Thursday, October 3, 2013
Happy birthday Nigeria: NIGERIA'S TOP 10 "GREATEST" FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF ALL TIME
Ever since Nigeria gained her independence
in 1960 from Great Britain, Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles formerly
known as the Green Eagles have continued to grow from strength to strength.
Although Nigeria waited until the '70s before fully making an impact in the
world of football, the Super Eagles have indeed come a long way. In April 1994, the Super Eagles of Nigeria ranked 5th in the FIFA World Rankings,
the highest ranking achieved by an African football team. Some of their major achievement
includes appearances in 3 of the last four World Cups, 3 wins in the Africa Cup
of Nations (Current African champions), an Olympic medal, and silver medals to
their credit
The Super Eagles players have shown
their abilities on some of the biggest footballing tournaments in the world. I know,
it may not seem all glam for now, however, over the years, their rise into an
African footballing powerhouse has produced some of Africa's and the World's
finest players, so, let’s take a looksee at some of the greatest players of all
time.
10. John Mikel Obi (Midfielder). Obi
started his football career when he was only 15; he started out with Plateau
United in 2003, and then represented Nigeria in the World Under-17 youth
tournament in Finland. After the competition, Mikel played for South Africa’s Ajax
in Capetown, and later represented Nigeria again in the World Under20
championships. He won the silver ball as the second best player at the tournament.
On the move again, this time to Europe, Mikel joined Lyn Oslo, his move to
Europe was not without controversies as he made only six starts for Lyn Oslo
moving, again to Chelsea in the Premier League, at the young age of 18.
Named Chelsea Young Player of the
Year in 2007, till date, Mikel has made over 282 appearances so far and has
scored a total of 3 goals for the Blues.
The 26-year-old midfielder
contributed immensely in the just concluded Nations cup in South Africa and became
an African nations champion as well a European club champion.
9. Taribo West (Defender). Although
the former Derby County, Plymouth and Inter Milan defender will most
likely be remembered for his very bizarre haircuts, West was quite a character
on and off the field during his time. Prior to his retirement in 2005, West made
over 41 appearances for the Nigerian national team, he was part of the Nigerian
National team that won gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA and he
also played in the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Career-1994–2005 Appearances-41
Goals-0
8. Peter Rufai (Goalkeeper). Rufai began
his footballing career in 1986 playing for Stationary Stores FC and Femo
Scorpions in the same year. Rufai became the very first Nigerian goalkeeper to
play abroad as he signed for Beninese team Dragon FC in 1986. He eventually
moved to Europe, his most successful spell being for Portuguese team SC
Farense. In season 1993/1994 he played 12 games for Go Ahead Eagles. Halfway in
the 1996/97 he moved to play in Spain where he joined giants
Deportivo de La Coruña. Among official and unofficial matches, Rufai has played a
total of 110 international matches for Nigeria and scored 1 goal against
Ethiopia in a 6-0 win at the 1994 Nations Cup qualifier. He represented Nigeria
at the World Cups in 1994 and 1998 and also led the Super Eagles team that won the 1994
African Nations Cup which was held in Tunisia.
7. Sunday Oliseh (Defensive
Midfielder) Oliseh was highly successful in the '90s as he played for top clubs
in all around the world including Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, and Juventus in an
illustrious career that spanned ten clubs over 18 years in five different
countries.
Oliseh made his reputation in the
World Cups of 1994 and 1998, but will be forever remembered for his remarkable
winning goal in Nigeria's stunning victory over Spain in the 1998 France World
Cup, where the Super Eagles overcame one of the tournament's favorites in a
shock 3-2 victory. He retired from international football in 2002 after being
left out of the World Cup squad. In
January 2006, at the age of 31, Oliseh retired from professional football after
playing a half season for Belgian top club K.R.C. Genk
Career-1993–2002, Appearances-63,
Goals-4
6. George Finidi (Right Winger).
After moving from Nigerian Club Sharks of Port Harcourt in 1993 , George enjoyed a stellar playing career in Europe with fellow teammate Kanu Nwankwo . He was once dubbed the
best right winger in the world. At Ajax, he became one of the best passers of
the ball in Europe, he scored four goals in 27 games to help it win the Eredivisie title,
which was also achieved in the following two seasons; additionally, as a
starter, he appeared in consecutive UEFA Champions League finals, winning
the 1994–95 edition against A.C. Milan. Alongside compatriot Nwankwo
Kanu, he became the first Nigerian to win European club football’s most coveted
accolade. He then left the Dutch giants to join Real Betis after turning down a
bid from Real Madrid.The 6'3" winger scored 18 goals in 85 league
appearances for the famous Dutch club.
Career-1991–2002, Appearances-62,
Goals-8
5. Daniel Amokachi. (Striker)
Amokachi better known as the “Bull” was discovered by the then coach of the
National team, Clement Westerhof while playing for Ranchers Bee. Shortly after
the discovery, Amokachi moved to Belgium to play for Club Brugge after joining
the National team for their Nation’s Cup campaign in 1990. He was later signed by
Everton, in the summer of 1994 after a successful wonderful World Cup in the
US. Everton manager Mike Walker spent £3m to bring the big striker from Belgium
club Brugge. Just ahead of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, an unfortunate
injury will later cut short the players international football career. After
leaving Beşiktaş in 1999, his playing career more or less ended
He was part of the team that
participated in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. He helped Nigeria lift the 1994
African Cup of Nations, as well as the Olympic gold in 1996 after beating
Argentina in the final.
