playername	Nwankwo Kanu
fullname	Nwankwo Nwosu Kanu
height
dateofbirth	August 01, 1976
cityofbirth	Owerri
state of origin	Abia
countryofbirth	Nigeria
position	Second Striker
years1	1991–1992
years2	1992–1993
years3	1993–1996
years4	1996–1999
years5	1999–2004
years6	2004–2006
years7	2006–
clubs1	Fed Works
clubs2	Iwuanyanwu Nationale
clubs3	Ajax
clubs4	Internazionale
clubs5	Arsenal
clubs6	West Bromwich Albion
clubs7	Portsmouth
caps1	35 | goals1 20
caps2	25 | goals2 15
caps3	54 | goals3 25
caps4	11 | goals4 1
caps5	119 | goals5 30
caps6	53 | goals6 7
caps7	138 | goals7 20
nationalyears1	1993
nationalteam1	Nigeria U17
nationalcaps1	6 | nationalgoals1 5
nationalyears2	1996
nationalteam2	Nigeria U23
nationalcaps2	6 | nationalgoals2 3
nationalyears3	1994–2011
nationalteam3	Nigeria
nationalcaps3	87 | nationalgoals3 13
medaltemplates	}}

| pcupdate = 11:58, 28 August 2011 (UTC) | ntupdate = 1 July 2011 }}

Nwankwo Christian Nwosu Kanu, OON (born 1 August 1976 in Owerri, Nigeria), or simply Kanu, is a Nigerian professional footballer, who plays for Portsmouth. He was also a member of the Nigerian national team for 16 years from 1994 until 2010. Kanu is a member of the Igbo ethnic group; his name, Nwankwo, means ''Baby boy born on Nkwo market day'' in the Igbo language.

Kanu has won a UEFA Champions League medal, a UEFA Cup medal, three FA Cup Winners Medals and two African Player of the Year awards amongst others. He is also one of few players to have won the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal. He is also a UNICEF ambassador.

Career

Early career

Kanu began his career at Nigerian league club Federation Works, before moving to Iwuanyanwu Nationale. After a notable performance at the U-17 World Championships he was signed by Dutch Eredivisie AFC Ajax in 1993 for €207,047. He made his Ajax debut the following year and went on to score 25 goals in 54 appearances. Kanu also came on as a sub in Ajax's 1995 Champions League final win over AC Milan. In 1996, Ajax sold Kanu to Serie A side Internazionale for around $4.7 million that summer he captained the Nigerian team that won gold at the Olympics, and scored two late goals in the semi-finals against powerhouses Brazil to overturn a 2–3 scoreline into a 4–3 win in extra time. Kanu was also named African Footballer of the Year for that year . However, soon after returning from the Olympics, Kanu underwent a medical examination at Inter, which revealed a serious heart defect; he underwent surgery in November 1996 to replace an aortic valve and did not return to his club until April 1997. In interviews, Kanu frequently cites his faith as a Christian, and has often mentioned this trying time of his career as an occasion when he prayed to God. Kanu's experience also led to his founding the Kanu Heart Foundation, an organisation that helps predominantly young African children who suffer heart defects. Kanu is known throughout Africa for his philanthropic work.

Arsenal

In February 1999, after just eleven games and one goal for Inter, Kanu was signed by Arsenal for approximately £4.15 million. His debut for Arsenal, against Sheffield United in the FA Cup, was a highly unusual match. With the score 1–1 and ten minutes to go, the United goalkeeper, Alan Kelly, kicked the ball out of touch so that treatment could be given to an injured player. When the ball was thrown back into play by Ray Parlour, although it was intended for Kelly, Kanu was unaware of the circumstances. Thinking it to be an attacking move, he chased the throw-in down the right wing unchallenged, and centred the ball for Marc Overmars, who promptly scored to make the match 2–1. Immediately after the match Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger offered to right the error and replay the match; in the end, Arsenal won that match 2–1 as well.

Despite the events overshadowing his debut, Kanu's career was quickly revived at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for the club in the next round of the cup against Derby County, coming off the bench to net the only goal of the game. He quickly became known for his goalscoring prowess from the bench, scoring important goals against Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa as a substitute. He became very popular among the fans for his two-fingered salute – something that he later explained was based on the team's nickname, The Gunners – which started in 1999 against Middlesbrough.

