Taribo West: Ronaldo, Vieri recall former teammate's spiritual moments

- Taribo West shared dressing rooms with some football greats during his reign at Inter Milan

- The Nigerian icon played alongside Ronaldo and Vieri

- The football legends have now recounted how West accosted their coach telling him God told him he would be starting a match back then

Nigerian football legend Taribo West finally hanged his boots in 2007 after playing for high profile European clubs during his active days.

The 46-year-old retired defender turned pastor was one of the fearless center-backs who could take on any striker regardless of his pedigree.

West played alongside World Cup winners like Ronaldo de Lima and Italian great Christian Vieri at Inter Milan and the duo are not surprised that their former teammate ended up on the pulpit.

The duo revealed that the former Super Eagles star had been a religious man during their reign at San Siro. They also won the UEFA Cup in West’s first season at the club.

Taribo, as reported by Soccernet, scored the winning goal of their quarterfinal clash against Schalke 04.

However, Vieri recounted how the former Nigerian star told his coach that God revealed to him that he should be in the starting line up of a game.

In a live Instagram chat monitored by fcinter1908, the former Azzurri striker said of the Nigerian:

“Lippi gives the jerseys to the starters for the match, and Taribo did not get one. The coach then says to the starters to begin warm-up.

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“Taribo said to Lippi: ‘Mister, but God told me I have to play’. Lippi responded God did not tell me anything.”

Ronaldo also had a similar story to share of how West took a long time praying for him when he was injured.

“When I was injured, I was desperate, and I had everyone come to my house. Taribo prayed in an incredible way. He did many prayers for me. It was a difficult period.”

West left Inter at the start of the millennium to city rivals AC Milan, and went on to play for Derby County, Kaiserslautern, and Partizan.

Legit.ng earlier reported that former Super Eagles defender Taribo West has stated that the Nigerian team at the 1998 Fifa World Cup in France was capable of winning the trophy that year, Complete Sports reports citing Brila FM.

West was part of the squad which failed to reach the quarter-final after a devastating 4-1 loss to Denmark in the second round of the tournament.

The Super Eagles qualified for their second consecutive World Cup in France having appeared four years earlier in the USA 1994 where the team lost to eventual runners-up Italy in the second round.

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