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

[ahidjo2]

As the exposition and counter revelation on why Super Eagles of Nigeria lost their Round of 16 match against European giants, Italy in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in USA, another player who saw it all then, Emeka Ezeugo has blamed Austin Jay Jay Okocah for the loss.

National Daily monitored from Brila FM recently, the former Rangers International FC of Enugu defender explained that Okocha had no business being in the pitch unless ‘we concede defeat before walking into the field. Football zealots of Nigeria have ripped me apart on social media but I know that they are football fanatics, emotional and sentimental wrecks with very little knowledge of football.



“He was never a starter in my generation’s team. He slowed our flow, you can’t give him the ball on transition moments and Nigerian Football fans don’t know a Jack about transition moments. He has zero Technical competence if you know what that means. No Nigerian knows this. You all see Football as purely an entertainment sport and never a business. The World has moved from entertainment to business football and you Nigerians are still missing Okocha putting the ball between the legs of an opponent while Denmark is beating Nigeria by 4 goals to 1.


“Nigerians are still talking about Okocha’s skills exhibition in 1998 World Cup match against Denmark irrespective of the fact that we lost by 4 goals to 1. No Nigerian knows why PSG went for Ronaldinho. If your intention is to win a match, starting the game with Okocha is as good as conceding defeat. He loses the ball 75 percent of the time that he engages in fruitless dribbling. No Nigerian football fan has detected the uniqueness of Lionel Messi, all you people see are the rarest spectacular moments and no Nigerian noticed that Messi never dribbles, I repeat, Messi never dribbles until he sets his foot in the attacking third which is about 45 yards from the opponent’s goal. i know that you don’t know why it’s like that.

“But Okocha would want to dribble from our own half and slow down the lightning speed and process of Counter Attack. Transition moments are a 7 to 10 seconds action. How many of you Nigerians are aware of The Fact that Zinedine Zidane is the most Technically Sound Footballer that have graced the Football field from 1997 to the present day?



“If Nigerians are asked to name such player everyone will say that it is Messi but Messi doesn’t even come close. Technical Ability is not Skills acquisition. Most Nigerians are not aware that whenever Barcelona has got their backs against the wall that they are defending with 9 players instead of 10 because Messi has no defensive attributes.

“Modern Football is not about dribbling and showing off at the expense of the team’s ultimate goal. I played together with him in the same team, matter of fact, I mentored him and i always scolded him to learn to exhibit his techniques more instead of his skills. You all are spectators watching him from a distance. You can’t know him better than me. As a matter of fact, you know nothing about football. You are just a fan of the game. There’s a huge difference. Your Emotions and sentiments have gotten the better of you. You can’t know Football better than someone who played the game at the highest level.



Even republic of Benin would have sealed the game right there. It was a game that should have been won long ago.
“In case you are not aware, if Emeka Ezeugo was in the Middle of the ballpark in that Boston, Massachusetts pitch, consider the game won and Nigeria victorious that afternoon. If Late Stephen Keshi was in that pitch that afternoon Nigeria would have sealed that game and if Emeka Ezeugo and Stephen Keshi were on the pitch that afternoon the game would have ended with that 1 – 0 lead or with more goals to Nigeria’s credit.

“Italy were playing with only 10 men yet they put Nigeria under pressure, our backs against the wall, as though we had one man ejected from the game. But little did my countrymen/Nigerians know that we were actually playing without 2 men because Italy pressed us till the final whistle instead of the opposite. Rashidi Yekini was not marking and Okocha contributed zero effort when the Italians had possession of the ball. If you watched that match you would know that they had trice more possession than Nigeria and constantly placed us under pressure. Super Eagles 2 battlefield Leaders were languishing on the bench.



“Nigerians are content with a player that puts the ball between the legs of an opponent, dribbles and loses the ball, they don’t care about the consequences of the possession lost and in case of Okocha, he will be standing and watching, standing and smiling, laughing or bent low in one spot stationary while the opponents will exploit the transition moment that was Okocha’s gift to them.

