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Nwankwo Kanu Ranked 13 Out Of 50 Arsenal Greatest Players / Nigeria’s 50 Greatest Footballers Of All Time By Supersports / Supersport – Nigeria’s 50 Greatest Football Players (2) (3) (4)
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| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by babyboy3(m): 11:35pm On Jun 21, 2011 |
Quick correction bros, Kanu's total goals is 96 Ok we should add the goals score for the national team That means Okocha has scored 100 goals for club and country and Kanu 96 |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by YoruIgbo(m): 11:47pm On Jun 21, 2011 |
Well in my view, if we plot a table with rating, Kanu will surely finish above Jay Jay. Kanu is more popular than Jay Jay in world football and I am not very convinced that Jay Jay should go above Kanu who has more medal in football and even on 2 occasion rated as the best African player and I am very sure Jay Jay was there when Kanu won the African Football king twice |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by babyboy3(m): 12:00am On Jun 22, 2011 |
Well in my view, if we plot a table with rating, Kanu will surely finish above Jay Jay. Kanu is more popular than Jay Jay in world football and I am not very convinced that Jay Jay should go above Kanu who has more medal in football and even on 2 occasion rated as the best African player and I am very sure Jay Jay was there when Kanu won the African Football king twice Kanu's endorsements  ?? NONE that shows his popularityOkocha's endorsement Pepsi, Samsung, puma oh common we are talking about who is more marketable |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by YoruIgbo(m): 12:42am On Jun 22, 2011 |
baby-boy: Global football popularity and I think Kanu had some endorsement benefits too, Well I understand that people holds different opinion when it comes to various matters. I am yet to see any concrete point that can change my mind towards Jay Jay even though I enjoy his dribbling skills but Kanu's shoulder faking is still one of the best in the world |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by babyboy3(m): 5:25am On Jun 22, 2011 |
Global football popularity and I think Kanu had some endorsement benefits too, Well I understand that people holds different opinion when it comes to various matters. I am yet to see any concrete point that can change my mind towards Jay Jay even though I enjoy his dribbling skills but Kanu's shoulder faking is still one of the best in the world Look I respect the fact that we agree to to disagree, its a matter of opinion. |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by naughtybig(m): 12:35pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
Big thumbs up to sagamite and baby boy, many people talking here never watch any of this two guys, especially okocha, most of what you people said are read from pages of newspapers and internet, reading sagamite i knew i was reading somebody who was part and saw all the actions, for those talking about big club, bet many of you didnt know that Franfurt during okocha days was one of the top teams in Germany, PSG was one of the big teams in france then, many of you didnt know cos you dont yet know your left from right then, and talking about big clubs who told you okocha never had offers from real madrid, Juventus and other big clubs back then when PSG and Fernebache wanted him? he did? how did i know? i ws following event then, i was live in the action unlike most of you who are just reading from wikkipedia now and don't know the circumstances surronding the events then. okocha choose not to play for these top teams as it were because he didn't want to be bench warmer like your kanu. he wanted to play football and not warm bench and win trophies, at least HLEB too won CL from the bench with barca, did many of you know there is a list call FIFA 100, this list contains the greatest players ever in the history of FIFA 100 years, only one nigerian is on that list, OKOCHA!When obasanjo travels round the world he said one thing the presidents of the countries he is visiting never fails to ask him about is JAY JAY, actually his first visit to france he was given JAYS JAYS shirt!, please if your age is not around 28,30 and above please don't talk about okocha and Kanu cos you probably don't know anything about this guys other than what you read from the papers, you didnt follow their careers live, so don't talk, SAGAMITE, BABY BOY, thank God we still have people who are objective, have always believe, trophies medals in football are product of a team effort, except you are a maradona who had 5 goals and 5 assists at 86 world cup, he won the world cup as far as am concern, i watched all the matches live, scored all the goals laid all