No. Of Players Who Have Appeared In European Cup/UCL Final : Nigeria Ranked 27th Thanks To Mikel, Kanu, Finidi

Published: May 31, 2019

Ahead of the Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, the official website of UEFA

has revealed the number of players (by nation) who have appeared in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League final.

Italy with 147 players lead the way, followed by Spain (146), Germany (130), France (78) and England (75).

With three players appearing in previous finals, Nigeria are the 27th ranked nation overall and third in Africa, behind Ghana and Ivory Coast.

Retired Super Eagles winger Finidi George became the first Nigerian player in history to feature in the Champions League final after he was named in the starting line-up for Ajax Amsterdam vs AC Milan in 1995 and was joined on the Ernst-Happel-Stadion turf by Nwankwo Kanu in the 53rd minute.

The following year, the two players were key members of the Ajax Amsterdam side that lost on penalties to Juventus in the showpiece held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Nigeria had to wait for sixteen years before another of their player graced the biggest stage in European club football.

Current Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel helped Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the 2012 showpiece.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : twitter.com/OfficialFinidi