The Nigeria Football Federation has appointed former Super Eagles captains Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, and former star winger, Tijani Babangida as spies and motivational figures for the team.
NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, in a press statement by Ademola Olajire, director of communication, NFF, said the three legends will monitor the activities of the Super Eagles’ opponents leading to the finals in Egypt and report to Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr, and will continue their assignment in Egypt during the championship.
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“Okocha, Kanu and Babangida served Nigeria meritoriously as players and we believe they have the capacity to excel in this particular assignment. They will also serve as role models for our young team in Egypt,” Sanusi said.
The flamboyant midfielder was a key member of the much –fancied ‘golden generation’, which qualified Nigeria for her first FIFA World Cup finals, won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time on away soil and impressed in reaching the Round of 16 at Nigeria’s debut in the World Cup in 1994.
Kanu narrowly missed the cut for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but captained the Nigeria U-23 team to win Africa’s first Olympic football gold in Atlanta, USA in 1996 and was a member of the squad that finished as runners-up in the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations.
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Babangida featured at the 1998 finals in France where he scored Nigeria’s only goal in the Round of 16 defeat to Denmark and is currently President of the National Association of Nigeria Professional Footballers (NANPF) – the globally–recognized body of Nigerian players.
This article was most recently revised and updated 5 years ago
