TheSuperNerd:
Nigeria's Greatest and finest of all time is based on all parameters which encompasses most successful, most decorated and more.....

So is it I who is shifting or you who asks for Nigeria's greatest striker?? What sort of question is that sef??

We are talking Nigeria's finest legends of all time and you select just "striker"... Who's the post shifter then?? Loolll

You guys just love to drag a dead argument. Kanu is no.1 so live with it!!!

forgiveness:


Oga. Kanu played as a top nine. He sometimes came from the bench to replace Kluivert.

At Inter Milan, he was just a ball boy because of his heart disease. He added nothing to that team..

At Arsenal, he was just part time player nothing more. He holds the record of 115 substitution from the bench. The 3rd in EPL history.

goldfish80:

If you say Kanu is Your no1 all time greatest I have no problem with that. But when you swing comments like Yekini being just top 5 or top 10 sef like you put it, one will begin to sense an agenda, a rude one at that.
This was how you mumbled the other day "Keshi being just top 10 sef " like it's a back hand compliment because he wasn't decorated with your favourite UEFA Champions league and other shinny things like that gives you away like you're forcefully pushing your opinion and repeatedly, which becomes an inherit agenda.
15yrs from now a kid could type on Google who Nigerians greatest players are, this page will definitely come up, the kid will probably walk away from after reading this thread believing people are lying to him about how good a Yekini and Keshi was judging by the quite absurd "just top 10" comments.

I asked you who Nigeria best striker of all time was, you were almost at pains to say the name Yekini. If I asked who Nigeria's best and finest defender was, you will definitely go out of your way to avoid mentioning the obvious. African football like we know it will not be where it is today if not the sacrifices made by the early generations. The stereotype in the 80's and early 90's against people of color was beyond crazy at that point. Without the duggedness and achievements of greats like keshi, Yekini, Rabba Madja, kalusha Bwaya, even Richard owobokiri, etc etc etc people like iheanacho, Samuel Eto, kanu etall will be serving coffee at coffee shops in UK and Belgium.
Back in the 80's Keshi was provided with a private jet to fly him between Africa and Europe by Anderlerch. In that era, it was unheard of to provide a person of colour with such executive treatment, who born you. Apartheid was well and truly alive back then. Yekini took Europe by storm and scored 34goals in 32 games. Imagine the accolades Messi and Ronaldo get when they get those numbers, juxtapose this with what an African achieved 25+ years ago, you begin to understand how huge he was.

To name the best defender and the best striker Nigeria has produced as being just "top 10" going by whatever matrix you use is plain wrong. I took my time to write this long epistle for posterity sake and nothing more. Yekini and Keshi are proper African legends.

When Antonio Conte arrived Stamford
Bridge, one particular player almost certain
to leave Chelsea was Nigerian winger, Victor
Moses. However, about three months after
the Italian officially took charge of the Blues, the 25-year-old not only remained at the club but has become one of his manager’s favourites.

Conte dishing out instructions to Moses in training

Moses has scored two goals this season

✔@OptaJoe
1239 - Victor Moses is making his first PL
start for Chelsea since May 2013 - 1239
days ago. Testament. 2:59 PM - 1 Oct 2016

TheSuperNerd:
*Yawns* no need for the long epistle.....

You can't change what history has put down. Kanu is Nigeria's No.1 Finest of all time. Loollll.... I didn't make it so... It is just what it is...

Tu comprends??


Note:

- @first bolded.... I was not afraid to say a name. Nigeria's finest striker or Nigeria's finest defender are all different from Nigeria's finest player ever putting all parameters together. Period!

- @second bolded... Stop playing the "pioneer" card... Even today, there's still discrimination against blacks in football. Today, it still takes Hardwork, Awesome effort and stand-out talent to stand in the league of "World-Class".

- @third bolded.... Yekini and Keshi are Truly African legends. Who says they aren't?? Using "Proper" shows disrespect for what Kanu, Eto'o, Finidi and a couple more achieved. So these are "improper" African legends abi?? Looollllll.... Na wa oooo....

