6 African Players That Had The Most Impact On World Football

These are 6 African players that played for African national teams and had the most impact on football worldwide of any African player. They did not only have an impact on football in Africa and Europe, but they were talked about right round the world. Some of them (e.g. Roger Milla) were so famous that their fame went beyond the football world.

1) Rabah Madjer
Rabah Madjer is one of the greatest players to have ever come out of Africa. He was also once one of the players that I hated the most.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/Futre-2.gif?w=584[/img]

1982 World Cup and one of the worst cases of match fixing ever
Algeria defeated Nigeria in the final qualifying round for Espana ’82. Lakhdar Belloumi and Zidane scored at the National Stadium in Lagos as Algeria won 0-2. Rabah Madjer and Belloumi scored for Algeria in Constantine and Felix Owolabi scored a consolation goal for Nigeria as Algeria qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

Algeria’s first game was against the almighty West Germany, who were former world champions and who paraded stars like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. The Germans boasted about how they were going to beat Algeria. One of them said that they would dedicate their seventh goal to their wives and the eighth goal to their dogs.

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

The Algerians had other ideas. They felt insulted by the comments of the German players. Rabah Madjer scored Algeria’s first ever goal at the World Cup in the 54th minute of the game. Rummenigge equalised in the 67th minute. However, Algeria made a 9 pass move from the restart and Lakhdar Belloumi scored the winner almost immediately. This was Africa’s first victory against a European side at the World Cup.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBWJS27wgZs
Rabah Madjer’s goal against Germany at Espana ’82 (Algeria’s first ever goal at the World Cup) and Belloumi’s goal (Algeria scored from the restart after Rummenigge’s equaliser. Not a single German touched the ball).

Algeria lost to Austria 2-0 in their second game and defeated Chile 3-2 in their third game. The third and final round of games featured one of the most disgraceful events in world football. Algeria played against Chile a day before Austria played against Germany. Austria and Germany are both German speaking countries and they are neighbours. They both knew that a one or two goal win for Germany would ensure that they both qualified for the second round at the expense of Algeria. Germany scored in the tenth minute and both sides did not make any attempt on goal after that. Many people believe that both teams had an agreement that Germany would be allowed to score a goal and no attempt at scoring would be made after that. The game has been nicknamed the ”Disgrace of Gijon.

It was because of this disgraceful episode that FIFA mandated that all final group games must be played at the same time.

Rabah Madjer also played for Algeria at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, but they were knocked out in the first round.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/tA50hTl.jpg?w=584[/img]


The 1987 European Cup final and the greatest goal ever

Rabah Madjer moved to Europe in 1983. He played for a succession of French clubs before moving to FC Porto in the 1985/86 season.

Madjer became a club hero the next season when he played for FC Porto against Bayern Munich in the 1987 European Cup final (now known as the Champions League final).

Madjer scored in the first round of the competition as Porto hammered Rabat Ajax of Malta 9-0. He scored the only goal that helped Porto defeat Brondby 1-0 in the first leg of the quarter final. Then came the final.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/33601729_2073918876198742_4709774717756637184_n.jpg?w=584[/img]

The 1987 European Cup final was played in Vienna, Austria and Bayern Munich took the lead in the 25th minute. Then in the 77th minute, Rabah Madjer pounced on a loose ball in the area and back heeled it into the goal. Pele said, "It would have been the greatest goal I have ever seen, if he had not looked back at it."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDSZYWBs9zs

Madjer provided the assist and Juary scored in the 80th minute to give Porto the 1987 European Cup. The final was the first European Cup final that Bayern, and their captain Lothar Matthäus would lose to successive late goals, repeated 12 years later in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final against Manchester United.

The 1987 Intercontinental Cup
The victory meant that Porto would represent Europe in the 1987 Intercontinental Cup (aka Toyota Cup). The Intercontinental Cup is the forerunner of the Club World Cup, but it was only contested by the champions of Europe and the champions of South America. Penarol of Uruguay were the champions of South America.

Porto went ahead in the 41st minute, but Penarol equalised in the 80th minute. It was even at full time, so the game went into extra time. Rabah Madjer scored in the 109th minute to make Porto the world champions in club football. Madjer was named man of the match.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/ToyotaCup1987.jpg?w=584[/img]

It was only players that were born in Europe that were allowed to compete for the Ballon d'Or in 1987. France Football Magazine, which awarded the Ballon d'Or, had a separate award for African players called the Ballon d'Or Africain and Rabah Madjer won the 1987 edition (he was second in the 1985 edition and third in the 1990 edition).

Rabah Madjer was at Porto from 1985-1991and he won the European Cup, the European Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, 3 Portuguese League titles, the Portuguese Cup and 2 Portuguese Super Cup titles with them.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/MADJER4.jpg?w=584[/img]

Why I hated Rabah Madjer
Rabah Madjer loved scoring against Nigeria. He had scored against Nigeria in the qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup and then came the 1990 Nations Cup which was hosted by Algeria.

There was no FIFA rule mandating European clubs to release their players for the tournament, so most European clubs refused to release their players. Nigeria only had two of its Europe based stars and the captain, Stephen Keshi, was unable to make it to the tournament.

Rabah Madjer was Algeria’s captain at the time and Algeria was the host. Nigeria played against Algeria in the first game and we were hammered 5-1. Madjer scored two goals, including a perfectly taken free kick. Emmanuel Okocha (Jay Jay’s elder brother) scored Nigeria’s only goal. Nigeria picked itself up (due in large part to several goals by Yekini) and got to the final of the tournament where we played Algeria again and lost 1-0. Rabah Madjer had captained Algeria to its first Nations Cup victory.

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

I hated the Algerians at the time because they and their fans were very aggressive and were noted for their gamesmanship.

Why I now like Coach Madjer
Rabah Madjer retired in 1992 and became a youth coach at Porto. He later had spells in which he coached the Algerian National team but he often quarreled with the Algerian FA and resigned.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/untitled.png?w=584[/img]

Africa played a historic match against Europe in 1997 and Madjer was selected as the coach of the African team (Africa won that game).

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/gettyimages-651572256-612x612.jpg?w=584[/img]

Rabah Madjer’s aggressive nature showed during a press conference in 2017 in which he verbally attacked a journalist. This was while he was serving another tour as Algerian coach. I absolutely loved it!

naptu2:
Wow! Rabbah Madjer has not changed at all!

At a press conference:

To Riyadh Marez: "Riyadh, please give me a minute.

Mr Jebouh the national journalist, you are an enemy of the national team. You are an enemy of the national team. I am saying this in public. All of you listen to me. I respect you all, but I don't respect this man. I have no respect for this man. Retire and let the next generation take your place".

(The journalist starts talking).

Rabbah Madjer: "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!".

Turns to the other journalists: "Next question please".

Watch the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoyvdkWSPNg

2) Roger Milla
Roger Milla made his debut for Cameroon in 1973. He played for Cameroon in the 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1988 Nations Cups. He was the highest goal scorer in the 1986 Nations Cup with 4 goals and joint top scorer (with Lakhdar Belloumi) in the 1988 Nations Cup with 2 goals. He was also the best player at the 1986 Nations Cup.

Video: Nigeria vs. Cameroon at the1988 Nations Cup. Samuel Okwaraji scored in the second minute via a rocket shot from outside the penalty box after great work by Rashidi Yekini down the right flank. It was the fastest goal in the Nations Cup at that time. Roger Milla equalised in the 21st minute, via a bullet header that beat Peter Rufai and it ended Nigeria 1-1 Cameroon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY9ZYHyTVwU

League football
Roger Milla made his senior debut for Leopards of Douala in 1970. At 18, he won his first league championship with Leopards in 1972 and played in the African Champions Cup in 1973. In the first leg of the Champions Cup quarter final against Hafia of Guinea, Leopard were trailing 2-0 at half time and they desperately needed a hero. Roger Milla scored a second half hat-trick to help Leopards secure a 2-4 victory. Leopards made it to the semi-final where they lost to Vita Club of Zaire.