Nigerians can tell their kid’s teacher that she doesn’t know how to teach yet they can’t even help their children with their homework,”

“Going forward, Okocha slows the team’s attacking flow. super eagles attacking prowess was never built around Okocha’s game like Barcelona built their game around Messi. 1994 super Eagles game was all teamwork. Okocha’s football compliments not teamwork. None of you fans of Okocha would understand a Jack about what I’m saying. Westerhoff was focused on marketing 97% of the team that he was their manager and he succeeded in making millions of dollars from the transfers of almost the whole players of the 1994 World Cup team. That was all that mattered to the Dutch delight,” Ezugo said.

https://nationaldailyng.com/jay-jay-oko ... ka-ezeugo/

[Scipio Africanus]

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

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

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.

[fledy]

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

[metalalloy]

“Nigerians are still talking about Okocha’s skills exhibition in 1998 World Cup match against Denmark irrespective of the fact that we lost by 4 goals to 1. No Nigerian knows why PSG went for Ronaldinho. If your intention is to win a match, starting the game with Okocha is as good as conceding defeat. He loses the ball 75 percent of the time that he engages in fruitless dribbling. No Nigerian football fan has detected the uniqueness of Lionel Messi, all you people see are the rarest spectacular moments and no Nigerian noticed that Messi never dribbles, I repeat, Messi never dribbles until he sets his foot in the attacking third which is about 45 yards from the opponent’s goal. i know that you don’t know why it’s like that.

the highlighted is where you get to, stop, and dump the article in the trash bin.

[deanotito]

Tbh, he makes some salient points with some truth...though not 100% true. For someone with an eminently mediocre club career (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeka_Ezeugo), he sure did big up what his potential impact could have been on that game.

But he comes off as having an ax to grind with everyone.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Chai....... this is the first thread on CE that uselessed me upon entry. He do kinda got a point y'all.

[Damunk]

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

[olu]

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.

[deanotito]

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.

KPOM!!

Yes, there was some truth in what he said but it was exaggerated...and it just felt he had some axe to grind

[highbury]

Ezeugo certainly made some valid points about Okocha. Fans worship Okocha, but I know Kanu was a better player. The only issue I have is that he basically assumed most Nigerians did not know anything about football and are just sentimental fans.

[maceo4]

The Italy game I just watched the other day, JJ was one of, if not our best player, will just leave it at that...

[Damunk]

The Italy game I just watched the other day, JJ was one of, if not our best player, will just leave it at that...

I agree.
The second half especially, JJ simply took control of the game.
Ron Atkinson that rarely has anything good to say about African players couldn't stop gushing and mentioned the fact that JJ was running the midfield over "against so-called better players" and was "the best player on the pitch".

[metalalloy]

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.

[Adisboy]

Ezeugo certainly made some valid points about Okocha. Fans worship Okocha, but I know Kanu was a better player. The only issue I have is that he basically assumed most Nigerians did not know anything about football and are just sentimental fans.

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.

[Damunk]

Ezeugo certainly made some valid points about Okocha. Fans worship Okocha, but I know Kanu was a better player. The only issue I have is that he basically assumed most Nigerians did not know anything about football and are just sentimental fans.

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.

Kai, as you dey talk am e dey pain me bad-bad.
And I even rewatched the game just a few days ago.
Chai, chai, chai....

[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.

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

Emeka who? Obviously an unfulfilled wannabe who is unable to contain his jealousy


cheers.

[furiously frank]

This confirms what 1naija and I have been saying for years

[olu]

Wasn't aware of Okocha's injury but that makes sense. Even though Zola didn't get sent off till the 75th minute, still would have expected Westerhof to bring on one attacker to help us be more threatening in the final third. Rather than 2 midfielders.

There is s ome 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.

[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.

[jette1]

You go back to relieve history when you no longer make history; just like Michael Jackson Okocha is still feeding all these hungry ex super eagles players without even raising a finger. I mean No one or I would remember this Ezeugo if it wasn’t for the great Okocha

[Odas]

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.