- Finally, if a kid searches on Google and this page comes up. HE WILL SEE THE TRUTH. He will understand that These legends all have their place in History's Hall of Fame. And he will see that it is not out of place for him as a kid to say, "I wanna be greater than the former.... I wanna outshine the finest that ever was". HE WILL SEE THAT NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE OF THE PAST HAD ACHIEVED IN WHATEVER FIELD, HE TOO CAN DO IT AND EVEN SURPASS IT.... HE WILL UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MUST NOT BE A "PIONEER" BORN IN THE 80s or 70s to be regarded as THE GREATEST. THAT KID WILL BE ABLE TO DREAM AND ACTUALLY THINK HE CAN BECOME THE GREATEST EVER.

But ofcourse, HE WON'T LOSE THAT SENSE OF APPRECIATION FOR THE LEGENDS OF THE PAST AND MORE.

That Kid will only see the Truth. Not watered down facts and sentimental comments coz of attachments to the past.

I added "these notes" for the sake of posterity also and especially for "that kid" that will surely show up.

BascoVanVeli:
All u have done here is express ur opinion nothing wrong with that but it doesn't make it fact.

Pavarotti:

Update on Eagles in camp

Alex iwobi Iheanacho in

http://www.soccerassembly.com/alex-iwobi-kelechi-iheancho-land-abuja-for-zambia-battle/

TheSuperNerd:
Actually it does... Coz the records do not contradict what I say...

You don't have to agree. Even God have people who don't agree with Him.

BascoVanVeli:

Really? Comparing ur opinion to God? Na wa 4 u.

TheGoodJoe:


When you talk of Kanu coming from the bench at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger was managing his heart condition. After the heart problem at Inter, we knew Kanu was never going to be that 90 minutes regular player.

This highlights how special Kanu was. Despite coming off the bench a lot, Gunners voted Kanu as the 13th best player in the history of the club. The man is a Legend. No matter how you play it. Doing this in a big club and not in an African team or a small club in Portugal.

joseph1013:
[b]We seem to be confusing things in this rank of who is more of a legend than the other.

Rashidi is more of a legend than Kanu, though Kanu is more known and much loved. But in terms of football attributes, and performance on the pitch, Yekini wins.

Perhaps it's because some here did not watch him play. Here am I just laughing at some comments.

Yekini I think had the highest goals for any African national team (bar Hossam Assam) until Drogba came into the frame.

He was our most prolific striker who was very intelligent in front of goal and out of the box.

He had the muscle, pace, positioning, speed, dribbling [at pace], shot accuracy and aerial power.

The worst thing is that looking at him, you will never refer these attributes to him.

Extremely intelligent player that only Okocha can claim to be Nigeria's best player before him.

No other Nigerian striker has matched up to that since. I repeat no Nigerian striker has matched him, past or present, considering we've had some really good strikers in the Eagles. His legendary goal scoring lives on.

He was such a prolific goal scorer that when you hear he is on the team sheet, you will be like "at least I know we will score, let the opposition just not score more ". Even in his club, he was a legend. I think he scored 90 goals in 114 appearance. That's a crazy stat. Before the extraterrestrial geniuses of Messi and Ronaldo came on the scene, that's about the best you were bound to see anywhere in Europe. It was crazy.

Consider that this was an era when it was taken for granted when black players were called monkeys. Someone like him played through pains and all those social abuses. It takes guts and mental mastery to pull something like that off in such a racist culture.

Setubal was a small club with average players but Yekini became top scorer in the whole league in his very first season in the top Portuguese league. Please realize that it was his 34 goals in 32 games that brought the club from second division to Primera league the season before that. CAF instantly took notice of his performance for club and country and made him the African Footballer of the Year. He was the very first Nigerian to win that award. What a pace-setter!

This might look like a bash, but Kanu did not measure to this standard. While Yekini was a sure starting 11 in all the teams he played for, Kanu was constantly on the bench in both club and country.