He moved to Tonnerre Yaounde in 1974 and won the African Cup Winners Cup with them in 1975. They got to the final of the competition in 1976 and Milla was awarded the Ballon d’Or Africain by France Football (effectively becoming the African Footballer of the Year 1976).

He moved to France in 1977 and played for Valenciennes. There he scored 6 goals in 28 league games over 2 seasons. In 1979 he joined AS Monaco scoring twice in 17 league games in one season.

The next year, he joined Bastia where he scored 35 goals in 113 league appearances for the first team. He next moved to Saint-Etienne in 1984 scoring 31 times in 59 league games. He then starred for Montpellier from 1986 to 1989, where he later went on to become a member of the club's coaching staff after retiring from French football. He helped Montpellier win Lique 2 in 1987.

Roger Milla went into semi-retirement in 1989. He retired from the national team (the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon) and left French football and went to play for JS Saint-Pierroise on the island of Reunion.


Italia ‘90
Cameroon defeated Nigeria to qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy and Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, personally telephoned Roger Milla to ask him to come out of retirement to play for the Lions at the World Cup.

I didn’t like Cameroon at that time. In fact I hated them. Nigeria had played against Cameroon quite a few times by then (1984 & ’88 Nations Cup finals and Italia ’90 qualifiers) and they were noted for their gamesmanship, negative football and very physical way of playing. There were also controversial refereeing decisions like Henry Nwosu’s disallowed goal in the 1988 final.

However, they were able to convert me with their performance at the World Cup. I was initially shocked when my brother referred to Cameroon as “We” during their first match against Argentina. “How can you refer to the enemy as ‘We”, I wondered.

I hated Maradona even more than I hated Cameroon and I was put off when he started juggling the ball with his shoulder before the game against Cameroon, so it was quite satisfying when Cameroon beat them.

Roger Milla played a huge part in converting me and his magic began in the second game against Romania. Romania had huge stars like Marius Lacatus and Gheorghe Hagi, but Cameroon had “Old Man Milla”. The scores were still 0-0 in the 58th minute when Roger Milla was brought on. He scored two beautiful goals in the 76th and 86th minute and on each occasion he ran to the corner flag and did his now famous samba dance. The Romanians scored their only goal in the 88th minute.

Video: Cameroon 2-1 Romania (which out for Gheorghe Hagi’s rocket free kick)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R592AJhvHns

The Cameroonians had won their first two games and were virtually through to the second round. They lost 4-0 to the Soviet Union in their 3rd game. Many Africans were upset by the result of that match. They wanted the Cameroonians to have a 100% record. Some people said that the Lions’ coach, Valeri Nepomniachi, made them lose that match because he was from the Soviet Union. I felt that they decided not to stress themselves because the match was unimportant, as Cameroon had topped the group anyway.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/150623125922-roger-milla-corner-flag-celebration-exlarge-169.jpg?w=584[/img]
Roger Milla’s dance at the corner flag.

Roger Milla vs. Colombia
This match produced one of the most memorable goals of the tournament. Roger Milla was once again a super sub. He came on in the 54th minute of the match. However, the score line was still 0-0 at full time, so the game went into extra time.

In the 106th minute Milla received a simple pass from Francois Omam Biyick, beat one defender and jumped over another and then fired the ball into the goal. He had produced a goal from absolutely nothing.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/52935046_jpg_0.jpg?w=584[/img]

The iconic moment of the game came two minutes later. Colombia had some of the most charismatic players of the tournament. Their captain, Carlos Valderama, was known for his huge orange hair. Their keeper, Rene Higuita, was kind of eccentric and he loved to play the role of a sweeper, dribbling attackers and preferring to play the ball with his feet, rather than catching it with his hands (he became very famous for inventing the scorpion kick in a game against England in 1995).

A Colombian defender played a pretty dangerous back pass to Higuita. Remember that this was 1990 and Higuita could have legally caught the ball with his hands. Instead he chose to control it with his feet and tried to dribble Roger Milla, but Milla stole it from him, dribbled past him and slotted the ball into the goal. That goal was shown over and over and over for many many years. As usual after each goal, Milla ran to the corner flag and danced the samba.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/wrsn1m9l1ocidliinyct.jpg?w=584[/img]
Roger Milla dribbles Rene Higuita

Bernado Redin scored for Colombia in the 115th minute, but Cameroon held on to become the first African team to qualify for the quarter final of the World Cup.
Cameroon vs. Colombia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x16llCQfpF8

Cameroon vs. England (quarter final)
Cameroon was the first African country to play in a World Cup quarter-final. They effectively became the team of Africa as they drew support from all over the continent. As underdogs they were also being supported by neutrals all over the world. Roger Milla’s corner flag celebration was one of the most viewed clips of the World Cup and this turned the Lions into instant worldwide stars.

Cameroon took on England in the quarter final and that England team was one of the best England World Cup teams ever. It was filled with superstars like Gary Lineker, Peter Shilton, John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne, David Platt, Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle and Bryan Robson.

Despite what they said in the video below, the England players did not initially take Cameroon seriously. I watched a documentary a long time ago in which one of them said that they were making jokes about the Cameroonians when one of the Lions replied them in English. They were shocked. They did not know that the Cameroonians could understand English.

Just 25 minutes into the game, the headmaster, David Platt, scored one of his usual headed goals (off a cross by Stuart Pierce) to put England ahead (he scored a similar header against Nigeria in 1994).

Roger Milla came on for Cameroon in the second half. Everybody had come to expect Roger Milla to come on in the second half of Cameroon’s matches and produce magic and he did not disappoint.

Roger Milla drew a penalty as Paul Gascoigne brought him down in the box. Emmanuel Kunde stepped up and scored from the spot and it was even.

The Neapolitan fans were supporting Cameroon against England and they had more reasons to cheer 4 minutes later when Roger Milla got the ball, executed a BEAUTIFUL turn, dribbled past Gascoigne, Wright and Platt before sliding a pass to Ekeke who calmly slotted the ball into the goal. Cameroon were leading England in the World Cup quarter final!

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/roger-milla-cameroon-interview-2.jpg?w=584[/img]

There was even more excitement as Milla exchanged a one-two pass with Oman Biyick, but Biyick missed the goal!

Then came Gary Lineker.

In the 85th minute Gary Lineker fell over in the box, picked himself up and scored from the penalty spot. The scoreline was 2-2 and the game went into extra time.

Lineker fell over in the box again in the 105th minute (this was even more blatant. It was obviously not a penalty), picked himself up again and scored from the penalty spot. The English held on to book their first semi-final slot since 1966. Africans were incensed at the referee.

Cameroon vs. England (Italia ’90)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njlZ9l3Hgpo

Roger Milla had become a global hero and superstar. Musicians from many countries in Africa waxed records about him. He won the Ballon d’Or Africain for the second time. Thousands of people lined the streets of Yaounde to welcome the team home. Africa got an extra slot at the World Cup because of Cameroon’s performance at Italia ’90. Milla was the joint 3rd highest goal scorer at the 1990 World Cup (with Gary Lineker, Michel and Lothar Mathaus), winning the bronze boot. He was also listed in the team of the tournament.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/8427999_dv58kdzx4aeiikg_jpeg_jpegf5977c7aa854670a18267dbdcc0fae96
FIFA Italia 90 team of the tournament

Milla moved back to Cameroon, where he was like a super hero, and played for his old club Tonnere Yaounde.

USA ‘94

Africa had 3 slots at USA ’94, instead of the 2 slots that it had at Italia ’90 and this was due to Cameroon’s performance at the 1990 World Cup.

Cameroon qualified for the World Cup along with Nigeria and Morocco. I remember listening to the reports about Cameroon’s preparation on BBC Fast Track and I could easily see the mistake that they were making.

Politicians, businessmen and officials of the football association (FECAFOOT) put a lot of pressure on the coach, Henri Michel, to put as many of the stars of the 1990 World Cup in his squad for the 1994 World Cup as possible. This was despite the fact that many of them were past their best. Some of the younger players did not have an opportunity to be on the team. Jean-Claude Pagal punched Coach Michel when he was told that he would not be in the team to the US.