the passes, all the corner kicks, throwings , free kicks, haba, Messi still has a long way to go, that argentine team of 86 was average, nigeria only has one player in that mode OKOCHa, at 2004 nations cup when we lost the first game to morroco amidst many intra team controversies which culimnated in the sending home of agali, babayaro, okocha like always step up to the plate, 4 goals, 3 assists, MVP OF THE COMPETITION, HIGHEST GOAL SCORER, SCORED THE 1000TH GOAL OF THE NATIONS CUP, everyone knows its CAF injustice he never won the caf award that year, talking about goals, FIFA 100 BEST GOALS EVER, OKOCHA'S goal against Kahn is there, Remember the free kick against algeria 10th june 1993, world cup qualifier, he bend it, long before beckham knew anything about free kick, what about the half field equaliser against cameroun in 2000 nations cup final, first goal at PSG from center circle, free kicks at bolton against aston villa, can go on, how do we measure greatness? is it by how far you are ahead of others?not necessarily, lets measure greatness by how much you utilise your potential in relation to your circumstances, resources and opportunities that came your way during your lifetime, not every footballer will have the lluck kANU HAD playing for these so called top teams as it were?but how well did he use this opportunities and resources? same goes for OKOCHA, how well?for 15 years playing for top clubs and a top country in africa like nigeria kanu was never a top player, i repeat never a TOP PLAYER, please dont quote to me his honours and medals, there are other players in the same teams who can boast of the same medals, what are his STATS?His start shows he was a small player who played for big clubs, OKOCHA stats shows a big player who consistently was on top of his game whether he plays for big club or small clubs, this is what makes you great, its in you and not in the club or country you play for. so when a big player like maradona move to a small club like napoli who just escaped relegation the previos season he made them great, Okocha move to a newly promoted club like Bolton he made them stay in the league and took them to carling cup final, in the last 8 yrs of the premiership BOLTON is one of the few clubs who has been able to stay in the premiership for more than 5yrs after been newly promoted, wigan too, others go and come like kanu's west brom, A GREAT PLAYER IS ALWAYS GREAT NO MATTER WHICH TEAM HE PLAYS FOR! 1 Like |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by dayokanu(m): 1:07pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
Individually, kanu won CAF footballer of the year, BBC African footballer of the year. 6th on FIFA World player of the year and 11th on Ballon D or. No Nigerian ever achieved this |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by nsiadi: 1:28pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
A GREAT PLAYER IS ALWAYS GREAT NO MATTER WHICH TEAM HE PLAYS FOR! Thanks Naughtybig for educating dayokanu & his co travelers. Only shallow minded people like them still bask in ignorance regarding Nigeria's best soccer star. Instead of verifying d points you stated above, as usual, dayokanu gave a one sentence trash. I am not v comfortable discussing this topic bc of d obvious injuries it does to our lads. But truth should be hammered v boldly. J J Okocha has no rival in Nigeria. |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by Sagamite(m): 1:38pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
I am yet to see a great player that is not impeccably depended on by his team. That is the best and most prominent aspect of measuring greatness. Be it Abedi, be it Weah, be it Etoo, be it Drogba etc. Okocha and Yekini are the kings in that for Nigeria. Until someone can tell me which teams depended on Kanu or tell me which great player never had his team depend on him yet was the greatest in his locality, then there is no argument. |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by nsiadi: 1:48pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
@Sagamite, You nid not mind those guts who dont reason b4 opening their mouths. With current corruption level in d football world people, who care , can amass medals. But it wont discolour the horizon too badly, we can still pick out the jewels . J J Okocha concerned himself wt showcasing football. He out shined them all. |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by omar22(m): 4:09pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
@naughtybig Jeez man that was smoking! You were spot on all your points but unfortunately we have people here who thinks that you are would be a legend if you are sitting on the bench all your career |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by Sagamite(m): 5:34pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
