A painstaking job you have done but there is an oversight in your account of Roger Milla. In 1976, IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan prevented Tonerre Kalala from winning the African Cup Winners Cup consecutively. Milla was the pillar of the team.

The Segun Odegbami led IICC secured a 4 - 1 aggregate win over the Cameroonian side.

Excellent writing. I am not biased but Didier Drogbab(the Lion) in my opinion if the best footballer to over come out of Africa

Any list without Abedi Pele in the top three is crap!
Abedi's impact on world football was greater than that of Roger Milla and all, exceot maybe that of Weah

ednut1:
won only olympics. Nothing at clubs level

Bros na wetin happen ,where u put him medal wen him win for Tunisia 94 ?

mikeapollo:
Any list without Abedi Pele in the top three is crap!
Abedi's impact on world football was greater than that of Roger Milla and all, exceot maybe that of Weah

Any player no go world cup and no win balon de or on that list no be player . So as for abedi ayew pele did he ever go to the world cup ?

Mhen Okacha is the most overrated footballer to have ever existed, all he did was just dribble people and everyone thought he was the goat

For me, this is the best post today

Jay Jay Okocha is better player than all of them, but he wasn't lucky for honours in his career.

He wasn't just lucky for the crowns, but he is a rare genius, one of the best ever of all time.

One of the best writeup ever on nairaland...

Oga Naptu2 , sorry to disapoint you, but no JayJay no party, case closed.

madam Ishilove come and correct ya uncle


Happy New year.


EOD.

mikeapollo:
Any list without Abedi Pele in the top three is crap!
Abedi's impact on world football was greater than that of Roger Milla and all, exceot maybe that of Weah

he was never at the World cup....he made his name only in Africa. You should be comparing Abedi and Stephen Keshi.

World cup achievement superceed any club competition achievement

lloyds:
Jay Jay Okocha is better player than all of them, but he wasn't lucky for honours in his career.

He wasn't just lucky for the crowns, but he is a rare genius, one of the best ever of all time.

Where is your greatness without evidence (honour)

I loved Drogba Eto and Kanu. I'm pretty sure Goerge Weah is the greatest of them all.

Complete list

Kudos to the historian Naptu2.

naptu2:
6) Didier Drogba

Didier Drogba’s parents sent him to France when he was just 5, to live with his uncle who was a professional footballer. However, he returned to Abidjan 3 years later because he was homesick. He played football every day in a car park in Abidjan.

His time back in Abidjan was short because his parents lost their jobs and he was sent back to France to stay with his uncle again. His parents joined him in France in 1991 and he began playing for youth teams there.

He played for several French clubs including Le Mans and Guingamp before signing for Marseilles in 2003.

Marseilles

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/adrogba.jpg?w=584[/img]
Drogba flourished at Marseilles. He scored 19 goals to emerge the 3rd highest scorer in Ligue 1. He also scored 5 goals in the UEFA Champions League and 6 goals in the UEFA Cup. He won the National Union of Professional Footballers’ award for best player of the season and one of his goals was named goal of the season. His goals helped Marseilles to get to the final of the UEFA Cup where they lost to Valencia.

Chelsea
He was signed by Chelsea for £24 million in 2004, thus becoming Chelsea’s record signing. Chelsea’s new manager, Jose Mourinho, wanted to strengthen the squad and this led to the arrival of a lot of new players like Drogba and Mateja Kezman. Chelsea won the league for the first time in 50 years and they also won the 2005 League Cup title.

They played against Liverpool in the final of the Football League Cup and Liverpool scored inside the first minute when John Arne Riise volleyed a Fernando Morientes pass into the Chelsea goal. Scores were level in the 79th minute when Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard headed a Paulo Ferreira free-kick into his own net.

Neither side was able to score another goal before full time and the game went into extra-time. A goal each from Didier Drogba and Mateja Kežman gave Chelsea a 3–1 lead. A minute later Antonio Núñez of Liverpool scored a header to reduce the deficit to 3–2, but Chelsea held on to win the match and the League Cup for the third time.

Drogba also scored in both legs of the Champions League quarter-final as Chelsea defeated Bayern Munich 6-5 on aggregate. Unfortunately they were defeated by Liverpool in the semi-final. He scored 16 goals in his first season at Chelsea.


Drogba’s good form was evident in the 2005 Community Shield match against Arsenal. He scored in the 8th minute to give Chelsea the lead. He doubled Chelsea’s lead in the 58th minute before Cesc Fabregas scored for Arsenal in the 64th minute. Drogba was given the man of the match award.

Chelsea retained the league title in the 2005/2006 season, becoming only the second club to win back-to-back English titles in the Premier League era. Again Drogba finished with 16 goals for the season, 12 in the Premier League, two in the Community Shield, one in the Champions League and one in the FA Cup. He was also the top assist provider in the league.


2006 World Cup and Nations Cup
Drogba captained Ivory Coast to their 2nd ever Nations Cup final in the 2006 Nations Cup in Egypt. He scored the deciding penalty kick in their quarter-final victory over Cameroon and scored the only goal in their semi-final win over Nigeria. However, they lost the final to Egypt on penalty kicks after Drogba’s penalty was saved by the Egyptian keeper. He was joint 3rd highest goal scorer in the competition.