As usual, President Paul Biya personally called Roger Milla and asked him to be in the team to the World Cup in the US.

Cameroon had a terrible World Cup. They drew 2-2 with Sweden in their first game, lost 3-0 to Brazil in their second game and then came the record setting game.

Cameroon played against Russia in their 3rd game and lost 6-1. The game is significant because of the two record breaking number 9s. Oleg Salenko scored 5 of Russia’s 6 goals and became the first – and remains the only – man to score five goals in a single World Cup game, while Roger Milla scored Cameroon’s only goal and became the oldest player to score at a World Cup game at the age of 42. Russia and Cameroon both crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b-n0UkjVfo

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/salenko-94_0.jpg?w=584[/img]
Record breaking number 9s, Oleg Salenko and Roger Milla.

Milla was still a global star and he was in demand in some places. His final game for the Lions was a friendly match against South Africa (the South Africans wanted to see him play) in 1994 and he spent the next two years playing for club sides in Indonesia before retiring from football.

Roger Milla is one of the greatest and most famous players to have ever come out of Africa. He won the Ballon d’Or Africain in 1976 and 1990 and Pele listed him in his FIFA 100, a list of the greatest 125 living footballers, in 2004. He is the 2nd highest goal scoring African in World Cup history (he scored 5 goals in 2 World Cups. Asamoah Gyan is the highest goal scoring African in World Cup history with 6 goals in total).

Video of Roger Milla at Italia 90

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaAq2LcbKPY

3) George Weah

George Weah’s case is quite remarkable because, unlike Madjer and Milla, Mr Weah never ever played at the World Cup and so it was his exploits at club level that got him into this list.

There are certain African footballers that have performed exceptionally well in Europe, but who hardly win things because they are from the “lesser footballing Nations”. Japhet Ndoram was a huge success in Europe, but he never became the African footballer of the year and many younger people might not even know him because he was Chadian and Chad never qualified for the African Cup of Nations or the World Cup. Similarly, Tabitha Chawinga has been performing exceptionally well in Europe and China, but she might never ever become the African Footballer of the Year because she’s from Malawi and Malawi is not a great footballing nation.

George Weah is from one of the “lesser footballing nations”, but he was able to overcome that handicap to become a global superstar.

George Weah started out playing for Mighty Barrolle (which in my view was the biggest Liberian club side at that time) in 1985. He won the Liberian league and cup double with them in the 1985/86 season. He moved to Invincible Eleven for the 1986/87 season with whom he won the Liberian league again. He was briefly at Africa Sports in Ivory Coast in 1987 (where he was teammates with Rashidi Yekini) before moving to Tonnerre Yaounde later in 1987.

Arsene Wenger & Europe
The “White Witch Doctor”, Claude Le Roy was the coach of Cameroon at the time and he informed the coach of Monaco, Arsene Wenger, about the very good player that he had seen playing in the Cameroonian league. Arsene Wenger flew to Cameroon and brought him to Europe in 1988, where he signed for Monaco for £12,000.

George Weah won the Ballon d’Or Africain for the first time in 1989. He helped Monaco win the French Cup in 1991 and he also helped them to reach the final of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1992, scoring 4 goals in 9 appearances (they were beaten 2-0 by Werder Bremen).

PSG & star of the Champions League

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/Fullscreen-capture-12282017-105100-PM_bmp_.jpg?w=584[/img]

He moved to Paris Saint Germain in 1992 and that’s where his star really shone brightly. He won the French Cup in 1993 and 1995, the French League (Ligue 1) in 1994 and the French League Cup in 1995. He was the highest goal scorer in the UEFA Champions League in the 1994/95 season, scoring 7 goals, including this spectacular and incredible goal against Bayern Munich.
George Weah vs. Bayern Munich (1994)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-eMf6PZQGw

PSG were eventually beaten 3-0 by AC Milan in the semi-finals, but Milan recognised Weah’s talent and potential and they quickly signed him up.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/gettyimages-124125765.jpg?w=584[/img]
Ruud Gullit, the great Franco Baresi and George Weah.

I had the view, in the mid-1990s, that there were 2 kinds of strikers. You had the small and incredibly skillful strikers like Romario, Baggio, Bebeto, etc. and you had the big, tall, strong and fast strikers like Yekini, Shearer and Yeboah. George Weah was a combination of both types of strikers and he was absolutely perfect.

It was fitting that Weah should move to Milan. Milan was the greatest club in the world in the early and mid-1990s. They won the UEFA Champions Cup back to back in 1989 and 1990 (when I became really interested in Italian football). They got to the final again in 1993 when they lost to Bernard Tapie’s Marseille (I emphasise, Bernard Tapie’s Marseille). They flogged Barcelona 4-0 to win it again in 1994 and they got to the final again in 1995 when they lost to Ajax Amsterdam.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/gettyimages-1631119.jpg?w=584[/img]
George Weah, Roberto Baggio, Dejan Savicevic and Marcel Desailly

So it was only natural that one of the best players in the world should move to the best club in the world.

Best player in the world

France Football Magazine awarded the Ballon d’Or to the best European born player and the Ballon d’Or Africain to the best African born player every year. The Ballon d’Or winner was usually considered as the best player in the world by the European media. However, things were changing by 1995.

FIFA started an award called the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1991. Coaches and captains of national teams around the world voted for the best player in the world for that year.

In 1992 the Confederation of African Football (CAF) also started awarding a prize for the best African player of the year. My brother had always stated that France Football’s Ballon d’Or Africain was biased in favour of players that played in France or were from French speaking countries (which was why Nigerian players had never won it) and this became obvious when France Football awarded the Ballon d’Or Africain to Abedi Pele in 1993 and George Weah in 1994, while CAF gave the award to Rashidi Yekini in 1993 and Emmanuel Amunike in 1994 (Weah came second to Amunike in the 1994 list).

Furthermore, many African players were playing in Europe by 1995.

Therefore, France Football decided to scrap the Ballon d’Or Africain and to open up the Ballon d’Or to all players that are playing in Europe, regardless of where they were born.

In 1995 (the first year that this was possible), George Weah won the Ballon d’Or (for the best player in Europe), the CAF African Player of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year. He also won the BBC African Player of the Year and the Onze d’Or in 1995.
[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/gettyimages-1664703.jpg?w=584[/img]

The greatest goal ever
Mr Weah was not yet done. He won the Serie A with Milan in 1996, scoring what many consider as one of the greatest goals ever, along the way. In a match against Verona, Weah got the ball in the Milan defence area and dribbled past several Verona defenders, running the length of the pitch, to slot the ball in the goal.

Video: George Weah vs Verona (1996)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwOLi3J4Y78

George Weah came second in the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1996 and he also came second in the CAF African Player of the Year list.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/gettyimages-1200899.jpg?w=584[/img]
George Weah of AC Milan and Ronaldo of Inter Milan


Controversy and the decline of Milan

In 1996 George Weah was banned for 6 European matches for breaking the nose of Jorge Costa in the tunnel after a UEFA Champions League match against Porto. Weah said that he reacted in anger due to Costa’s constant racist abuse during both legs of the Champions League tie. Costa denied that he racially abused Weah and UEFA did not lay charges against Costa because there were no witnesses to corroborate Weah’s claim. Weah later attempted to make peace with Costa but Costa rebuffed his efforts and too Weah to court.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/1200940_0.jpg?w=584[/img]
George Weah and Oliver Bierhoff

Nevertheless, Weah was given FIFA’s Fair Play Award in 1996.

Many Africans were very upset about this incident. They believed Weah, despite the fact that there was no evidence to support his claim. Weah was seen as a gentleman, while Costa was known as a very hard and aggressive defender and I believe that the image that people had of both players influenced their choice of who to believe.

Weah’s time in Milan coincided with a decline in Milan’s form in the Champions League. The club did not get to the final of the competition (after 1996) until 2003 when they defeated Juventus to win the trophy. In fact I remember a match in the late 1990s during which Milan fans held up a banner that read, “Shame on all of you, except Franco” (except Franco = except Franco Barresi).

