Segun Odegbami, a Nigerian football star, says that the Super Eagles team from 1994 was the greatest the country has ever produced.
Clemens Westerhof, a Dutch football coach, oversaw the 1994 side, who won the African Cup of Nations hosted by Tunisia and made their debut in the FIFA World Cup in the United States.
Prominent players of the squad were the late Stephen Keshi, Austine Eguavon, Uche Ikechukwu, Ben Iroha, Sunday Oliseh, Samson Siasia, and Austine Jay. Jay Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Finidi George, Emmanuel Amuneke, Peter Rufai, and a host of others, including the late Rashidi Yekini, led the attack.
Speaking about the group, Odegbami stated the players were excellent players with individual abilities but also knew how to play as a team.
Odegabmi who was part of the Nigerian delegation at the just concluded AFCON 2023 in Cote D’Ivoire made this known in a recent exclusive interview with Vanguard in Lagos.
The ex-international said the Super Eagles in 1994 also took Nigeria to the 5th position in the FIFA ranking because of their exceptional skills and strength.
He said, “Well, football is a generational thing. And the best footballers are not made, they are born. If you don’t have them, you don’t have them. And, if you have them, you have them.
“It’s like saying how do we get another Jay Jay Okocha. If it is possible for us to go and design another Jay Jay and bring him back, we will do so, but it is not possible.
“He came at a time and did what he did, just as Muda Lawal came at a time and did what he did. Kanu came at a time and did what he did. You cannot replicate these people.
