How Oliseh, Kanu, Okocha, others lost Ballon d’Or awards
Since the era of Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George and Daniel Amokachi, their outstanding individual performances earned them nominations in the prestigious FIFA Ballon d’Or award but did get enough votes to win the award.
Since the end of their era, Nigeria is yet to witness another golden moments from the present crop of players in the senior national team – Super Eagles.
Kanu, Okocha, Oliseh among others brought memorable moments of football and made their marks with the round leather game both for country and club wise.
READ ALSO: Ballon d’or winner rates Okocha over Pele
One of those moments of their generation was clinching gold at the Atlanta ’96 Olympics after beating Brazil 4-3 in the semi-finals.
Two years later, these generation of players were able to square up with Spain during the France’ 98 World Cup and won the match 3-2 after Oliseh’s stunning strike in the 78th minute few meters from the centre circle.
1. Sunday Oliseh
Retired Super Eagles defensive midfielder Sunday Oliseh played for a number of European clubs including Ajax, Reggiana and Juventus.
He is widely regarded as one of Africa’s greatest ever midfielders and was nominated for the ballin d’Or award in 1998 but sadly, he received no vote.
2. Austin Okocha
Regarded as one of Africa’s most skilful dribblers, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha played for the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Paris Saint Germain, Fenerbahce and Eintracht Frankfurt and scored more than 100 goals in his professional career.
Okocha was nominated for the ballon d’Or award in both 1995 and 1996 but he received no vote on both occasions.
3. Kanu Nwankwo
Kanu Nwankwo is the highest ever ranked Nigerian football in the history of the FIFA ballon d’Or award.
The former Ajax, Inter, Arsenal and Portsmouth star was ranked 11th in the year 1996 and ranked 23rd in 1999.
4. Finidi George
The former Ajax and Real Betis winger is one of Nigeria’s greatest exports to Europe, having established himself as arguably the greatest winger in the world at some point.
Finidi was ranked 21st in the 1995 ballon d’Or awards.
5. Victor Ikpeba
Nicknamed “Prince of Monaco,” Victor Ikpeba proved his worth at both club and international level and even won the African Player of the Year award.
He was ranked 32nd in the 1997 FIFA ballon d’Or awards.
6. Daniel Amokachi
The former Club Brugge and Everton star was nominated for the 1995 FIFA ballon d’Or rankings, but he received no vote.
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