Players like Taiwo Awoniyi, Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, Gift Orbán and many others have achieved great results in Europe.
Nigerian soccer legend Austin Jay-Jay Okocha has shared his views on why Nigeria tends to have more talented strikers than defenders and goalkeepers, according to Soccernet. ng reported.
In the current era, Nigerian strikers are shining on the world stage compared to defenders, midfielders and goalkeepers.
Players like Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, Taiwo Awoniyi, Gift Orbán, Kelechi Iheanacho, Terem Mofi and Akole Adams have shown great performances in different European leagues.
The dominance of Nigerian strikers has raised questions about their prevalence and success compared to other positions in soccer.
At a Bundesliga media roundtable, Okocha opined on Nigeria’s ability to produce successful strikers, attributing this to cultural bias.
“I think soccer is part of the Nigerian culture, and all the Nigerian kids want to be goal scorers. [They] want to be noticed. I’ve noticed that perhaps attacking midfielders, players and strikers get more attention than defenders, and maybe that’s natural. “Also, because of our size, we (Nigeria) have produced a lot of strikers,” he commented.
Okocha also highlighted the contrast by citing Senegal, which appears to produce more defenders than strikers, suggesting a possible influence of genetic factors. I am.
“If you look at a country like Senegal, I think they produce more defenders than strikers. So it could have something to do with our genes. But… We don’t forgive defenders who score own goals, but we can forgive strikers, so there is a possibility that fans will also take part,” he added.
Looking ahead, Nigeria’s Super Eagles are gearing up for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. This generation of talent, especially the strikers, is expected to give fans an opportunity to celebrate throughout the tournament.