Kanu was named African Footballer of the Year for the second time in 1999, and in 1999–2000 he scored 17 times in 50 matches for the Gunners, including three goals in fifteen minutes against Chelsea to turn a 2–0 deficit to a 3–2 victory. In August 2001, Arsenal rejected a bid from Fulham of "around £7m" for Kanu. However, Kanu's appearances for Arsenal gradually became less frequent, particularly after the emergence of Thierry Henry as Arsenal's first choice striker, when Kanu was mainly used as a substitute. Despite this, Kanu won the Double with Arsenal in 2002, an FA Cup in 2003 (as an unused sub) and the Premier League title in 2004. In all he played 197 games for Arsenal (nearly half of them as a substitute), scoring 44 goals. In the summer of 2004, after his contract with Arsenal ended, he moved to West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer.

In 2008 Kanu was voted 13th in the "Gunners' Greatest 50 Players" poll.

West Bromwich Albion

West Brom had just been promoted to the FA Premier League for the second time in the space of two years. Kanu started as a regular for the club, making his debut in a 1–1 draw away at Blackburn Rovers on 14 August 2004. He scored his first goal for Albion on 18 September 2004, an 88th-minute equalizer in a 1–1 home draw against Fulham. In a match against Middlesbrough on 14 November 2004, Kanu was guilty of an incredible miss in injury time, with Albion 2–1 down. Kanu had sent a low cross over the bar from a yard away from the goal line. Manager Bryan Robson was seen in TV footage mouthing the words "How the fuck did he miss that?", and Kanu's howler was crowned 'Miss of the Season' by many television stations in the end-of-season reviews. Nevertheless, the 2004–05 season was ultimately a memorable one for West Brom, as they became the first club to avoid relegation from the Premier League after being bottom of the table at Christmas.

One of the most memorable games of the 2005–06 season for Kanu came with the visit of his former club Arsenal to The Hawthorns on 15 October 2005. Philippe Senderos put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute, but Kanu equalised shortly before half time. West Brom went on to win the match 2–1 with a spectacular strike from Darren Carter. It was their first home win over Arsenal since 1973, and the first time that they had come from behind to win a Premier League game. But such highlights were rare for Albion that season, and the club was relegated at the end of 2005–06. Kanu's contract had expired, and he chose not to renew it. In his two years at The Hawthorns he made a total of 58 appearances – 16 of them as a substitute – and scored nine goals.

In the summer of 2006, Kanu played as a guest for Arsenal in Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial game, the first match to be played in Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. The game was tied 1–1 when Kanu scored the winning goal, making him the third person to score in the stadium. At the end of the match, Kanu joined the rest of the Arsenal side in hoisting the retired Dutchman on their shoulders as fans gave him a standing ovation. He remains a popular figure at Arsenal, being applauded when he appears at the Emirates Stadium.

Portsmouth

Kanu was a free agent following his departure from West Brom, and he signed for Portsmouth on a one-year deal shortly before the start of the 2006–07 season. Pompey had undergone a revival in the second half of the previous campaign, following the return of Harry Redknapp as manager, avoiding relegation by four points after being in serious danger at the turn of the year. At the start of the 2006–07 season, they were undefeated in their first five games, during which they did not concede a single goal. Kanu made his debut for Portsmouth as a substitute against Blackburn Rovers on 19 August 2006, the opening day of the 2006–2007 Premier League season. He scored twice and missed a penalty. Though Kanu led the top scorers chart early in the season, he had a goal drought for the rest of the season, but still finished as the top goalscorer for Portsmouth, with 12 goals.

In his second season at Portsmouth, Kanu scored in both the FA Cup 1–0 semi-final win against West Bromwich Albion and the 1–0 win in the final against Cardiff City, earning him a third FA Cup winner's medal.

His first goal of the 2008–09 season put Portsmouth 2–0 up in their eventual 2–2 UEFA Cup draw with Italian club A.C. Milan. He later scored the winning goal against , which ensured Pompey's mathematical safety. It was his only Premier League goal of 2008–2009. He re-signed with Pompey in August 2010, with an eye on becoming a coach when he retired. Kanu signed a three-year deal and kept the number 27 shirt, but was not a regular starter throughout the course of the season and only managed two goals.