nsiadi: Some people think say na beans and jollof rice to have at least 25 videos done on youtube in your tribute mostly by foreigners calling you "God" showing all your goals and dribbles, compared to about 3 or 4 for Kanu. I don't know how many modern era legends have so few as Kanu. Even Emile Heskey has more than him. People do not understand how to analyse for shyt!  |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by dayokanu(m): 5:44pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
None of these noisemakers can still tell us how A player who has never been nominated for FIFA player of the year better than 1 who was 6th A player who has never been nominated for ballon D Or better than one who was 11th One who never won CAF player of the year better than one who won twice. |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by YoruIgbo(m): 6:06pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
The two stars, Nwankwo Kanu and Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha, shone very brightly in their hey days. Both of them were without any doubt, top among their peers in Nigerian football and beyond. They were skilful, intelligent, and were players who made football look so easy and enjoyable. But the question on the lips of most football followers now that Kanu has also retired from national football like Okocha is: 'Which between the two made a bigger impact on the field of play while in active football?' Both Kanu and Okocha won the Olympic soccer gold, captained the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, featured at the World Cups and of course, carved their names on the slabs of European clubs they played for. The stars have since called time on their international career and the million-naira poser is: 'who between them made the bigger splash during their playing days.' National team career Okocha featured for Nigeria at the African Youth Championship in Mauritius in 1993, where the Flying Eagles crashed out in the semis. He was magical despite the team's premature exit at the championship and it was on the back of that appearance that Okocha earned a call-up to the Super Eagles. Kanu was also in the squad to Mauritius, but he did not kick a ball. But he quickly put behind him that disappointment and teamed up with the Golden Eaglets to win the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Japan in 1995. Okocha made his full international debut before Kanu and would go on to play a vital role as Nigeria won her second Nations Cup trophy in Tunisia in 1994 and also qualified for her maiden World Cup outing the same year. Kanu led Nigeria to win an historic Olympic football gold two years later with Okocha, three years his senior, very much part of the team. Both players featured in three World Cups. Okocha was at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 Mundial, while Kanu played at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 editions. Nigeria's best results at the World Cup were achieved in 1994 and 1998 when the Eagles reached the second round of the tournament, meaning that Okocha enjoyed a more successful run on the biggest football platform than Kanu. Kanu, though now is on record as the joint most capped Nigerian player along with the late Muda Lawal with 86 caps. Okocha played 73 times for the country. Though Kanu critics would say that unlike Okocha, he did not quit the national team when the ovation was loudest up to the point that a player in his mould only enjoyed a very insignificant role at both the 2010 Nations Cup and World Cup. Club career Without any doubt, Kanu, popularly called Papilo, enjoyed a more fulfilling career at club level than Okocha, who is known as 'Jay Jay'. He defied personal adversity to win the biggest piece of silverware on offer in Europe, the European Champions Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) with Ajax Amsterdam. He also won the English Premier League crown with Arsenal twice, three FA Cup winners' medals, two with Arsenal and once with Portsmouth. He won the Nigeria Premier League diadem with Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland FC) of Owerri, as well as three Dutch League titles, among other honours. The highlight of Okocha's club career was in 2004, when Bolton was beaten in the League Cup final, as he did not win anything of note with his other clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, Entracht Frankfurt and Fenerbache, all in Europe. Individual honours Kanu was picked as Africa's best player by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) twice in 1996 and 1999, but Okocha was never named for the award even though he came within a whisker of this individual accolade in 1998. However, Okocha was named the