He also led the Elephants to their first ever World Cup appearance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Drogba scored Ivory Coast’s first ever World Cup goal in the game against Argentina, but they were knocked out in the group stage (they were in the most difficult group in the tournament).

He was named the African Player of the Year for 2006, ahead of Samuel Eto’o and Michael Essien.

Drogba scored 33 goals in all competitions in the 2006/2007 season, including 20 in the Premier League to win the Golden Boot. He scored a hat-trick against Levski Sofia, scored in Chelsea’s home game against Barcelona and scored two goals away against Barcelona in the group stage of the Champions League as Chelsea topped their group. He also scored in the first leg of the quarter-final tie against Valencia. Chelsea eventually lost to Liverpool in the semi-final of the competition. In his last competitive game that season, he scored the winning goal over Manchester United in the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium.

He came 4th in the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year awards.


2008 Champions League
Jose Mourinho left Chelsea at the beginning of the 2007/2008 season and Drogba expressed a desire to leave the club as well. He was not happy that Mourinho left the club. However, he later regretted his comments and stated that he wanted to continue to play for Chelsea.

Drogba and Manchester United player, Nemanja Vidic clashed twice in the English Premier League. Vidic had to have his lip stitched after one of those clashes.

The bad blood spilled over into the 2008 Champions League final, resulting in Didier Drogba being sent off 4 minutes from time for slapping Vidic. Manchester United defeated Chelsea on penalties to win the Champions League.

2008 African Nations Cup
Ivory Coast were drawn in the same group with Nigeria, Mali and Benin in the 2008 Nations Cup. Drogba scored two goals in the group stage, opening the scoring in the 4–1 win over Benin, as well as in the 3–0 win over Mali. In the quarter-finals, Drogba was on the score sheet once again in the 5–0 win over Guinea with the last four goals coming in the final twenty minutes. They played against Egypt in the Semi-final and were beaten 4-1

2009 Champions League semi-final
Chelsea played against Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League semi-final. The match at the Nou Camp ended 0-0. Michael Essien scored after 9 minutes to give Chelsea the lead in the 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge. However, a 93rd minute equaliser by Iniesta ensured that Barcelona went through on the away goals rule. Chelsea’s players were furious. Drogba shouted into the camera that the match was “a fucking disgrace”. Drogba and Bosingwa were consequently banned for their protests after the match.

Drogba again won the African Player of the Year Award in 2009.

Chelsea won the Premier League in the 2009/2010 season with Didier Drogba scoring a hat-trick in an 8–0 win over Wigan Athletic, which helped him to win the Golden Boot award again. Drogba also scored the only goal of the 2010 FA Cup Final, against Portsmouth, from a free-kick.

2010 World Cup and Nations Cup

In the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Drogba scored one goal in the 3–1 victory against Ghana in the group stage. The Ivory Coast reached the quarter-finals but lost 2–3 to Algeria

Drogba scored six goals in five qualification games to help the Ivory Coast qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However he was injured before the tournament and he had to wear a protective cast. Drogba was cleared by FIFA to play in the Ivory Coast's first group game against Portugal wearing a protective cast on his broken arm. The match ended in a goalless draw at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium with Drogba coming on in the 65th minute. On 20 June 2010, Drogba became the first player from an African nation to score against Brazil in a World Cup match, scoring with a header in the 78th minute as the Ivory Coast were defeated 1–3. On 25 June 2010, the Ivory Coast went out of the competition despite winning 3–0 against North Korea in their final match.

Drogba became the first player to score in four different FA Cup Finals, as he netted the winner in Chelsea's 2–1 triumph over Liverpool on 5 May, 2012. Drogba also holds the record for most goals scored at the new Wembley Stadium with eight.

2012 Champions League final
Chelsea played against Bayern Munich in the final of the 2012 Champions League. Thomas Muller scored for Bayern in the 83rd minute, but Drogba equalized 5 minutes later. The game went into extra time and then penalties and Drogba scored the last penalty to win the UEFA Champions League for Chelsea.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQB8zXbrKfc

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/33358614_2073921569531806_6197813931851907072_n.jpg?w=584[/img]

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/33383157_2073921496198480_135462074514931712_n.jpg?w=584[/img]

Drogba left Chelsea at the end of the 2012 season and moved to China. In 2013 he moved to Galatasaray in Turkey and in 2014 he returned to Chelsea on a one year deal. He won the League Cup and the Premiership with Chelsea in the 2014/2015 season.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/adrogba2.jpg?w=584[/img]

Drogba saw out his career in North America where he played for Montreal Impact and Phoenix Rising.

Failed to mention that Drogba actually bought Phoenix Rising to be the first player owner of a football club

gbosaa:


Okocha was a gem in his playing days but I don’t think he should displace any of the above players in the top six. He was an entertainer but overall skill is subjective.

There were Abedi Pele, Michael Essien, Yaya Toure, Elhadji Diouf, Titi Camara, Quinton Fortune, Benny McCarthy, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane....All great and talented players but apart from their successes in Europe, many of them can’t be compared to the 6 listed in terms of impact and achievements with their various national teams.
Okocha underachieved with the Super Eagles and in Europe.