The same Kanu that played 87 times for Nigeria, and scored less than Okocha that played as a midfielder?

The same Kanu who spent 2/3 of his career on the bench in the Super Eagles, Ajax, Inter, Arsenal and West Brom.

Please, let's give respect to whom it's due.

Peace out! [/b]

BascoVanVeli:
Here is how i think they will line up.
Ikeme
Ekong Omuero
Elderson Mohammed

Onazi

Iheanacho Mikel

Moses Ideye Iwobi
But more than likely Musa will start instead of Moses.

safarigirl:
Who gives a shiiit about Yekini and Kanu? Yekini is dead while Kanu is being a motivational speaker for the young ones.

Neymar has passed 50 goals for Brazil and y'all can't stop talking bout a dead man with 37 goals who most of you didn't even remember till he died

Last I checked, this thread isn't titled Green Eagles: Celebrating Our Heroes Past.

So, why don't we get back to the living and in service an watch someone break Yekini's record hopefully. I doubt it's half as amazing as most of you like to think it us

TheSuperNerd:

Looolllll..... I watched Yekini. I watched Kanu.... I watched all Yekini clips so no one should play that silly card of you are "too young to know" on me. Yes, I was born years after Yekini began... I was only 6yrs during his twilight national team years in 1998

I repeat..... Yekini isn't Nigeria's Finest ever. That's a fact. That's the truth. That's what the records state and no one can do anything about it.

Maybe you don't know what It means to have a heart condition and still shun out legendary performances and attain top accolades. You don't understand the odds against which Kanu strived to still achieve Greatness and Glory for Club and Country.

I made mention of Thompson Usiyen earlier on this debate. No one wanna look into it ba??

But I put it to you that Not even Yekini had a better goals ratio than Usiyen in the GreenANDWhite... 15 goals in 24 games vs 37 goals in 58 games.....

Usiyen had a short stint in Nigeria's colors and the NFA (now NFF) mis-management of situations at the time contributed to his short span with the Eagles. Legend has it that had he been around, Nigeria would have made the 1978 World Cup. He was a born goal-scorer and set NCAA goals records...

I AM NOT SAYING HE'S MORE THAN YEKINI IN OUR RANKINGS OF LEGENDS... But when it comes to goals, he edges Yekini. I may have been born in the early 90s (around 92) but I do know my history and I research a lot and watched lots of clips from the past.

So term me whatever you want... Looollll...

Indomie generation... loolll... Little kid...loollll... Whatever mehn... Lollll...

But the records are there and PUTTING ALL PARAMETERS AND PERSPECTIVES TOGETHER AS A WHOLE....... KANU RANKS AS NIGERIA'S FINEST AND GAVE US SOME OF OUR MANY BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES AS A FOOTBALLING NATION.

MIKEL IS NEXT.... ANOTHER IS FINIDI... YEKINI IS UP THERE IN NO.4... OKOCHA MAY HAVE LACKED MUCH CLUB SUCCESS BUT HE GOT TO BE NO.5.... HE GAVE US BLISS AS A NATION ALSO....

The records are everywhere.... Meanwhile, look up more on Usiyen before you make it look or sound like Yekini was the first authentic "super striker" we had... That title belongs to Usiyen.

Yekini's title is Greatest Striker in Nigeria's history coz he's nigeria's record goal scorer..... I doubt if he would have held such record had Usiyen played up to 50caps...

I refuse to bash our legends. I am tempted to do so... But I just gotta put my points across without dimming the lights of any of them.

BascoVanVeli:


U xan read books all u want but nothing beats being there. Now i see it is simple, u never watched Yekini. U just saw clips.

safarigirl:
Who gives a shiiit about Yekini and Kanu? Yekini is dead while Kanu is being a motivational speaker for the young ones.

Neymar has passed 50 goals for Brazil and y'all can't stop talking bout a dead man with 37 goals who most of you didn't even remember till he died

Last I checked, this thread isn't titled Green Eagles: Celebrating Our Heroes Past.

