Adamu and Adeyemi shine as Salzburg hold Bayern Munich in Champions League
Some Nigerians on Twitter have shared their excitement over the outcome of Salzburg's 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in their first leg of the Round of 16 match.
Tweeps were more excited to see that the six-time European champions were given a run for their money by two footballers of Nigeria descent, Karim Adeyemi and Chukwubuike Adamu.
Both players were influential as Salzburg took the lead in the 21st minute after Adeyemi's dashing run at the Bayern defence ended up with the ball at the feet of substitute Adamu who then put the Austrian underdogs ahead.
He was introduced into the game in the 12th-minute when he replaced another high-flying Nigerian, Noah Okafor, who picked up an injury early in the game.
Adamu's goal for FC Salzburg in the 21st minute against Bayern Munich was the earliest by a substitute in a #UCL game since Thierry Henry against Slavia Prague for Arsenal in October 2005 (also 21st minute), per OptaJoe.
Thanks to the Nigerians, Salzburg almost ended Bayern's record unbeaten away run in the competition at 21 games but Kingsley Coman, who scored the winner against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020 final, netted a 90th-minute equaliser when he latched on to Thomas Müller’s flick.
Bayern Munich have gone two games without a win for the first time since April 2021.
Regardless, some Nigerians on Twitter have hailed the WaZoBia connection. Wazobia is a popular pidginized reference to Nigeria's largest linguistics groups of Yoruba (wa), Hausa (zo) and Igbo (bia), as represented by the trio of Adamu, Adeyemi and Okafor.
Adeyemi was born in Munich, Germany, to a Nigerian father and Romanian mother. He is a youth international for Germany, having represented the Germany under-16s, under-17s and under-21s.
Adamu, on the other hand, was born in Kano state, Nigeria and has spent most of his life in Austria. He started his football career at age 12 with GSV Wacker Youth before joining Salzburg less than a year later.
Okafor is of Nigerian descent. Born in Binningen, Switzerland to a Nigerian father who hails from the Eastern part of Nigeria, while his mother is Swiss.
See reactions of tweeps below:
