Re: Why Was Yekini So Special?
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:57 am
No he wasn't.john12 wrote:OBAGOAL was as good as YEKINI I just don’t know what happened to that guy. Maybe, we should stop encouraging players dancing around in camp
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No he wasn't.john12 wrote:OBAGOAL was as good as YEKINI I just don’t know what happened to that guy. Maybe, we should stop encouraging players dancing around in camp
Yekini won his first Eagles cap @ 20.bigbrovar wrote:We should also remember that Yekini was a late bloomer on the national and international stage. And he came at an era when Europe was just getting opened to African Players. Yet over 90 goals in a 100 games is no small fit. He single handedly took Setuba to elite division and still went on to top the Portuguese first division with 24 goals IIRC. For the national team yekini single handed dragged us to the world Cup and ensured we won the nation Cup by scoring over 70% of our goals in the lead to the final. He was the first ever Nigerian to be named African Footballer of the Year a git not even Odegbami could manage. This drop in form had a lot to do with age, personal family crisis and even jealousy in the Super Eagles. Westerof is on record to have said some players where jealous of yekini and would refuse to pass the ball to him... By 94 Yekini was at his peak but the drop in form was not far off. He never repeated the fit. It is sad he only scored one goal for us but it is befitting that he would be the one to score our very first goal in the world Cup. Even when he scored very few players ran to him to celebrate.. It took a defender who ran from the back to go give him a tap in the back for the goal after his iconic celebrations were
The weird thing is you really think you make sense, don't you?john12 wrote:OBAGOAL was as good as YEKINI I just don’t know what happened to that guy. Maybe, we should stop encouraging players dancing around in camp
Yekini's record at the World Cup was one goal (Bulgaria) and three assists (Amokachi vs. Bulgaria, Siasia vs. Argentina, Lawal vs. Spain). This is objectively better than Ighalo's World Cup record. And I feel like mentioning that Yekini's goals qualified us for the World Cup, while Ighalo's lack of goals was partly responsible for our failure to qualify for the Nations Cup.ukwala wrote:I don't think it is fair to compare Ighalo's (or any other striker's) performance in the WORLD CUP with Yekini's performance at lower levels. At the World Cup, Yekini was not great too, in fact I remember vividly the sitter he missed against Italy after Emenalo had put it on a plate for him. Yekini took us to the 1994 WC with his goals in the qualifiers and brought us back with his misses in the big dance. This may be controversial but I believe Nigeria has never had a true world class player, you know a Real Madrid / Barca / Bayern level player, a top 10 WPOY nominee. Not Yekini, not Jayjay, not Kanu.
Very.Molue Conductor wrote:Part of the problem is that your are judging him based on present football standards. In Yekini's time, African footballers playing for European clubs was uncommon.
bigbrovar wrote:We should also remember that Yekini was a late bloomer on the national and international stage. And he came at an era when Europe was just getting opened to African Players. Yet over 90 goals in a 100 games is no small fit. He single handedly took Setuba to elite division and still went on to top the Portuguese first division with 24 goals IIRC. For the national team yekini single handed dragged us to the world Cup and ensured we won the nation Cup by scoring over 70% of our goals in the lead to the final. He was the first ever Nigerian to be named African Footballer of the Year a git not even Odegbami could manage. This drop in form had a lot to do with age, personal family crisis and even jealousy in the Super Eagles. Westerof is on record to have said some players where jealous of yekini and would refuse to pass the ball to him... By 94 Yekini was at his peak but the drop in form was not far off. He never repeated the fit. It is sad he only scored one goal for us but it is befitting that he would be the one to score our very first goal in the world Cup. Even when he scored very few players ran to him to celebrate.. It took a defender who ran from the back to go give him a tap in the back for the goal after his iconic celebrations were
Point of correction, or Point of fact!Damunk wrote:
Very.
However, I recall Richard Owubokiri was doing similar things in the same Portuguese league around that time. Owubokiri's record was very impressive and one can only assume that Yekini kept him out of the national team.