You can't compare the talent of Jay Jay with all these you mentioned, Okocha can only be compared to Ronaldinho, Zidane, Baggio etc
Check YouTube and see how whites rate him. One if the best talents world has ever seen.

alexistaiwo:
Ronaldinho didn't miss any resulting penalty against Arsenal in the 2005 champions league final.


Lehmann fouled Etoo outside the eighteen yard box.

Yes, I meant to write that Ronaldinho missed the resulting free kick (it went wide).

I wrote the parts of the article about Madjer, Milla, Weah and Kanu over 2 days in November. I became stuck in the middle of the section about Eto'o. Then I decided that I must finish the thread before the end of 2018, so I rushed through the sections about Eto'o and Drogba on New Year's eve.

brilliant! well researched and we'll delivered. with sprinkles of personal insight.

pocohantas, AbimbolaGCFR, sucess001, SonyObsessed, lloyds, proudlyngwa


Why didn’t Jay Jay Okocha achieve his full potential?


It’s obvious that Jay Jay Okocha shouldn’t be in this list of 6, but it’s also obvious that he is one of the most skilful players to have ever played football. So why isn’t Jay Jay on the list and why didn’t he achieve his full potential?


I remember when the Nigerian media were putting pressure on Clemens Westerhof to invite Okocha to the Super Eagles. Okocha had performed very well for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga and the Nigerian media (particularly Complete Football) demanded that he should be invited to the Super Eagles.


Westerhof’s response was that Okocha could not be invited to the Super Eagles on the basis of media reports or a few games for Frankfurt, but he would be sent to the Flying Eagles instead and then he could be invited to the Super Eagles if he performed well with the Flying Eagles.


Okocha was included in the squad to the 1993 African Youth Championship in Mauritius in January 1993. He performed very well, despite atrocious coaching by James Peters. In fact, he was the only bright spot in a terrible tournament for Nigeria. He scored from a free kick as Nigeria defeated Mauritius 0-2 (I’ve been trying to remember who scored the second goal, but I can’t. I’ll be grateful if someone can remind me). Okocha was subsequently invited to the Super Eagles.


Okocha scored another free kick goal in his second game for the Super Eagles. It was a World Cup qualifying match against Algeria at the National Stadium in Lagos and Nigeria won 4-1. That game solidified his position in the Super Eagles.


However, the problems began to show soon after. There are 3 players that I consider to be probably the most skilful players to have ever won a Green Eagles/Super Eagles jersey and they all have the same problem – discipline!


These 3 players are Tarila Okorowanta, Etim Esin and Jay Jay Okocha. There are two types of disciplinary problems. There are disciplinary problems on the field and disciplinary problems off the field. Okocha was far more successful than the other two because his disciplinary problems only manifested on the field, not off it.


Tarila Okorowanta had an opportunity to score in the 1982 Principal’s Cup final, but he was too elaborate and tried to dribble the goal keeper back and forth, instead of simply playing the ball into the net, so the goalkeeper caught the ball. Coach Kashimawo Laloko was furious. He got up and shouted at Tarila.


Tarila was in the same position just a few minutes later and this time he successfully dribbled the keeper and scored. Then he ran to the bench and said, “Coach, why you dey shout? You no see say I just wan dress the ball before the keeper catch am?”


My dad advised Chris Udemezue to take Tarila to the World Cup (Mexico ’83), but Udemezue replied, “Sir, that boy too get wahala o!” Udemezue eventually took him to the World Cup and he scored Nigeria’s only goal at the tournament (a 1-0 victory over the Soviet Union).


Tarila later played for Nigeria at the 1984 Nations Cup and then he vanished in London in 1987 when Shooting Stars were on their way to play a continental game.


I’m sure that everybody remembers Ernest Okonkwo’s famous commentary on Radio Nigeria:

Etim Esin on the ball. He dilly-dallies. He shilly-shallies. He tries to beat two men, but only ends up beating himself

These players were incredibly skilful and exceptionally talented and they loved to play, but sometimes it seemed like their enjoyment of the game was in conflict with the goals of the team as a whole.


Clemens Westerhof noticed that Jay Jay loved to over-dribble sometimes and that he often lost the ball because he wanted to dribble too many players, rather than pass to a player that was free, so he benched Jay Jay. He started Mutiu Adepoju instead of Jay Jay and sometimes brought Jay Jay from the bench. The media were furious. They wanted Jay Jay to start every match, but Westerhof explained that he was not freezing Jay Jay out of the team. He just wanted him to learn to play to instructions.


It seemed like Westerhoff’s tactics worked because Jay Jay played very well at the 1994 Nations Cup and World Cup. However, the problem had not been totally eliminated.


I enjoyed watching Eintracht Frankfurt in the mid-1990s. The NTA, in conjunction with Transtel, showed “Football Made In Germany” every week. It featured a star match and highlights of other matches in the Bundesliga. I also followed the Bundesliga on the BBC. My favourite players at Frankfurt were Okocha, Yeboah and Maurizio Gaudino. They were the most skilful and entertaining players in the team. Okocha and Gaudino were midfielders, while Yeboah (the Black Stars number 9) was a Yekini-like striker.


