sayisayi:
Ok. It is our singular greatest export globally. In Abidjan, was shopping in Adjame market in 2011, they refused to let me leave after buying goods before they went through their favourite ballers....

2006 in Salvador, Brasil for carnival, at one olodum jam, one guy held my shoulder and almost cried while relating our 90's Olympic win.

Wait, once upriver in Gambia, I was buying fish, these diligent, young girls were hammering mandinka well, well before one shouted... Chineke. I asked her how she knew that word...she said nollywood..

Entertainment rules!

lolzzzz u be AJALA travel all over the world..

Jarus:
Footballers, especially 1994-98 set, appear to be Nigeria's biggest ambassadors to the world. Well, maybe apart from 419.

From personal and friends' experience, when you introduce yourself as a Nigerian to most foreigners, the first thing they ask you about are Okocha, Kanu etc.

My Irish-Algerian seat mate couldn't stop talking about Rashidi Yekini and Amokachi on learning I'm a Nigerian, on the 3 hour Istanbul-Madinah flight in 2016.

An Egyptian friend in Saudi Arabia couldn't stop talking about Okocha's football wizardry. I have also met several Egy;tian friends in Dubai and once they know me as a Nigerian, they start asking about Okocha, Rashidi etc, Many other past experiences.

A generation of footballers Nigerian hardly even remember again.

When I posted the above on my Facebook wall, some of my friends shared similar experiences as reproduced below:


















Have you experienced similar thing? Share your experience of foreigners taking highly of Nigerian footballers of 1994-1998 set.

Jarus, where have you been ?
Miss your detailed analysis of the super eagles mtches those years u bro

I experience such moment in Saudi Arabia in 2009, we que to buy pizza in ARAHMI mecca, the person ahead of me has already paid he now shifted aside to collect his purchase from the counter while I shifted into his position, but unlucky of him as he stretched his hand to recieve the pizza, his hand Missed the collection while the pizza descending in freefall style, I just stretch my right leg in a ball juggling position in a reflex and the pizza carton landed on my leg without fallen apart, the first word that came from the white guy is which country are you from? I said Nigeria everybody start shouting Okchocha, Rashid Yekini, my head start getting bigger than my should!!!

sayisayi:
By the way, the level of international footballers in the mid 90s was far higher than today. Those Brazil and Italy teams would wipe the floor with the past 3 teams that won the world cup. The Nigeria, Bulgaria, Romania teams of then would be world champions now.

Check the Brazil team of 94 and compare it with their Copa America winning team now. LOL. Mauro Silva would bodycheck Neymar back to his nursery class.

Wrong bro.
They can't beat this present Portugal team, or German team or even the Croatia team.

Lamasta:

That is the failure of our government to provide security for lives and property

Yes it is but on d other hand, if Siasia was seen as a hero by d Bayelsa people just d way foreigners c him& his colleagues of '94, then they won't kidnap his mother. If he was seen as a national treasure by d Bayelsa people, even kidnappers will fight to prevent any danger coming to his mother

alfredilly:
He wasn't part of the generation highlighted here so don't bring him in.

Am not saying he is. Am only correcting ur assertion that because he wasn't in d '94 generation, then he wasn't a good goalkeeper hence ur mentioning Peter Rufai& his exploits @ d '94 world cup. Have u forgotten what happened to Rufai in '98? If Enyeama was in d '94 set, am sure he equally would have had his name written in gold also.

godwon01:
Those words were too harsh. He may have good intention. It is not all of them that are scammers. He is only begging .

let him go and work

I once had a Skype interview with an Amsterdam guy, when I mentioned I'm a Nigerian, he said he likes KANU when he was playing for PSG.

Jarus:
Footballers, especially 1994-98 set, appear to be Nigeria's biggest ambassadors to the world. Well, maybe apart from 419.

From personal and friends' experience, when you introduce yourself as a Nigerian to most foreigners, the first thing they ask you about are Okocha, Kanu etc.

My Irish-Algerian seat mate couldn't stop talking about Rashidi Yekini and Amokachi on learning I'm a Nigerian, on the 3 hour Istanbul-Madinah flight in 2016.

