Nigeria’s 50 greatest football players of all time | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Sunday 19 June 2011

Nigeria’s 50 greatest football players of all time

Kanu Nwankwo, Victor Ikpeba, Jay Jay Okocha, and Daniel Amokachi
It's a list compiled by Super Sports. Check it out and tell us if you agree with them or not.

1. Nwankwo Kanu
2. Austin Okocha
3. Sunday Oliseh
4. Rashidi Yekini
5. Segun Odegbami
6. Stephen Keshi
7. Emmanuel Amuneke
8. Finidi George
9. Christian Chukwu
10. Muda lawal


11. Peter Rufai
12. Daniel Amokachi
13. Taribo West
14. Uche Okechukwu
15. Teslim “Thunder”Balogun
16. Victor Ikpeba
17. Samson Siasia
18. Adokiye Amiesimaka
19. Vincent Enyeama
20. Celestine Babayaro
21. Thomson Usiyan
22. Taiye ‘Taiwo
23. Henry Nwosu
24. Emmanuel Okala
25. Felix Owolabi
26. Haruna Ilerika
27. Joseph Yobo
28. Aloysius Atuegbu
29. Richard Owubokiri
30. Elkanah Onyeali
31. Patrick Ekeji
32. Best Ogedengbe
33. Bright Omokaro
34. Peter Anieke
35. Yisa Shofoluwe
36. Ben Iroha
37. Julius Aghahowa
38. Osaze Odemwingie
39. Albert Onyeawuna
40. Augustine Eguavoen
41. Yisa Shofoluwe
42. Obafemi Martins
43. Yakubu Aiyegbeni
44. Tijani Babangida
45. Tony Igwe
46. John Obi Mikel
47. Sam Garba Okoye
48. Friday Okoh
49. Etim Esin
50. Dan Anyiam

Do you agree that Kanu Nwankwo is the greatest Nigerian footballer of all time?

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

ok am not Nigerian but I would place Jay Jay Okocha before Kanu..I like both though but Jay Jay hmmm...that dude was something else on the field.

Anonymous said...

What about Taribo west?

Anonymous said...

Where is Demeji lawal?

Anonymous said...

Kanu ain't the greatest! He is up tho but talking about him being the greatest Nigerian footballer is disrespectful to some of the greats. Kanu is exceptional though on and off the field!! Great all around guy.Gotta give it to him quite unlike that okocha guy.

Anonymous said...

Yes, i agree just that his end wanted to spoil all his gud deeds.....

Anonymous said...

why do they all look tacky and ghetto...smh

Anonymous said...

Offcourse,kanu is the greatest player in nigeria,i think the only person ahead of him even in africa is Samuel eto'o

Segun969 said...

Nope. I think Okocha then Kanu

Jay O said...

Nonsense!
I'd put JJ over Kanu! Silly list
Remember Amokachi's dancing after goal, or Finidi's dog celebration on the ground! How about Yekini's grabbing the net in 94.
Rufai and his high top.
Kai the super eagles of the early 90s...I miss those days :(

Anonymous said...

Of course kANU is d best. He has won every thing except d world cup. Jay jay okocha skills exceptional buh KANU is simply d greatest

Anonymous said...

Of course kANU is d best. He has won every thing except d world cup. Jay jay okocha skills exceptional buh KANU is simply d greatest

Anonymous said...

I agree wiv them 100%, Kanu Nwankwo is the most decorated nigerian footballer of all times, he was African footballer of the year more than once,and he captained Nigerian Dream Team to Victory in Atlanta in 1996, he is socially responsible i.e,his kanu Heart Foundation Programme is helping lots of people wiv heart problem. What has okocha done or gives back to the society that he came out from? he was neva the African player of the year and certainly not captained any Nigerian team to victory before, he ii a good player, but that is not all that matters in rating the best, we hv to look @ their achievements et al....i'll give Okocha 6/10 while Kanu is 10/10! CHIKENA!....

Anonymous said...

Jay Jay is the greatest.

Ch5335ng said...

Kanu any day. Like i typed in another post, he came second in the poll of greatest Nigerians living in the UK (Chiwetal Ejiofor came first) and Jay Jay wasn't even in the top 20. This was when Kanu and Jay Jay were in Arsenal and Bolton respectively. Did Jay Jay ever win the African Footballer of the Year award? Kanu won it twice.

Away from footy, Kanu is immense with his heart foundation thing and Jay Jay has a Nightclub! When it comes to club sides and laurels won, Jay Jay pales in comparison to Kanu.

