Cybereagles

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The best right winger Nigeria has produced in my view. Even in Europe, he was a cut above

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I would say the best right winger to have played in Europe. Segun Odegbami would get my vote as the best right winger.

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"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

At one point Finidi George at his peak was regarded as the best right winger in THE WORLD.
Luis Figo (Portugal, Barca etc) was his main rival and they were competing for that no 1 spot.

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Uncle Sege was a great player but he had his flaws which sometimes (not often) got him crticisms in the local press.
We were all quite young at the time and completely besotted by him but older fans (including my dad and his mates) often spoke about his "messups" which I just couldn't see and which we obviously cannot remember today.

Funny though, I actually rated Amiesimaka (left winger) above Odegbami on the right, but Odegbami got greater acclaim esp as he was a bit of a showman in addition to his undoubtedly fantastic skills. You could argue it was becos I was an ER fan and not an IICC fan, but my dad and his mates were IICC fans so that doesn't figure.

This will never be resolved esp as there is only limited footage of him available, so don't even try.

CIC, same with you.

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Legendary Odegbami....it is a goooooaal Oodegbami!

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We definitely can't agree on Odegbami if you truly beleive Adokie was better than him albeit on the other side of the pitch. I watched a lot of Odegbami's matches live and some on TV. I remember even watching a SE documentary produced by Deji Tinubu that has a lot of footage from the 70s to 80s era when I was much older and couldn't even beleive how good he Odegbami was. Another player that I probably didn't really appreciate when I was younger was Felix Owolabi and I re-watched some footage. Those guys could ball.

Its a similar argument people have when comparing Messi to Maradona. I was unsure who to give the nod until I saw a lot of footage of Maradona with Napoli. I concluded that Maradona was the best human being to play football.

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"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Finidi never solely carried any of the teams he played for, maybe Sharks. Odegbami carried IICC on his back for a fair period until it destroyed his knees.

I am going for Odegbami with this one due to that.

Finidi was voted the best right sided midfielder in the WORLD in 1998 ahead of Figo and Zanetti!!
Let that sink in. I am a die hard Shooting Stars and Odegbami fan but I know Finidi raised the bar.
Finidi as a midfielder scored 16 goals for Real Betis in La Liga. If we had a striker scoring that many goals we will celebrate him on CE.
Finidi and Etoo took lowly ranked Mallorca to the Champions League for the first and only time in their history.

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Dammy,

There is no question that Finidi was a great player but please his achievements in Nigeria's colors is not in the same league as Odegbami's. That much should be clear. Everything is not from the lens of European media and football. At least we can compare both from the lens of Nigeria national team football. Both were very instrumental to Nigeria's football and I do not want to underestimate that. However, Odegbami's influence in colors of Nigeria is not debatable. It was more influential that Finidi's when that is the yardstick. This guy was not even the main striker for Nigeria but his goals per game average even today is much better than the likes of Aiyegbemni, Obafemi Martins and others not named Yekini or Usiyen. Let that sink in.

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The difficulties of statistical thinking describes a puzzling limitation of our mind: our excessive confidence in what we believe we know, and our apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in. We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events -- Daniel Kahneman (2011), Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

Why do we always spoil discussions about world class players by bringing up amateur players names?

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This agument wey dey compare local with world champion get as e be sha

No one can denigrate Odegbami's accomplishments, but Finidi went above and beyond,
and it wasn't like 'a flash in the pan' as he was very consistent, and in different clubs too.

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Finidi's achievements in the national colours far outstripped Odegbami's.
They both won AFCONs for Nigeria, while Odegbami's was relatively easier as it was at home, while Finidi won away and got us to another final. Finidi also helped Nigeria to qualify for THREE World cups, something Odegbami never managed.
This is coming from a die hard Odegbami fan who regularly plays Obey's " it's a goal Odegbami". Let that sink in DEEPLY!!

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I haven't see much footage of Odegbami. But from what I've seen it looks likes he was a great dribbler.

I don't think Finidi dribbled much but his speed, off the ball running and tactical intelligence, crossing and passing + dead ball ability are some of the best I've seen of any African winger. And I've been watching football for ages

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They seek him here.
They seek him there.
Moderators seek him everywhere.
They seek him at night
And even at noon
That damn elusive cooking spoon

Dammy,

My bad if the argument is about the Super Eagles of 1994 v Super Eagles of 1994. Perhaps, if the argument is about Finidi v Odegbami in terms of their club careers, you may have a point.

However, I thought the debate was who between Finidi and Odegbami was the better player for Nigeria. If that is the debate, then I disagree completely with you. The outline for the argument is clear -- in Nigeria's shirt and not what a player did for IICC or Ajax or whatever club there was or is. It is strictly for the SE.

Moreover, I understand your struggle to distinguish between what the SE did while these players played for the SE v what individually they each contributed to the SE then. I also understand your struggle here given that football is a team sport. However, just as we can compare Ronaldo/Messi to some other player in Real/Barcelona during the era of those players, so also can we compare Odegbami v Finidi in their era with the Super Eagles. That comparison can be achieved largely via individual stats/awards produced in comparison.

Given the above, I have strictly argued that while both players were undoubtedly great for the SE in their different SE teams, there is little doubt that while Odegbami was clearly a star on his SE team, Finidi was not for the SE at a comparable level. You erroneously listed the laurels that the teams won when both played. That, my brother is comparing the TEAMS. In those era, there were individual awards recognizing the impact of those players for each of those teams. While Odegbami was recognized among Africa's best at 1980 AFCON, Finidi was neither listed in 1994 when Nigeria won the AFCON or in 2000 when Nigeria finished second. That tells you the perceived impact of each of those players on those teams.