An Egyptian friend in Saudi Arabia couldn't stop talking about Okocha's football wizardry. I have also met several Egy;tian friends in Dubai and once they know me as a Nigerian, they start asking about Okocha, Rashidi etc, Many other past experiences.

A generation of footballers Nigerian hardly even remember again.

When I posted the above on my Facebook wall, some of my friends shared similar experiences as reproduced below:


















Have you experienced similar thing? Share your experience of foreigners taking highly of Nigerian footballers of 1994-1998 set.

same here when i went to Egypt every egpytian I meet called me either kanu or okocha I was surprised they even ask for our naira..

You seem very well travelled, how many countries have you been to may I ask?

sayisayi:
Ok. It is our singular greatest export globally. In Abidjan, was shopping in Adjame market in 2011, they refused to let me leave after buying goods before they went through their favourite ballers....

2006 in Salvador, Brasil for carnival, at one olodum jam, one guy held my shoulder and almost cried while relating our 90's Olympic win.

Wait, once upriver in Gambia, I was buying fish, these diligent, young girls were hammering mandinka well, well before one shouted... Chineke. I asked her how she knew that word...she said nollywood..

Entertainment rules!

There was one female tennis player that came to Nigeria just to see Okocha... She made headlines in all the major Nigerian newspapers around that 2005-07... She outright said she told her father she loved Okocha.

TheBeat:
Okocha
Kanu
Rashidi
Rufai
Amokachi
Ikpeba
Oliseh
West
Finidi
Amunike
Uche Okechukwu

You just mention great men of super eagles,not like the crop of useless players we have in our team now aday,imaging a team jittering on pitch whenever they met even Africa small country like Burundi, I could recalled when we played Spain in France 98,those guys you just mention never fear any team throughout the world during their time,it always be the other way round rather.

wwwmaster:
Funny post.
Yekini cannot be a better brand than Taribo West that was a very strong man in Milan defence, Ikpeba the Prince of Monaco. Kanu Nwankwo is an Arsenal Legend, won champions league with Ajax and also played for Inter.

Amuneke is much better player than Amokachi but he was plagued with injury.

We are talking experience, what we saw, you are talking from your head.

Ikpeba was not a success in national team.

Pick a random football follower on the street of Cairo or Tunis or Harare, and ask them to name Nigerian footballers, they will mention Okocha, Amokachi, Yekini. That is the point.

I happened to perform my pilgrimage in makkah last year. After concluding the hajj exercise, while still waiting to come back to Nigeria. I joined one early morning Qur'an class with one of the scholars in the Mosque. Since I can speak Arabic language to some extent, it's not something difficult for me to interact.
Meeting with the scholar and introducing myself to him that I'm a Nigerian. The first thing he asked me was.

Do you know Rashid Yekeen.?
He is very good and amazing with football.
I was like.... Rashid Yekeen. .. I never saw that coming.
I just told him I know him.
But actually forgot the country he's from.

They were once ranked 4th in the FIFA rankings. That tells u all u need to know.

ffo:
I once had a Skype interview with an Amsterdam guy, when I mentioned I'm a Nigerian, he said he likes KANU when he was playing for PSG.

For Ajax

baarak66:
I happened to perform my pilgrimage in makkah last year. After concluding the hajj exercise, while still waiting to come back to Nigeria. I joined one early morning Qur'an class with one of the scholars in the Mosque. Since I can speak Arabic language to some extent, it's not something difficult for me to interact.
Meeting with the scholar and introducing myself to him that I'm a Nigerian. The first thing he asked me was.

Do you know Rashid Yekeen.?
He is very good and amazing with football.
I was like.... Rashid Yekeen. .. I never saw that coming.
I just told him I know him.
But actually forgot the country he's from.

Similar experience I had in Saudi Arabia 3 years ago.

Looking at their lineup, those men were Old sha. way above 24.

Jarus:


For Ajax

Thanks for the correction. Ajax

Ivory coast rocks


Fuel Tiehi
Ibrahim camara
Haruna Dindane
Alaine Guqmehn
Didier Drogba
Sheik Tiotte
Emmanuel Eboue
Kolo Toure
Yaya Toure
Jervais Yao Koassi Gervinho
Nicholas Pepe
Serge Aurier
Kader Keita
Arouna Kone
Max Alain Gradel
Didier Zokora
Serey Die
Wilfred Zaha

Pure class

ahnie:
A prophet z never honoured in his country.....
Glad foreigners acknowledges them for their skills.