Owubokiri scored 50 goals for Boavista in 90 appearances over 3 years (91-94)
Can often tell the age of someone (too young) or when they left Nigeria for 'the abroad' (the 80s and earlier) by how they rate Yekini.Ipe Grams wrote:No he wasn't.john12 wrote:OBAGOAL was as good as YEKINI I just don’t know what happened to that guy. Maybe, we should stop encouraging players dancing around in camp
DaMunk:Damunk wrote:bigbrovar wrote:We should also remember that Yekini was a late bloomer on the national and international stage. And he came at an era when Europe was just getting opened to African Players. Yet over 90 goals in a 100 games is no small fit. He single handedly took Setuba to elite division and still went on to top the Portuguese first division with 24 goals IIRC. For the national team yekini single handed dragged us to the world Cup and ensured we won the nation Cup by scoring over 70% of our goals in the lead to the final. He was the first ever Nigerian to be named African Footballer of the Year a git not even Odegbami could manage. This drop in form had a lot to do with age, personal family crisis and even jealousy in the Super Eagles. Westerof is on record to have said some players where jealous of yekini and would refuse to pass the ball to him... By 94 Yekini was at his peak but the drop in form was not far off. He never repeated the fit. It is sad he only scored one goal for us but it is befitting that he would be the one to score our very first goal in the world Cup. Even when he scored very few players ran to him to celebrate.. It took a defender who ran from the back to go give him a tap in the back for the goal after his iconic celebrations were
Bigbrova, I bow for this your post which I am only just seeing.
Every sentence qualifies for a KPOM.
Chai. Osimhen has a BIG challenge ahead of him, but he can do it.
Meanwhile, Yekini is deserving of at least a bust or a full statue in a prime location in the country.
Thank You Bigbrovar very well writtenbigbrovar wrote:We should also remember that Yekini was a late bloomer on the national and international stage. And he came at an era when Europe was just getting opened to African Players. Yet over 90 goals in a 100 games is no small fit. He single handedly took Setuba to elite division and still went on to top the Portuguese first division with 24 goals IIRC. For the national team yekini single handed dragged us to the world Cup and ensured we won the nation Cup by scoring over 70% of our goals in the lead to the final. He was the first ever Nigerian to be named African Footballer of the Year a git not even Odegbami could manage. This drop in form had a lot to do with age, personal family crisis and even jealousy in the Super Eagles. Westerof is on record to have said some players where jealous of yekini and would refuse to pass the ball to him... By 94 Yekini was at his peak but the drop in form was not far off. He never repeated the fit. It is sad he only scored one goal for us but it is befitting that he would be the one to score our very first goal in the world Cup. Even when he scored very few players ran to him to celebrate.. It took a defender who ran from the back to go give him a tap in the back for the goal after his iconic celebrations were
deanotito wrote:Can often tell the age of someone (too young) or when they left Nigeria for 'the abroad' (the 80s and earlier) by how they rate Yekini.Ipe Grams wrote:No he wasn't.john12 wrote:OBAGOAL was as good as YEKINI I just don’t know what happened to that guy. Maybe, we should stop encouraging players dancing around in camp
Yekini was World Class
Yekini was Special
Take that to the bank!
How anyone can say Obagoal was as good as Yekini is simply beyond me. Such words cannot be uttered by someone who truly saw Yekini in his prime. I never saw Christian Chukwu play that I can remember, but I'm willing to accept numerous eye witness accounts that he was among Nigeria's top 3 CBs ever.
Do us a favor, and take our word on Yekini. After Victor Osimhen's first league game this season, I came on here and said "I believe we have found the one...the most Yekini-like striker I've seen since Yekini". That says a lot - since it's been 25 years since Yekini was in his prime. Yekini is a once-in-a-generation striker. You don't find those easily.
His exit was soothed by the presence of Daniel Amokachi, whose nuisance value to a defense (and I say that in the most positive way possible) papered over the void that was apparent on Yekini's decline....when Amokachi got injured, that's when Nigeria entered true wilderness football.
I thought a lot over the weekend - for some reason - about Ronaldo De Lima - and how the complete phenomenon that he was has been somewhat diminished by the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. Its easy, in time, to forget how certain players just outright dominated the world of football, and for how for a 3-year stretch, Ronaldo was the greatest thing on turf. Don't let yourselves fall into that trap. Recognize greatness...and greatness was Rashidi Yekini.
Chief,olu wrote:If Yekini had made it to Europe at a younger age he would certainly have featured for a higher profile team in Europe. Another thing that makes his goal scoring record even more impressive is we played even fewer friendlies back then.
We have had quality strikers since Yekini. Aghahowa, Amokachi, Martins, Agali, Yakubu, Ikechuwku Uche, Ighalo, and now Osmihen come to mind. The likes of Aghahowa, Martins, and Yak were good strikers, however, they didn't play enough games for Nigeria to be placed on the same level with Yekini.
We also struggled to find quality playmakers since Okocha and Oliseh retired. So many of our the strikers since Yekini have been starved off chances. For example, I would say we struggled to create chances in about half of the games I've seen Ighalo play for the SE.