From Desmond Ekwueme
Charles Okonkwo, Monday Odiaka, Mike Usen, Uwem Ekarika, Tony Nwaigwe, Mike Obiku, Richard Owubuokiri, Ishaya Jatau, Wakilu Oyenuga, Chimezie Nwanaga, Joe Akwa, Lawrence Ukaegbu, Chike Arisa, Bunmi Adigun, Samson Ozogula, Samson Siasia, Daniel Amokachi
The aforementioned names reminds football historians of the era Nigeria had prolific predators as strikers or attackers. Indeed, one name stands out as King of Goals in this era. He is Late Rashidi Yekini.
Needless saying, Yeking comes to mind with the scintillating performance of Victor Osimhen in the current season. Many now refer to Osimhen as the NEW YEKINI of Nigerian football on account of his firm for Napoli.
Osimhen has been tipped to win the next African Footballer of the Year award. Similarly, he has been tipped to surpass the 37-goal record set by Yekini from 62 games as the highest in Super Eagles color for any striker.
Osimhen’s exploit with Napoli this season has kept tongues wagging as many see him as the man to jettison Yekini’s record as Nigeria’s all time best forward.
Osimhen sure has the capacity given his form and predatory instinct in front of goal.
His performance takes this writer down memory lane to recall the days of Yekini in the local league and how he almost dwarfed his contemporaries in the national team.
Of course, there were great players in Yekini’s days talking about prolific forwards who kept him on his toes and eventually brought out the best in him through healthy competition or rivalry both in the domestic league and national team. This informs the real essence of this piece.
So who are Osimhen’s rivals in the national team presently? Paul Onuachu, Ademola Lookman, Emmanuel Dennis, Terem Moffi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Sadiq Umar and Moses Simon among others.
Are these strikers giving Osimhen a run for his money or they have conceded to his supremacy? Your answer is as good as mine. But again, it goes to show the level of competition for places in the Super Eagles and the quality of players available for selection in the team.
Aside Osimhen, other Super Eagles attackers are struggling to impress in their respective clubs and sadly in the national team.
In the days of Yekini, it wasn’t so. Though, 95% of the players were featuring in the domestic league yet, they were a handful to defenders. They were so good that, it becomes very difficult for the coaches to select players after invitation.
In fact, the fans most times make team selection easier for the coaches because they troop into the national stadium Surulere Lagos to watch and cheer the team during training sessions in preparation for a game or tournament. The fans in their thousands jeer, boo and cheer the players according to their performance.
Indeed, Yekini’s era had quality and dedicated strikers. One wishes the same could be said of this era to help compliment the effort of Osimhen for the goals to rain for Super Eagles in qualifiers or tournament proper.
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