Remembering the ‘gangling’ Yekini
Already the Chief Media Officer of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Ademola Olajire has since described the sudden demise of the legendary footballer as the worst thing to have happened to the country’s football this year. Yekini was buried yesterday in his home town, Irra in Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State according to […]
Already the Chief Media Officer of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Ademola Olajire has since described the sudden demise of the legendary footballer as the worst thing to have happened to the country’s football this year.
Yekini was buried yesterday in his home town, Irra in Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State according to Islamic rites but he would be remembered forever as one of the best football players to have emerged from Nigeria and Africa.
Although he was not blessed with the sublime skills of the Kanu Nwankwos and Jay Jay Okocha’s Yekini was born scorer. He had an uncommon ability to score goals fetched him nick-names like Ye-king of goals or gangling striker. He was not a born dribbler but that didn’t matter because dribbles don’t win games but goals do and that was what made Yekini a special player.
Born on October 23 1963 in Kaduna, Yekini started his professional football career in the Nigerian league in 1981, where he played for UNTL of Kaduna till 1982.
He later played for the then IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan (Now 3SC) from 1982 to 1984, before starring for the defunct Abiola Babes of Abeokuta till 1987.
He then moved to Cote D’Ivoire to play for Africa Sports National till 1990, and crossed over to Portugal to play for Vitoria de Setubal, where he experienced his most memorable years.
Yekini made 108 appearances for the club and scored 90 goals in the process.
He was the Portuguese first division’s top scorer in the 1993/1994 season, after scoring 34 goals in 32 matches.
In the same period he was named the African Footballer of the Year 1993, to become the first Nigerian footballer to win the continental title.
He went on to score Nigeria’s first goal in the country’s maiden appearance at the World Cup finals in the U.S, scoring in the 3-0 win over Bulgaria.
His consequent celebration, a show of delight and holding part of the opponents’ net in his hands, is still a memorable sight for many Nigerians.
In the 1994 summer, Yekini joined Olympiakos of Greece and only scored two goals in four appearances, and his career never really got back on track.
After a season, he moved to Sporting Gijon in the Spanish La Liga where he made 14 appearances and scored three goals before departing after a season again.
He returned to Setúbal in 1996 for a season, and between 1997 and 1999 had marginal successes to show for his time at FC Zürich in Switzerland and Club Athlétique Bizertin of Tunisia.
The player popularly known as the “Goals Father’’ or “Ye-King’’ later moved to Al-Shabab Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia for a short spell in 1999, before rejoining Africa Sports.
In 2002, at the age of 39, he returned to the Nigerian league to join Lagos-based Julius Berger FC and played in the now rested African Cup Winners Cup competition in 2003.
He went off the scene that same year, and returned in 2005 to make a short comeback at Gateway FC of Abeokuta.
His international career was however not full of such ups and downs, as he scored 37 goals for Nigeria’s national side in 58 appearances to hold the record of Super Eagles’ highest goalscorer.
Before participating at the 1994 and 1998 World Cup finals, he had won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations with the Eagles in Tunisia, his fifth appearance at the competition since 1984.
Aside from always being among the goal chart leaders at these finals, he also represented Nigeria at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.