So, why don't we get back to the living and in service an watch someone break Yekini's record hopefully. I doubt it's half as amazing as most of you like to think it us

TheSuperNerd:
I watched whole Matches of Yekini in action Sir in the Green and White.... I even have several of his games on my laptop.... Looolllll... (Now that's hard to believe right?).

I also saw clips of Usiyen in the green and white... Never saw a whole match of usiyen.

There's a way I take football... I research about it a lot as a passtime... I take my time to study.


Nothing beats being there.... Yeah. You right

Just like Nothing beats the records which are there for all to see..... #checkmate

phamarsenal:
yekini or KANU won't help us qualify for d world cup in Russia, lets live DAT issue and discuss abt d showdown DAT is going to take place in zambia , I read an article by a Zambian journalist insisting DAT we re dependent on kids ( iwobi and iheanacho), DAT dey lack d experience at d international stage. DAT statement made me rethink, because honestly d amount of pressure we re mounting on their young shoulders is immense and I just hope dey don't allow d pressure get d best of dem on Sunday. All in all I wish d super eagles success and luck on Sunday

TheSuperNerd:

Looolllll..... I watched Yekini. I watched Kanu.... I watched all Yekini clips so no one should play that silly card of you are "too young to know" on me. Yes, I was born years after Yekini began... I was only 6yrs during his twilight national team years in 1998

I repeat..... Yekini isn't Nigeria's Finest ever. That's a fact. That's the truth. That's what the records state and no one can do anything about it.

Maybe you don't know what It means to have a heart condition and still shun out legendary performances and attain top accolades. You don't understand the odds against which Kanu strived to still achieve Greatness and Glory for Club and Country.

I made mention of Thompson Usiyen earlier on this debate. No one wanna look into it ba??

But I put it to you that Not even Yekini had a better goals ratio than Usiyen in the GreenANDWhite... 15 goals in 24 games vs 37 goals in 58 games.....

Usiyen had a short stint in Nigeria's colors and the NFA (now NFF) mis-management of situations at the time contributed to his short span with the Eagles. Legend has it that had he been around, Nigeria would have made the 1978 World Cup. He was a born goal-scorer and set NCAA goals records...

I AM NOT SAYING HE'S MORE THAN YEKINI IN OUR RANKINGS OF LEGENDS... But when it comes to goals, he edges Yekini. I may have been born in the early 90s (around 92) but I do know my history and I research a lot and watched lots of clips from the past.

So term me whatever you want... Looollll...

Indomie generation... loolll... Little kid...loollll... Whatever mehn... Lollll...

But the records are there and PUTTING ALL PARAMETERS AND PERSPECTIVES TOGETHER AS A WHOLE....... KANU RANKS AS NIGERIA'S FINEST AND GAVE US SOME OF OUR MANY BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES AS A FOOTBALLING NATION.

MIKEL IS NEXT.... ANOTHER IS FINIDI... YEKINI IS UP THERE IN NO.4... OKOCHA MAY HAVE LACKED MUCH CLUB SUCCESS BUT HE GOT TO BE NO.5.... HE GAVE US BLISS AS A NATION ALSO....

The records are everywhere.... Meanwhile, look up more on Usiyen before you make it look or sound like Yekini was the first authentic "super striker" we had... That title belongs to Usiyen.

Yekini's title is Greatest Striker in Nigeria's history coz he's nigeria's record goal scorer..... I doubt if he would have held such record had Usiyen played up to 50caps...

I refuse to bash our legends. I am tempted to do so... But I just gotta put my points across without dimming the lights of any of them.

BascoVanVeli:


That is nothing u don't get the same feeling as when it first happened.

BascoVanVeli:

If u want to stop BASELESS ARGUEMENTS then we have to stop birthday wishes and request for votes. They all come with the package. I always try to share info i have even between debates.

forgiveness:



Hahaha! How did you know Usiyen played 25 matches for Nigeria national team?

Oya, prove it.

Was he highest goal scorer in 1976 AFCON ?

Was he among the CAF team of the tournament?

Was he the best player of that tournament?