JJ Okocha slowed our flow at 1994 World Cup – Emeka Ezeugo

[deanotito]

I hope everyone will read this carefully and not attack the writer. Some truths in what he has said

The truth is JJ dribbles too much and as a result, slows down the quick attacking moves of the team.

No, the issue is not his dribbling but his style. JJ is not direct. He’s an old school #10/playmaker. Takes the ball, slows the game down while he’s looking for an optimal pass, and uses skill to buy time. The style is inherently slower than textbook soccer because it depends on his creativity and not textbook schemes where everyone knows where they’re going to be and the ball is just passed around (think Man City).


I am not saying JJ didn’t have his gallery dribbling moments. Of course he did. We all saw them (and mostly enjoyed them). But that was not the reason why the game slowed down. The game slowed down because JJ is trying to create....which was his job.

You really see peak JJ in Bolton Wanderers...and to some extent, Fenerbahce. PSG was a basket case of administrative failures and in my opinion, robbed the world of seeing one of the true great #10s. But Bolton was where you saw what JJ was meant to be. Yes, he slows things down...but that’s a consequence of the playmaker style.

[kalani JR]

Old irrelevants stay hating on the GOAT.

[Aswani]

The valid points were very few, even negligible. Thank God i just rewatched the game with a matured view. Okocha WAS THE BEST PLAYER on the pitch. They way he held possesion frustrated the Italians. My verdict was our victory was not meant to be. We defended well, Rufai had very little to do, in the last 10 mins we competently were killing off the game by holding possession. If i was to blame anyone, maybe, Westerhoff for not bringing on Siasia instead of Oliha. Also the injuries to Amokachi & Amuneke contributed. But i feel it wasn't meant to be, cause that team could have gotten to the final.

I have to disagree with this, we didn't defend well throughout that game.

I just rewatched the game last weekend. Go and watch it's on youtube, after tell me how many saves Rufai had to make.

Defending well has nothing to do with saves that the keeper made.

[Adisboy]

The valid points were very few, even negligible. Thank God i just rewatched the game with a matured view. Okocha WAS THE BEST PLAYER on the pitch. They way he held possesion frustrated the Italians. My verdict was our victory was not meant to be. We defended well, Rufai had very little to do, in the last 10 mins we competently were killing off the game by holding possession. If i was to blame anyone, maybe, Westerhoff for not bringing on Siasia instead of Oliha. Also the injuries to Amokachi & Amuneke contributed. But i feel it wasn't meant to be, cause that team could have gotten to the final.

I have to disagree with this, we didn't defend well throughout that game.

I just rewatched the game last weekend. Go and watch it's on youtube, after tell me how many saves Rufai had to make.

Defending well has nothing to do with saves that the keeper made.

Yes i does. How else can you explain the virtual inactivity of our goal keeper for 89 mins from a team said to piling on pressure on us. If we did not defend well what stopped the Italians from having more than one shot on target in 89 mins. Please go and rewatch, it is currently available on youtube.

[Ugbowo]

This is condescending drivel from Ezeugo.

And he thinks he knows what he’s saying but he’s actually wrong. JJ doesn’t slow transition in counter attack. He may slow down in build up but not during counters.

Emeka sounds envious because he was probably one of the least technical players to play for Nigeria. All brawn. He could have articulated himself better.

[kalani JR]

This is condescending drivel from Ezeugo.

And he thinks he knows what he’s saying but he’s actually wrong. JJ doesn’t slow transition in counter attack. He may slow down in build up but not during counters.

Emeka sounds envious because he was probably one of the least technical players to play for Nigeria. All brawn. He could have articulated himself better.

He's just jealous.

[kajifu]

This jealou Emeka trying to make names after football by bashing one of the true talent to ever play the game.

[heavyd]

There is some truth to what Ezeugo said though it is somewhat harsh. In the 94 world cup I believe Okocha started only the game against Italy, so he didn't play an integral part in the world cup. This was probably intentional by Westerhof who probably wanted more direct play. The story was different though in the 94 ANC in which he was one of the best players on the field in the games against Ivory Coast and Zambia.

In 94 Okocha was still young and did slow down some counters with excessive dribbling. As he got older his dribbler didn't reduce, but I would say it became more efficient. For a player who dribbled so much, Okocha's ability to retain the ball was remarkable and he didn't give the ball away that often. Yes he slowed down counters by over dribbling, however Okocha was also able to hit a 30 yard pass across the field and would often switch play across the field with an effortless pass. With Okocha's skill you just had to take the good with the bad. He was capable of winning a game with a moment of magic which he did on several occasions for club and country.

