The 46-year-old Former Nigerian forward, Jay Jay okocha flashed back to his 18-year professional career to reveal his football mentor and biggest disappointment
Former Nigeria captain Jay-Jay Okocha admitted he ‘did enough’ during his playing days and regrets not winning the African Footballer of the Year award.
The ex-Bolton Wanderers star came close to securing the coveted individual honour in 1998 after his impressive displays at PSG but he finished in second-place behind Morocco’s Mustapha Hadji.
Five years later, Okocha grabbed third spot behind Samuel Eto’o and Didier Drogba and in 2004, he came second again after claiming the Best Player award and the Golden Boot with four goals at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
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Although he won several laurels in his 18-year career, the 46-year-old said he was probably not destined to win the prize that rewards the best player in Africa.
“And if I’m to say, I’ll say, I regret not winning the African Footballer of the year,” Okocha said in a chat with MasterCard.
“But of course, if you look back, there’s always a time that you say ‘Oh maybe you could’ve done a bit better than you did’.
“I thought I did enough to have won it because it was not a fluke that I won the BBC player of the Year three years in a row and not managed to win that Caf award, but I mean maybe it was not meant to be.
“Well, I think I don’t want to sound greedy, but I’ve had an amazing career, I never thought I would make it that big.”
Revealing futhet, the person who i adore most is pele, okocha said. He ended his carrer in 2006.