International career

Kanu was a member of the Nigerian national team from 1994 until 2010, making his debut in friendly against Sweden. Earlier on at the start of his career, Kanu was instrumental in Nigeria's overall success at the 1993 FIFA U-17 tournament in Japan and their subsequent 2–1 victory over Ghana in the final. With five goals, he was second joint-scorer in the tournament with Peter Anosike and Manuel Neira, behind compatriot and Captain Wilson Oruma.

As well as winning the Olympics gold in the football event at 1996 Olympics, Kanu participated in the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups. On 24 June 2010, Kanu ended his international career following Nigeria's exit from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Nigeria lost their group matches against Argentina and Greece, before a 2–2 draw with South Korea ended their stay in the tournament. He won 86 caps and scored 13 goals for his country and is the joint most capped Nigerian player of all-time alongside Muda Lawal.

In June 2011, at the age of 34, Kanu announced his retirement from international football.

Personal life

His younger brother is also professional footballer and his stepbrothers are Anderson "Anders" Gabolalmo Kanu and Henry Isaac. He also has a younger brother called Yaya

Career statistics

|- |1991–92||Fed Works||||30||9||||||||||||||30||9 |- |1992–93||Iwuanyanwu Nationale||Premier League||30||6||||||||||||||30||6 |- |1993–94||rowspan="3"|Ajax||rowspan="3"|Eredivisie||6||2|||||||||||||||| |- |1994–95||18||10||||||||||7||1||25||11 |- |1995–96||30||13||||||||||9||0||39||13 |- |1996–97||rowspan="3"|Internazionale Milano||rowspan="3"|Serie A||0||0||||||||||0||0||0||0 |- |1997–98||11||1||||||||||5||0||16||1 |- |1998–99||1||0||||||||||||||1||0 |- |1998–99||rowspan="6"|Arsenal||rowspan="12"|Premier League||12||6||5||1||-||-||-||-||17||7 |- |1999-00||31||12||2||0||1||1||15||3||49||16 |- |2000–01||27||3||1||0||-||-||14||2||42||5 |- |2001–02||23||3||5||2||2||1||9||0||39||6 |- |2002–03||16||5||1||0||1||0||8||1||26||6 |- |2003–04||10||1||3||0||4||2||7||0||24||3 |- |2004–05||rowspan="2"|West Bromwich Albion||28||2||2||1||-||-||-||-||30||3 |- |2005–06||25||5||1||0||2||1||-||-||28||6 |- |2006–07||rowspan="6"|Portsmouth||36||10||2||2||-||-||-||-||38||12 |- |2007–08||25||4||5||2||1||1||-||-||31||7 |- |2008–09||17||1||2||0||1||0||5||1||25||2 |- |2009–10||23||2||1||0||4||2||-||-||28||4 |- |2010–11||rowspan="2"|Championship||30||2||1||0||1||0||-||-||32||2 |- |2011–12||5||1||0||0||1||0||-||-||6||1 60||15||||||||||||||60||15 54||25||||||||||16||1||70||26 12||1||||||||||5||0||17||1 305||56||31||8||18||8||58||7||412||79 431||97||31||8||18||8||79||8||559||121

Stats accurate as at 26 April 2011

*Not including 1999/00 Community Shield Appearance and Goal

|- |1994||3||0 |- |1995||2||1 |- |1996||0||0 |- |1997||1||0 |- |1998||5||1 |- |1999||0||0 |- |2000||10||2 |- |2001||6||2 |- |2002||11||0 |- |2003||4||3 |- |2004||7||0 |- |2005||6||2 |- |2006||8||0 |- |2007||6||2 |- |2008||6||0 |- |2009||5||0 |- |2010||5||0 |- |2011||1||0 |- !Total||87||13 |}

Honours

Club

Iwuanyanwu Nationale

Nigerian Premier League: 1992–93

Ajax

Eredivisie: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96

UEFA Champions League: 1994–95

UEFA Super Cup: 1995

Intercontinental Cup: 1995

Internazionale

UEFA Cup: 1997–98

Arsenal

Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04

FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03

FA Community Shield: 1999

Portsmouth

FA Cup: 2007–08

Country

Nigeria

FIFA U-17 World Cup: 1993

Olympic Gold Medal: 1996

Individual

African Footballer of the Year: 1996, 1999

BBC African Footballer of the Year: 1997, 1999

References

External links

Kanu Heart Foundation, a charity founded by Kanu to help African children with heart problems.

