Yekini, Okocha Are The Only Nigerians On List of AFCON Best Player of the Tournament in Last 31 Years

Yekini, Okocha Are The Only Nigerians On List of AFCON Best Player of the Tournament in Last 31 Years

Ibitoye Shittu
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:42 PM
In this article:
CAF Africa Cup of Nations logo
CAF AFCON
Africa
  • Rashidi Yekini and Austin Okocha have emerged as the two Nigerian players on the list of best AFCON stars from 1990 to 2019
  • These two players are no doubt among the best Nigerian players to have ever played for the Super Eagles
  • Algeria are the current champions of Africa thanks to their win over Senegal at 2019 AFCON held in Egypt

Nigeria in their history have won the African Cup of Nations three-times which is still fair enough considering the level of competition in the tournament which usually come up every two years.

At the last edition of the 2019 African Cup of Nations held in Egypt, the Super Eagles of Nigeria reached the semifinal of the competition and were beaten by Algeria who went to win the title.

The last time Nigerian won the African Cup of Nations was in 2013 during the reign of late coach Stephen Keshi who recorded his name in the history book by winning the AFCON title as a player and coach.

Rashidi Yekini
Rashidi Yekini in action for the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Photo: Henri-Szwarc
Source: Getty Images

And since then, the Super Eagles have not gotten to the final even though current coach Gernot Rohr has promised Nigerians that his wards would do well in the next edition.

However, going into the past records of the best player of the tournament in the African Cup of Nations from 1990 to 2019, only Rashidi Yekini and Austin Okocha made the list of the players of the tournament.

See the list below from 1990 to 2019

Rabah Madjer named best in 1990

Abedi Pele in 1992

Rashidi Yekini in 1994

Kalusha Bwalya in 1996

Benni McCarthy in 1998

Lauren in 2000

Rigobert Song in 2002

Austin Okocha in 2004

Ahmed Hassan in 2006

Hosni Abo Rabo in 2008

Ahmed Hassan in 2010

Felix Katongo in 2012

Jonathan Pitroipa in 2013

Christian Atsu in 2015

Christian Mougang Bassogog in 2017

Ismael Bennacer in 2019

AFCON stars
Yekini, Okocha make list of AFCON best player of the tournament in last 22 years
Source: UGC

Fans storm stadium to watch Super Eagles legend Austin Okocha

Earlier, Legit.ng had reported how fans in Oyo state were treated to something special at the Lekan Salami Stadium, the home ground of Shooting stars football club otherwise known as 3SC in Ibadan.

Super Eagles legends played against Governor Seyi Makinde's selected side which had former players of 3SC and the fans were treated to a spectacle.

The likes of Jay-Jay Okocha, Taribo West, Augustine Eguavoen, Mutiu Adepoju, Peter Rufai, Ike Shorunmu, Segun Odegbami, Friday Ekpo, Dimeji Lawal, and others were all present to grace the occasion.

Before kick-off, a group of students numbering up to 20 had a short dance performance and ended it with fireworks that lit up the packed crowd at the famous Adamasingba.

Authors
Ibitoye Shittu photo
Ibitoye Shittu
Editor- Local Desk
Tags
Nigeria