Today is Rashidi Yekini's 60th birthday. He was born on October 23rd, 1963 and passed away on May 4th, 2012 (he was 48 years old at the time).
Yekini represented Nigeria at 5 African Nations Cup competitions (1984, 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1994), winning one bronze medal, three silver medals and one gold medal. He also represented Nigeria at two World Cups, USA '94 and France '98.
He is the highest goal scorer ever for Nigeria's men's senior national team (the Super/Green Eagles) with 37 goals in total.
Yekini was the highest goal scorer in Portuguese club football in the 1992/1993 season and he was also the highest goal scorer in the Primiera Liga in the 1993/1994 season.
Yekini played for IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan, with whom he got to the final of the African Champions Cup (now known as the African Champions League) in 1984 (they lost to Zamalek of Egypt). He later played for Abiola Babes (one of the two millionaire clubs in Nigeria at the time) before leaving Nigeria to play professional football.
He played for Africa Sports in the Ivory Coast, Vitoria Setubal in Portugal (with whom he achieved his greatest success), Olympiakos of Greece, Sporting Gijon in Spain and F.C. Zurich in Switzerland before returning to Nigeria.
After returning to Nigeria, he played for Julius Berger and Gateway FC before retiring in 2005.
On his 60th (posthumous) birthday, we take a look at the amazing feats and goals scored by the goalsfather. See below for videos and pictures of his exploits.
Picture 1) Rashidi Yekini after scoring Nigeria's first ever World Cup goal (against Bulgaria at USA '94).
Picture 2) Google doodle celebrating Yekini's 60th birthday.
Yekini's goal scoring record for Nigeria at the African Nations Cup
1988 Rashidi Yekini was the joint second highest goal scorer at the 1988 African Nations Cup with 1 goal.
naptu2: I remember this because of my shock, surprise and confusion.
Before this tournament, I had thought that all Nigerians loved football. Unfortunately, when these matches were played, I had to be in this house where the occupants were not really interested in football.
It was strange! "Are there really Nigerians that are not interested in football? Are these people normal??"
However, the shouts of "goal" from outside, my insistence and evangelism and the feeling that something major was going on finally forced them to turn on the TV and sit in front of it.
Yekini scored the first goal.
A classic and typical Yekini move ended with the ball hitting the crossbar and bouncing out off the floor in front of the goal line and Humphrey Edobor was waiting to bang in the ball for Nigeria's second goal.
Ndubuisi Okosieme scored a beautiful solo goal to make it
Nigeria 3-0 Kenya
In a group game at the 1988 Nations Cup in Morocco (Maroc '88).
This is my favourite goal by Okwaraji. I searched YouTube for a video of this goal from 2008 till 2016 before I eventually found one. That's because most people on YouTube prefer to post videos of the final, which was also between Nigeria and Cameroon.
This is a group stage match at the 1988 Nations Cup (Maroc '88) between Nigeria and Cameroon. Okwaraji scored in the second minute via a rocket shot from outside the penalty box (this is the kind of shot that Ernest Okonkwo would describe as an "intercontinental ballistic missile). It was the fastest goal at the Nations Cup at that time. The player that dribbled down the right and passed to Okwaraji was Rashidi Yekini.
Roger Milla equalised in the 21st minute, via a bullet header that beat Peter Rufai and it ended
He was the joint second highest goal scorer at the 1990 African Nations Cup in Algeria with 3 goals. In fact, his goals powered Nigeria into the final.
Back then European clubs were not obliged to release their players for the Nations Cup and Nigeria's Europe based players were unable to attend the competition.
Stephen Keshi had offered to hire a private jet to fly him from his club, Anderlecht, to Algeria for Nations Cup games and back to his club, but Clemens Westerhof rejected this offer and so Nigeria went to the Nations Cup with only African based players.
Nigeria lost the first game 5-1 to hosts Algeria (Nigeria's only goal was scored by Emmanuel Okocha, Jay Jay Okocha's elder brother).
Then Nigeria defeated Egypt via a goal by Yekini. We also defeated Ivory Coast via a goal by Yekini.
naptu2: He fends off the defender, he avoids the goalkeeper and scores.
Unfortunately, Nigeria lost the final to hosts Algeria by a lone goal.
1992 Yekini was the highest goal scorer at the 1992 African Nations Cup with 4 goals.
Nigeria defeated hosts Senegal 1-2 in the first match and then Yekini scored 2 goals to help Nigeria defeat Kenya 2-1 in the second game. The second goal was wonderful. It was a fantastic assist by Friday Elahor and great control and shot by Yekini.
