Paul Onuachu Makes History As First Nigerian To Win Belgian Golden Shoe

Super Eagles and Genk striker, Paul Onuachu, has had his name written on golden scrolls of history as he beat all odds to win the Belgian Golden Shoe award after he was named the Best Player in Belgium for 2021.

Onuachu becomes the first Nigerian and fourth African to bag the reputable award behind Ivory Coast’s Aruna Dindane in 2003, Morocco’s Mbark Boussoufa (twice in 2006 and 2010), and DR Congo’s Dieumerci Mbokani in 2012.

The Nigerian international pulled 333 votes to claim the prize ahead of Club Brugge’s duo of Noa Lang and Charles De Ketelaere who pulled 272 votes and 271 votes to place second and third respectively.

In the previous award year, Onuachu finished third behind Beerchot’s Rafael Holtzauser and Israeli top striker, Lior Refaelov, who emerged winner.

Onuachu also became the third player in Genk’s history to win the award and the first in the last 20 years, scoring 29 league goals in the 2020\2021 season and has already bagged another 12 goals in the ongoing 2021\ 2022 season of Pro League in Belgium

Legendary Nigerian footballers like Daniel Amokachi, Stephen Keshi, Samson Siasia, and more, all plied their trade in Belgium during their active years, but Onuachu is the only Nigerian international  that have won the European country’s Golden Shoe award.

Onauchu signed for Genk in August 2019. He has made 60 appearances for the club so far and scored 42 times.  The Genk star is currently nursing a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Nigerian squad for the ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon.

Source

LIB