BBC African Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2005. Kanu was also named by the Nigerian government as one of the 50 most influential citizens during the country's Golden Jubilee Independence celebrations in October last year. There was no mention of Okocha. Off the pitch Kanu has given back to the community through his Heart Foundation, which assists children with heart problems. Both players have also invested heavily in the Nigerian economy through their various businesses. As a Lagos businessman, Okocha, through his Jay Jay Group, has more than 100 Nigerians in its employ. |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by babyboy3(m): 6:10pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
A player who has never been nominated for FIFA player of the year better than 1 who was 6th Player Pts 1 Ronaldinho 956 Barcelona 2 Frank Lampard 306 Chelsea 3 Samuel Eto'o 190 Barcelona 4 Thierry Henry 172 Arsenal 5 Adriano 170 Internazionale 6 Andriy Shevchenko 153 Milan 7 Steven Gerrard 131 Liverpool 8 Kaká 101 Milan 9 Paolo Maldini 76 Milan 10 Didier Drogba 65 Chelsea 11 Michael Ballack 64 Bayern Munich 12 Ronaldo 63 Real Madrid 13 Zinedine Zidane 55 Real Madrid 14 Zlatan Ibrahimović 36 Juventus 15 Deco 24 Barcelona 16 Juan Román Riquelme 20 Villarreal 17 Robinho 19 Real Madrid 18 David Beckham 17 Real Madrid 18 Wayne Rooney 17 Manchester United 19 Ricardo Quaresma 16 FC Porto 20 21 Ruud van Nistelrooy 11 Manchester United 22 Michael Essien 11 Chelsea 23 Raúl 8 Real Madrid 24 Pavel Nedvěd 8 Juventus 25 Arjen Robben 5 Chelsea 26 Cafu 3 Milan 27 Jay-Jay Okocha 3 Bolton Wanderers 28 Alessandro Nesta 3 Milan 29 Roberto Carlos 3 Real Madrid 30 Gianluigi Buffon 1 Juventus He is the only one playing in a team thats never been in a Champions League competition A player who has never been nominated for ballon D Or better than one who was 11th Has Kanu ever won a title for the full national squad? |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by YoruIgbo(m): 6:10pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
You are free to judge by yourself who is greater amongst the 2 players but I have just posted a summary of their career.   What Lagbaja thinks is an achievement, Temedun might obviously it's nothing. So, One man's bread is another man's poof poof |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by OlaRay4(m): 6:30pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
Club career Whats fulfilling when you are a bench warmer, playing 5, 10, or 15 minutes here and there, he made 10 appearance in Arsenal's greatest season, just to meet the required 10 league appearance so that he could get a medal which Wenger gave him towards the end of the season, Geremi said he doesn't feel like he was part of the team that won the 2000 CL Michael Johnson the America sprinter once said the moment you start to celebrate Average or mediocre is a sign of a very long period of none achievement, we have people having goose bumps because Kanu came sixth when the Runners up do not want their names to be mentions, its not that they give a medal for 6th place Am sorry the arguement should be who is the best between Yekini and Okocha |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by dayokanu(m): 9:03pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
How come FIFA was rewarding this mediocre Kanu with 6th position in the World UEFA was rewarding this mediocre kanu with 11th in the world CAF rewarded the benchwarmer twice with awards I guess some people sitting on the bench are worth more than some playing 90min Just like a Bill Gate 5mins work is more than what most people achieve in a whole lifetime |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by YoruIgbo(m): 10:03pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
Unfortunately performance are not based on effort, interest or will, performance is purely based on delivery and results, I'm sure Okocha himself will wish he had achieved what Kanu achieved in football. In 50 years to come if Okocha and Kanu's family decide to auction their medals surely Kanu's family will come to Auction house with basket full of medals while Okocha's will come with few medal and some explanation about his dribbles , No be beans, whether 5 mins or 10 mins e no matter at all!! As a Gooner Kanu's hat trick against chelsea in the final fifteen minutes as we came from behind to inflict a memorable defeat on arch-rivals Chelsea will always have a place in my heart |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by Sagamite(m): 10:43pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