FootballDatabase provides Nwankwo Kanu's profile and stats

Link to FIFA Article on Kanu

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:People from Owerri Category:Nigerian footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:AFC Ajax players Category:F.C. Internazionale Milano players Category:Arsenal F.C. players Category:West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Category:Portsmouth F.C. players Category:Eredivisie players Category:Serie A footballers Category:Iwuanyanwu Nationale players Category:Premier League players Category:The Football League players Category:Nigeria international footballers Category:Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:1998 FIFA World Cup players Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players Category:2006 Africa Cup of Nations players Category:2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Category:2010 Africa Cup of Nations players Category:Olympic footballers of Nigeria Category:Olympic gold medalists for Nigeria Category:African Footballer of the Year winners Category:Nigerian expatriate footballers Category:Nigerian expatriates in the Netherlands Category:Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Category:Nigerian expatriates in Italy Category:Expatriate footballers in Italy Category:Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Igbo footballers Category:Nigerian Christians Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:UNICEF people Category:Olympic medalists in football

ar:نوانكو كانو bn:নওয়ানকো কানু bg:Нванкво Кану ca:Nwankwo Kanu da:Nwankwo Kanu de:Nwankwo Kanu es:Nwankwo Kanu fr:Nwankwo Kanu ko:은완코 카누 id:Nwankwo Kanu it:Nwankwo Kanu he:נוואנקוו קאנו lt:Nwankwo Kanu hu:Nwankwo Kanu ml:നുവാൻ‌കോ കാനു mr:न्वंक्वो कानु nl:Nwankwo Kanu ja:ヌワンコ・カヌ no:Nwankwo Kanu nn:Nwankwo Kanu pl:Nwankwo Kanu pt:Nwankwo Kanu ru:Кану, Нванкво simple:Nwankwo Kanu sl:Nwankwo Kanu fi:Nwankwo Kanu sv:Nwankwo Kanu tr:Nwankwo Kanu yo:Nwankwo Kanu zh:恩万科沃·卡努

playername	Samuel Okunowo
fullname	Samuel Gbenga Okunowo
dateofbirth	March 01, 1979
cityofbirth	Ibadan
countryofbirth	Nigeria
height
position	Right back
youthyears1	1993–1995
youthclubs1	Kwara Bombers
years1	1995–1997
clubs1	Shooting Stars
years2	1998–2000
clubs2	Barcelona
caps2	14
goals2	0
years3	1999–2000
clubs3	→ Benfica (loan)
caps3	9
goals3	2
years4	2000–2001
clubs4	Badajoz
caps4	0
goals4	0
years5	2001–2003
clubs5	Ionikos
caps5	0
goals5	0
years6	2003–2004
clubs6	Dinamo Bucureşti
caps6	2
goals6	0
years7	2004–2005
clubs7	KF Tirana
caps7	0
goals7	0
years8	2005–2007
clubs8	Metalurh Donetsk
caps8	2
goals8	0
years9	2006–2007
clubs9	→ Stal Alchevsk (loan)
caps9	11
goals9	0
years10	2009
clubs10	VB Sports
caps10	4
goals10	0
years11	2009
clubs11	Waltham Forest
caps11	0
goals11	0
nationalyears1	1999
nationalteam1	Nigeria U20
nationalcaps1	5
nationalgoals1	0
nationalyears2	1997–2000
nationalteam2	Nigeria
nationalcaps2	8
nationalgoals2	0
nationalyears3	2000
nationalteam3	Nigeria Olympic
nationalcaps3	3
nationalgoals3	0
pcupdate	1 February 2010
ntupdate	}}

Samuel Gbenga Okunowo (born 1 March 1979 in Ibadan) is a Nigerian footballer who plays mainly as a right defender.

