OKOCHA D KING
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OKOCHA D KING
WHY OKOCHA WILL BE KING
A review of the Midfield Meastro Austin Jay Jay Okocha By Ademola Olajire of Vanguard
Nigeria’s captain, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha will be named the African Player of the Year in Tunisia this month, all things being equal.Okocha has been an exemplary force and a massive credit to the African game as captain of club and country, and his form this year has been a shock to many who wrote him off after the 2002 Nations Cup finals in Mali.
The 30-year-old is set to fly to the Cup of Nations in Tunisia this week after Wednesday’s big Premiership game against leaders, Manchester United, at The Reebok, where Bolton were crassly unlucky not to pick the three points against Leicester last Sunday.Okocha has been on the international road for 11 years and can be said to be ‘an elder statesman’ of sort. He stands head and shoulders above the four others who have been named alongside him as front-runners for the award this month.Camerounian striker, Samuel Eto’O Fils has truly done much for club and country, being top scorer for his Spanish side, Real Mallorca. But he lost points midweek when the same Spanish club reported him to world football-governing body, FIFA, for absconding to play for the Camerounian Olympic side in an Athens 2004 qualifier against Cote d’Ivoire in Abidjan. That match comes up tomorrow.Eto’O has been named in the top three for the past two years but each time, Senegalese striker, El Hadj Diouf was preferred in the vote. In 2002, Eto’O was a distant third behind Diouf and Ghanaian defender, Sammy Kuffour.Okocha almost single-handedly kept his club, Bolton Wanderers in the English Premiership cadre at the end of last season, and his form and goals of Swede Henrik Pedersen have been the deciding factors in Bolton’s life in the Top 12.Okocha led Nigeria to earn a Nations Cup finals ticket and has conducted himself excellently to great credit. His boss at Bolton, Sam Allardyce, despite failing to get him to shun the Cup of Nations so he could play for Bolton in the Carling Cup semi, said: "His abilities as a footballer are outstanding. I’ve seen many players display great skills during training but I’ve never seen anybody produce them like that on match day."He produces his tricks on a regular basis and it always has an end product. After beating three or four players, he would create a chance for us to score a goal. He is a very intelligent man who has a great joy for life.
"Whenever you’re feeling miserable, all you just have to do is to watch him come in with a great smile and that really helps to lift everybody".Okocha has become the heart and soul of a modest club that is enjoying its longest stint in the English Premiership for 40 years.
Another factor likely to work in Okocha’s favour is that it appears to be a season of play-makers. Real Madrid’s French play-maker, Zinedine Zidane was named the World Footballer of the Year ahead of Arsenal striker, Thierry Henry, also French, and Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker, Ronaldo only last month.Also, Juventus of Italy’s Czech Republic play-maker, Pavel Nedved was named the European Player of the Year also last month, ahead of AC Milan’s Italian defender, Paolo Maldini and many strikers, including Henry and Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy.Come this month end in Tunis, everyone expects the crowning of the man who surprisingly lost out in 1998.
FLASHBACK: This is the full list of the Nigerian squad to the 1994:
African Cup of Nations in Tunisia - Goalkeepers: Peter Rufai, Wilfred Agbonavbare and Alloy Agu. Defenders: Austin Eguavoen, Uchenna Okafor, Nduka Ugbade, Uche Okechukwu, Benedict Iroha, Isaac Semitoje and Stephen Keshi. Midfielders: Mutiu Adepoju, Samson Siasia, Finidi George, Austin Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Edema Fuludu and Thompson Oliha. Strikers: Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Efan Ekoku, Victor Ikpeba and Emmanuel Amuneke. Goalkeeper Ike Shorounmu was taken along but surplus to the required 22.
Coaches: Clemens Westerhorf (Holland), Johannes Bonfrere (Holland), Gerrie van Eyke (Holland), Christian Chukwu and Bitrus Bewarang.
A review of the Midfield Meastro Austin Jay Jay Okocha By Ademola Olajire of Vanguard
Nigeria’s captain, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha will be named the African Player of the Year in Tunisia this month, all things being equal.Okocha has been an exemplary force and a massive credit to the African game as captain of club and country, and his form this year has been a shock to many who wrote him off after the 2002 Nations Cup finals in Mali.
The 30-year-old is set to fly to the Cup of Nations in Tunisia this week after Wednesday’s big Premiership game against leaders, Manchester United, at The Reebok, where Bolton were crassly unlucky not to pick the three points against Leicester last Sunday.Okocha has been on the international road for 11 years and can be said to be ‘an elder statesman’ of sort. He stands head and shoulders above the four others who have been named alongside him as front-runners for the award this month.Camerounian striker, Samuel Eto’O Fils has truly done much for club and country, being top scorer for his Spanish side, Real Mallorca. But he lost points midweek when the same Spanish club reported him to world football-governing body, FIFA, for absconding to play for the Camerounian Olympic side in an Athens 2004 qualifier against Cote d’Ivoire in Abidjan. That match comes up tomorrow.Eto’O has been named in the top three for the past two years but each time, Senegalese striker, El Hadj Diouf was preferred in the vote. In 2002, Eto’O was a distant third behind Diouf and Ghanaian defender, Sammy Kuffour.Okocha almost single-handedly kept his club, Bolton Wanderers in the English Premiership cadre at the end of last season, and his form and goals of Swede Henrik Pedersen have been the deciding factors in Bolton’s life in the Top 12.Okocha led Nigeria to earn a Nations Cup finals ticket and has conducted himself excellently to great credit. His boss at Bolton, Sam Allardyce, despite failing to get him to shun the Cup of Nations so he could play for Bolton in the Carling Cup semi, said: "His abilities as a footballer are outstanding. I’ve seen many players display great skills during training but I’ve never seen anybody produce them like that on match day."He produces his tricks on a regular basis and it always has an end product. After beating three or four players, he would create a chance for us to score a goal. He is a very intelligent man who has a great joy for life.
"Whenever you’re feeling miserable, all you just have to do is to watch him come in with a great smile and that really helps to lift everybody".Okocha has become the heart and soul of a modest club that is enjoying its longest stint in the English Premiership for 40 years.
Another factor likely to work in Okocha’s favour is that it appears to be a season of play-makers. Real Madrid’s French play-maker, Zinedine Zidane was named the World Footballer of the Year ahead of Arsenal striker, Thierry Henry, also French, and Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker, Ronaldo only last month.Also, Juventus of Italy’s Czech Republic play-maker, Pavel Nedved was named the European Player of the Year also last month, ahead of AC Milan’s Italian defender, Paolo Maldini and many strikers, including Henry and Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy.Come this month end in Tunis, everyone expects the crowning of the man who surprisingly lost out in 1998.
FLASHBACK: This is the full list of the Nigerian squad to the 1994:
African Cup of Nations in Tunisia - Goalkeepers: Peter Rufai, Wilfred Agbonavbare and Alloy Agu. Defenders: Austin Eguavoen, Uchenna Okafor, Nduka Ugbade, Uche Okechukwu, Benedict Iroha, Isaac Semitoje and Stephen Keshi. Midfielders: Mutiu Adepoju, Samson Siasia, Finidi George, Austin Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Edema Fuludu and Thompson Oliha. Strikers: Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Efan Ekoku, Victor Ikpeba and Emmanuel Amuneke. Goalkeeper Ike Shorounmu was taken along but surplus to the required 22.
Coaches: Clemens Westerhorf (Holland), Johannes Bonfrere (Holland), Gerrie van Eyke (Holland), Christian Chukwu and Bitrus Bewarang.