I remember players like Pius ikedia,Sunday oliseh,Wilson orumah,Garba lawal, Emmanuel amunike,taribo west,Victor ikpeba,Samson siasia,rashidi yekini.

Meanwhile rashidi yekini died a miserable death with grasses,and rodents having convocation in his grave bed.His aged mother z roaming about with no shelter.

No edifices of our past footballers erected..but once they die..you would see government outdoing themselves to sponsor dia funerals and after then ditched their families.

I hate to say....we not dey ever value wetin we get.

This old man�
Why u come dey claim female as ur gender na?

Preciousgirl:
Ivory coast rocks


Fuel Tiehi
Ibrahim camara
Haruna Dindane
Alaine Guqmehn
Didier Drogba
Sheik Tiotte
Emmanuel Eboue
Kolo Toure
Yaya Toure
Jervais Yao Koassi Gervinho
Nicholas Pepe
Serge Aurier
Kader Keita
Arouna Kone
Max Alain Gradel
Didier Zokora
Serey Die
Wilfred Zaha

Pure class

This generation did not win AFCON until the big guys retired.

By the way, you forgot Saloman Kalou and Bonaventure Kalou.

Jarus:


This generation did not win AFCON until the big guys retired.

By the way, you forgot Saloman Kalou and Bonaventure Kalou.

Yahaya toure, die, Gradel, gervinho etc were all part of the 2015 squad

Oga...am a mother of 2 kids.

Many thanks!

MakyavelitheDon:



This old man�
Why u come dey claim female as ur gender na?

Oga am a mother of two kids.

Many thanks!

Preciousgirl:



Yahaya toure, die, Gradel, gervinho etc were all part of the 2015 squad

Yes, but Drogba, Kader Keita, Arouna Dindane, Aroune Kone etc had all left.

TheBeat:
Okocha
Kanu
Rashidi
Rufai
Amokachi
Ikpeba
Oliseh
West
Finidi
Amunike
Uche Okechukwu

Kanu and Ikpeba were not part of the generation you listed. They were U-17 in 1993. Orunma was also the star of the U-17 back then not Kanu. Kanu started rising in 1996.
Okocha was probably the youngest player and was mostly used as a substitute in the 94 squad.

When naija tldey wear polo T-shirt instead of Jersey

Jarus:


We are talking experience, what we saw, you are talking from your head.

Ikpeba was not a success in national team.

Pick a random football follower on the street of Cairo or Tunis or Harare, and ask them to name Nigerian footballers, they will mention Okocha, Amokachi, Yekini. That is the point.

Amokachi and Yekini cannot be half as popular as Ikpeba in Europe for goodness sake.
Yekini was cast away for Olympiacos ffs and he is not even more successful than Ikpeba for national team.
He won African footballer of the year once and so was Ikpeba.
I really hate arguing with some confused people.
Monaco most successful team had Ikpeba on it, you are comparing footballer popularity in Tunisia to Europe?
While Yekini is being told to walk in mediocre Olympiacos team Ikpeba was the rex of Monaco.
Yekini was popular in Tunisia because of his performance in a tournament hosted there in 1994.

Go to Europe and mention Yekini let's see if anyone knows what you mean.

Amokachi is a good player but talent wise Amuneke was mile ahead. Dude was so unlucky with Injuries.
Could have been succeful in Barcelona if not the injury plague.

salford1:

Kanu and Ikpeba were not part of the generation you listed. They were U-17 in 1993. Orunma was also the star of the U-17 back then not Kanu. Kanu started rising in 1996.
Okocha was probably the youngest player and was mostly used as a substitute in the 94 squad.

Ikpeba was a member of 1989 set of golden eaglet.

I met an Ethiopian driver at the George Washington intercontinental airport in Houston who kept on asking why I wasn't as big as Amokachi and Uche Okechukwu because I told him I am a Nigerian.