England

He moved to Chelsea on loan in 2000. He won the FA cup with them in 2000 and scored several memorable goals, although he was past his best. He left Milan and Chelsea when his loan spell was over and moved to Manchester City on a free transfer, declining the offer of a £1 million pay-off from Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi.

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

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/gettyimages-1030895.jpg?w=584[/img]

He was mainly used as a substitute at City and this led to a falling out with City’s manager, Joe Royle. He returned to France and played for Marseilles until 2001, then he played for clubs in the Middle East until his retirement in 2003.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/gettyimages-1036572.jpg?w=584[/img]

The Lone Stars
George Weah didn’t win anything with the Liberian national team, but it was not because of lack of effort. Weah made his debut for the national team, the Lone Stars, in 1987. The team was plagued with problems in the 1990s due to the Liberian Civil War. They had to play matches away from home; the FA was in a mess, etc.

George Weah funded the national team, arranged for training sessions to be held in Europe and also sometimes coached the team. Due in large part to his efforts, Liberia qualified for two Nations Cup tournaments in 1996 and 2002. They also ran Nigeria very close in the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, failing to qualify by just a point.

George Weah was considered to be one of the best strikers in the world at his peak. He is the only African to have won the Ballon d’Or and he is also the only African to have won FIFA’s Best Player in the World award. He is the only person that has won the FIFA award, Ballon d’Or and CAF African Player of the Year award in the same year. In 2004 he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

4) Nwankwo Kanu

Nwankwo Kanu first came to prominence at the 1993 FIFA Under 17 World Championship in Japan. I’ll never forget Nigeria’s first game at the competition. The NTA could not hook up to its broadcast team in Japan, so they showed Ghanaian TV’s feed of the match. The Ghanaian commentator could not believe that Nigerian fans were still singing, “All We Are Saying, Give Us A Goal”, despite the fact that Nigeria was leading Canada by 6 goals to nil. He was highly amused by the situation.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/329498hp2.jpg?w=584[/img]

Nigeria defeated Canada 8-0 in that match and Nwankwo Kanu scored a hat-trick. He scored again in Nigeria’s 4-0 victory over Argentina and again in Nigeria’s 2-0 victory over Australia. He became the competition’s joint second highest goal scorer (with 5 goals) behind Wilson Oruma (who scored 6 goals).

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/Nigerian-Team-at-Japan-93.jpg?w=584[/img]
The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria and Black Starlets of Ghana, winners and runners up at the 1993 FIFA U17 Championships.

Nigeria won the championship for the second time and Kanu, Oruma, Anosike, Ojigwe, Oparaku, Okonedo, Manga Mohammed, Ibrahim Babangida and the Babayaro brothers became instant heroes.

Westerhof and Van Gaal
That was not Kanu’s first involvement with a Nigerian national team. Clemens Westerhof was the technical adviser of the Nigerian national teams. The NFA asked him to take a look at the national under-20 team, the Flying Eagles and advise Coach James Peters ahead of the African Youth Championships (AYC) in Mauritius in January 1993. Westerhof introduced Kanu into the team, but he didn’t play a single match at the tournament because James Peters thought that he was too skinny.

I had a deep hatred for James Peters at that time. He took a fantastic team to the AYC, but his terrible coaching decisions meant that the team crashed out in the first round, when it could easily have won it. The team included players like Austin Jay Jay Okocha (another player that Westerhof brought to the team), Taribo West, Tijani Babangida , Abiodun Obafemi, Garba Lawal, Teslim Fatusi, etc. The only good thing about that tournament was Jay Jay Okocha’s free kick goal against Mauritius in Nigeria’s only victory at the tournament.

The NFF also asked Westerhof to take a look at the Under 17 team (the Golden Eaglets) and Westerhof organised a camping session for them at Papendal. This was when he introduced Kanu to the team. Kanu had been playing as a midfielder for Iwuanyanwu Nationale, but Fanny Amun (the coach of the Golden Eaglets) converted him into a striker.
Westerhof recognised Kanu’s abilities and invited him to a Super Eagles training camp in Papendal, Holland. Coaches of several top Dutch clubs were also at the training sessions. The coach of Ajax Amsterdam, Louis Van Gaal, expressed interest in Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu and Westerhof told him their strengths and weaknesses. Ajax eventually signed both players in 1993.

Ajax

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/Nwankwo-Kanu-e1481817376198.jpg?w=584[/img]
Nwankwo Kanu and Louis Van Gal
Kanu played for Ajax Amsterdam, helping them to win three league titles in a row in the 1993/94, 1994/95 and 1995/96 seasons. He scored some spectacular goals including this beautiful goal against NAC Breda in the 1993/94 season.

Kanu’s spectacular goal against NAC Breda. He pounced on a loose ball, burst between two defenders, dribbled the goalkeeper and nutmegged the last defender as he slotted the ball into the goal.

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

UEFA Champions League
Kanu also won the UEFA Champions League with Ajax Amsterdam, scoring in the quarter final second leg victory over Hadjuk Split


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIiw8qPWUcQ
He also came on as a substitute in the final match against AC Milan.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/DQhmJv6WAAAXO3W.jpg?w=584[/img]
Nwankwo Kanu, Finidi George, Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids

Ajax were like a second Nigerian national team at that time. Lots of Nigerians became Ajax fans because of Kanu and Finidi and also because Ajax had an exciting young team and played beautiful attacking football. Louis Van Gaal has stated that he used a lot of young players because Ajax were broke and that he paid Kanu and Finidi’s transfer fees from his own pocket.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/33509565_2073919212865375_7736572650968842240_n.jpg?w=584[/img]
Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George with the Champions League trophy.

Ajax had players like Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Jari Litmanen, Patrick Kluivert, Frank De Boer, Ronald De Boer, Danny Blind, Marc Overmars, Michael Reiziger, Winston Bogarde, Kiki Musampa, Mario Melchiot, Nordin Wooter, Edwin Van Der Saar, etc.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/33359944_2073919362865360_1646418207604473856_n.jpg?w=584[/img]
Frank and Ronald De Boer, Finidi George, Nwankwo Kanu and Patrick Kluivert with the Champions League trophy

The NTA showed live Champions League matches in conjunction with Canal France International (CFI), people watched Ajax matches on Eurosport and Nigerian football shows like The Best Of Football paid special attention to the Dutch league.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/ChfPqPGWUAAeOa1.jpg?w=584[/img]
Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf, Jari Litmanen, Michael Reiziger, Edwin Van Der Sar, Patrick Kluivert and Nwankwo Kanu.

Ajax defeated Real Zaragoza 5-1 on aggregate to win the 1995 UEFA Super cup, with Kanu playing in the second leg of the tie. Ajax then won the Intercontinental Cup against Gremio of Brazil on penalties, with Kanu coming on as a substitute in the second half.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/Loius-van-Gaal-with-Nigeria-internationals-Kanu-Nwankwo-left-and-Finidi-George.jpg?w=584[/img]
Louis Van Gaal, George Finidi and Nwankwo Kanu with the Champions League trophy.

Ajax also got to the final of the 1996 Champions League, losing to Juventus in the final.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/3C33473D00000578-4127734-image-a-19_1484654798438.jpg?w=584[/img]
Kanu, Finidi, Kluivert, Winston Bogarde and Louis Van Gaal

Qualification for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta

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


Nwankwo Kanu was named the captain of the Under 23 national team. He captained the team during their successful qualifying run for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. However, there was a bit of controversy after the team qualified for the Olympics.

CAF’s rules state that players in the Olympic qualification tournament must be below 23 years old. However, FIFA’s rules for the main Olympic tournament state that players must be below 23 years old, but 3 players above the age of 23 can be included in the team.

Daniel Amokachi was included in the team as one of the over age players and a journalist went to interview him at his base in Europe. The journalist congratulated him on being named the captain of the Under 23 team. Amokachi replied that he was honoured that he was named the captain.