Injury affected the vast majority of his professional career, which was spent in eight different countries other than his own.

Club career

Okunowo signed with European powerhouse FC Barcelona at only 18. In 1998–99, he competed for starting spot in the main squad with Michael Reiziger, and managed 14 La Liga appearances (eight starts), in a final win for the Catalans.

However, Okunowo did not manage to remain with ''Barça'', going on to serve two unassuming loans, with Portugal's S.L. Benfica and second division side CD Badajoz, and being released in June 2002. He went on to represent (without very little impact as well) teams in four different countries: Greece, Romania, Albania and Ukraine.

In 2007, Okunowo was on trial at Northwich Victoria of the Conference National and ''Vilanova del Camí'' in the Spanish amateur leagues, but nothing came of it. Two years later, he returned to active with VB Sports Club, in the Maldives. However, in October 2009, he joined English club Waltham Forest, playing in a league eight levels below the Premier League.

In February 2010, Okunowo underwent a trial with Polish first division side Odra Wodzislaw, in an attempt to return to topflight football, but nothing came of it. He has also tried out for Norwegian teams without luck.

International career

Okunowo represented Nigeria at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship (helping the hosts reach the quarterfinals), the 2000 African Cup of Nations and the 2000 Summer Olympics, gaining eight senior caps.

References

External links

Stats and profile at Zerozero

BDFutbol profile

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:People from Ibadan Category:Nigerian footballers Category:Association football defenders Category:Shooting Stars F.C. players Category:La Liga footballers Category:FC Barcelona footballers Category:CD Badajoz players Category:Primeira Liga players Category:S.L. Benfica footballers Category:Superleague Greece players Category:Ionikos F.C. players Category:Liga I players Category:FC Dinamo Bucureşti players Category:FC Metalurh Donetsk players Category:FC Stal Alchevsk players Category:KF Tirana players Category:Nigeria international footballers Category:Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Nigerian expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in Romania Category:Nigerian expatriates in Romania Category:Expatriate footballers in Albania Category:Expatriate footballers in Ukraine

ca:Samuel Okunowo es:Samuel Okunowo fr:Samuel Okunowo it:Samuel Okunowo nl:Gbenga Okunowo pl:Gbenga Okunowo ru:Окуново, Гбенга

playername	Jay-Jay Okocha
fullname	Augustine Azuka Okocha
dateofbirth	August 14, 1973
cityofbirth	Enugu
countryofbirth	Nigeria
height
position	Attacking midfielder
youthyears1	1979–1980 | youthclubs1 Enugu Rangers
years1	1990–1992 | clubs1 Borussia Neunkirchen | caps1 35 | goals1 7
years2	1992–1996 | clubs2 Eintracht Frankfurt | caps2 90 | goals2 16
years3	1996–1998 | clubs3 Fenerbahçe | caps3 63 | goals3 30
years4	1998–2002 | clubs4 Paris Saint-Germain | caps4 84 | goals4 13
years5	2002–2006 | clubs5 Bolton Wanderers | caps5 124 | goals5 14
years6	2006–2007 | clubs6 Qatar SC | caps6 31 | goals6 6
years7	2007–2008 | clubs7 Hull City | caps7 18 | goals7 0
totalcaps	445 | totalgoals 86
nationalyears1	1993–2006 | nationalteam1 Nigeria
nationalcaps1	73 | nationalgoals1 14
medaltemplates	}}

}}

Augustine Azuka "Jay-Jay" Okocha (born 14 August 1973 in Enugu) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is known for his stepovers, skill, technique, and being 'so good that they named him twice' (a line immortalised in a terrace chant while Okocha played for Bolton Wanderers). While playing at Süper Lig team Fenerbahçe, he became a Turkish citizen as "Muhammet Yavuz".