Nigeria lost to Ghana in the semi final and then defeated Cameroon 2-1 in the 3rd place match via goals by Yekini and Friday Ekpo.
naptu2: Senegal ’92 Nations Cup Third Place Match (January 25, 1992)
Nigeria lost to Ghana in that painful semi-final of Senegal ’92 and then played Cameroon in the third place match.
Cyrille Makanaky missed a penalty in the first half and Friday Ekpo scored for Nigeria via a 77th minute freekick. Kesack Maboang equalised for Cameroon in the 85th minute.
The Cameroonian defence had heavily policed the most dangerous man in Africa and highest goal scorer of the competition, Rashidi Yekini, but he broke free in the 88th minute for a classic Nigerian counter attack (which would become common between 1991-1994). A long ball from the opponent’s half is played in front of Yekini who is on the run. He outruns the defenders and slots the ball in the goal. Thus it ended
Alloysius Agu (goalkeeper) Nduka Ubade Augustine Eguavoen Abdul Aminu Reuben Agboola Mutiu Adepoju Friday Ekpo Finidi George John Ene Okon Victor Ikpeba Rashidi Yekini
Substitutions
Nigeria
Emeka Ezeugo for Augustine Eguavoen Dotun Alatishe for John Okon.
Cameroon
Jacques Songo'o (goalkeeper) Stephen Tataw Benjamin Massing Victor Ndip Jules-Denis Onana Bertin Ebwelle Emile Mbouh Jacob Ewane Guy Tapoko, Cyrille Makanaky Kessack Maboang
Substitutions Eugene Ekeke for Jacob Ewane Ernest Ebongue for Cyrille Makanaky
1994 Yekini was also the highest goal scorer at the 1994 African Nations Cup with 5 goals.
naptu2: The craziest and most nerve-racking matches were
Nigeria vs Algeria in the semi-final of Maroc '88 (the one with the unending penalties).
The Miracle of Damman (the quarter-final of Saudi '89).
Nigeria vs Ivory Coast (the semi-final of Tunisia '94).
Nigeria vs Brazil at Atlanta '96.
I lost my voice and I could have sworn that my heart stopped beating during this game.
This was a game between the two most star studded teams in the competition. They were probably the two best teams in Africa at that time.
The 1994 Super Eagles team needs no introduction, so I'll tell you about the Ivorians.
They had the African legend, Abdoulaye Traore as their captain. They also had one of the best goalkeepers in Alaine Gouamene (who we renamed Allan Quartermaine).
They had Joel Tiehi and the Atletico Madrid star, Serge Alaine Maguy. They also had a young Ahmed Ouattara on the bench.
But I had never heard of Michel Basole before and he was the person that almost killed me on that day. He scored both of Ivory Coast's goals.
Thank heavenly God for Ben Iroha. Iroha injured both Michel Basole and Abdoulaye Traore (they both had to be substituted) and he only got a yellow card.
Not only did Iroha take out both of the Ivorian's danger men, but he also combined beautifully with Okocha to score the first goal (yes, a defender scored our equaliser). Then Yekini scored the equaliser for us.
The rest of the game became a crazy battle between Yekini and Gouamene. Alaine Gouamene showed why he was one of the best goalkeepers in Africa at that time. There was nothing that Yekini did not do, but Gouamene was always in his way.
This led to that famous shot of Westerhof asking God, "Why?"
It was 2-2 at the end of extra time, so the game went to penalties. Westerhof said that he decided that Yekini must take the last penalty because he had the most missed chances.
Of course Yekini scored and took Nigeria to the final.
Nigeria defeated Zambia in the final with 2 goals by Emmanuel Amunike.
How Yekini missed the chance to become highest goal scorer in Nations Cup history
Ivorian legend, Laurent Pokou, was the highest goal scorer in Nations Cup history with 14 goals over all (scored at the 1968 and 1972 Nations Cups), while Rashidi Yekini was the second highest goal scorer with 13 goals. I was confident that Yekini would overtake Pokou at the 1996 Nations Cup in South Africa, but certain events prevented that from happening.
Toyin Raji won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant in 1995. This meant that she would represent Nigeria at the Miss World pageant in Sun City, South Africa in November that year. She had won the Miss Congeniality award at the Miss Universe Pageant in May and contestants at the Miss World pageant also voted her as the most personable contestant and so she received the Miss Personality award.
However, on November 10th (while Toyin Raji was in South Africa) the Nigerian Government executed Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni activists.
Following the executions, protesters stalked Toyin Raji where ever she went in South Africa and there were allegations that she was jostled by protesters. The protesters were at virtually every event that was asssociated with the Miss World pageant and there were fears that they would disrupt the pageant. The South African authorities stated that they could not gaurantee her security and the Miss World organisers were forced to ask her to withdraw and consequently she had to withdraw from the pageant.