Nwankwo Kanu was the golden boy of Nigerian football at that time. He had won the Under 17 World Cup, won the UEFA Champions League and captained the Under 23 team to qualify for the Olympics, scoring a couple of goals along the way. Nigerians loved him.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/4171039_20160829215412_jpeg1626fe1b6ec7a86302c74b6fa2f0d6bb.jpg?w=584[/img]
Daniel Amokachi and Nwankwo Kanu

So they were quite offended when Amokachi said that he was honoured to have been named captain. They felt that Amokachi was trying to “bully the small boy” and “take his glory”. Nigerians reacted with anger in newspaper letters columns and on phone in programmes on radio. In Amokachi’s defence, it was the journalist that said that he had been named as the captain.

There was further controversy before the Olympics. The NFA wanted the team to play a “farewell match” in front of Nigerian fans. The coach and the players did not want that match. Besides, the match was organised on short notice and the team did not have enough time to prepare for it. However, the NFA insisted that the match must go ahead. Nigeria played against Togo at the National Stadium in Lagos and lost 1-3. The fans were incensed. There was a riot. The team had to be kept in the dressing room for an hour after the match, for their own safety. The police chased the fans from the stadium, but the fans regrouped and went to the NFA’s liaison office on Ogunlana Drive and destroyed a lot of the association’s property.

Atlanta 1996 Olympics
Nigerians nicknamed the team “The Dream Team”, after the nickname of the American basketball team to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. That team had NBA stars in it for the first time ever and the Nigerian football team to the 1996 Olympics had major Europe based stars in it for the first time, hence the name.

Nigeria defeated Hungary 1-0 in its first game, courtesy of a goal by Nwankwo Kanu.
Video: Kanu vs. Hungary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5b2AwLdAAM

We defeated Japan 2-0 in our second game and lost to Brazil 1-0 in our last group game.

We defeated Mexico 2-0 in the quarter-final to set up a rematch with Brazil in the semi-final.

Kanu Nwankwo vs. Brazil

Nigeria took on Brazil in an amazing semi-final. It was the most dramatic match of the tournament and the second time that my heart stopped beating and I lost my voice during a Nigerian national team game (the first time was during the semi-final of the 1994 Nations Cup when we took on Ivory Coast).
The Brazilian side was filled with stars like Ronaldo, Bebeto, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Savio, Santos Aldair, Dida, Flavio Conceicao. Many predicted that the Nigerian side would be beaten black and blue, but the Nigerians wanted revenge for their group stage loss to Brazil.

It seemed like the prediction of doom was about to come true when Nigeria went behind in the first minute to a Flavio Cenceicao free kick. Celestine Babayaro forced Roberto Carlos to concede an own goal in the 20th minute and the score line was 1-1.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/nigeria-at-atlanta-96_1wkojzw8gjd6u1m37f0pqklae3.jpg?w=584[/img]
Nwankwo Kanu and Roberto Carlos

Then the Brazilians overran Nigeria as Bebeto scored in the 28th minute and Flavio Conceicao scored another in the 38th minute. Brazil were leading 3-1 at half time.

Victor Ikpeba started the fight back in the 78th minute and then Kanu scored what was probably the goal of the tournament on the stroke of the 90th minute. His first touch was sublime. It ensured that Dida could not get the ball and teed him up for his second touch which put the ball in the goal. Kanu had equalised and taken the game to extra time.

At that time the “golden goal” system was in operation. This meant that the first team to score in extra time won the match. Kanu Nwankwo scored in the 94th minute to send Nigeria into the final for the first time ever.

Nigeria was the first African country to make it to the final and Kanu had become an even bigger national hero.

Nigeria vs. Brazil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWVRE27ByfI

Nigeria took on Argentina (another star studded side) in the final. Argentina had stars like Hernan Crespo, Diego Simeone, Ariel Ortega, Claudio Lopez, Roberto Ayala and Javier Zanetti in their squad.

Claudio Lopez scored for Argentina in the 3rd minute and Celestine Babayaro equalised in the 28th minute. Hernan Crespo put Argentina ahead again via a penalty in the 50th minute, but Daniel Amokachi equalised for Nigeria in the 74th minute. Then, on the stroke of 90 minutes, Emmanuel Amunike evaded the Argentine offside trap and scored to give Nigeria the gold medal. Nigeria became the first African country to win the gold medal in the Olympic football event.

Nigeria’s dream team at the 1996 Olympics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtZl_sq7kVA


Kanu Nwankwo was named the CAF African Player of the Year for 1996, largely due to his performance at the Olympics and his exploits with Ajax Amsterdam. He came 6th on FIFA’s World Player of the Year list also in 1996 (ahead of Maldini, Suker, Batistuta and Romario).

Inter Milan & heart problems

Kanu was signed by Inter Milan after the Olympics. He underwent the usual medical examination that every new signing undergoes, but it revealed a serious heart defect. He underwent surgery in America in November 1996 to replace an aortic valve and did not return to his club until April 1997. Inter president, Massimo Moratti, assured Kanu that the club would stand by him during his trying period. He was deregistered from the Serie A squad, but he was assured that he had a place waiting for him when he overcame his health challenges.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/001-DFP-ESULT_INTER-KANU-ZAMORANO.jpg?w=584[/img]
Nwankwo Kanu and Ivan Zamorano

Kanu had a Nigerian teammate at Ajax (Finidi George) and he was soon joined at Inter by Taribo West.

However, the Inter Milan team had a star-studded squad and competition for places was intense. Kanu had to contend with Ronaldo, Ivan Zamorano, Alvaro Recoba, Maurizio Ganz and Marco Branca for playing time. Furthermore, Bobby Robson, who had signed him from Ajax, was no longer Inter’s manager. He had been replaced by Luigi Simoni. Consequently, he only played 16 times for Inter, scoring only one goal (against Atalanta in the Serie A). In fact, Taribo West, who was a defender, scored more times than he did (Taribo was a regular at Inter).

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/kanu-inter.png?w=584[/img]

Despite this, he was named BBC African Player of the Year in 1997.

At Inter, Kanu was teammates with a lot of the players that he played against at the Olympics. These included Javier Zanetti and Diego Simeone of Argentina and Ronaldo and Ze Elias of Brazil.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/327ec0081f44c8ce02595120ae6b8b7f.jpg?w=584[/img]
Kanu and Ronaldo

Kanu played 5 times for Inter in the UEFA Cup as they won the 1998 edition of the competition.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/kanu-ronaldo.png?w=584[/img]

Arsenal
He moved to Arsenal in February 1999 and quickly became a hit there. Kanu’s time at Arsenal closely mirrored his time at Ajax. Arsenal played attractive attacking football like Van Gaal’s Ajax and they also had a lot of young and exciting players. Many Nigerians became fans of Arsenal, just like many Nigerians had become fans of Ajax in the mid-1990s.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/GettyImages-1424942.jpg?w=584[/img]
Nwankwo Kanu and Thierry Henry

Kanu’s time at Arsenal began controversially. He made his debut in an FA Cup game against Sheffield United. With the score 1–1 and ten minutes to go, the Sheffield United goalkeeper Alan Kelly kicked the ball out of touch so that treatment could be given to Lee Morris. When the ball was thrown back into play by Ray Parlour, although it was intended for Kelly, Kanu chased the throw-in down the right wing unchallenged and centred the ball for Marc Overmars, who scored to make the match 2–1. After the match, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger accepted that it was not right sport-wise and offered to re-play the match which was again won by Arsenal.

Kanu believe it?
Kanu quickly overcame the controversy and scored a lot of goals for Arsenal. He became known as a super-sub, often coming off the bench to score important goals. He scored 17 times in 50 matches for Arsenal in the 1999-2000 season.

In October 1999, Kanu scored a spectacular hat-trick against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that is still talked about today. In 2016 the Daily Mail ranked it as the best of ten hat-tricks in the Premier League.

