Nigerian players rule Africa again

Posted by admin Headlines, Soccer, Sports Sunday, June 2nd, 2013

After one of their best seasons in Europe in recent times, Nigerian players are the best African performers in Europe again, reports ’TANA AIYEJINA

From the mid 1990s to early 2000, Nigeria had a huge presence in Europe, with players like Daniel Amokachi, Victor Ikpeba, Taribo West, Finidi George, Nwankwo Kanu, Austin Okocha, Emmanuel Amuneke, Sunday Oliseh, Wilson Oruma, Victor Agali, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and several others, plying their trade for the biggest European sides.

That was the era when Nwankwo Kanu (twice) and Victor Ikpeba won the African Footballer of The Year awards. That period, at least five Nigerian players made the top 10 list on an annual basis.

The likes of Finidi and Kanu won the UEFA Champions League in 1995 with Ajax, while others were almost indispensable at their various club sides.

But things took a negative curve during the turn of the new millennium, as age caught up on a majority of these star players.

And a lot of Nigerian players became the toast of countries like Malta, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Romania and other low-key football leagues across the world.

Even those that played in the big leagues were either in the small teams, or in the second division. Within this period, African countries mainly from the West Coast like Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali and Cameroon cashed in and their players became dominant forces in the big leagues.

Players from these countries dominated the African Footballer of The Year awards from the year 2000.

However, after years in the doldrums, Nigerian players are seemingly on course again to take their rightful place as African best side- after several of them won major titles in their various leagues ahead of their African counterparts- and probably rule the continent in years to come, like they once did.

And the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations triumph in February in South Africa appears to be the right tonic for the recent twist in fate for the players.

Chelsea’s Mikel Obi sparked the new renaissance last season, when he became the third Nigerian to win the lucrative UEFA Champions League. Again, he was at the forefront of Nigeria’s third triumph as African champions and from there, it’s no stopping him and his teammates and other Nigerian players, who are yet to play for the national team.

Alongside compatriot Victor Moses, Mikel again won the UEFA Europa Cup with Moses, posting some fine display. It’s the highest trophy won by an African in Europe last season.

Eagles’ right-back, Efe Ambrose, who plays for Celtic, won the double in Scotland as well as CSKA Moscow’s Ahmed Musa, who also clinched the Russian league and cup titles.

CSKA had last month toppled Zenit Saint Petersburg as champions of Russia.

In Saturday’s cup final, Musa put his club ahead in the 10th minute, before Ivoirian Lassana Diarra equalised for Anzhi in the 74th minute.

The cup winners were then decided on penalties with CSKA overcoming their rivals 4-3.

Aside the league success, Musa also finished as fourth highest goal scorer in the Russian league with 11 goals, one behind third-place Ivoirian Lacina Traore.

The likes of Joseph Yobo and Ogenyi Onazi won the cup competitions in Turkey and Italy respectively while Vincent Enyeama won the league in Israel. Aside these achievements, quite a lot of other Nigerian players also showed individual class in Europe.

Dynamo Kiev’s Brown Ideye, an influential figure in the AFCON success story, emerged as second highest scorer in the Ukrainian Premier League with 17 goals to crown a highly successful season.

Midfielder Kalu Uche was also impressive in his first season in Turkey with Kasimpasa scoring 19 goals to finish as second top scorer. Uche’s performance forced Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, to include the 30-year-old in his squad for the packed fixtures in June. Sadly the former Espanyol man is out with injury.

Little-known 19-year-old Imoh Ezekiel, who plays for Standard Liege, was fifth highest goal scorer in the Belgian topflight league. The highly-rated former 36 Lions of Lagos forward has been tipped severally as a player for the future.

Former Eagles striker, Victor Agali, says national team success will play a huge role in how long the players can sustain the present tempo.

“It’s a good thing that our players are winning again in the top European leagues because it is a long time we saw that. So having them do that means our football is coming up,” Agali, a bronze medalist at the 2002 AFCON, said.

“But staying and improving on this performance depends on how long the players can stay in the big clubs. Again, if our national team keeps doing well, our players rating will be high and we will see our boys making high-profile transfers,” the former Schalke 04 and Nice striker added.

Former Eagles centre-back, Taribo West, believes hard work and determination on the part of the players made the difference.

“A time comes in life when you feel you must take the bull by the horns. I think that is what is happening now and it is good for our football.

“The younger players want to emulate the likes of Mikel and Yobo now, so I believe we can sustain the momentum. In my time, we looked up to Keshi and his mates and wanted to be like them. It was the driving force for us. This set can do it as well,” West said.

To round off a wonderful season, no ‘Nigerian’ won the 2013 UEFA Champions League but at least there was a Nigerian flag on display as Bayern Munich defeated archrivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1 to cart home Europe’s top club football trophy.

David Alaba, born to a Nigerian father and a Filipino mother in Austria, was part of the victorious Bayern squad. Although he opted to represent Austria, the land of his birth, at junior and senior levels, the 20-year-old did not forget his roots.

As he stood on the podium, he had the Nigerian flag proudly tied to his body. And as he lifted the trophy, it was all smiles back home in Nigeria.

MAJOR WINNERS

•Mikel Obi (Chelsea): Europa League

•Victor Moses (Chelsea): Europa League

•Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio): Coppa Italia

•Vincent Enyeama: Israeli league

•Efe Ambrose (Celtic): Scottish league/cup

•Joseph Yobo (Fenerbahce): Turkish cup

•Ahmed Musa (CSKA): Russian league /cup

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