Amokachi is currently back in the
National team serving as
Career-1990–1999, Appearances-42,
Goals-14
4.Rashidi Yekini (Striker) Yekini
started his professional career in Nigeria, he later joined African Sports
National in Ivory Coast. Moving
from the shores of Africa, Yekini’s next stop in the World was to Portugal, he
then signed on to Vitória de Setúbal. He was a prolific goal scorer and he
became the leading goal scorer in the Portuguese's League with 34 goals in 32
appearances for Vitória Setúbal, in the1993–94 season. The Nigerian striker
bagged goals and broke records consistently during his 24-year career.
Yekini’s record breaking 37 goals
in only 70 appearances is still a record for the Super Eagles, a record is still
unmatched. He scored Nigeria's first World Cup goal, and also helped Nigeria
win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, unsurprisingly he ended as the tournament's
top goalscorer.
Sadly, Nigeria lost one of its
greatest football legends in 2012. Yekini died in Ibadan at the age of 48 after
he reported to be ill for an extended period of time.
Career-1986–1998, Appearances-70,
Goals-37
3. Kanu Nwankwo (Striker). The 6’5ft
football striker mainly known as ‘KANU‘ started playing professional
football at age 15.kanu is one of Africa’s most decorated footballer in
history. Kanu has won a UEFA Champions League medal, a UEFA Cup medal,
three FA Cup Winners Medals. He is also one of few players to have won the Premier
League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal. He
made the second-most substitute appearances in Premier League
history, appearing from the bench 118 times. He is also a UNICEF ambassador
Nwankwo is a two time African
Footballer of the year, he won the award in 1996, and 1999 respectively. Kanu
was voted by his club Arsenal, as their 13th greatest Gunner of all time.
Kanu was a member of the Nigerian
national team from 1994 until 2010, making his debut in friendly against Sweden.
Aside from being part of the team that won the Gold medal at 1996 Olympics,
Kanu participated in both the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups. On 24
June 2010, Kanu ended his international career following Nigeria's exit from
the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Career-1994–Present,
Appearances-82, Goals-13
2. Patrick Olusegun Odegbami (Forward)
Odegbami was at some point in his career nicknamed “mathematical” the sobriquet
was given by a radio commentator, Earnest Okonkwo mainly because of Odegbami’s ability
to play accurately and also because the 6’1 ft. player attended and was
graduated from Nigeria's premier technical institution, The Polytechnic,
Ibadan. He studied Engineering. He started playing football in the Northern
city of Jos, Nigeria where he grew up, Odegbami played for IICC Shooting
Stars of Ibadan his entire career, from 1970 to 1984.He won 46 caps and
scored 23 goals for his country, and guided Nigeria to its first African
Nations title at the 1980 African Nations Cup.
1. Augustine Azuka "Jay-Jay" Okocha (Midfielder) Okocha
started his footballing career at age 20 and made his standing off his World
Cup exploits in 1994.
Okocha has missed just one of
Nigeria's 11 games during the three World Cups he played in. In the first game
of the 1994 tournament, Nigeria notched a 3-0 victory over Bulgaria.
Okocha demonstrated his phenomenal
footballing talents on the World Cup stage in the United States '94, France '98
(where he captained his nation) and Japan/South Korea '02. Okocha's silky
smooth skills, and natural flair, made him a true World Cup great. He took
Nigeria to the second round in the '94 and '98 tournaments. Okocha finished
second in the African Player of Year award twice, becoming arguably the best
player never to win the award. Jay Jay won the inaugural BBC African Footballer
of the Year trophy. He later became the only player to retain the award.
In 2004, Pele listed Okocha in his
list of the greatest 125 living players of all time. Okocha was voted the 12th
greatest African footballers of the past 50 years in 2007.
A list of other top Nigerian
footballers includes:
*Steven Keshi (defender)-Current
Super Eagles head coach, till date, He is one of only two people, along with Egypt's Mahmoud
El-Gohary, to have won the Africa
Cup of Nations as both a player and a coach.
*Christian Chukwu (defender),
captained the Nigerian national team to its first ever Nations Cup win)
*The late Mudashiru Lawal (midfieilder)
*Victor Ikpeba (forward), he played
31 international matches and scored 6 goals for Nigeria
*Wilson Oruma (midfielder), was part of the
team that won the 1996 Gold Olympic medal in Atlanta
*Austin Eguavoen (Defender)
*Samson Siasia (forward) would have been in the top 10, but then again, we
have too many greats. Siasia has capped over played about 51 international games
for Nigeria in which he scored 13 goals.
* Maureen Mmadu (midfielder), she has made over 100 appearances for
the Nigeria women's national football team, including appearing at four FIFA
Women's World Cups and has competed in both the 2000 and 2004 Summer
Olympics
* Perpetua Ijeoma Nkwocha
Let's have fun. Who's on your own list of 10 greatest Nigerian players of all time?
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