Unfortunately these three players fell out with the coach, Jupp Heynckes and he benched them. The BBC interviewed either Okocha or Yeboah (I can’t remember which) and the player explained what happened. He said that they were playing a fun game of keepie uppie or man-in-the-middle and the coach was watching. Heynckes then ordered them to play seriously. After that he took the three of them aside and complained about their attitude and from then on he started benching them.


Yeboah and Gaudino eventually left and went to the Premiership, but Okocha stayed on to fight for his place in the team. Frankfurt were eventually relegated at the end of the 1995/1996 season and Okocha left and signed with Fenerbahce.


The best and most frustrating game that I saw Okocha play for Fenerbahce was the 1996/1997 UEFA Champions League group game against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Okocha created chance after chance after chance and Elvir Bolic wasted them. Fenerbahce (with Okocha pulling the strings) outplayed Man-U at Old Trafford and should have won by 4 or 5 goals but they ended up winning by just 1 goal because Bolic wasted the opportunities that Okocha created. I wished that I could put my hands into the TV and strangle Bolic.


However, like I said, the problems remained. Many Nigerians wished that they could banish Okocha from the Super Eagles in the late 1990s. He became fond of dribbling aimlessly. He would dribble and dribble until he lost the ball and then he would smile. I’m not sure what annoyed Nigerians more, whether it was his aimless dribbling or the smile after he lost the ball. “Why doesn’t he at least attempt to win the ball back?”


There was a game that I watched in the late 1990s in which the British commentator complained about Okocha. He could not understand why Okocha was fond of performing his party tricks around the centre circle where it was totally unnecessary. He felt that Okocha should have been performing those tricks in and around the penalty box so that he could draw penalties and free kicks in dangerous areas.


The second problem that Nigerians had with him was the issue of his free kicks. He was always assigned the free kick taking duty because people remembered the free kick goals that he scored in 1993, but he had developed a habit of ballooning the ball over the post and then smiling after playing an atrocious free kick. A friend of mine complained that he would go to the National Stadium to stage a one man protest if Okocha was allowed to take another free kick for Nigeria.



Okocha’s time at PSG was a very frustrating time for me. He spent too much time on the bench. It was frustrating because he would produce moments of brilliant magic on the few occasions that he was allowed to play, but they would relegate him back to the bench for the next game. For instance, there was a game in which he came off the bench to score a spectacular goal. Everybody was talking about that goal. But he was back on the bench for the next game.



The issue of his free kicks came up again when he was at PSG. I listened to an interview that he gave on BBC Fast Track in the late ‘90s or early 2000s. The interviewer (who was Nigerian, if I remember correctly) asked him why he wasn’t taking free kicks anymore. The interviewer said that he remembered that Okocha scored free kick goals in the early 1990s and he wondered why he was not taking free kicks at PSG. Okocha replied that they did not give him the opportunity to take free kicks.


I told my brother about this interview and he replied with a question, “Do they give you the opportunity to take free kicks or do you create the opportunity?” He said that there was no way that they would not have given Okocha the opportunity to take free kicks if he had been scoring free kick goals in training. He reminded me of a player (I think it was Zico) who had made cardboard cut-outs of a defensive wall and had placed the cut-outs and a goal in his back garden and had developed the habit of taking 100 free kicks a day. It’s not enough to have the talent and skill. You need to practice it consistently and utilise it often. I thought, “That might be why Okocha plays his free kicks towards Ojuelegba, rather than at the goal”.


These issues of over-dribbling, not trying to win the ball back when you lose it, skying the ball when playing free kicks and not playing to the instructions of the coach might have been the reasons why Okocha didn’t get the opportunity to play at many big clubs and it might also be the reason why he was often on the bench when he was at a big club like PSG. Coaches really hate these issues.


However, Okocha moved to Bolton Wanderers in 2002 and his game dramatically improved. He was consistently scoring free kick goals (no more wayward free kicks), his defensive game had tremendously improved, his habit of dribbling aimlessly had greatly reduced and he had added a new skill to his bag of tricks – his amazing throw-ins. Okocha developed the ability to deliver massive throw-ins, which were like corner kicks, while he was at Bolton. He could easily lob the ball from the side-line into the penalty box to create a goal scoring opportunity for his team.


I listened to a programme on the BBC in the early or mid-2000s in which some British football experts were trying to determine the best free kick takers. They compared Roberto Carlos, David Beckham, Jay Jay Okocha (and I think Juninho was in the list, but I can’t remember for sure).


They said that Roberto Carlos scored unbelievable free kicks, but he was not consistent. Some of his free kicks went wildly off target. They said that David Beckham was very consistent and had been scoring free kick goals for a while. They were surprised by Okocha because they felt that he had recently suddenly become very good at taking free kicks. I was very angry. “What do they mean by recently”, I thought. “He has been scoring from free kicks since 1993!”


But, thinking about it now, I realise that I can’t blame them. Okocha’s free kicks became quite terrible in the late 1990s and you would not have compared him with Beckham and Carlos at that time.


Unfortunately, all these happened at Bolton, which was a very small club. Imagine if these improvements had occurred earlier in His career, when he was at Frankfurt or PSG. He would most likely have had the opportunity to play at a big club or he would have had more opportunities when he was at a big club like PSG.