Nelson Mandela met with Toyin Raji before she left South Africa, to assure her that the anger of the protesters and the people of South Africa was not directed at her, rather it was directed at the Abacha Government and that he was proud of her.
Weeks later, the Super Eagles were in camp, preparing for the Nations Cup in South Africa which was scheduled to begin on January 13, 1996 when it was announced that they had been called to Abuja to meet with General Abacha at the Aso Rock Villa.
After the meeting, the government announced that Nigeria was withdrawing from the 1996 African Nations Cup. It said that the South Africans were not able to guarantee the security of Toyin Raji, therefore, they would not be able to guarantee the security of the Eagles. The government said that the Eagles were the pride of Nigeria and it would not allow them to be exposed to such insecurity and risks.
A Super Eagles player, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke to journalists after the Eagles returned to their camp. He said that all that happened at the meeting was that General Abacha told the players that Nigeria would not take part in the Nations Cup. He said that they were not allowed to speak. He said that the players were not happy about the decision, but there was nothing that they could do about it.
The South African authorities gave security guarantees to CAF and the Nigerian authorities. In fact, I listened to a South African official speak on the BBC World Service. He said that the Eagles would receive "presidential level security" in South Africa. He emphasised that only Nelson Mandela received the kind of security that the Eagles would get in South Africa. The Federal Government of Nigeria was unmoved.
A country that shared borders with South Africa (I can't remember if it was Lesotho, Swaziland or Zimbabwe) offered to host the Eagles. They expressed their love for Nigeria, condemned what happened to Toyin Raji and said that the Eagles could camp in their country, fly into South Africa by helicopter to play their games and return to their country by helicopter. They even offered to foot the bill.
I listened to the opinions of callers on radio and TV stations in Lagos at that time and I also monitored the views of writers in the newspapers. Opinions were divided about the initial decision to withdraw from the tournament. Some were angry about what happened to Toyin Raji and so they supported the decision. Many hated the Abacha Government and so they opposed the decision. Some (mostly football fans) just wanted the Eagles to play at the Nations Cup. However, virtually everybody was united in accepting the offer of the 3rd country.
Those that initially supported the withdrawal felt that staying in another country would spite the South Africans while still allowing the Eagles to play in the tournament. Those that opposed the withdrawal were happy that a way had been found to ensure that the Eagles played in the tournament.
However, the government rejected the offer. The rejection of this offer made many Nigerians to believe that there was more to the withdrawal than mere security concerns. Remember that the South African Government had also condemned the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the 8 other activists.
And that's how Yekini missed an opportunity to become the highest goal scorer in Nations Cup history. I have no doubt that he would have scored at least 2 goals at the '96 Nations Cup of we had gone. Nigeria was consequently banned from the 1998 Nations Cup and Yekini was well passed his prime by the time that Nigeria hosted the 2000 Nations Cup.
Samuel Eto'o is now the highest goal scorer in Nations Cup history with 18 goals, Laurent Pokou is second with 14 goals and Yekini is third with 13 goals.
Pictures below = Highest goal scorers at the African Nations Cup.
Yekini was the highest goal scorer in the African qualification series for the 1994 World Cup in the USA. He scored 8 goals in the series.
naptu2: This game was very important to me because it helped me overcome a bereavement.
Richard Owubokiri was the highest goal scorer in the Portuguese league in 1992 and Rashidi Yekini was the highest goal scorer in Portugal in 1993/1994, so I wanted to see both of them play together.
Many Nigerians believed that Owubokiri's style did not suit the Super Eagles, but I wasn't so sure, so I wanted to see him play.
This was the first ever match between Nigeria and South Africa. It took place at the National Stadium in Lagos on October 10, 1992.
Owubokiri scored the first goal via a header.
Samson Siasia extended our lead.
Rashidi Yekini then scored 2 goals to extend the lead. Samson Siasia controlled an incredibly high ball in order to provide the assist for the 4th goal. It ended
Complete Football's reporter reported that all the South Africans he met kept asking him about Ricky (Richard Owubokiri) and they were relieved when they heard that he was not in the team. They felt that he was Nigeria's danger man. I was wondering if they had never heard of Yekini.
Stephen Keshi later told a BBC reporter that he thought that he would die during this game. The match was played at the FNB Stadium at a high altitude and the Eagles did not have any altitude training before the game. Keshi said that he had difficulty breathing and he kept remembering what happened to Samuel Okwaraji.
The feed that I watched at the time was a joint production between the NTA and the SABC and Akinloye Oyebanji of the NTA was the summariser, while a South African was the commentator.
Yekini scored a goal in this game and I still cannot understand why it was disallowed. Maybe you can explain it to me.
