed to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in a decade, but they were UCL finalists when they met in Cardiff in 2017.
Real eventually strolled to victory, winning 4-1 and denying Kwadwo Asamoah the chance to become Ghana’s sixth Champions League winner.
The dynamic wideman, like colleague Medhi Benatia, sat out the one-sided match, though Gabon midfielder Mario Lemina was inserted as a 78th-minute substitute as the Old Lady attempted to turn things around at the death.