Okocha was not as prominent in the football world when he was still playing as the 6 players in the list. In fact, I have a strong feeling that most of the comments about him are fuelled by clips of his party tricks that have been posted on YouTube. He has had more acclaim from these clips than he had during his playing days.


In fact, I remember what happened during nominations for the 2004 BBC African Player of the Year. I listened to Fast Track religiously, so I knew when nominations were open. I emailed a friend and told him to vote for Okocha, but he replied that he would not vote for Okocha because he felt that Eto'o had a better season. Okocha eventually won, but other Africans protested to the BBC. They claimed that Nigerians were winning the award because of our larger population which translated into more votes. They said that Eto'o had a better season and should have won. The BBC subsequently changed the rules of the competition. The winner was previously selected entirely by listeners, but after 2004 the BBC decided to get African football experts (journalists, coaches, etc) to nominate the top 3, then the listeners would be allowed to vote the winner from those 3 players. This was to prevent Nigerians from nominating only Nigerians for the award.


Okocha is an absolutely phenomenal player and he is one of my favourite players, but he did not attain the level of acclaim that the players in the list got and that was because he:



1) He never won the Ballon d’Or Africain or CAF African Player of the Year. All the players in the list won it and most of them won it twice.


2) He never got into the top 10 of the FIFA World Player of the Year or the main Ballon d’Or. All the players listed after 1995 got into the top ten of the FIFA World Player of the Year.


3) He never played in the final of any major continental club competition. All the players listed played in finals of major continental cup competitions. Not only did they play in the final, but they scored important goals or provided important assists in the quarter-final, semi-final or final of those competitions.

4) He was never the far and away standout African player at any World Cup competition. The 3 players that immediately come to mind when you mention Italia ’90 are Salvatore Schillaci, Roger Milla and Diego Maradona. Milla was a global icon after Italia ’90.

Honourable mentions.

Salif Keita, Bruce Grobellaar and Abedi Pele.

Very nicely written

naptu2:

Why didn’t Jay Jay Okocha achieve his full potential?

However, the problems began to show soon after. There are 3 players that I consider to be probably the most skilful players to have ever won a Green Eagles/Super Eagles jersey and they all have the same problem – discipline!


These 3 players are Tarila Okorowanta, Etim Esin and Jay Jay Okocha. There are two types of disciplinary problems. There are disciplinary problems on the field and disciplinary problems off the field. Okocha was far more successful than the other two because his disciplinary problems only manifested on the field, not off it.


However, like I said, the problems remained. Many Nigerians wished that they could banish Okocha from the Super Eagles in the late 1990s. He became fond of dribbling aimlessly. He would dribble and dribble until he lost the ball and then he would smile. I’m not sure what annoyed Nigerians more, whether it was his aimless dribbling or the smile after he lost the ball. “Why doesn’t he at least attempt to win the ball back?”

First, I am cross with you! You did not invite me.

Secondly. your initial write-up and this sequel are brilliant!

Thirdly, you are very right about those three you mentioned. Tarila, Etim and JJ were phenomenally talented but were enfant terribles. Okocha on the pitch and the other two off.

Fourthly, Okocha smiling after balooning the ball to "Ojuelegba" was something I thought I alone found frustrati g.

Wonderful thread bro.

Have a wonderful 2019 and keep keeping the memories alive!

naptu2:
pocohantas, AbimbolaGCFR, sucess001, SonyObsessed, lloyds, proudlyngwa


Why didn’t Jay Jay Okocha achieve his full potential?


It’s obvious that Jay Jay Okocha shouldn’t be in this list of 6, but it’s also obvious that he is one of the most skilful players to have ever played football. So why isn’t Jay Jay on the list and why didn’t he achieve his full potential?


I remember when the Nigerian media were putting pressure on Clemens Westerhof to invite Okocha to the Super Eagles. Okocha had performed very well for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga and the Nigerian media (particularly Complete Football) demanded that he should be invited to the Super Eagles.


Westerhof’s response was that Okocha could not be invited to the Super Eagles on the basis of media reports or a few games for Frankfurt, but he would be sent to the Flying Eagles instead and then he could be invited to the Super Eagles if he performed well with the Flying Eagles.


Okocha was included in the squad to the 1993 African Youth Championship in Mauritius in January 1993. He performed very well, despite atrocious coaching by James Peters. In fact, he was the only bright spot in a terrible tournament for Nigeria. He scored from a free kick as Nigeria defeated Mauritius 0-2 (I’ve been trying to remember who scored the second goal, but I can’t. I’ll be grateful if someone can remind me). Okocha was subsequently invited to the Super Eagles.


Okocha scored another free kick goal in his second game for the Super Eagles. It was a World Cup qualifying match against Algeria at the National Stadium in Lagos and Nigeria won 4-1. That game solidified his position in the Super Eagles.


However, the problems began to show soon after. There are 3 players that I consider to be probably the most skilful players to have ever won a Green Eagles/Super Eagles jersey and they all have the same problem – discipline!


These 3 players are Tarila Okorowanta, Etim Esin and Jay Jay Okocha. There are two types of disciplinary problems. There are disciplinary problems on the field and disciplinary problems off the field. Okocha was far more successful than the other two because his disciplinary problems only manifested on the field, not off it.