Take Odegbami, not only was he the top scorer at the 1980 AFCON if I remember correctly, he was named in the tournaments XI. Finidi was never named in the AFCON XI despite the fact that during his time, the SE won the AFCON and then also finished second in another AFCON.

Remarkably, in my view, Odegbami's scoring record for the SE is incredible even TODAY when you consider that he was rarely the team's designated striker during his era. Think about this, his goals per game record surpasses everyone that ever played for the SE including the current ones bar two great players --- Usiyan and Yekini. Those two, BTW, were designated team strikers. Odegbami was not! This means, the much-vaunted Obafemi Martins, Yak, or Ike Uche and all the modern day strikers that we rave about could not even carry Odegbami's shoes in terms of scoring clip for Nigeria. Yet all those were celebrated strikers to boot.

While I hate to do this given that I have ultimate respect for Finidi but let the truth be told, Finidi was not as achieving when compared to Odegbami in the SE colors. Finidi was a big time player in his own right but Odegbami belongs in the rarefied comparison level that only few SE players had ever reached. Think in terms of Christian Chukwu, think in terms of Vincent Enyeama, think in terms of Rashidi Yekini. It is an EXCLUSIVE LIST and Odegbami belongs there for Nigeria and few others join them.

BTW, throw away the stats, I watched the entire career of both players for Nigeria and at no time did opponents or opposing fans fear Finidi as they did Odegbami when facing Nigeria. At no time did that take place.

Very soon, someone will tell us how Kevin Akpoguma was such a greater player in SE colors than Leon Balogun or Uche Okechukwu. That after reading about their club careers. Sigh.

_________________
The difficulties of statistical thinking describes a puzzling limitation of our mind: our excessive confidence in what we believe we know, and our apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in. We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events -- Daniel Kahneman (2011), Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

E11, the era of Odegbami was a weak period in African football compared to Finidi's. That was a time that Burkina Faso ( Upper Volta) used to collect 7 goals from the Green Eagles and the likes of Ivory Coast, Senegal and even Egypt collected 4 goals from the GE. The only real competition for Nigeria in the Odegbami era were the North African teams like Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and later Algeria. In West Africa, our only rivals were Ghana and Guinea Cameroon was not even in the equation when Odegbami played for Nigeria. So it's not a surprise Mathematical7 has such impressive stats.
Despite this Odegbami and his GE colleagues fell short at critical times against these teams. Need I remind you of the 1980 Olympics football tournament where Odegbami could not get a goal against Kuwait, Czechoslovakia and amateurs from Colombia.
Nigeria's opponents in the Finidi era were made of sterner stuff with teams that used to be whipped into submission by the SE stepping up I.e. CIV, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali Angola, Mozambique etc.
Finidi not only scored the crucial goal that qualified us for the WC in Algeria but also scored and set up goals in the WC. Finidi was a right sided midfielder, while Odegbami played no 7 for the GE but was a no 10 for IICC, Philip Boamah was the no 7 for IICC. So in essence Mathematical7 was a forward masquerading as a winger, while Finidi was a winger and not a forward hence the difference in their goal scoring statistics for Nigeria. I hope you are able to reflect on that.
Finally Finidi being voted as the best right sided midfielder in the world ahead of Figo, Zanetti and Beckham beats any African nomination for Odegbami. At Finidi's peak between 1995 and 1999, Nigeria were banned from AFCONs, if not, I'm sure Finidi would have easily picked up similar awards.

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Bros, I know you saw Odegbami play but your analysis get as it be. Would you use the same analogy when you want to compare Christian Chukwu to Taribo West?

E11 has given you enough facts but I would advise you to go and watch some old clips of Odegbami again.

Finidi rarely dominated those African teams you listed and even on the international stage compared to the likes of JJ, Kanu and even Amunike. On the other hand, Odegbami stood out as an exceptional talent. His pace, trickery, dribbling, heading ability and goals were exceptional. Finidi can only beat him on crosses. And Odegbami was a human specimen if you saw him in person at the peak of his career. A lean mean machine and strong as an ox.

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"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

You are comparing a secondary school graduate to a university graduate bro! I am an avid Odegbami fan and while he was good, Finidi was better as a pure winger. Like I pointed out, Odegbami was a forward masquerading as a winger. Check the goals he scored against Algeria in the AFCON final, they were from his natural position as an inside forward(No 10).

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Don't believe the hype. Odegbami and many of the Green Eagles players during his era were average players COMPARED to the SE players since 1994. They looked good against each other (IICC vs Rangers), but their averageness showed whenever they faced a team with semi-pro players. The only players from that era that could have made the modern era Super Eagles teams were Okala, Chukwu and Muda Lawal!

Even Jossy Dombraye was a better winger, and he too was an amateur.

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I know Odegbami was a terrific player in his days (even though I wasn't born when he played short of old clips I've seen of him). But was he really as world class as he's been made to be, or are folks who were around when he played overhyping him from a rose tinted lens of nostalgic bias?

Many of us were around when he played, watched him live (both on TV and in the stadium), watched him for both club and country and watched him against both African and the rare non-African opposition.

As you can see, we have different recollections and opinions on how good he was.
Personally, I think he was a great Nigerian player but am not sure he would have reached the heights Finidi did on the global stage. We'll never know and his exposure outside Africa was extremely limited.

It's all subjective and none of us is more qualified than another to give a final incontestable verdict.

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"Ole kuku ni gbogbo wọn "