It was indeed a nostalgic moment for former Super Eagles captain Sunday Oliseh at the 2nd Aiteo/NFF Football Awards when he was honoured alongside his 1994 teammates, Completesports.com reports.
Speaking after Augustin Eguavoen’s short speech, Oliseh took his time as he went down memory lane reeling out feats achieved with his colleagues.
Oliseh relished the honour bestowed upon him and his teammates saying it was the first time they are getting together in 25 years.
“We appreciate the NFF and their sponsor because this is the very first time we’ll be getting together in 25 years,” Oliseh stated.
“Most of us don’t really know what we were doing then because we hardly agree. But when we put on the Nigerian jersey, we became united and that helped us to achieve all we did.”
Oliseh went on to recount how the late Stephen Keshi’s wife (Kate, also late) will cook and bring foods for all the players in camp. He recounts how late Rashidi Yekini always told him to just pass the ball to him to score.
He mentioned how he almost always fought on the pitch with Jay Jay Okocha but was quick to add that Okocha always rescued him in a difficult position.
“We had a crazy number 10 who is very talented. I will be shouting ‘Jay Jay, pass now!’ But then Okocha always rescued me whenever I was crowded. You can give the ball to Okocha in a tight situation and he will find the solution,” Oliseh recalled
Speaking further, Oliseh who has coached the Super Eagles said the likes of Daniel Amokachi, Ben Iroha and Samson Siasia were ahead of their time.
“In today’s football, we now talk about false nine, wing-backs and ability to adapt and play in several roles and I want to tell you that Amokachi, Iroha and Siasia had been doing that way back,” he said.
“Yekini remains the best striker ever. They were ahead of their time.”
Oliseh also noted that Nigeria gave them the platform to showcase their talents and commended coach Clemens Westerhof who managed the Super Eagles of 1994 set.
“Clemens Westerhof brought us together. He made a great team out of us and despite our differences, we all helped each other,” Oliseh added
“Our country Nigeria gave us everything and we too gave back everything in return.”
Ace musician, D’Banj later poked a joke at Oliseh saying the ex-Eagles star and coach deserved the ‘best speech award.’
By Sulaiman Alao
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COMMENTS
I so much cherish okocha from the pitch till off pitch
Lol, till today, I don’t think Jay Jay and Oliseh have decided who between the two of them should be taking Nigeria’s freekicks. We almost saw them get to fisticuffs over freekicks in some matches. Nigeria is yet to produce a midfield pair as good as these two. Perhaps the best we will ever see in our lifetime.