Career

Early years

Okocha's "Jay-Jay" name was actually passed down from his older brother James, who started playing football first. His immediate older brother Emmanuel was also called Emma Jay-jay, but the name stuck with Augustine. Okocha first began playing football on the street just like many other football stars, usually with a makeshift ball. Jay Jay Okocha was born in Enugu, Nigeria to Mr. & Mrs Okocha of Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Nigeria. In an interview with BBC Sport he said "as far as I can remember, we used to play with anything, with any round thing we could find, and whenever we managed to get hold of a ball, that was a bonus! I mean it was amazing!" Known for making the move,"Sambrarow Flick." In 1990 he joined Enugu Rangers. In his time at the club he produced many spectacular displays including one where he rounded off and scored a goal, against experienced Nigerian goalkeeper William Okpara in a match against BCC Lions. Later he travelled to Germany to meet a friend, where he was asked to train with his team after impressing in training, and landed a deal with German Third Division side Borussia Neunkirchen.

Eintracht Frankfurt (1992–1996)

Okocha joined Eintracht Frankfurt in 1992,where he linked up with many well-known players including Ghanaian international striker Tony Yeboah and later Thomas Doll. He continued to shine for the German side, one highlight being a goal he scored against Karlsruhe, dribbling in the penalty box and slotting the ball past Oliver Kahn even going past some players twice. The goal was voted Goal of the Season by many soccer magazines. In 1995 Okocha, Yeboah and Maurizio Gaudino were all involved in a feud with manager Jupp Heynckes, which led to their departure from the club.

Yeboah and Gaudino later left for England, while Okocha stayed until the end of the season when Frankfurt were relegated to the Second division, before signing for Istanbul club Fenerbaçhe.

Fenerbahçe SK (1996–1998)

Okocha joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe following Eintracht Frankfurt's relegation to Bundesliga 2. In his two seasons with the team he amassed thirty goals in sixty appearances, many of them coming from direct freekicks which had become something of a trademark for him at the club. He was also part of the side that historically defeated Manchester United 1–0 at Old Trafford in the 1996-1997 UEFA Champions League group stage. While at Fenerbahçe he became a Turkish citizen as "Muhammet Yavuz".

Paris St-Germain (1998–2002)

In 1998 French side PSG splashed around $24 million on Okocha, making him the most expensive African player at the time.

Bolton Wanderers (2002–2006)

Okocha joined Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer after leaving PSG in the summer of 2002 after the FIFA World Cup. His debut season, despite being hampered by injury, made him a favourite with the Bolton fans, with the team printing shirts with the inscription "Jay-Jay – so good they named him twice". He steered the team away from relegation with seven goals, including the team Goal of the Season in the vital league win against West Ham. This was voted Bolton's best Premier League goal in a fans vote in 2008. The next season saw Okocha receive more responsibility as he was given the captain's armband following Guðni Bergsson's retirement. As captain he led Bolton to their first cup final in nine years where they finished runners-up in the 2004 Football League Cup.

In 2006 he was stripped of the captaincy – something he said he had seen coming, as there had been a change in attitude from some staff members. This had probably been due to his proposed move to the Middle East, which had been growing in speculation. At the end of the season, he refused a one-year extension in order to move to Qatar.

Hull City AFC (2007–2008)

After just one season in Qatar, Football League Championship side Hull City signed Okocha on a free transfer in 2007, after the player had been linked to Real Salt Lake and Sydney FC. It was a move he made saying that "God had told him to do so". He however was not able to contribute greatly to Hull's promotion campaign due to fitness and constant injury problems, playing only 18 games and scoring no goals. Hull still succeeded in grabbing promotion to the Premier League, for the first time in their 104-year history. At the end of the season, after changing his mind on a proposed retirement due to Hull's promotion, he was released by the club, which sent him into retirement.

International career

Okocha made his official debut for Nigeria in their 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup Qualifier away loss against Ivory Coast in May 1993.It was not until his second cap and home debut that he became a favourite with the Nigerian supporters. With Nigeria trailing 1–0 against Algeria, in a match they needed to win, he scored from a direct freekick to equalise, before helping the team to a 4–1 win, eventually securing qualification to their first World Cup. In 1994 he was a member of both the victorious 1994 Africa Cup of Nations squad and the World Cup squad who made it to the second round before they lost in a dramatic match against eventual runners-up Italy.