The South African media reacted as if they had won the game, even though it was a draw.
The first leg of this game was nerve racking. Nigeria and the Ivory Coast were neck and neck in the second group stage of the qualifiers (both teams ended the qualifiers on the same points, but Nigeria had a better goals difference). Then we played Ivory Coast in Abidjan. We needed just a draw to go above them on the table. 4 jets left Nigeria for Abidjan for the match: the presidential jet carrying the government delegation, the chartered plane carrying the Eagles, Chief MKO Abiola's private jet and another chartered plane carrying the supporters club.
Yekini scored for Nigeria in the 5th minute. Nigeria had an opportunity to extend the lead. Samson Siasia had the ball, but he was in a bad angle. Yekini was absolutely free and would have scored if Siasia passed to him, but Siasia chose to shoot at goal and he missed. Westerhof was furious.
The Ivorians scored 2 goals in the 70th and 75th minute to win the game 2-1.
The video below shows the second leg in Lagos. Thompson Oliha opened scoring for the Eagles and Daniel Amokachi doubled the lead. The Ivorians scored and then Yekini scored via a penalty and then he scored a classic Yekini goal. There was a cross from the left wing, Yekini had outrun the defender and he slotted the ball in the goal.
The Nigerian media didn't really believe that the Eagles would win this match. All we heard about before the game was Stoichkov, Kostadinov, Stoichkov, Kostadinov.
Goals by Yekini, Amokachi and Amunike gave Nigeria a 3-0 victory.
There was this confidence that Nigerian fans had from 1991-1994 and that was that Yekini will score no matter what happens, regardless of whether we were playing at home or away.
He scored away against Congo in Pointe Noire in 1992. People were usually afraid to play in Point Noire because the pitch was bad and the fans were violent, but Yekini gave us a 0-1 victory. The Congolese fans attacked our team bus after the match.
He scored against Ivory Coast in Abidjan in 1993. That was probably our most difficult match of the USA 94 qualifiers. We would have qualified if we got a draw, but Siasia went for goal instead of passing to Yekini and the Ivorians beat us 2-1.
He scored against South Africa in the high altitude of Johannesburg, but the referee disallowed the goal for no known reason.
He scored 4 goals when we beat Burkina Faso 7-1 in Lagos.
He was the highest goal scorer in Portugal in the 1993/1994 season.
He was joint 3rd highest goal scorer at the 1990 Nations Cup, highest goal scorer at the 1992 Nations Cup and highest goal scorer at the 1994 Nations Cup.
He was also the highest goal scorer in the African qualifying series for the 1994 World Cup and the second highest goal scorer in the qualifiers for the 1994 Nations Cup.
I deeply regret that we did not go to the 1996 Nations Cup, because Yekini needed only 2 more goals to become the highest goal scorer in Nations Cup history and I'm certain that he would have scored more than 2 goals in 1996, but Abacha pulled us out of the tournament.
Highest goal scorers in the African qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup.
Yekini was a big part of the 3 seasons of glory for Nigerian players in the Portuguese League.
In the 1991/1992 season Richard Owubokiri scored 30 goals to become the highest goal scorer in the Primiera Liga.
In the 1992/1993 season, Rashidi Yekini scored 34 goals in 32 games to become the highest goal scorer in all the Portuguese league divisions (including the FA Cup). His goals helped Vitoria Setubal to gain promotion from the Segunda Divisão to the Primiera Liga.
Yekini then became the highest goal scorer in the Primiera Liga in the 1993/1994 season, scoring 21 goals to help Vitoria Setubal to the 4th position on the table.
Video of some of Yekini's goals for Vitoria Setubal.
Yekini played with members of two golden generations of Nigerian players.
He played with members of the golden generation of Nigerian players that won the 1980 Nations Cup. He played with Segun Odegbami, Muda Lawal and Felix Owolabi at IICC Shooting Stars in 1984. He also played with Henry Nwosu at the 1984 Nations Cup.
Yekini was also a key member of the golden generation that won the African Nations Cup in 1994, qualified for the World Cup in the USA and won the Afro-Asian Cup in 1995.
1) Squatting from left to right: Rashidi Yekini, Segun Odegbami, Felix Owolabi, Muda Lawal
Ademola Adesina standing far right. This was the IICC Shooting Stars squad that got to the final of the African Clubs Champions Cup in 1984.
2) Rashidi Yekini, Henry Nwosu and Chibuzor Ehilegbu in Rabat during an Olympic Games qualifier in 1984.
3) Yekini playing for Gateway FC in 2005.
4) Muda Lawal, Toyin Ayinla and Rashidi Yekini celebrating Abiola Babes' victory in the 1987 Challenge Cup.
