Austin Jay-Jay Okocha has earned plaudits as one of the greatest African footballers of all time by a coach who recently won the Africa Cup of Nations.
Okocha is widely considered as possibly the most talented footballer to come out of Africa and was reputable for his skills, trickery and creativity during a career that spanned about 20 years.
He played in top professional leagues in Europe, including Germany, Turkey, France and England and was part of the famous Super Eagles class of 1994.
Fae acknowledges Okocha’s greatness
Ivory Coast national team head coach Emerse Fae has named his top three greatest African footballers of all time, including Nigerian legend JJ Okocha.
Fae, speaking to ESPN Africa during the CAF Awards in December, was asked to pick, and after admitting it was a difficult question, he named his top three.
“All the time? Difficult question. Difficult question because…,” he said.
“George Weah of course. I like Yaya Toure because I was a midfielder, and I love the way that he played, and the third one, I think, it could be, it could be Jay-Jay Okocha.”
Of all the three names mentioned, the former Bolton Wanderers star was the only one who failed to be named the African Footballer of the Year during his career.
Okocha was widely expected to win the award in 1998, but it surprisingly went to Morocco’s Mustapha Hadji.
George Weah won the CAF Player of the Year twice and also the 1995 Ballon d’Or award. Yaya Toure won the award four consecutive times between 2011 and 2014.
Fae, until a year ago, was relatively unknown in African football, but after guiding Ivory Coast to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, taking charge from the third game, he won the CAF Coach of the Year.
Ex-England coach praises Okocha
reported that former England national team head coach Sam Allardyce praised Okocha after coaching the attacker during their time together at Bolton.
Allardyce hailed Okocha as the David Beckham of Africa and claimed he was surprised that the top clubs in England, including Arsenal and Manchester United, never signed him.
