Nigeria’s national team (Super Eagles) is one of the best national teams on the African continent. It has produced outstanding players with good quality, talent, and great passion for the game. This article discusses seven of the top talents Super Eagles have ever produced, based on the players’ achievements and contributions to the national team and their clubs, both locally and internationally.
7. Taribo West
Taribo West is a Nigerian pastor and former football player who played as a center-back. He was well-known for his physical commanding power at the back in the field and his various controversial and unusual colorful hairstyles.
West’s impact on Nigerian football was so huge that there is a football club in the country named after him, Taribo West FC. His club career includes spells in local and European clubs, with the most notable including Auxerre, Ac Milan, Inter Milan, and Derby County. He retired from football in 2008.
Achievements and honors
West collect several honors throughout his football career, including one Championnat de France and two Coupe de France titles with Auxerre, one UEFA Cup at Inter Milan, and the First League of Serbia and Montenegro with Partizan. Internationally, West won one Olympic medal and came once as runners-up in AFCON with Super Eagles.
6. John Obi Mikel
John Michael Nchekwube Obinna is a Nigerian professional football player who plays defensive midfielder. He began his football career at a tender age, and by the age of 17, he was already playing abroad in Norway at Lyn, although he is better known for his spell at English powerhouse Chelsea.
Achievements and honors
Obi Mikel won several honors with Chelsea, including two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, one Football League Cup, one FA Community Cup, one Champions League title, and one Europa League title. He also won the Turkish Cup once with Trabzonspor.
Internationally, Mikel is a one-time winner of the AFCON Cup with the Super Eagles and won the summer Olympics bronze medal with the country’s under-20 team.
5. Vincent Enyeama
Vincent Enyeama is a former Nigerian professional goalkeeper who is regarded as one of the greatest African goalkeepers of all time and during his era.
Enyeama played for several local and international clubs in his 20-year career, including Ibom Stars, Enyimba, Iwuanyanwu, Nationale, Bnei Yehuda, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Lille, and Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was also an integral part of the Super Eagles team from 2002 until 2015, where he also served as captain from 2013 until his retirement in 2015.
Achievements and honors
Enyeama won several honors in his footballing career, including three Nigerian Premier League titles and two CAF Champions League titles with Enyimba, one Israeli Premier League title, two Israel State Cups with Hapoel Tel-Aviv, and also one Israeli Premier League title with Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Internationally, Enyeama is one time- winner of the Africa Cup of Nations with the Super Eagles.
4. Joseph Yobo
Joseph Yobo is a former Nigerian professional football player who played as a defender. Yobo is also a former Super Eagles captain and is among the most capped footballers ever for Nigeria with 101 appearances.
Besides Super Eagles, Yobo played his club football career locally and internationally with notable clubs including Everton, Fenerbahce, and Norwich City. Currently, Yobo is the assistant head coach of the Super Eagles since 2020.
Achievements and honors
Yobo has a few honors to his name, including one Super Lig and two Turkish Cups with Fenerbahce, and has was part of the Super Eagles team that won the African Cup of Nations in 2013.
3. Rashidi Yekini
Rashidi Yekini was a former Nigerian professional footballer who played as a center forward and is the all-time top goal scorer for Nigeria’s Super Eagles.
Yekini’s professional football career, which lasted for over two decades, was mainly spent at Vitoria de Setubal in Portugal, but he also played in seven other countries, including his own Nigeria. He is a true football icon for Nigerians, and he represented his country in seven major competitions, including two World Cups. Sadly, Yekini passed away on 04 May 2012 at 48.
Achievements and honors
Yekini is a one-time winner of the AFCON with Super Eagles and is the all-time goal scorer with 37 goals from 62 appearances for the team.
2. Jay Jay Okocha
Augustine Azuka Okocha (Jay Jay Okocha) is a former Nigerian professional football player who mainly played as an attacking midfielder. He is best known for his dribbling skills and is regarded as one of all-time’s greatest African football players.
He played in several leagues around the globe, starting locally at Enugu Rangers before moving abroad, where he played notably at Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahce, Paris Saint-Germain, Bolton Wanderers, and Hull City.
Achievements and honors
Jay Jay won several honors with different clubs, including two Saarland Cups and one Oberliga Sudwest with Borussia Neunkirchen, Prime Minister’s Cup, and Ataturk Cup with Fenerbahce, Trophee des Champions and UEFA Intertoto Cup with PSG, and also finished runners-up in Football League Cup with Bolton.
Internationally he won the AFCON once with Super Eagles and the Afro-Asian Cup of Nations.
1. Nwankwo Kanu
Nwankwo Kanu is a former Nigerian professional footballer who played center forward. He is the most decorated Nigerian player of all time with several honors with the Super Eagles and from his club career.
His club career started locally at Iwuanyanwu Nationale before moving abroad, where he played notably at Ajax, Inter Milan, Arsenal, West Bromwich Albion, and Portsmouth.
Achievements and honors
Kanu has won several honors with the big ones, including a UEFA Champions League medal, A UEFA Cup medal, two EFL Premier League titles, and three FA Cup medals. Also, he was named the African Player of the Year twice. He is also a one-time winner of the Africa Cup of Nations.
