It’s little wonder that club and country fought so fiercely for the services of Jay-Jay Okocha.
The midfielder first reinvigorated Nigeria following a chaotic start at the African Cup of Nations. On Sunday, with the Super Eagles facing elimination against archrival Cameroon, he immediately did something about it — and how.
With a stunning free kick, Okocha brought his team back into the quarterfinal match and then rallied his teammates forward until the roar of the Indomitable Lions was reduced to a whimper. Nigeria, who won 2-1, now face host Tunisia in Wednesday’s semifinals.
And instead of playing for Bolton in the English Premier League, he is reliving dreams a decade old, when he first won the African Cup of Nations for Nigeria in Tunisia in 1994.
”We have a wonderful memory of Tunisia. Hopefully we can repeat it,” he said.
The quicker his elimination though, the faster he will return to Bolton, who fought long to keep him on the team during a vital stretch in the Premier League season.
Okocha delayed his departure as long as possible but put Nigeria before Bolton in the end.
”I am concentrating on my country now,” he said when asked about Bolton.
He insisted he needn’t be worried about his absence since the club was doing fine.
”Maybe it is good that I’m not playing,” he joked.
Despite his late arrival at training camp, his contribution to the Super Eagles has been invaluable.
It was not obvious early on, even though he seemed the only player putting in a genuine effort during a 1-0 loss to Morocco.
Then three players were expelled from the squad for indiscipline and most thought Nigeria’s notoriously fickle team would just collapse in the first round, further denting their once-glorious reputation.
As a captain, Okocha kept them together, and they went on to beat South Africa and Benin to force a quarterfinal against two-time defending champion Cameroon.
Along the way, he scored the 1 000th goal of the African Cup, just another distinction to put alongside his African Cup trophy and Olympic gold medal.
”We had a difficult period but we showed everybody we had character … It was good that we lost our first game. We tried to work harder,” he said. — Sapa-AP