A former Super Eagles Captain Austin Jay Jay Okocha reveals why Nigeria as a country produces more of forwards than defenders ANN reports.
Okocha was part of the 1994 Super Eagles squad that won Nigeria’s second African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) title in Tunisia.
During a Bundesliga media round table, Okocha expressed his opinion as to why Nigeria is more successful in producing successful strikers, than defenders.
Okocha highlights reason why Nigeria produces more strikers than defenders
The former Bolton Wanderers skipper, attributed it to Nigeria’s cultural inclinations.
“I will say football is part of our culture in Nigeria. And every kid in Nigeria wants to be a goalscorer. [They] want to be noticed. They realized that maybe the offensive midfielders, players and strikers are the ones that get noticed more than defenders. And maybe because of nature. Also, the way we are built has made us [Nigeria] produce a lot of strikers“ he said as quoted by Soccernet Nigeria.
Speaking further, the former Hull City Midfielder, highlighted in contrast by citing Nigeria’s rival Senegal.
Per his opinion, Senegal is a country that seemingly produces more defenders than strikers. This Okocha pointed out a possible influence of genetic factors.
“If you look at a country like Senegal, I think they have produced more defenders than strikers. So it might have something to do with our genes. But also, the fans might also have a hand in it, because we don’t forgive defenders if they score an own goal but we can forgive strikers.” he added.
Super Eagles team at the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, Onikan, Lagos.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles currently boasts of powerful dominant forwards in Victor Osimhen, Taiwo Awoniyi, Victor Boniface, Kelechi Iheanacho, Terem Moffi, Paul Onuachu amongst others who are currently on top of their games in European leagues.
The three-time African champions will hope to secure a fourth title when the AFCON starts in January of 2024.
