African football legend Samuel Eto'o has sent a message to Ademola Lookman after his penalty saga with Atalanta head coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

Atalanta were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League after their 5-2 aggregate loss to Club Brugge, including a 3-1 home loss and the events that followed were unprecedented.

Ademola Lookman missed a penalty during the match and head coach Gasperini publicly berated him, to which the Super Eagles star responded with a statement on social media.

The incident has attracted global attention, most of whom have called out the hypocrisy of the manager, who ignored other lapses to single out the Nigerian.

Eto'o sends message to Lookman

Four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o has sent a message to Lookman after Italian coach Gasperini publicly criticised him after Atalanta’s UCL elimination.

Eto'o took to his Instagram page and sent a message of encouragement to the Super Eagles star after the “disrespectful” and “hurtful” incident.

“My younger brother, Memory in football lasts 90mins. The time of a Match and Next. For us, You are and will always be our Champion. Only he who has the courage to shoot can miss. Thank you for your courage great champion,” he wrote.

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Eto'o spent three years in Italy across two spells playing for Inter Milan where he won the treble under Jose Mourinho and had a short spell at Sampdoria in 2015.

Lookman has received the support of former footballers, pundits and fans, most of whom have questioned Gasperini for disrespecting the player who won him his only trophy.

There have been calls for the manager to apologise for the public statement with the Super Eagles forward expected to leave the club this summer after the club denied him moves last year.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the club are yet to make a statement on the incident between their best player and their head coach, but a peace talk will be held.