The Blues had taken a 2-0 lead in the fixture, thanks to goals from Tore Andre Flo and Dan Petrescu. With 15 minutes left, Kanu netted goals in the 75th, 83rd and 90th minute, to complete a remarkable comeback for the Gunners. His 3rd goal was particularly spectacular as he dribbled goalkeeper Ed de Goey and scored from an acute angle.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eJlBsw_QcM

Kanu was once again named the CAF African Footballer of the Year (1999) due to his exploits with Arsenal.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/nwankwo-kanu-african-player-of-the-year-1999_vojl2e55svo31wnsvw0ziqni4.jpg?w=584[/img]
Issa Hayatou, Nwankwo Kanu and Sep Blatter

Kanu scored in Arsenal’s 4th round victory over Deportivo La Coruna in the 2000 UEFA Cup. He also scored in the 2nd leg of the semi-final as Arsenal defeated Lens 1-2. He came on as a substitute in the final as Arsenal lost to Galatasaray on penalties.

However, Kanu’s appearances for Arsenal gradually became less frequent. He couldn’t join Nigeria’s squad to the 2000 Olympics because he had to stay at Arsenal and fight for his place after the club bought Sylvain Wiltord. With strikers like Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Freddie Ljungberg, Kanu’s appearances became increasingly less.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/Thierry-Henry-Nwankwo-Kanu-Football365.jpg?w=584[/img]
Henry and Kanu

Kanu left the club in 2004 when his contract with the club ended. He won two Premier League titles, two FA Cup titles and one Community Shield title with Arsenal.

All Kanu’s goals for Arsenal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA6GlpqmVjY

West Bromwich Albion
Kanu moved to WBA in 2004 and scored quite a few goals for them. He was also guilty of an incredible miss in injury time in a game against Middlesbrough. He was just a yard away from the goal, yet he managed to play the ball over the bar.

Unfortunately West Bromwich Albion were relegated at the end of the season. Kanu’s contract had come to an end and he did not renew it.

Portsmouth
Kanu signed for Portsmouth on a one year deal shortly before the 2006/2007 season. He went on to become Portsmouth’s highest goal scorer that season with 12 goals, He then signed another one year deal with Portsmouth.

In his second season he scored in both the 1-0 FA Cup semi-final win against West Bromwich Albion and 1-0 final victory over Cardiff City, thus winning his 3rd FA Cup title.

Kanu vs. West Bromwich Albion (2008 FA Cup semi-final)

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

Kanu vs. Cardiff City (2008 FA Cup final)

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

His first goal of the 2008–09 season put Portsmouth 2–0 up in their eventual 2–2 UEFA Cup draw with Italian club A.C. Milan. He later scored the winning goal against Bolton Wanderers, which ensured Pompey's mathematical safety. It was his only Premier League goal of 2008–2009. He re-signed with Pompey in August 2010, with an eye on becoming a coach when he retired. Kanu signed a three-year deal and kept the number 27 shirt, but was not a regular starter throughout the course of the season and only managed two goals.

Retirement
During the 2011–12 season, his playing time was reduced, appearing only from the bench. After the departure of Steve Cotterill, and the arrival of Michael Appleton, he was also removed from the bench, due to fitness and injury problems.

By May 2012, aided by a point deduction for entering administration, Portsmouth had found themselves in a relegation battle which eventually ended in them relegated to Football League One. To cut costs the Administrator hoped to reach agreement to terminate the contracts of Kanu along with six other players due to them being the highest-earning players at the club.

On 9 July 2012, it was announced that Kanu and Aaron Mokoena were expected to leave the club after failing to attend the first day back at pre-season training.

On 13 July 2012, Kanu announced that he was going to sue Portsmouth, claiming up to £3m in periods of unpaid wages since 2006. On 30 July, Kanu agreed to leave Portsmouth, but he reiterated that he was still in a dispute over the unpaid wages that the club owed him. In April 2013 he confirmed that he had dropped the case and let the club off the £3 million they owed him.

Super Eagles

Kanu made his debut in an international friendly match against Sweden on May 5th, 1994. Nigeria lost 3-1. The match was one of 5 tune up games that the Super Eagles played before the 1994 World Cup in the USA.

Westerhof also took Kanu and 2 other young players to the World Cup in the USA, so that they could gain experience. They were not part of the official list of 22 players for the tournament, but they were taken along so that they would gain the experience of being in camp and training with the senior players.

Many people criticised Kanu during his career with the Super Eagles. People expected him to be the next Yekini, but Kanu was not like Yekini.

Yekini brought a certain level of confidence to fans of the Super Eagles. It didn’t matter whether we were playing at home or away, one thing was sure, Yekini must score.

I often told people that Kanu was not the next Yekini, rather, Kanu was Kanu. They are very different types of players. I told them to remember that Kanu was a midfielder at Iwuanyanwu Nationale before Fanny Amun converted him into a striker. Yekini’s favourite position was as a top striker (9), while Kanu was at his best playing right behind the top striker. That’s the position that he usually played at Ajax, right behind the striker (Litmanen).

Yekini’s first thought when he got the ball was to try and score, then, if he couldn’t score, he would try to pass it to his teammates. Kanu’s first thought was usually to pass it to his teammates, then, if no one else was free, he would try and score. Yekini was the highest goal scorer in 2 Nations Cup competitions and the 2nd highest goal scorer in a 3rd Nations Cup competition.

Although he didn’t score a single goal at the Nations Cup, Kanu made perfect passes that created opportunities for the other strikers to score. A good example is his perfect pass to John Utaka that helped Nigeria to defeat Cameroon at the 2004 Nations Cup in Tunisia.

Kanu’s pass to John Utaka that led to Utaka’s goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgz-UFuy5kY


Kanu won an Olympic gold medal, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, the Afro-Asian Cup, the FIFA Under 17 World Championship, 2 English Premier League titles, 3 English FA Cup titles, 1 Community Shield title, 3 Dutch League titles and one Nigerian League title. He was named CAF African Footballer of the Year in 1996 and 1999, BBC African Footballer of the Year in 1997 and 1999 and he is recognised as one of the greatest African players ever.

5) Samuel Eto’o

Samuel Eto’o moved to Real Madrid in 1997 at the age of 16 after having trained at the Kadji Youth Academy from 1992-1996. He could only train with Real Madrid B (Castilla) from 1997-1999 because he was still a minor. Real Madrid B was relegated to the Segunda Division B, where non-EU players are not allowed, and as a result, he was loaned to second division Leganés for the 1997–98 season. After making 30 appearances for the club and only scoring four goals, he returned to Madrid following the end of the 1998–99 season. In January 1999, he was loaned out to Espanyol, but failed to make any appearances for the club.
He still couldn’t get a place on the Real Madrid first team after he turned 18 in 1999, because the first team was filled with many more experienced star strikers like Raul Gonzalez, Fernando Morientes and Nicolas Anelka. He was therefore loaned out to Mallorca where he scored six goals in 19 games. He left Madrid at the end of the season and signed a permanent deal with Mallorca in 2000.

2000 African Nations Cup
Samuel Eto’o made his debut for Cameroon on March 9th, 1997, a day before his 16th birthday. He was the youngest participant in the 1998 FIFA World Cup when he appeared in a 3–0 group stage loss to Italy on 17 June 1998, at the age of 17 years and three months.

Ghana-Nigeria 2000
Samuel Eto’o scored 4 goals to emerge the joint second highest goal scorer at the 2000 African Nations Cup jointly hosted by Ghana and Nigeria. His team mate, Patrick Mboma also scored 4 goals and only Shaun Bartlet of South Africa scored more goals (5 goals) at the tournament.

He scored in the 3-0 group game victory over Ivory Coast.

He also scored in the 2-1 quarter final victory over Algeria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GKkWGVdUE0

He scored in the 3-0 semi-final victory over Tunisia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5OomxKstBc

In the final against Nigeria, before a capacity crowd at the National Stadium in Lagos, Samuel Eto’o scored in the 26th minute to give Cameroon the lead and Patrick Mboma doubled the lead in the 31st minute.

Raphael Chukwu Ndukwe scored for Nigeria just before half time and Augustine Jay Jay Okocha scored just after half time. Scores remained level at full time, so the match went into extra time. The game was still level at the end of extra time, so the game was decided by penalty kicks.

Jay Jay Okocha and Godwin Okpara scored their penalties for Nigeria, while Patrick Mboma and Pierre Wome scored for Cameroon. Kanu Nwankwo and Victor Ikpeba missed their penalties for Nigeria.

