Jay-Jay Okocha

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Jay-Jay Okocha
Match legends 2017 CC (5) .jpg
Jay-Jay Okocha (2017)
Personnel
Surname Augustine Azuka Okocha
birthday August 14, 1973
place of birth EnuguNigeria
size 175 cm
position Attacking midfield
Juniors
Years station
0000-1990 Enugu Rangers
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1990-1992 Borussia Neunkirchen 35 0(7)
1992-1996 Eintracht Frankfurt 90 (16)
1996-1998 Fenerbahçe Istanbul 63 (30)
1998-2002 Paris Saint-Germain 84 (12)
2002-2006 Bolton Wanderers 124 (14)
2006-2007 Qatar Sports Club 41 0(6)
2007-2008 Hull City 18 0(0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1993-2006 Nigeria 75 (14)
1 Only league games are given.

Augustine Azuka "Jay-Jay" Okocha (born August 14, 1973 in Enugu ) is a former Nigerian soccer player . In 2004 he was included by Pelé in the FIFA 100 , the list of the 125 best football players alive. He was under contract with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga , Paris Saint-Germain in France and the Bolton Wanderers in England . He played in the position of playmaker in attacking midfield .

Career

society

In 1990 Okocha moved as a youth player from the Nigerian club Enugu Rangers to the then third division club Borussia Neunkirchen . There he made his debut in the league team as a 17-year-old . In his first season in Neunkirchen he caused a sensation in the Oberliga Südwest with his dribbles and goals, sometimes from a goal distance of more than 30 meters. This did not escape even the then coach of the league rivals Eintracht Trier , Dragoslav Stepanovic , who piloted him in 1992 to Frankfurt, where he initially as a contractual Amateur at Eintracht Frankfurt played and already on 26 September 1992 against Werder Bremen for the first time in the 1. Bundesliga aground . He became known for sensational dribbling and made the headlines. His goal to make it 3-1 against Karlsruher SC in the Bundesliga match on August 31, 1993 was spectacular : He played around the opposing defenders and once goalkeeper Oliver Kahn in the penalty area before he finally shot the ball into the goal. The viewers of the ARD- Sportschau voted this hit the goal of the year 1993.

At the beginning of December 1994, the Nigerian international made headlines when he showed solidarity with his teammates Anthony Yeboah and Maurizio Gaudino and refused a special training session ordered by coach Jupp Heynckes and participation in the subsequent Bundesliga game, which resulted in the dismissal of Yeboah and Gaudino. After Eintracht's relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga, Okocha played for the Turkish first division club Fenerbahçe Istanbul from 1996 to 1998 , during which he took on Turkish citizenship before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 1998 for 22 million marks .

Jay-Jay Okocha made 90 appearances (18 goals) in the 1st Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt from 1992 to 1996. In the Premier League he completed 124 games (14 goals) for the Bolton Wanderers from 2002 and was voted BBC African Footballer of the Year in 2003 and 2004 . At the end of the 2005/06 season his contract was no longer extended by the "Trotters", although he was still one of the regulars. After a year in Qatar , the Nigerian finally signed a one-year contract with the English second division club Hull City for the 2007/08 season . With the new club, he was promoted to the Premier League.

National team

In 1994 , 1998 and 2002 he took part in the World Cup for the Nigerian national team , the Super Eagles . In 1994 and 1998 in particular, Okocha and Nigeria caused a sensation and reached the round of 16 .

Among the greatest international successes for Okocha, in addition to winning the African Championship in 1994, was the Olympic victory at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta with the Nigerian national team.

At the 2004 African Cup of Nations, Okocha led the Super Eagles to third place and was also voted best player of the tournament. He was also the top scorer with four goals.

On February 9, 2006 Okocha played his last game in the 2006 African Cup of Nations in the national jersey of the Super Eagles, for which he completed a total of 75 international matches since 1993 and scored 14 goals.

Style of play

Okocha was known for his good shooting technique in free kicks , but especially for his outstanding technique. A trick he often used was to move the ball over his head with his heel.

Honors

Since January 23, 2013, a picture of Jay-Jay Okocha has adorned one of the twelve “Pillars of Unity” in the Willy-Brandt-Platz subway station in Frankfurt.

Achievements / titles

In the national team

society

Personal awards

Private

Okocha comes from the Anioma people , a subgroup of the ethnic Igbo derivative.

During his time at Fenerbahçe , Okocha became a Turkish citizen and was given the name Muhammet Yavuz. This has been interpreted by many to mean that he had converted to Islam . It was later revealed that he continued to be a Christian.

He is the uncle of Alex Iwobi (* 1996).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. DFB German Football Association, Junior Corner, video tip No. 36: Okocha trick , accessed on November 6, 2010 ( Memento from February 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Pillars of Unity ( Memento from June 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  3. BBC News | CUP NEWS | Semi-final success unites Nigeria. Retrieved August 21, 2019 .
  4. Vannyhenrico: Jay-Jay Okocha childhood story plus untold biography facts. In: LifeBogger. January 1, 2018, accessed August 21, 2019 .
  5. See Iwobi's profile on the Arsenal FC website