I will place Segun Odegbami probably 3rd, Christian Chukwu 4th and Rashidi Yekini 5th. I will remove Finidi from 8th and add Henry Nwosu. I will put Etim Esin and Best Ogedengbe in the 11th to 20th bracket.

alleny said...

hmmmm, okiie but I am dead sure its not in that order, besides some people aint supposed to appear in the list, the likes of Yobo. Where in Gods name is Sam Opkaraji, where are the news boys like,Joel, Anichebe & so many others???

Anonymous said...

Jay Jay....the best we ever had!

Guru said...

What is Taiye Taiwo and his likes doing on the list.

Where is Sam Okparaji?
Where is Mutiu Adepoju of Draman Miracle
Where is Dimeji Lawal?
Gbenga Okunowo one of the 9ja tha played for Bacelona
Where is Garba Lawal?

Whosoever that compiled this list is a new kiddo in futbol

What makes Yakubu Aiyegbeni greater than Victor Agali?

Kanu believe in charity than others and its one of the pre-requisite of great players, Okocha is an investor and nite club owner, he never contributed to the human growth aspect of the game.
So Umu Nwankwo remain the greatest after Owobokiri who played in all continets of the world before reignation.

Hope Vanguard, Inc. said...

What happened to Sam Okwaraji??? I understand if Kanu is put first but not for the missing name of "Sam Okwaraji"

Hope Vanguard, Inc. said...

Where is Sam Okwaraji's name on the list?

Queen Erics said...

and they placed PETER RUFAI and VINCENT ENYAMA where?Because they are Goal keepers? Whats Oliseh doing @the 3rd position? Shaa To each his own...
i dont want to hate this monday (long Hiss)

Anonymous said...

Were is Wilson Oruma in this line up? Na wa for u self Linda.. u sure say u de watch ball self.. Mschhwe

Anonymous said...

Kanu is definitely the greatest cos he's got laurels to show for his skills. jay jay should've been in the 20 rankings cos i can't see where he's taken nigeria with all his dabbling on the field. not even in the international level did he make much impact. kanu na im baba anyday no beef cos he's won almost all di major trophies in international football.

henryik said...

I think Henry Nwosu should be in the top 5,and Sunday Oliseh should not.
http://henryik2009.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

will these bank closed? all my life savings are in that bank please tell me oo i am in spain

Anonymous said...

KING KANU is by far the greatest! who the fuck is greater than him in Nigeria.
He was won every trophy there is to win except the world...let's face it, if he wasn't African he would have won it! Martins has won more relevant trophies than Okocha (don't get me wrong, Okocha is still pretty amazing).
Kanu has done Nigeria proud...About time he retired though!

Anonymous said...

When you compile a list of this length, it is inevitable that there'll be a lot of disagreement, especially in the order. So I won't even address who should be where, but it is disrespectful to leave out Sam Okparaji. Even in his short-lived career, his impact on the game was undeniable. I'm not even sure why Yisa Shofoluwe needs to appear twice (35&41) to make a point.

It's clear the people who compiled the list just name dropped without actual considerations. So I'll leave it at that.

Jay O said...

Remember its best player, not best charity worker/giver/and off the field. No need to mention Kanu's foundation.
Kanu carried us against Brazil and Argentina to Olympic gold in 96. Jay Jay's position never allowed him to be fully noticed but if you go back and watch games, you'll see that majority of the goals scored its because Jay Jay set it up from the midfield. He set up Finidi, he set up Amuneke, He set up Amokachi, you name it!! I'd still rank him higher than Kanu any day! Skills second to no one!
Enyama saved us in world cup but still hasnt earned the right to be placed among the great men. Rufai earned his over the years and is still naija's best goal keeper of all time.

Again I'll state our boys today dont have the passion. They have the talent but dont have the passion, that ended with the last great ones. Kanu's retirement signified the complete end of an era.

Anonymous said...

Kanu nwankwo has been lucky. no doubt he has been the luckiest Nigerian footballer. he is great. his flexibility is superb. but, can he lead a one man squad?

okocha can. he has done it a couple of times. he was outstanding againt cameroon at the 2004 african nations cup. he is instrumental to almost every goal kanu scored whenever they were on field togeda.

for me, JayJay remains the greatest nigerian footballer- trophy or no trophy, title or no title. bam.

Anonymous said...

where is paius ikedia.

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