Rashidi Yekini: ‘One of the best African players ever to walk this earth’
Twenty years ago Rashidi Yekini scored Nigeria’s first ever World Cup goal, but after that summer he struggled on and off the pitch and died in mysterious circumstances in 2012
Simon Burnton Sat 21 Jun 2014 06.59 EDT
Rashidi Yekini was well into his 31st year when Nigeria arrived at the 1994 World Cup, but his career was at its zenith. He was the reigning African Footballer of the Year, had been top scorer and player of the tournament when Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations just two months earlier, and with eight in seven games had scored nearly half his nation’s total tally of goals in qualifying for their first ever World Cup. He had also been the top goalscorer in Portugal that season, the first Vitória Setubal player to win the Bola de Prata for half a century, and his personal life was just as successful, with his marriage set for later that summer.
In their first match, against Bulgaria on 21 June, Yekini shone, scoring once and creating another in a 3-0 win. After sweeping in a low cross from the future Ipswich Town winger Finidi George his momentum carried him into the goal, where he stayed to celebrate, his arms pushed through the net, lost in the moment. It became one of the most memorable images of the tournament.
“Yekini was a man of himself. A man who knew what he wanted and what he wanted to do for his country. He was always ready to risk everything for the team and country. As a footballer we at times get carried away by our emotion or passion and that was what happened when he scored that goal,” Thompson Oliha, who roomed with Yekini in America, told supersport.com. “I think he was saying something like ‘It is me! It is me!’ Yes it was a goal with a touch of a team work but the man just celebrated the best way he thought.”
Yekini had forced his way from an apprenticeship as a mechanic in Kaduna to the pinnacle of the professional game, a tall, broad force of nature and spirit. “He was a legend,” says Abiola Kazeem, a Nigerian football journalist. “We totally relied on him to get goals. We called him The Goalfather, because we knew he would always get goals. He didn’t hog the limelight off the pitch, but on the pitch he was an absolutely reliable player for Nigeria.”
After the Bulgaria game, Clemens Westerhof, the Nigerians’ Dutch coach, was asked for his opinion of Yekini’s excellent performance. “We have not yet seen the real Rashidi Yekini,” he said. “It’s coming.”
It was not. He did not score again that summer. Sunday Oliseh, another team-mate, said that he “had some beef” with some of his team-mates, who “were madly, sickly, mentally jealous” of his success, which had already brought a £100,000-a-month contract at Olympiakos.
But in every sense Yekini’s honeymoon did not last: the move to Greece ended in acrimony, with the player swiftly falling out with coaches and team-mates before being dropped for good in October, and the marriage did not even last that long, with the couple returning from honeymoon seperately.
Seeking to raise his profile and attract a new club, he played a friendly for Nigeria against England at Wembley that November and sustained a knee injury that kept him out of the game for six months. After a year and just four starts in Greece he moved to Sporting Gijón, where he scored just three times – two-thirds of them in a single memorable victory over Fabio Capello’s Real Madrid – and on loan back in Setúbal were similarly unsuccessful, before a brief return to form at FC Zurich saw him return to the national side for the 1998 World Cup, where he appeared only fleetingly. Afterwards he returned to Africa, and eventually, aged 39, he drifted back to Nigeria.
“He was one of the highest-profile Nigerian players to return to the local leagues,” says Kazeem. “When he came back it was huge for the league. Crowds turned up everywhere he played. He’s still the benchmark for any Nigerian striker. Anyone coming through is compared to him, not just in terms of goals scored but also his attributes. We have had good strikers since, but not in his class.
“But when he retired, he withdrew. Most of the other big players who come back, they move into coaching, or they get involved in administration, in marketing. He became totally withdrawn. He didn’t grant interviews, he didn’t speak to anyone. He wanted nothing to do not just with football, or society at large – even his family. Because of the profile he had, he could have been anything he wanted. If he wanted to manage a football club, he’d just have to choose one and the red carpet would be rolled out to welcome him. It’s a mystery what happened to him, he withdrew completely from society.”
Yekini lived in and owned a large, gated development in Oluyole-Ibadan. One by one he evicted his tenants until only he was left. Much of his money was given away, or lent to his few friends. He continued to train alone at the nearby Awolowo Stadium, but when offered a chance to return to the game in 2010, when the Nigerian FA approached him over an ambassadorial role, he refused. “Money is never my first consideration,” he once said. “It’s a great joy being back home so thinking about money is nothing. I value happiness more than money. Money can’t buy you peace of mind.”
In time the state of Yekini’s mental, physical and financial health became a topic of national debate. Then in April 2012 he was taken from his house and transported to a remote hospital. Neighbours reported seeing the player bound and bloodied as he was forcibly removed from his home; some described it as a kidnapping, others as an intervention by those most concerned about his wellbeing. It is an event still surrounded in mystery, but what is certain is that within two weeks Yekini was dead.