Tarila Okorowanta had an opportunity to score in the 1982 Principal’s Cup final, but he was too elaborate and tried to dribble the goal keeper back and forth, instead of simply playing the ball into the net, so the goalkeeper caught the ball. Coach Kashimawo Laloko was furious. He got up and shouted at Tarila.


Tarila was in the same position just a few minutes later and this time he successfully dribbled the keeper and scored. Then he ran to the bench and said, “Coach, why you dey shout? You no see say I just wan dress the ball before the keeper catch am?”


My dad advised Chris Udemezue to take Tarila to the World Cup (Mexico ’83), but Udemezue replied, “Sir, that boy too get wahala o!” Udemezue eventually took him to the World Cup and he scored Nigeria’s only goal at the tournament (a 1-0 victory over the Soviet Union).


Tarila later played for Nigeria at the 1984 Nations Cup and then he vanished in London in 1987 when Shooting Stars were on their way to play a continental game.


I’m sure that everybody remembers Ernest Okonkwo’s famous commentary on Radio Nigeria:





These players were incredibly skilful and exceptionally talented and they loved to play, but sometimes it seemed like their enjoyment of the game was in conflict with the goals of the team as a whole.


Clemens Westerhof noticed that Jay Jay loved to over-dribble sometimes and that he often lost the ball because he wanted to dribble too many players, rather than pass to a player that was free, so he benched Jay Jay. He started Mutiu Adepoju instead of Jay Jay and sometimes brought Jay Jay from the bench. The media were furious. They wanted Jay Jay to start every match, but Westerhof explained that he was not freezing Jay Jay out of the team. He just wanted him to learn to play to instructions.


It seemed like Westerhoff’s tactics worked because Jay Jay played very well at the 1994 Nations Cup and World Cup. However, the problem had not been totally eliminated.


I enjoyed watching Eintracht Frankfurt in the mid-1990s. The NTA, in conjunction with Transtel, showed “Football Made In Germany” every week. It featured a star match and highlights of other matches in the Bundesliga. I also followed the Bundesliga on the BBC. My favourite players at Frankfurt were Okocha, Yeboah and Maurizio Gaudino. They were the most skilful and entertaining players in the team. Okocha and Gaudino were midfielders, while Yeboah (the Black Stars number 9) was a Yekini-like striker.


Unfortunately these three players fell out with the coach, Jupp Heynckes and he benched them. The BBC interviewed either Okocha or Yeboah (I can’t remember which) and the player explained what happened. He said that they were playing a fun game of keepie uppie or man-in-the-middle and the coach was watching. Heynckes then ordered them to play seriously. After that he took the three of them aside and complained about their attitude and from then on he started benching them.


Yeboah and Gaudino eventually left and went to the Premiership, but Okocha stayed on to fight for his place in the team. Frankfurt were eventually relegated at the end of the 1995/1996 season and Okocha left and signed with Fenerbahce.


The best and most frustrating game that I saw Okocha play for Fenerbahce was the 1996/1997 UEFA Champions League group game against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Okocha created chance after chance after chance and Elvir Bolic wasted them. Fenerbahce (with Okocha pulling the strings) outplayed Man-U at Old Trafford and should have won by 4 or 5 goals but they ended up winning by just 1 goal because Bolic wasted the opportunities that Okocha created. I wished that I could put my hands into the TV and strangle Bolic.


However, like I said, the problems remained. Many Nigerians wished that they could banish Okocha from the Super Eagles in the late 1990s. He became fond of dribbling aimlessly. He would dribble and dribble until he lost the ball and then he would smile. I’m not sure what annoyed Nigerians more, whether it was his aimless dribbling or the smile after he lost the ball. “Why doesn’t he at least attempt to win the ball back?”


There was a game that I watched in the late 1990s in which the British commentator complained about Okocha. He could not understand why Okocha was fond of performing his party tricks around the centre circle where it was totally unnecessary. He felt that Okocha should have been performing those tricks in and around the penalty box so that he could draw penalties and free kicks in dangerous areas.


The second problem that Nigerians had with him was the issue of his free kicks. He was always assigned the free kick taking duty because people remembered the free kick goals that he scored in 1993, but he had developed a habit of ballooning the ball over the post and then smiling after playing an atrocious free kick. A friend of mine complained that he would go to the National Stadium to stage a one man protest if Okocha was allowed to take another free kick for Nigeria.



Okocha’s time at PSG was a very frustrating time for me. He spent too much time on the bench. It was frustrating because he would produce moments of brilliant magic on the few occasions that he was allowed to play, but they would relegate him back to the bench for the next game. For instance, there was a game in which he came off the bench to score a spectacular goal. Everybody was talking about that goal. But he was back on the bench for the next game.



The issue of his free kicks came up again when he was at PSG. I listened to an interview that he gave on BBC Fast Track in the late ‘90s or early 2000s. The interviewer (who was Nigerian, if I remember correctly) asked him why he wasn’t taking free kicks anymore. The interviewer said that he remembered that Okocha scored free kick goals in the early 1990s and he wondered why he was not taking free kicks at PSG. Okocha replied that they did not give him the opportunity to take free kicks.


