Beyond all the early-career questions, John Obi Mikel rose to become of the best midfielders of his generation – selfless at Chelsea, heroic for Nigeria
Tag: nigeria
Jay-Jay Okocha’s time at Fenerbahçe may have been brief and trophyless, but he remains one of the club’s most gifted players of all
Electric at his best, with a thunderous left foot, Obafemi Martins was for a few years one of Europe’s most feared strikers, scoring unforgettable goals
Daniel Amokachi was an Everton gamble who never quite hit the jackpot but was certainly well worth the punt for his FA Cup heroics alone
From cleaners unwilling to wash their kit for a misplaced fear of AIDS to incredible internal strife, Nigeria’s win at the 1996 Olympics was incredible
In qualifying for Italia 90, Nigeria faced Cameroon in a crunch game. Sadly, what followed would put the national sport very much into perspective
He could once count Xavi, Luís Figo, Rivaldo and Luis Enrique amongst his teammates but Gbenga Samuel Okunowo was never quite in their league at Barcelona. This affable Nigerian, who also played for…
Green, white and orange seats encircle the parched playing field. Chalk lines, dusty and faded, sketch out the centre circle and penalty areas. At either end, goalposts with loosely tightened nets sway…
KNOWN FOR HIS STRING OF ACROBATIC SOMERSAULTS, often resembling Faustino Aspilla’s, Victor Obinna found himself one day doing a different type of somersault – one which scarily involved him, his car, and…
REWIND TO THE TENDER YEARS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM, cast your gaze across the green grasses of the Premier League’s stadia, and there, dancing across them, you would inevitably find a pair…
Illustration by Federico Manasse If you didn’t know who he was, you would perhaps take one look at Nwankwo Kanu and think he was anything but a footballer. His appendicular skeleton looks…
WHEN RAMADAN SOBHY’S tame shot trickled through a sea of players in the box and found the net in Egypt in March last year, Nigeria once again found themselves on the brink…
Illustration by Akinyele Lexain Olalekan IT’S JANUARY 2004 and Bolton Wanderers are playing Aston Villa in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final. In the 80th minute, Bolton are awarded a free-kick…
JANUARY 21, 2006, was a miserable day for Portsmouth Football Club. Pompey travelled to St Andrew’s to play Birmingham City, who were a point and a place below the south coast side…
CHASING THE BALL DOWN THE LEFT FLANK, Kanu steals it from Chelsea right-back Albert Ferrer and finds himself confronted by Ed de Goey, the keeper having rushed out of goal to close…