dayokanu: You still haven't said when Kanu was depended on in a team. Worse still, we made it easier, forget him being best. You still haven't said when Kanu was one of the top 3 in a club he played for. You can't do that, and he is great? Okocha, Frankfurt = best player. Okocha, PSG = best 3 players. Okocha, Fenebache = best player. Okocha, Bolton = best player. Okocha, Nigeria = best player. There is no great player of a major footballing nation, none whatsoever, that has never been best or top 3 in his team. Worse still, a serial bench-warmer. dayokanu: 1996 was really a very good year of sympathy. Most achievement listed garnished with heart problem. |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by OlaRay4(m): 11:06pm On Jun 22, 2011 |
No be beans, whether 5 mins or 10 mins e no matter at all!! As a Gooner Kanu's hat trick against chelsea in the final fifteen minutes as we came from behind to inflict a memorable defeat on arch-rivals Chelsea will always have a place in my heart Well knowing that the 2003 season Arsenal had the Premiership title before Okocha magic dent a massive blow into their title hope by engineering a come back from 2-0 down to 2-2 handing the title to Manchester United, Unfortunately performance are not based on effort, interest or will, performance WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TELL ME YOU DID NOT SAY THAT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OFgfM3-LCM watch the video may be you might learn a valuable lesson!!!! In 50 years to come if Okocha and Kanu's family decide to auction their medals surely Kanu's family will come to Auction house with basket full of medals while Okocha's will come with few medal and some explanation about his dribbles Well knowing for a fact, over Okocha's playing Career he earned almost 3 to 4 times Kanu has ever earned (no wonder he is still playing) and remember that over the last 4 years Kanu has been on "pay when you play" contract, So the chance of his family auctioning his medals are slim, How come FIFA was rewarding this mediocre Kanu with 6th position in the World I cant remember FIFA rewarding 6th place, I could remember an accoladed for 3rd 2nd and 1st, but 4th to 50th got NOTHING!!!!!!!!!! the phrase that has the words Clutching and straws comes to mind. UEFA was rewarding this mediocre kanu with 11th in the world Comments above!!! Just like a Bill Gate 5mins work is more than what most people achieve in a whole lifetime Unfortunately for Bill Gates, he worked hard all his life, compared to some government Ghost worker who pops just to pick up salaries they do not deserve. No be beans, whether 5 mins or 10 mins e no matter at all!! As a Gooner Kanu's hat trick against chelsea in the final fifteen minutes as we came from behind to inflict a memorable defeat on arch-rivals Chelsea will always have a place in my heart David Bentley had a 15 minutes hat-trick for Blackburn against Manchester United, I cant remember them having heavenly feeling over it, The reality is a striker is judged on goals scored, and Looking Kanu's stat, he makes Emile Heskey look like Marco Van Basten |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by YoruIgbo(m): 1:13am On Jun 23, 2011 |
Ola-Ray: Bad Belle people Ebenezer Obey said it that 'No matter what you do you can't impress human being!!! Haba if una say make we kill person wey im soup no sweet, wetin una go do who no cook at all, E yin omo adamo, Well I will rest my case here because no matter what we tell some of you you will always base your argument on sentiment, Whether you like it or not Kanu has more medal to show for playing football than Okocha and in the same way Rooney has more Medal than Alan Shearer not minding all Shearer's premier league goals |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by YoruIgbo(m): 2:36am On Jun 23, 2011 |
Ola-Ray: I really don't understand Ola-Ray's beef in this matter, I said Kanu's hat trick will have a place in my heart and he is criticising me for that!!! I said a place in my heart!! Not your heart, I mean my heart, And he replied with David Bentley, I'm sure your Bentley hat trick will have a place in someone's heart too just like you are dying for Okocha and you are forcing everyone to agree that Okocha is the best, Strange people with strange ideas |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by Dede1(m): 11:15am On Jun 23, 2011 |
@OP Other than few names on the so-called Nigeria’s 50 greatest players, the list is a practical joke. |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by mamagee3(f): 6:49pm On Jun 24, 2011 |
baby-boy:Right on point!!! |
| Re: Kanu Tops Nigeria's 50 Greatest Players by Rossikk(m): 3:55am On Nov 16, 2013 |
dayokanu: Kanu is undisputed best Nigerian player ever You must be MAD, placing guys like Babayaro, Ikpeba and West above the great Mathematical Segun Odegbami. And for Adokiye to not be on that list is a total joke!!! |
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