“Rashidi Yekini is definitely one of the best African players and legends to ever walk this earth,” Oliseh wrote on his blog. “Rashidi was full of pace, had a superb shot, could jump very high, was calm in front of goal and was a very loveable person once you got to know and understand him. We lost not only a brother, friend, human being, legend and compatriot, but we also lost a great opportunity to find out his unique secret of how to score goals easily like he did which only he knew how to.”
This Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the moment Yekini marked his own and his nation’s arrival at the World Cup with a fine goal and an unforgettable celebration. His blossoming may have been brief, but it was certainly brilliant.
Sunday Oliseh's speech at the 2019 NFF Awards. The 1994 team were presented with an award to mark the 25th anniversary of their qualification for the World Cup and victory in the Nations Cup. Read what Oliseh said about Yekini.
I would like to say a big thank you on behalf of my colleagues. It's the first time that we are getting together in the past 25 years.
And I must confess that, exactly 9 days from today, 25 years ago, the 10th of April 1994, we shocked the world in style when we won the African Nations Cup.
As at that time, we didn't know what we were doing. As you see us all here, we are just one big family. We hardly agreed on anything then.
But as you see these guys here, the moment we put on the jersey. . .
I remember Uche Okechukwu saying, "Jay Jay leave am, as e kick you e go come here".
I remember times whereby (this brings tears to my eyes), whereby Stephen Keshi's wife will cook African food for us all and she will bring it and carry it with her car and we'll all start sharing it in the hotel. Am I lying guys?
The other Eagles reply, "No".
That tells you the love that we had for one another.
But as we look back, I'm a coach now and I thank God for everything he's done for us. If you look at the way that football is being played, full backs are asked to attack. We don't have two number 9s anymore. We have a number 9½. This started in 2008.
As at 1994, Daniel Amokachi was not a number 9, he was not a number 10, he was already playing 9½. So he was ahead of his time.
As at 1994 we had an overlapping left back. Sometimes we used to beg him, "Ben, abeg stay, I don tire", but he will still go and we will beat Ivory Coast.
An Ivorian in the audience reacted, which led to laughter from the rest of the audience and Sunday Oliseh said. . .
With all due respect.
As at the time, all the midfielders used to just carry the ball. One small boy from Delta, all he did was, fight for the ball, give it to the players to play.
And at the time, God blessed us with the best striker this continent has ever seen. I am talking of Baba Rashidi.
I will share something that I had between me and him, that he used to tell me. "Şo ri, Sunny, ma da won lowun. Şá ti ná si fún mi"
For those that don't understand Yoruba, what Rashidi used to say to me was, "Sunday, don't listen to them. Just send the ball in (to me)".
And this man had the most clinical finishing I have ever seen in my f**king career and I've been blessed to play with players like Inzaghi, Zidane and all of them, but none could come close.
And then we had one crazy number 10. In as much as I and him have a good relationship today, if I tell you how many times we almost fought on the pitch. "Jay Jay pass now!"
But I must confess to you guys, if I had a problem and I was crowded by players, give it to Jay Jay, he will find a solution.
We were very complimentary, from Dodo Mayana to Baba Rashidi, but we could not have achieved anything we did without players like Edema Fuludu, without players like Nduka Ugbade.
Because, for those of you who are less than 30 years old, you will not understand this, when we trained at the National Stadium, we had 30,000 watching trainings. Our trainings were like matches.
And for that reason, anybody who was going to wear the jersey on Saturday, you know that if you don't give 150%, not only will the Lagos fans kick you so hard, but there's somebody waiting on the bench to take that jersey and good luck to you if you lose it.
And let's not forget, we had one man who brought us all together, Clemens Westerhof.
For 3 years I was going in and out of London to get my coaching license and I was in classes with people like Ryan Giggs and all of them. Even Ole Solskjaer, we graduated together and they were always talking about England National team, England National team. Then one day, I was sitting with Gianfranco Zola and I told him, I said, "Excuse me, the last time England won something, I was not born yet".
I am going to tell you what this guys did (he's pointing at the other Eagles).
⚫ 1993: qualified for the African Cup of Nations.
⚫ 1993: qualified for Nigeria's first ever World Cup
⚫ 1994 (April 10th) : won the African Nations Cup
⚫ 1995: won the Afro-Asian Cup
⚫ 6 of the players from this group were in the Atlanta team that won the Olympics.
Jay Jay Okocha, Victor Ikpeba, Emmanuel Amunike, the Bull Daniel Amokachi, we had also the crazy Sunday Oliseh.
