Such is the myth surrounding Nigeria’s all-time goal scorer Rashidi Yekini that the secrecy that accentuated his personae could at best be unravelled by those that had a close affinity with him during his lifetime.
“Right away, I was able to identify Yekini’s problems because he was a stark illiterate because he didn’t have formal education so to speak. He had 60 international caps playing for the Super Eagles and remains the country’s top scorer with 37 goals. The bulky was the Super Eagles’ top scorer with five goals at the 1994 that helped in Nigeria’s first Africa Cup of Nations victory since 1980. He was Nigeria’s first recipient of the prestigious Africa Football of the Year in 1993 and was also the scorer of Nigeria’s first ever goal at the FIFA World Cup against Bulgaria at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, USA.
Amao, a former assistant coach of the Super Eagles, described the late Yekini as an epitome of humility and professionalism right from their early days in the national team in the 1980s. At Setubal, Yekini scored a remarkable 13 goals in 24 matches on his debut 1990/1991 season and followed up with 22 goals in 30 matches and 26 matches in the 1992/1993 season.
“He contributed immensely to the team as Julius Berger gained more followership and fans trooped out to watch Yekini. “He was a very cool and calm person as well as very jovial. But if you tried to know him more, he would try to keep to himself because he did not like to mingle with people.Yekini, according to Yusuf who later became one his close confidants, would be the last to joke with his football career, describing him as a true professional.
“In Jos, the crowd was uncontrollable and the fans tried to gain entrance to the stadium through our own bus. In Minna, two sides of the fence guiding the supporters collapsed just because they wanted to watch Yekini.” At the religion frontier, Yusuf described Yekini as a saint because he was so pious: “I will not also forget two things about him as a player and a brother.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: Daily Trust - 🏆 13. / 51 Read more »
Source: Daily Trust - 🏆 13. / 51 Read more »