Afghanistan
Angola
Argentina
Asia (AFC)
Asian Games
Australia
Belgium-Netherlands
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Central American & Caribbean Games
Central American Games
Congo DR
Denmark
England
Europe (UEFA)
FYR Macedonia
Finland
Germany
Greece
International Tournaments
Italy
Mediterranean Games
Mexico
National
Nepal
North & Central America (Concacaf)
Palestine
Pan American Games
Panama
Russia
Scandinavia
Serbia And Montenegro
South American Games
Spain
Syria
USA
Venezuela
World (FIFA)
Yemen
Zimbabwe

Dessers has final chance to bring glory to Nigerians after miserable season

goal.com, 25 May 2022, 06:42
GOAL takes a look at the biggest transfer news and rumours from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and around the world A West Ham winger that has enjoyed a stellar 2021-22 campaign at club level has been rewarded with a spot in the Three Lions' Nations League ranks With UEFA expanding continental competition in 2021-22, there are now more opportunities than ever for teams to chase down major silverware

Whilst observers focused on the semi-final first leg encounter between Leicester City and Roma, bigging it up as the final before the final, Cyriel Dessers was making his mark against Olympique Marseille in the other semi.

The Feyenoord forward was the undoubted key man heading into that game with the Ligue 1 outfit in Rotterdam having netted eight times in Europe's embryonic competition at the time, one fewer than Roma's Tammy Abraham.

A brace against Marseille lifted the Dutch outfit to a 3-2 success on home turf, handing them a slender advantage going into the reverse fixture in France.

Getty

Both goals came at crucial points in the game, too. The first opened the scoring after 18 minutes, 11 minutes after failing to tuck away a clear-cut opportunity following Luan Peres' misjudgement handed the Nigerian a chance and the second, one minute into the second half, put the Eredivisie outfit back in front after they had lost a two-goal advantage.

The second was all his doing as he pressed the Marseille defence in isolation and profited from Duje Caleta-Car's under-hit back pass to score what proved to be the winning goal on the day and in the tie.

That strike set up Wednesday's decider against the competition's favourites and sees the two leading scorers in the competition battle with the Super Eagle one goal ahead in their duel.

Getty Images

Most of the attention has been on Mourinho's feat in guiding the Giallorossi to its first major European final in which he also became the first coach to reach the decider of a continental competition with four teams.

Roma supporters have had to watch year after year for the past 14 years without any trophy of any kind, adding to the importance of this year's Europa Conference League for the Serie A club whose last honour was a Coppa Italia title in 2008.

They are 90 minutes — possibly 120 — away from ending that prolonged wait for a title, and they would have none other than Mourinho guiding them through what would be a testing 90 minutes against Dessers and his free-scoring colleagues.

For the Nigerian's part, the challenge of claiming the club's fourth major European title is the goal and success would undoubtedly be welcome by Super Eagles fans who have witnessed setback after setback for several of its stars in the 2021/22 campaign.

While Victor Osimhen set a new individual record, scoring 14 times in Serie A, Napoli undoubtedly missed a huge opportunity to claim its first Scudetto in decades.

Getty

Luciano Spalletti's men were the form team heading into the final weeks of the season, yet they were undone by the absence of a killer instinct at key moments in the run-in to end the Partenopei's dream.

For Samuel Chukwueze, despite a decisive goal in the quarter-final of this year's Champions League at Bayern Munich, the wide attacker will not return for next year's competition owing to Villarreal's seventh-place finish in La Liga.

Rather than participate in Europe's premier club competition for successive seasons, or even have the chance to reclaim the Europa League title they won in 2020/21, the Yellow Submarine will have to make do with the Europa Conference League next season. A disappointment for Unai Emery's side who undoubtedly underachieved this year.

Furthermore, Terem Moffi's struggles to hit the heights of 2020/21 with Lorient was remarkable, while Emmanuel Dennis' relegation with Watford and Alex Iwobi's close shave with the drop stood out. Having said that, Rangers' Nigerian contingent likely ended this season wondering what might have been.

Getty

Joe Aribo opened the scoring in last week's Europa League final, but the 'Gers could not hold on and ultimately lost on penalties. Calvin Bassey was a standout performer in Seville, yet it was not enough for the Scottish side who also failed in its Premiership title defence, losing out to fierce rivals Celtic.