I told my brother about this interview and he replied with a question, “Do they give you the opportunity to take free kicks or do you create the opportunity?” He said that there was no way that they would not have given Okocha the opportunity to take free kicks if he had been scoring free kick goals in training. He reminded me of a player (I think it was Zico) who had made cardboard cut-outs of a defensive wall and had placed the cut-outs and a goal in his back garden and had developed the habit of taking 100 free kicks a day. It’s not enough to have the talent and skill. You need to practice it consistently and utilise it often. I thought, “That might be why Okocha plays his free kicks towards Ojuelegba, rather than at the goal”.


These issues of over-dribbling, not trying to win the ball back when you lose it, skying the ball when playing free kicks and not playing to the instructions of the coach might have been the reasons why Okocha didn’t get the opportunity to play at many big clubs and it might also be the reason why he was often on the bench when he was at a big club like PSG. Coaches really hate these issues.


However, Okocha moved to Bolton Wanderers in 2002 and his game dramatically improved. He was consistently scoring free kick goals (no more wayward free kicks), his defensive game had tremendously improved, his habit of dribbling aimlessly had greatly reduced and he had added a new skill to his bag of tricks – his amazing throw-ins. Okocha developed the ability to deliver massive throw-ins, which were like corner kicks, while he was at Bolton. He could easily lob the ball from the side-line into the penalty box to create a goal scoring opportunity for his team.


I listened to a programme on the BBC in the early or mid-2000s in which some British football experts were trying to determine the best free kick takers. They compared Roberto Carlos, David Beckham, Jay Jay Okocha (and I think Juninho was in the list, but I can’t remember for sure).


They said that Roberto Carlos scored unbelievable free kicks, but he was not consistent. Some of his free kicks went wildly off target. They said that David Beckham was very consistent and had been scoring free kick goals for a while. They were surprised by Okocha because they felt that he had recently suddenly become very good at taking free kicks. I was very angry. “What do they mean by recently”, I thought. “He has been scoring from free kicks since 1993!”


But, thinking about it now, I realise that I can’t blame them. Okocha’s free kicks became quite terrible in the late 1990s and you would not have compared him with Beckham and Carlos at that time.


Unfortunately, all these happened at Bolton, which was a very small club. Imagine if these improvements had occurred earlier in His career, when he was at Frankfurt or PSG. He would most likely have had the opportunity to play at a big club or he would have had more opportunities when he was at a big club like PSG.


Okocha was not as prominent in the football world when he was still playing as the 6 players in the list. In fact, I have a strong feeling that most of the comments about him are fuelled by clips of his party tricks that have been posted on YouTube. He has had more acclaim from these clips than he had during his playing days.


In fact, I remember what happened during nominations for the 2004 BBC African Player of the Year. I listened to Fast Track religiously, so I knew when nominations were open. I emailed a friend and told him to vote for Okocha, but he replied that he would not vote for Okocha because he felt that Eto'o had a better season. Okocha eventually won, but other Africans protested to the BBC. They claimed that Nigerians were winning the award because of our larger population which translated into more votes. They said that Eto'o had a better season and should have won. The BBC subsequently changed the rules of the competition. The winner was previously selected entirely by listeners, but after 2004 the BBC decided to get African football experts (journalists, coaches, etc) to nominate the top 3, then the listeners would be allowed to vote the winner from those 3 players. This was to prevent Nigerians from nominating only Nigerians for the award.


Okocha is an absolutely phenomenal player and he is one of my favourite players, but he did not attain the level of acclaim that the players in the list got and that was because he:



1) He never won the Ballon d’Or Africain or CAF African Player of the Year. All the players in the list won it and most of them won it twice.


2) He never got into the top 10 of the FIFA World Player of the Year or the main Ballon d’Or. All the players listed after 1995 got into the top ten of the FIFA World Player of the Year.


3) He never played in the final of any major continental club competition. All the players listed played in finals of major continental cup competitions. Not only did they play in the final, but they scored important goals or provided important assists in the quarter-final, semi-final or final of those competitions.

4) He was never the far and away standout African player at any World Cup competition. The 3 players that immediately come to mind when you mention Italia ’90 are Salvatore Schillaci, Roger Milla and Diego Maradona. Milla was a global icon after Italia ’90.

Who was the standout African player in France 98?

Naptu2,

You should include a list of current players who have the POTENTIAL to achieve what these six have achieved.

Let's see in a few years if they measure up.

sucess001:


Who was the standout African player in France 98?

There was no single stand out player, rather there were 2, Jay Jay Okocha and Mustapha Hadji and Hadji was named the CAF African Player of the Year after the World Cup.

naptu2:


There was no single stand out player, rather there were 2, Jay Jay Okocha and Mustapha Hadji and Hadji was named the CAF African Player of the Year after the World Cup.

The argument was Hadji won CAF player award because he featured both at France 98 and Burkina Faso '98 as a quarter finalist while Okocha was featured only at d world cup no thanks to d four year ban CAF handed Nigeria after we withdrew from South Africa 96 during Abacha's high handedness and trying to get back at Mandela for hitting us with some sanctions during the Ken Sarowiwa saga.
CAF later prove they got it all wrong wit the 98 awards wen they awarded Yaya Toure the Africa gong by virtue of a sterling performance with Man city jettisoning a Nations cup top performer under the year in review.
What was mustapha Hadji's price tag after the World Cup?
Statistics don't lie as Okocha went on to become the costliest African player after the world cup.
Because the CAF Awards organisers got it wrong by gifting Hadji the award doesn't change the fact that humans are mistakes prone.
Not all judgements are right in life.
You are just an Okocha hater.
The few times you wrote something nice about him was deliberate so it would seem like u are trying to balance d write up.