I wouldn't blame Okocha for the loss agaianst Italy. Westerhof should have brought in another attacker after Amokachi and Amunike had to leave the game due to injury, particularly since Italy was playing with 10 men for most of the game. Yekini was isolated upfront. We had Oliha and Adepoju in the game who were meant to be winning balls in midfield, so the primary responsibility to win balls against Italy should not have gone to Okocha.

The commentators in the Italy game said that Okocha was coming back from Injury, and thats most likely the reason why he didnt start the first two games .They said he was impressive when he came in against Greece. It makes no sense why Westerhof would wait until the most important game to start a player when he wanted direct play.

Italy got their red card in the 75th minute. They did not play most of the game with 10 men. We were getting overrun in the middle, i cant fault the substitutions. Yekini had two glorious chances to kill the game and didnt. It just wasnt meant to be.

Shikena... end of Story

[Eaglezbeak]

All this coming from a man that spent most of career playing in India and a club called Deportivo Wanka in Peru

[Cellular]

Hm, e be like say you wan skatta dis site. My hand no dey dia o!

Make I run for cover...water don pass garri. I suspect Senior Unkus 1Jubril and Cellular sponsored this article.

[theYemster]

There is an element of truth in his analysis however it also comes across as petty and a little personal. He could've made his legit point is a less disrespectful manner.

[maceo4]

There is some truth to what Ezeugo said though it is somewhat harsh. In the 94 world cup I believe Okocha started only the game against Italy, so he didn't play an integral part in the world cup. This was probably intentional by Westerhof who probably wanted more direct play. The story was different though in the 94 ANC in which he was one of the best players on the field in the games against Ivory Coast and Zambia.

In 94 Okocha was still young and did slow down some counters with excessive dribbling. As he got older his dribbler didn't reduce, but I would say it became more efficient. For a player who dribbled so much, Okocha's ability to retain the ball was remarkable and he didn't give the ball away that often. Yes he slowed down counters by over dribbling, however Okocha was also able to hit a 30 yard pass across the field and would often switch play across the field with an effortless pass. With Okocha's skill you just had to take the good with the bad. He was capable of winning a game with a moment of magic which he did on several occasions for club and country.

I wouldn't blame Okocha for the loss agaianst Italy. Westerhof should have brought in another attacker after Amokachi and Amunike had to leave the game due to injury, particularly since Italy was playing with 10 men for most of the game. Yekini was isolated upfront. We had Oliha and Adepoju in the game who were meant to be winning balls in midfield, so the primary responsibility to win balls against Italy should not have gone to Okocha.

The commentators in the Italy game said that Okocha was coming back from Injury, and thats most likely the reason why he didnt start the first two games .They said he was impressive when he came in against Greece. It makes no sense why Westerhof would wait until the most important game to start a player when he wanted direct play.

Italy got their red card in the 75th minute. They did not play most of the game with 10 men. We were getting overrun in the middle, i cant fault the substitutions. Yekini had two glorious chances to kill the game and didnt. It just wasnt meant to be.

Shikena... end of Story

Tori neva end o, he was injured for the first two games

[kali]

Ezeugo was 100% right. The Nigerian team of 1994 was an excellently built team that moved the ball swiftly and efficiently forward. Okocha disrupted that by holding on the ball too long and it showed in the game against Italy where our attackers were not sure about when or where to move.

But he was not the reason why Nigeria lost. It was because of bad defending and loss of concentration. However, give it to Nigeria. They almost took out eventual finalists Italy in a stadium that had masses of their supporters. They took out Bulgaria eventual semi-finalists with ease. They scored a stunning opening goal on steroid-boosted Argentina.

The sad thing about the Italy game is that had the 1994 team beaten Italy their opponents would have been:

QF: Spain
SF: Bulgaria
F: Brazil

It should have been the first final with an African giant vs Latin American giant because no team knew how to play Nigeria then. In 1998, Denmark watched all the videos and figured Nigeria out.

[olu]

Ezeugo was 100% right. The Nigerian team of 1994 was an excellently built team that moved the ball swiftly and efficiently forward. Okocha disrupted that by holding on the ball too long and it showed in the game against Italy where our attackers were not sure about when or where to move.

But he was not the reason why Nigeria lost. It was because of bad defending and loss of concentration. However, give it to Nigeria. They almost took out eventual finalists Italy in a stadium that had masses of their supporters. They took out Bulgaria eventual semi-finalists with ease. They scored a stunning opening goal on steroid-boosted Argentina.

The sad thing about the Italy game is that had the 1994 team beaten Italy their opponents would have been:

QF: Spain
SF: Bulgaria
F: Brazil

It should have been the first final with an African giant vs Latin American giant because no team knew how to play Nigeria then. In 1998, Denmark watched all the videos and figured Nigeria out.