The aforementioned pair and Leon Balogun featured in the weekend's domestic cup success over Hearts, preventing a hat-trick of let-downs.

Indeed, Nigerian football fans will be drawn to rooting for Dessers in Wednesday's Conference League final. The competition's top scorer represents the nation's last hope in what has been a campaign of fiascos and near misses for the national team and some standout players across Europe.

The Feyenoord forward will not be a favourite in Tirana, but the unfazed forward will strive to show his decisive quality and put smiles on supporters' faces to somewhat lift the gloom of a testing 2021/22 campaign.

Top News

14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk England interim manager Lee Carsley has played down Harry Kane's strong words about the withdrawal of many of his teammates, insisting he is looking forward to working with other players who also deserve a chance. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United are reportedly fearful that Lisandro Martinez could spend an extended spell on the sidelines with the hip injury that has forced him to withdraw from Argentina duty. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Sporting Lisbon wing-back Maximiliano Araujo has hinted that he hopes to join Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in the near future. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Morocco will be looking to maintain their 100% record in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers when they visit the Stade de Franceville to take on Gabon on Friday. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk San Marino will hope to leapfrog Gibraltar and prevent them from earning promotion from their UEFA Nations League D group when they welcome them to Stadio Olimpico di Serravalle on Friday. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk In their fifth UEFA Nations League C match of 2024-25, Northern Ireland are set to host Belarus on Friday at Windsor Park, with victory enough to guarantee a place in the top two. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Zimbabwe will be hoping to book their place at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations when they face Kenya on matchday five of qualifying this Friday at the Peter Mokaba Stadium. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United could reportedly move for Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite and Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez during next summer's transfer window. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool should arguably be considered favourites for Premier League glory after they took charge of the title race last weekend when they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield and moved five points ahead of second-placed Manchester City. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Burnley could reportedly offer Ruud van Nistelrooy the chance to make a swift return to English football, with the Clarets interested in bringing him in as their new manager. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Cristiano Ronaldo is set to lead Portugal out in Porto when they face Poland in the UEFA Nations League on Friday night. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk England captain Harry Kane has expressed his disappointment at the number of players to have withdrawn from the Three Lions squad for their UEFA Nations League fixtures with Greece and Republic of Ireland. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona centre-back Pau Cubarsi has been handed a call-up to the Spain squad for the national team's November international fixtures against Denmark and Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Real Madrid youngster Marc Cucalon has been forced to retire from professional football at the age of 19 due to a serious knee injury which he suffered in the latter stages of 2022. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona have revealed that Ansu Fati has been ruled out for around four weeks with a hamstring injury. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Portugal manager Roberto Martinez is facing a crisis at centre-back ahead of their UEFA Nations League clash with Poland in Porto on Friday night. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Portugal welcome Poland to Porto on matchday five of the UEFA Nations League on Friday night. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has said that it is "the right moment" for Ruben Amorim to arrive at Old Trafford, claiming that the Portuguese "did something very special" at Sporting Lisbon. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal defender Ben White has apparently gone under the knife to treat a joint issue in his knee, which will sideline the Englishman for around two months. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Real Madrid have reportedly identified Al-Nassr centre-back Aymeric Laporte and Tottenham Hotspur right-back Pedro Porro as two of their top defensive targets for 2025. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool are reportedly among three Premier League clubs interested in FC Nordsjaelland full-back Daniel Svensson. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool are reportedly among three Premier League clubs interested in FC Nordsjaelland full-back Daniel Svensson. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Botswana will host Mauritania in their penultimate 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at Francistown Stadium on Friday. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia has provided a positive injury update ahead of potentially representing Belgium. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Scotland's stay in the UEFA Nations League's top tier could be brought to its end on Friday, when they face an almost must-win game against League A Group 1 rivals Croatia. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Lamine Yamal is among a number of absentees for Spain, as the national side conclude their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League group-stage campaign with fixtures against Denmark and Switzerland. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Spain will be bidding to secure top spot in Group 4 of League A in the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League when they head to Denmark on Friday evening for what is shaping up to be an intriguing affair. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Brighton & Hove Albion forward Danny Welbeck has claimed that speculation regarding a potential return to Manchester United is "irrelevant". 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly identified Manchester City winger Jack Grealish as a potential January transfer target. 13 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United are reportedly interested in joining the race to sign a Benfica defender in 2025.