Ahead of the 2016 Vodafone Unity Match(VUM), championed by Primeval, SportsCrusader.com takes a look at the life of ex-Nigerian international, Augustine ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha who has been invited to feature in a star studded team for the Double header in Kumasi and Accra on June 8 and June 11, 2016 respectively.
Augustine Okocha (born August 14, 1973 in Enugu) is a Nigerian football (soccer) midfielder. He is nicknamed Jay Jay for his entertaining and flamboyant style of play.
Okocha has played for several European clubs including Bolton Wanderers, Paris Saint-Germain, Fenerbahçe, and Eintracht Frankfurt and was regularly selected for the Nigeria national football team during his active playing days.
Known as a hugely skillful midfielder, Okocha has played at the 1994, 1998 (where he was named in the official team of the tournament), and 2002 World Cup finals and many African Nations Cup tournaments. He was also a member of the Nigerian team that won the golden medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
Okocha is often described as an African “Maradona”, as his style is similar to that of the Argentine superstar. He is a member of the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé in conjunction with FIFA’s centenary celebrations. He has also been nominated BBC’s African footballer of the year (2004 and 2005).
In the early 2005/06 season, he was replaced as Bolton captain by Kevin Nolan. This is much attributed to his public admittance that he was interested in a lucrative move to the Middle East to ply his trade.
Jay-Jay is an excellent example of a complete African player with his great individual skills, good vision, passing and shooting.
In 2004 he released a DVD called “Superskills with Jay-Jay Okcoha” where he teaches kids at a footbal school the most difficult tricks in football, most of which he has done in games. He’s known as the player who does things during a match that most people can’t even imagine doing in training or even do it at all.
VUM PLAYER PROFILE: Augustine "Jay-Jay" Okocha
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