In 1996 Okocha became a member of an arguably more successful Nigerian side, their Olympic gold winning side at the Atlanta Games, later nicknamed Dream Team by the Nigerian press after the USA 1992 Olympic gold winning basketball team. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup hosted by France, Okocha played for a disappointing Super Eagles side who failed to live up to expectations again reaching the round of 16, albeit with less impressive performances save for their 3–2 opening win against Spain. This did not destroy interest in Okocha, who had entertained fans with his trademark skills and dribbles and went on to be named in the squad of the tournament.

Okocha again joined the Super Eagles as they claimed the silver medal in the 2000 African Cup of Nations co-hosted with Ghana. He had a fairly good tournament scoring three goals, two in the opening game against Tunisia and the third in the final against Cameroon, also converting his penalty in the shootout.

After a disappointing Nations Cup in 2002 where Nigeria ended up finishing third, Okocha was named Nigeria captain after Sunday Oliseh and Finidi George were axed from the side. His first tournament as captain came that summer in the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Korea and Japan. Playing in Group E, the ‘group of the death’ alongside Argentina, Sweden and England, Nigeria failed to make it to the next round gaining only one point in their final game, a goalless draw against England.

Okocha later led the Nigerian team to a third place finish at the 2004 African Nations Cup in Tunisia, with some breathtaking displays, scoring four goals which include a spectacular free kick against Cameroun in the quarter finals and most notably the 1000th goal in Nations Cup history against South Africa, and winning the Player of the tournament and joint Golden boot winner.

After failing to help Nigeria qualify for the 2006 World Cup, Okocha announced that he would retire from international scene after the Cup of Nations in Egypt. Injury prevented Okocha from featuring in any of Nigeria's opening fixtures and he did not regain fitness until the semi final loss against Ivory Coast. He then played in his final international appearance in a 2–1 victory in a third place playoff against Senegal, he was then given a standing ovation by the nearly 60,000 attendance when he left the field.

He made a return to the Super Eagles in his testimonial against an African select side in Warri. The game featured former players Daniel Amokachi, Alloysius Agu and John Fashanu, as well as current players Benjani and Sulley Muntari. Nigeria won the game 2–1 with Okocha scoring the winning goal after appearing for the side in the second half.

Honours

Oberliga Südwest: 1991

Saarland Cup: 1990, 1992

Fuji-Cup: 1992

Chancellor Cup: 1998

Atatürk Cup: 1998

Trophée des Champions: 1998

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001

Football League Cup: ''Runner-Up'': 2004

Premier League Asia Trophy: 2005

Football League Championship play-off: 2008

International Honours

African Cup of Nations: 1994

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations: 1995

Olympic Games: 1996

World Cup

*Round of 16: 1994, 1998

Individual Honours

Okocha never won the African Player of Year award, becoming arguably the best player never to win the award despite coming second twice in 1998 & 2004. He did however win the inaugural BBC African Footballer of the Year and the successive one, becoming the only player to retain the award and win it more than once. In 2004 he was listed in football legend Pelé's FIFA 100 (a list of the greatest 125 living players of all time). In 2007 he was voted number 12 on the greatest African footballers of the past 50 years list, on a poll conducted by CAF to coincide with their 50th anniversary.

2004 BBC African footballer of the year 2005 BBC African footballer of the year 2005 Bolton Wanderers footballer of the year 1995,1997,2000,2002,2003,2004,2005 Nigerian footballer of the year 1996 Nigerian footballer of the year runner up

Personal life

Okocha met his wife Nkechi in 1994 and they have two children Daniella and A-Jay. His older brother Emmanuel was also a former international for the Nigerian team. Okocha is a cousin of Prof. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's former Minister of Finance, Foreign Affairs Minister and World Bank Managing Director. Okocha is also a member of the Anioma, a subgroup of Igboethnic group.

Okocha was named-checked in M.I.A's single "Paper Planes" featuring Afrikan Boy with the lyrics "I'm a legend, just like Jay Jay Okocha".

Sponsorships and other ventures

Okocha has appeared in commercials for Pepsi, Samsung, V-Mobile and B-29 (Nigerian washing soap powder). He released a DVD in 2004 titled ''Superskills with Jay-Jay'', where he taught difficult tricks to children. He also briefly promoted his own brand of water named Jay-Jay during the late 90s. He also owns a bar in Victoria Island, Lagos named Number 10 (his jersey number).