Why am I saying this now is that ever since people think that we have problems amongst ourselves. It is far from true. The thing is that we know that without one another, we'll not be having food on the table today. We'll be starving. We helped each other and we carry on with that friendship.
Daniel used to turn to me on the pitch and say, "I'll come help you defend". Even when I had 3 or 4 opponents, he will come and join me. Am I lying?
Oliseh gives the microphone to Amokachi and Amokachi says jokingly, "You dey lie small".
Oliseh says:
Because then he was a 9½. He was coming to join us in midfield.
And then we had Samson Siasia also coming to join us in the midfield. What was he doing? Samson was a number 9, but then we had the god of Nigerian attackers as number 9. The man adapted, started playing 10 and even number 7. Not to talk of Finito.
So the team goes on.
When NFF invited me to come and I saw the invitation, the first thing I wanted to say to my wife was, "Eh, I go stay house", but then I saw my colleagues who were coming and I saw that at one point in life we have to move forward.
Nigeria has given us everything we have. We have given everything we have to Nigeria. If we are not recognised, Nigeria will not produce another set. If we are not thanked, Nigeria will not produce another set, because what will it take to name one street in every state the Super Eagles of 94 Street?
It doesn't matter if the street is fine or not, just the recognition.
We thank you very much. We are grateful. We thank you for this event.
Oga Amaju, we thank you for doing it. We thank you all. Oga Seyi Akinwunmi, we thank you very much. Oga Dipo, we thank you. And we thank you the most Nigerians. God bless you
Rashidi Yekini (23 October 1963 – 4 May 2012) was a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward. He is all-time top goalscorer for his nation.
His professional career, which spanned more than two decades, was mainly associated with Vitória de Setúbal in Portugal, but he also played in six other countries besides his own.
Yekini scored 37 goals as a Nigerian international footballer, and represented the nation in seven major tournaments, including two World Cups where he scored the country's first-ever goal in the competition. He was also named the African Footballer of the Year in 1993.
Club career
Yekini was born in Kaduna, of Yoruba origin. After starting his professional career in the Nigerian league, he moved to Ivory Coast to play for Africa Sports National, and from there he went to Portugal and Vitória de Setúbal where he experienced his most memorable years, eventually becoming the Primeira Liga's top scorer in the 1993–94 season after scoring 21 goals; the previous campaign he had netted a career-best 34 in 32 games to help the Sadinos promote from the second division, and those performances earned him the title of African Footballer of the Year once, the first ever for the nation.
In the summer of 1994, Yekini signed for Greek club Olympiacos, but did not get along with teammates and left soon after. His career never really got back on track, not even upon a return to Setúbal which happened after another unassuming spell, in La Liga with Sporting de Gijón; he successively played with FC Zürich, Club Athlétique Bizertin and Al-Shabab Riyadh, before rejoining Africa Sports. In 2003, aged 39, he returned to the Nigerian championship with Julius Berger FC.
In April 2005, 41-year-old Yekini made a short comeback, moving alongside former national teammate Mobi Oparaku to Gateway United FC.
International career
Scoring 37 goals for Nigeria in 62 appearances, Yekini is the national record goalscorer. He was part of the team that participated in the 1994 (where he netted Nigeria's first-ever goal in a World Cup, in a 3–0 win against Bulgaria, his celebration after scoring, crying while holding the goal's net, became one of the iconic images of the tournament) and the 1998 FIFA World Cups.
Additionally, Yekini helped the Super Eagles win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia where he also topped the goal charts and was named best player of the competition. He also participated at Olympic level in Seoul 1988.
fond memory. Those are the years when Supa Eagus are still the Eagus not the set of Calculators ,confused Eagus and complete HBP distributors we have now.
Yekini made an off the pitch contribution to Nigeria's success in that game. Just as the match was about to start, it was discovered that an NFA official forgot the Eagle's shorts @ their camp in Ota. The NFA were in a fix. They didn't know what to do. CAF refused to delay the game and if the Eagles didn't file out it would mean that the game would be forfeited.
Yekini suggested that they should cut the tracksuit trousers with razor blade and use that to play the game. The Eagles played the first half wearing the improvised "knickerbockers" while the official rushed to Ota to get the shorts, which the Eagles used in the 2nd half.
naptu2: I still haven't found a video of this match, so I'll write from memory.
Nigeria was going to play against Burkina Faso in an African Cup of Nations qualifying match (for Senegal '92).
The coach of the Burkinabes was boasting that they were going to defeat Nigeria. The newspapers were filled with his boasts. I pointed this out to a friend of mine and he said that the coach was probably trying to motivate his players.
