“As kids, we were used to playing football with anything that we managed to kick and whenever we got a ball, it was a bonus,” says Nigeria captain Jay Jay Okocha.
MUMBAI: “As kids, we were used to playing football with anything that we managed to kick and whenever we got a ball, it was a bonus.”
This was the first thing that former Nigeria captain Jay Jay Okocha told this reporter when asked about development of football in Africa. Indeed, football can flourish even without proper infrastructure but it is equally true that the game needs a role model.
“There were very few TV sets when I grew up… We could not see matches and did not know too many players. Only Pele was a household name and he was the one most children idolised,” Okocha, who is in the city on a professional visit, told DNA.
Augustine Azuka Okocha or Jay Jay Okocha is perhaps the best player never to have won the African Player of the Year award, something which he still regrets.
Okocha feels money in the game has made the life of a footballer stressful and lures players to make wrong decisions. “I played in Qatar only because I had a great offer and I am not ashamed to accept. We played in empty stadiums! I realised what a mistake I made and decided to leave the club immediately,” said Okocha, who was the most expensive African player when he joined Paris St Germaine in 1998.
Apart from PSG, the midfielder has played for Fenerbahce, Bolton Wanderers and Hull City but he believes it was his four year stint at Eintracht Frankfurt (1992-1996) that brought the best out of him.
“It was my first big break and I was on top of my game,” he said. “Bolton was different. They were in relegation zone when I joined and the expectations were huge.”
The midfielder steered them out of danger that season and the following year, he was named the captain. Okocha led Bolton to their first ever Cup final in nine years where they finished runners up in 2004. He retired from professional football on a high when Hull City were promoted to first division football for the first time in their 104-year-old history.
With a host of Nigerians playing in India, Okocha had good things to say. “I saw the Federation Cup semifinal on TV and the game wasn’t quite bad. Shooting needs to improve. The Mohun Bagan match was good though,” he said.
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