Career statistics

|- |1992–93||rowspan="4"|Eintracht Frankfurt||rowspan="4"|Bundesliga||20||2|||||||||||||||| |- |1993–94||19||2|||||||||||||||| |- |1994–95||27||7|||||||||||||||| |- |1995–96||24||7|||||||||||||||| |- |1996–97||rowspan="2"|Fenerbahçe||rowspan="2"|Super League||33||16|||||||||||||||| |- |1997–98||30||14|||||||||||||||| |- |1998–99||rowspan="4"|Paris Saint-Germain||rowspan="4"|Ligue 1||25||4|||||||||||||||| |- |1999-00||23||2|||||||||||||||| |- |2000–01||16||2|||||||||||||||| |- |2001–02||20||4|||||||||||||||| |- |2002–03||rowspan="4"|Bolton Wanderers||rowspan="4"|Premier League||31||7|||||||||||||||| |- |2003–04||35||0|||||||||||||||| |- |2004–05||31||6|||||||||||||||| |- |2005–06||27||1|||||||||||||||| |- |2006–07||Qatar||||41||6|||||||||||||||| |- |2007–08||Hull City||Championship||18||0|||||||||||||||| |- 90||18|||||||||||||||| 63||30|||||||||||||||| 80||12|||||||||||||||| 142||15|||||||||||||||| 41||6|||||||||||||||| 402||80|||||||||||||||| |- |1993||3||1 |- |1994||11||0 |- |1995||5||1 |- |1996||1||0 |- |1997||5||0 |- |1998||5||0 |- |1999||1||0 |- |2000||7||4 |- |2001||8||1 |- |2002||12||1 |- |2003||3||1 |- |2004||8||4 |- |2005||2||1 |- |2006||2||0 |- !Total||73||14 |}

See also

Jay Jay Okocha Stadium

References

External links

Jay-Jay Okocha non official website

Okocha's profile at NigerianPlayers.com

FootballDatabase provides Jay-Jay Okocha's profile and stats

Jay Jay Okocha Myspace

Jay-Jay Okocha for Eintracht Frankfurt

El Hadji Diouf |after= Mohamed Barakat|years=2003, 2004}}

Category:Igbo footballers Category:Nigerian footballers Category:Enugu Rangers plaryers Category:Eintracht Frankfurt players Category:Fenerbahçe footballers Category:Turkish footballers Category:Turkish people of Nigerian descent Category:Süper Lig players Category:Nigerian expatriates in Turkey Category:Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Category:Ligue 1 players Category:Expatriate footballers in France Category:Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Nigerian expatriates in France Category:Expatriate footballers in Turkey Category:Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Category:Hull City A.F.C. players Category:Premier League players Category:The Football League players Category:Expatriate footballers in Germany Category:Nigerian expatriate footballers Category:Fußball-Bundesliga players Category:FIFA 100 Category:Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Nigeria international footballers Category:1994 FIFA World Cup players Category:1995 King Fahd Cup players Category:1998 FIFA World Cup players Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players Category:Association football midfielders Category:Olympic footballers of Nigeria Category:Olympic gold medalists for Nigeria Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:People from Enugu Category:African Footballer of the Year winners Category:Qatar SC footballers Category:Gateway F.C. players Category:Olympic medalists in football

ar:جاي جاي أوكوشا ca:Augustine Okocha da:Jay-Jay Okocha de:Jay-Jay Okocha es:Augustine Okocha fr:Jay-Jay Okocha ko:제이제이 오코차 hr:Jay-Jay Okocha it:Jay-Jay Okocha he:ג'יי ג'יי אוקוצ'ה hu:Jay-Jay Okocha mn:Жэй-Жэй Окоча nl:Augustine Okocha ja:オーガスティン・オコチャ pl:Augustine Okocha pt:Jay-Jay Okocha ro:Jay-Jay Okocha ru:Окоча, Августин simple:Jay-Jay Okocha sk:Augustine Azuka Okocha sl:Jay-Jay Okocha fi:Jay-Jay Okocha sv:Jay-Jay Okocha tr:Jay-Jay Okocha vi:Jay-Jay Okocha yo:Jay-Jay Okocha