Remembering Rashidi Yekini, the star striker who led Nigeria to glory
Today, eight years ago, Nigeria sadly lost one of its finest footballers of all time, Rashidi Yekini. The star striker who led Nigeria to victory many times in his 14 years of playing for the National team, Super Eagles died in Ibadan on May 4, 2012, after a protracted illness.
But before he passed at the age of 48, Yekini was on roll call as one of the best players to ever come out of Africa. He stood tall as one striker whose unflinching target on finding the net, and his legendary celebrations after scoring a goal made him a remarkable African footballer.
Born on October 23, 1963, in Kaduna to parents of Yoruba origin from Kwara state, Yekini started out as an apprentice mechanic in Kaduna before embracing a professional football career at UNTL FC, Kaduna in 1981. He later moved to the Shooting Stars in 1982 where he scored 45 goals in 53 appearances.
At the peak of his career at Vitória F.C. in Portugal, his spectacular performance earned him the African Footballer of the Year Award in 1993, making him the first Nigerian player to win the award.
One of his most memorable achievements was scoring Nigeria’s first ever World Cup goal during a 3-0 victory over Bulgaria at USA ’94. His celebration after scoring the goal, which showed him screaming while shaking the opponent’s net, stamped his image as one of the iconic moments of the tournament.
Earlier that year, Yekini had helped Nigeria win its first Africa Cup of Nations title in Tunisia. He was the tournament’s leading goalscorer with five strikes that helped Nigeria lift the trophy. Once he was on the pitch, many Nigerian fans would rest assured that the country has a chance to win. Holding the record for the country’s highest goalscorer with 37 goals in total, Yekini always delivered.
“Rashidi Yekini is definitely one of the best African players and legends to ever walk this earth,” his former teammate, Sunday Oliseh once said about him.
But some wrong moves later in his career will take the shine away from Yekini, and he never fully recovered from his ordeal. With a prolific goal-scoring record, he was approached by Olympiakos with a whooping &100,000-a-month contract which he took. He didn’t quite get along with his teammates and coach which forced him to quit in a few months. This shattered him and his career never got back on track after the setback. By the time he played the France ‘98 World Cup, he no longer performed like before. He retired from international football that year.
He tried his hands on local clubs like Julius Berger FC on his return to Nigeria, before completely withdrawing from the public. In 2011, rumours started to spread about his ill health and in May 2012 it was confirmed that he had passed away, although the cause of death was never officially confirmed.
Remembering him today, May 4, 2020, FIFA shared a clip of his evergreen celebration after scoring in the USA ‘94 World Cup match against Bulgaria.
“Rasheed Yekini produced one of the most iconic celebrations in #WorldCup history after scoring the @NGSuperEagles’ first-ever goal in the competition. Africa sadly lost its greatest-ever players #OnThisDay in 2012, but his legend will live on eternally,” FIFA tweeted.
Others including Sunday Oliseh shared in his memory as well.
“8 years ago Today, we lost Nigeria’s greatest striker of all time in Rashidi Yekini. May his blessed soul rest in Peace,” Oliseh tweeted.
Had Yekini been alive, he would have turned 57 this year. At the time of his death, the legendary player was survived by his aged mother, brother, three wives and children, among many Nigerian and international fans.