OKorowanta:


The argument was Hadji won CAF player award because he featured both at France 98 and Burkina Faso '98 as a quarter finalist while Okocha was featured only at d world cup no thanks to d four year ban CAF handed to Nigeria after we withdrew from South Africa 96 during Abacha's high handedness cos Mandela hit us with some sanctions during the Ken Sarowiwa saga.
CAF later prove they got it all wrong wit the 98 awards wen they awarded Yaya Toure the Africa gong by virtue of a sterling performance with Man city jettisoning a Nations cup top performer under the year in review.
What was mustapha Hadji's price tag after the World Cup?
Statistics don't lie as Okocha went on to become the costliest African player after the world cup.
So because the CAF Awards organisers got it wrong doesn't change the fact that humans are mistakes prone.
Not all judgements are right in life.
You are just an Okocha hater.
The few times you wrote something nice about him was deliberate so it would seem like u are trying to balance d write up.

How many goals and assists did Okocha provide at France 98 and how many goals and assists did Hadji provide at France 98?

Meanwhile, Roger Milla changed every single game that he appeared in at Italia 90. He was joint 3rd highest scorer at the World Cup and you can't talk about that World Cup without mentioning Milla. No other African came close to him at that World Cup.

naptu2:




How many goals and assists did Okocha provide at France 98 and how many goals and assists did Hadji provide at France 98?

Your arguments are now fvcking lame and childish.
So it has become a must to get top awards cos you assisted a goal.
How many awards has Mesut Ozil won after shattering assists records?
Another excuse you'll soon give is Hadji won the award cos he carried a pony tail hairstyle during the World Cup.
Guy go kack wia contain you.

OKorowanta:


Your arguments are now fvcking lame and childish.
So it has become a must to get top awards cos you assisted a goal.
How many awards has Mesut Ozil won after shattering assists records?
Another excuse you'll soon give is Hadji won the award cos he carried a pony tail hairstyle during the World Cup.
Guy go kack wia contain you.

Actually, you are the one that is acting childish by being sentimental, while I'm simply providing facts.

My point, which you still haven't disproved, is that both Okocha and Hadhi were the stand out African players at France '98 and that's a fact. This fact is backed up by statistics like goals and assists, not sentiments.

Meanwhile, Roger Milla was the stand out African player of Italia 90. He was one of the players of the tournament, period!

naptu2:


Actually, you are the one that is acting childish by being sentimental, while I'm simply providing facts.

My point, which you still haven't disproved, is that both Okocha and Hadhi were the stand out African players at France '98 and that's a fact. This fact is backed up by statistics like goals and assists, not sentiments.

Meanwhile, Roger Milla was the stand out African player of Italia 90. He was one of the players of the tournament, period!

After feeding you with facts,you've now started bringing Roger Milla to the equation.
Aside you,world football greats and experts rated Okocha high and still do.
Wenger,Pele,Maradona,Ronaldinho,Allardyce,the list goes on and on and on.
Even after Mauritius 93 after Flying Eagles elimination at the group stage,Roger Milla picked Jay Jay and Ghana's Daniel Addo as his stand out performers and players to look out for in the future.
While Addo faded away,Okocha went ahead and confirm Mills's Verdict.
He had his lows like every other player but guy for Okocha matter,comot shukushuku for your eye.

Before you take breakfast digest this and also come back to read it before you sleep tonight.... http://dailypost.ng/2018/11/13/jay-jay-okocha-better-cristano-ronaldo-messi-samuel-allardyce/

OKorowanta:


After feeding you with facts,you've now started bringing Roger Milla to the equation.
Aside you,world football greats and experts rated Okocha high and still do.
Wenger,Pele,Maradona,Ronaldinho,Allardyce,the list goes on and on and on.
Even after Mauritius 93 after Flying Eagles elimination at the group stage,Roger Milla picked Jay Jay and Ghana's Daniel Addo as his stand out performers and players to look out for in the future.
While Addo faded away,Okocha went ahead and confirm Mills's Verdict.
He had his lows like every other player but guy for Okocha matter,comot shukushuku for your eye.

Before you take breakfast digest this and also come back to read it before you sleep tonight.... http://dailypost.ng/2018/11/13/jay-jay-okocha-better-cristano-ronaldo-messi-samuel-allardyce/

You said that I'm now "bringing Milla into the equation". That means that you do not even know what this thread is about. This thread is about Roger Milla and it is not about Okocha. You might need to go back to the first page and find out what the thread is about.

Again, nobody (apart from you) said that Okocha is not a great player. Once again, you need to go back to the first page and find out what this thread is about, because it appears that you just jumped into the thread on the last page. This thread is about impact and you need to go to the first page to find out what impact means.

It appears that you jumped into the last page and became angry. Calm down, reason properly and go to the first page. Make sure you read all the posts from the first to the last.

Besides, what else do you expect allardyce to say? He was Jay Jay's coach. Every coach would rate his own player above everyone else.