However, television replays showed that Ikpeba’s penalty had actually crossed the line. It hit the crossbar and bounced off the ground behind the line before flying out of the goal. My sister was in the stadium and she said that the crowd screamed when the replay was shown on the video screen in the stadium. Unfortunately the referee had already recorded it as a missed penalty.

Marc Vivian Foe also missed his penalty for Cameroon.

Sunday Oliseh scored for Nigeria and Rigobert Song scored for Cameroon to give the Cameroonians their 3rd Nations Cup trophy. Cameroon had defeated Nigeria in the final of all the Nations Cups that it had won (1984, 1988 & 2000).


2000 Olympics in Sydney
Samuel Eto’o also played for Cameroon at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

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

Cameroon played against Spain in the final. Xavi scored for Spain in the 2nd minute and Gabri scored just before half time to give Spain a 2-0 lead. Amaya scored an own goal in the 53rd minute and Samuel Eto’o scored an equalizer in the 58th minute. Scores remained level at full time, so the game went to penalty kicks. Spain scored 3 of their penalties while Cameroon scored 5 penalty kicks to win the gold medal. An African country had won Olympic gold for the second time in a row.

Spain vs Cameroon (Sydney 2000)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcF3S7w71Bo

Eto’o was named the Young African Player of the Year in 2000.

In the 2002 Nations Cup Samuel Eto’o scored only one goal, in the 3-0 victory over Togo in the group stage. Cameroon defeated Senegal in the final to win its second Nations Cup in a row and its fourth title overall.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/77266572_etoocup.jpg?w=584[/img]

2003 Copa Del Rey

Samuel Eto’o won the 2003 Copa Del Rey with Mallorca, scoring 5 goals along the way to emerge joint 3rd highest goal scorer in the competition. He scored in 2 goals in the second leg of the quarter-final as Mallorca beat Real Madrid 4-0. He scored again in the first leg of the semi-final as Mallorca beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-3. He also scored two goals in the final as Mallorca defeated Recreativo De Huelva 0-3.

This was Mallorca’s first Copa Del Rey title and Samuel Eto’o became Mallorca’s all time highest domestic scorer by the time he left the club. He consequently won the African Player of the Year award for the first time.

Barcelona and the 2004 African Nations Cup
Samuel Eto’o moved to Barcelona in 2004. He played for Cameroon in the 2004 Nations Cup, but they crashed out in the quarter-final after losing to Nigeria by 2 goals to 1. Samuel Eto’o scored his only goal in the tournament in that match, while Jay Jay Okocha (via a free kick goal) and John Utaka scored for Nigeria.

Eto’o was also named the African Player of the Year for the second time in a row in 2004.

Barcelona won La Liga in the 2004/2005 season, with Samuel Eto’o coming second in the Pichichi list for the highest goal scorer. Diego Forlan was the highest goal scorer in La Liga with 25 goals while Eto’o scored 24 goals. Eto’o also came 3rd in the FIFA World Player of the Year list.

However, Eto’o got into trouble during the La Liga victory celebration when he sang, “Madrid, bastards, salute the champions”. The Spanish FA fined him €12,000 and he had to apologise to the Madrid fans.

There was disappointment for him when Cameroon drew 1-1 at home against Egypt and thus failed to qualify for the World Cup in Germany in 2006. However, Eto’o was named the African Player of the Year for a 3rd time in a row.

Glorious 2006
Samuel Eto’o won the Pichichi trophy in 2006, scoring 26 goals, ahead of Valencia’s David Villa who scored 25 goals. Eto’o’s goals helped Barcelona to win La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. He scored 6 goals in the Champions League, emerging joint 3rd highest goal scorer alongside David Trezeguet of Juventus. He was also the joint highest assist provider in the Champions League alongside Ronaldinho, Johan Micoud and Steven Pienaar who also provided 4 assists.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/33366809_2073920822865214_4406675096106696704_n.jpg?w=584[/img]

Eto’o scored a hat-trick in Barca’s 5-0 demolition of Panathanaikos in the group stage. He scored in Barcelona’s 1-2 defeat of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the knockout stage and in Barca’s 2-0 victory over Benfica in the quarter-final.

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

Barcelona faced Arsenal in the final of the Champions League. Arsenal’s goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann brought down Eto’o in the penalty area in the 18th minute and was sent off. Ronaldinho played the resulting free kick wide. Sol Campbell scored for Arsenal in the 37th minute and Eto’o equalized in the 76th minute. Juliano Belletti scored in the 81st minute to give Barcelona the 2006 UEFA Champions League title. Eto’o was now a Champions League winner.

Eto’o also helped Barcelona to win the 2006 Spanish Super Cup as they defeated Espanyol 4-0 over 2 legs.

Samuel Eto’o scored 5 goals to emerge the highest goal scorer at the 2006 African Nations Cup in Egypt. He scored a hat-trick in Cameroon’s 3-1 demolition of Angola in the first game, scored again in Cameroon’s 2-0 victory over Togo and he also scored in Cameroon’s 2-0 victory over DR Congo in the group stage. Unfortunately Cameroon was defeated by Ivory Coast 11-12 on penalties in the quarter-final after the game had ended 1-1 after extra time. Eto’o missed his second penalty and thus gave victory to the Ivoirians.


2008 African Nations Cup
Eto’o was also the highest goal scorer at the 2008 Nations Cup in Ghana, again scoring 5 goals as Cameroon once again got to the final. He scored two goals in Cameroon’s 4-2 loss to Egypt in the first game of the tournament, scored from the penalty spot in their 5-1 victory over Zambia and scored two goals in their 3-0 victory over Sudan in the group stage. Cameroon was defeated by Egypt in the final courtesy of a goal by Mohammed Aboutrika.

2009 UEFA Champions League
Barcelona won the 2009 UEFA Champions League, defeating Manchester United in the final. Goals by Samuel Eto’o in the 10th minute and Lionel Messi in the 70th minute gave Barca the title and meant that Eto’o had become a Champions League winner for the second time.

Barcelona also won La Liga and the Copa Del Rey to become the first Spanish team to win the treble. Samuel Eto’o was the second highest goal scorer in the 2009 La Liga season, scoring 30 goals. He was second behind Diego Forlan who scored 32 goals.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/41148727.jpg?w=584[/img]

However, Frank Rijkaard left Barcelona and Pep Guardiola was appointed the new coach of the team. He began a clear out of players and Ronaldinho, Deco and Samuel Eto’o were sold. Eto’o was sold to Inter Milan in exchange for Zlatan Ibrahimovich.

Inter Milan

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/samuel20etoo-saidaonline.jpg?w=584[/img]
Samuel Eto’o scored in his competitive debut for Inter Milan. The game was the 2009 Italian Super Cup final and Inter lost 1-2 to Lazio.

He demanded £2.75 million from Barcelona later that year. The amount was 15% of the fee that Inter paid Barcelona and was based on a Spanish rule that a player is entitled to 15% of his transfer fee if the transfer is between two Spanish clubs.

Eto’o was 5th in the Ballon d’Or in 2009. The award was won by his teammate Lionel Messi.

The glorious 2010 season

The 2009/2010 season was a great season for Eto’o. He won the Serie A with Inter Milan (it was Inter’s 5th Serie A in a row and Eto’o scored 12 goals in the Serie A that season), the Copa Italia (scoring the only goal against Fiorentina in the semi-final) and the UEFA Champions League. Inter became the first Italian club to win the treble and Eto’o became the first player to win the treble with two different clubs in two consecutive seasons.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/33377691_2073920896198540_5278746997010989056_n.jpg?w=584[/img]

Eto’o scored for Inter in the 2-0 victory over Rubin Kazan in the UEFA Champions League group stage and in the 0-1 victory over Chelsea in the round of 16. He won his second Champions League title in a row and third overall.

Samuel Eto’o scored in the final of the World Club Cup as Inter defeated TP Mazembe of Congo 3-0. Eto’o was named the best player of the competition.