I replied that I had followed the Eagles' matches for a long time and I had never heard any coach boast as much as the coach of Burkina Faso. The Ghanaians, Egyptians, Cameroonians and Ivorians did not boast as much as this Burkinabe coach was boasting. What is a Burkina Faso?
I was the only one at home on that Saturday. Old Man had gone to the stadium. I prepared a huge lunch, then sat down in front of the tv with my food, to see what the Burkinabe were planning to do.
The first thing that caught my attention was the funny attire that the Eagles were wearing. But I quickly forgot about that because of the fantastic performance of the Eagles. Rashidi Yekini scored four goals, Finidi George came off the bench to score in his first full international match and Elahor and Siasia also scored in a 7-1 win for the Eagles.
I was angry that the Burkinabes scored a goal at the end of the match. It should have been 7-0.
Then I found out why the Eagles were wearing that funny attire. They had camped at Obasanjo Farms in Ota and the kit man had forgotten the Eagles' shorts in the camp. He had to rush to Ota from Surulere, in order to get the shorts. Meanwhile, Nigeria would have suffered a walkover if the match did not start on time. Yekini had an idea. Why not cut the tracksuit trousers with a razor blade (thereby converting them into 3 quarter shorts) and wear that until the shorts arrive? So the Eagles wore these strange 3 quarter shorts in the first half.
The Federal Government dissolved the board of the NFA the next day. It reminded me of the reason that Old Man did not want the ministerial position. "You might wake up one morning to hear (on the radio) that you've been sacked".
I didn't even listen to John Momoh's intro. I knew that Ominu was there in the studio (Ominu! That's another of those Saturday morning phone calls) but I didn't realise why.
This is after that fantastic football match and he's going to examine the aftermath of the game.
(I was kind of involved in this issue, but I won't tell you how).
Should I tell the story? Well there are 2 stories. I've often told one side here, but I think I should also tell the other side (the side that John Momoh examined).
The Super Eagles of Nigeria were going to play against Burkina Faso. I read the comments of the Burkinabe coach in the papers and he was boasting that they were going to beat us. I mentioned this to my neighbour. I was wondering if the coach was OK. How did he think that they were going to beat us. My neighbour said that the coach wasn't going to say that they would lose and that he had to say something to motivate his players.
Anyway, I was the only one at home and I fried everything fryable, got myself a drink and sat down to watch this game. I wasn't disappointed. Nigeria beat Burkina Faso 7-1. Yekini scored 4 goals, Finidi made his debut for the full side and also scored and it was absolutely wonderful. Well, I was a bit disappointed that we allowed them to score a goal towards the end of the match.
However, something amazing happened before the match. The Eagles had camped at Obasanjo Farms in Ota and the kit manager had forgotten to bring their shorts to Lagos. He dashed to Ota to get them, but time was going and it looked like we were going to forfeit that game (imagine the calamity). Rashidi Yekini then had a brilliant idea. Instead of creating a problem, why not get a blade and cut the tracksuit trousers into shorts and use that instead. Therefore, the Eagles wore what looked like ¾ shorts for the first half of the game. Their proper shorts arrived in time for the second half and they changed into that.
It was announced on the 7pm news (less than an hour after the match) that the Federal Government had dissolved the board of the NFA for bringing disgrace and embarrassment to the nation ( I knew several people on that board).
So John Momoh was going to examine the progress of sports in Nigeria, particularly football, in the past 6 years, since we've had 6 NFA boards in 6 years, after the board was recently dissolved.
Is this not supposed to be a post-humous birthday??
Why did your topic read: “Today IS...” and you didn't add ”post-humous”..??
Call on the mods to edit the topic.. .. Expect lots of people who do not know him (or who did not get to know about his demise) to come and be wishing him a happy birthday.. Not knowing that man had left.
Happy post humous birthday to the Legend. This man scored some maginificent goals for Nigeria. I remember world Cup qualifier with Algeria in 93 when he scored the 3rd goal from the endline with a shot while falling down,
or one of his goals against Gabon at the 94 nations Cup when he lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper, scoring in front of the empty post. Yekini sabi disgrace opponent goal keeper sha
BluntCrazeMan: Is this not supposed to be a post-humous birthday??
Why did your topic read: “Today IS...” and you didn't add ”post-humous”..??
And in all your posts, you didn't mention it anywhere that the man is no more. .. Expect lots of people who do not know him (or who did not get to know about his demise) to come and be wishing him a happy birthday.. Not knowing that man had left.
🤣 "You didn't mention posthumous and you didn't mention that the man is dead".
⬆️ This is an example that shows that reading is hard for some people.
fond memory. Those are the years when Supa Eagus are still the Eagus not the set of Calculators ,confused Eagus and complete HBP distributors we have now.