Eto’o scored only two goals in the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola. He scored in Cameroon’s 3-2 victory over Zambia and in their 2-2 draw with Tunisia. However, Cameroon crashed out of the competition at the quarter-final stage after losing 3-1 to Egypt.

He was the second highest goal scorer in the African zone of the 2010 World Cup qualifying series with 9 goals as Cameroon qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He scored Cameroon’s only goal in a 2-1 loss to Denmark in the group stage of the World Cup. He scored again in Cameroon’s 2-1 loss to the Netherlands, also in the group stage, as Cameroon crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage.


Eto’o scored two goals in the final of the 2011 Copa Italia to give Inter a 2-0 victory over Palermo. He scored 37 goals that season, a career record for him. That season was his last with Inter.

He was suspended for 15 games by the Cameroonian FA after the team refused to play a friendly match against Algeria. The ban was reduced after the intervention of President Paul Biya.

He signed for Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in August 2011. The deal made Eto’o the highest paid footballer in the world with a salary of €20 million (after taxes) per season.

He won the Russian League’s MVP award for the 2012/2013 season.

However, in August 2013, the billionaire owner of the club decided to shrink its budget and scale down its ambitions. Most of the club’s superstar players left as a result.

Chelsea
Samuel Eto’o signed a one year deal with English giants Chelsea in August 2013 which reunited him with Jose Mourinho, his former manager at Inter. He scored his first Premiership hat-trick against Manchester United in January 2014 to give Chelsea a 3-1 victory.

Age controversy
A secret recording of Jose Mourinho surfaced early in 2014 and he could be heard questioning Eto’o’s age. He said, “He is 32 years old, maybe 35, who knows”. Eto’o was 32 at the time.

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

Samuel Eto’o scored the first goal in Chelsea’s 4-0 demolition of Tottenham Hotspur on March 8th, 2014 and then he ran to the corner flag and walked like an old man that needed assistance. This was seen as a response to Mourinho’s comments. The goal was the 300th goal in Eto’o’s club career.

Everton
He joined Everton at the expiration of his contract with Chelsea in August 2014. Three days later, he scored a header in a 3-6 home loss to Chelsea.

Eto’o stated that he wanted to win the UEFA Europa League with Everton (he had never won the tournament), but he left Everton halfway into his first season there.

He returned to Italy and played for Sampdoria before playing for Antalyaspor and Konyaspor in Turkey. He signed for Qatari side Qatar SC in August 2018.

Eto’o was in Cameroon’s squad at the 2014 World Cup, becoming the 3rd African to play in 4 World Cups after compatriots Jacques Sango’o and Rigobert Song. However, Cameroon was knocked out in the first round, scoring only one goal and conceding 9. He retired from international football after signing for Everton in 2014.


Samuel Eto’o is the highest goal scorer overall in the history of the African Nations Cup. He scored 18 goals overall, while the former record holder, Laurent Poku of the Ivory Coast, scored 14 goals and Rashidi Yekini of Nigeria scored 13 goals.

(I will never forgive General Sani Abacha for pulling Nigeria out of the 1996 Nations Cup because it deprived Yekini of the opportunity of becoming the highest goal scorer in Nations Cup history. He was the highest goal scorer at the 1994 and 1992 tournaments and joint second highest goal scorer at the 1990 tournament and there’s no way that he would not have scored at least two goals at the 1996 tournament to become the highest goal scorer overall).

Eto’o is one of the greatest African footballers ever. He won the African Player of the Year award 4 times (the most by any player) and he also won the UEFA Champions League 3 times, scoring in the finals of the 2006 and 2009 editions. He won the Pichichi Award for the highest goal scorer in La Liga in 2006 and won gold at the Olympics in 2000. He also won the African Nations Cup in 2000 and 2002. He is probably the most decorated African player ever.

6) Didier Drogba

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

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

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

Marseilles

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

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

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

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

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


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

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


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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010 World Cup and Nations Cup

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

FTC

Thanks for the mention Sir Naptu2

Interesting read

All players listed are legends.

I hope the new generation

Iwobi
Salah
Mane
Gyan etc
Are able to live to expectations.

6 5 4 3 2 1
I like this allocation and booking

Honourable mention.

Bruce Grobbelaar (Liverpool & Zimbabwe) 1984.

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

Bruce Grobbelaar is one of my favourite goalkeepers of all times, not just because of his goalkeeping abilities, but also because of his eccentricities.

Grobbelaar was fond of dancing, wearing crazy masks, doing cartwheels, swinging from the cross bar, etc in order to confuse opposing players (he also scored quite a few goals). On one occasion when he did a couple of handstands that got the crowd roaring, his manager, Bill Paisley had to tell him to stop it because it might distract his own players. Paisley told him to save his tricks for testimonial matches.

[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/12/agrob2.jpg?w=584[/img]

Three Everton fans, dressed as jesters, ran on to the field during a Merseyside derby and taunted Grobbelaar with a placard that read " Bruce the clown". Liverpool was trailing 1-0 at the time and Grobbelaar said that the incident spurred him to play one of his best games ever in a derby.

Grobbelaar was the hero of Liverpool's 1984 European Cup final. That final was between Liverpool and Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The match ended 1-1 after extra time and so the game was decided by a penalty shoot out.

Grobbelaar started breakdancing as Italian legend Bruno Conti stepped up to take his penalty. Conti blasted the ball over the bar.

Francesco Graziani stepped up to take the penultimate kick for Roma and Grobbelaar turned around and started biting the net. This gave him an idea. He thought that the net felt like spaghetti, so he started wobbling his legs like spaghetti. Graziani also played the ball over the bar and Alan Kennedy stepped up, scored the last penalty and won the European Cup for Liverpool.

Bruce Grobbelaar's rubber legs in the 1984 European Cup final.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2GyLdD1iwE

As I watched Thomas Ravelli's antics for Sweden at the 1994 World Cup in America and anytime that I see a player with a protective face mask or headgear (eg, Petr Cech), the first name that pops into my head is Bruce Grobbelaar.

Africa heroes.

Hmmm

Who else scrolled through the list, looking for Jayjay Okocha?

naptu2 making impact since 1906.

This Arsenal kid can break all their records.

Where is Rasheed Yekeen?

pocohantas:
Who else scrolled through the list, looking for Jayjay Okocha?

won nothing even at big clubs like psg nd fernabache.

pocohantas:
Who else scrolled through the list, looking for Jayjay Okocha?

me sir

pocohantas:
Who else scrolled through the list, looking for Jayjay Okocha?

The list is not complete without Auston Jay jay, I swear.

Wonderful piece. I i think abedi pele and yaya toure deserve honorable mentions at least.

I always wonder how we celebrate Okocha when he won or make no impact in Africa and world football.

Very spot on. I think Salif Keita deserves an honorable mention too. Great African player of the 70s.

AbimbolaGCFR:


The list is not complete without Auston Jay jay, I swear.

Maybe if it were to be "7 or 10 African players with most impact on world and African football" then JJ Okocha could get a mention but this list by Naptu2 is very complete indeed. 'Cannot think of any player outside these listed 6 that made more impact than they did both in terms of achievements and playing performances.

Nice feed thanks

OVA200:
I always wonder how we celebrate Okocha when he won or make no impact in Africa and world football.

Okocha made huge impact but not as much as the others listed here. In terms of pure talent alone, He remains the most gifted player and most talented no.10 to ever come out of the African continent. He didn't make Pele's best 100 of all time and the FIFA legends 100 for nothing naa. But beyond these, Okocha just didn't achieve enough compared to the guys listed here.

ednut1:
won nothing even at big clubs like psg nd fernabache.

I see, always thought he ranks higher than Kanu. Did Kanu have heart disease when he was playing in these clubs?

profmathsland:


Okocha made huge impact but not as much as the others listed here. In terms of pure talent alone, He remains the most gifted player and most talented no.10 to ever come out of the African continent. He didn't make Pele's best 100 of all time and the FIFA legends 100 for nothing naa. But beyond these, Okocha just didn't achieve enough compared to the guys listed here.

won only olympics. Nothing at club level