FOOTBALL MAGIC :IN BETWEEN MARADONA,ETIM ESIN AND AUSTIN OKOCHA

 

FOOTBALL MAGIC :IN BETWEEN MARADONA,ETIM ESIN AND AUSTIN OKOCHA

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU,NOBEL LAUREATE

Diego Maradona has since turned mortality to immortality but the Editorial and Policy Board  of the E.N.M.Paedia Express Multimedia Group of Lagos,Nigeria takes a quick look at the life and professional careers of two players whose style of play were the closest to the God of football ,Diego Maradona ,ironically both are Nigerians  and Africans thus proving the old saying that Nigerians are highly gifted.

Nigerians were first intimated of a dazzling crowd pleaser by the local press of how a certain Etim Esin had turned the Ogbe Stadium in Benin City in present day Edo state then Bendel state  where he was then plying his trade with Flash Flamingoes  into a theatre of exhibitions for football.

The club was owned and bankrolled by a certain pools stakes and business magnate ,Chief Patrick Osakwe.

He had also played for his native Calabar Rovers  at the time in the course of history…

So skillful was he that fans appetite and expectations were already high when he was called to Don the Nigerian national team shirt at The Under 20 level for the for the Flying Eagles of Nigeria at the time in 1985/1986 football season.

On the eve of a vital match those days ,Etim Maradona Esin  as he was aptly called on account of his natural flair by the local press was shot at point blank range by armed robbers after sneaking out of camp  against  team regulations at the time and the entire nation was in deep prayers  for his safety in the hospital due to the severity of the gun shots wounds he had suffered at the hands of the thieves at the time.

When he was to travel to Europe for the first time in 1986/1987 ,his professional career sparked up a bidding war due to his outrageous talent ,eventually he had to criss cross the likes of Ghents,Lokeren and Lierse Football Club of Belgium to earn his living as professional soccer star.

To highlight his brilliance ,Etim Esin ,despite playing for a middle ranged team in Belgium at the time was the highest paid player at the rate of 9,600 Belgian Francs monthly ,one of his beauty of a goal was already being used for television advertisement at the time.

Then stories of  rape and drugs scandal came up and then down the hill went one of the most beautiful men ever to juggle the round leather in all of human history.

He was at the Lisbon Airport in Portugal where he had gone to conclude a deal to move to Sporting Braga  when he saw the news that he had been sentenced to some years in jail by a Belgian court  and he took the next available flight to Lagos,Nigeria and not to Brussels in Belgium ,End of story.

At this time ,the likes of Everton Football Club of Liverpool in England ,A.S.Monaco in France ,both of whom were as big as Borussia Dortmund in Germany and the Paris Saint Germaine  at the time in the 1990s ,were already making enquiries about him and in some instances were actually sending scouts to put an eye on him while also taking down notes to analyze his all -round outputs in the game…

Till this day,No Nigerian ,African or global player of repute has exhibited Etim Esin’s abilities on the ball ,save for Jay Jay Okocha perhaps.

This reporter on the Editorial and Policy Board  of the E.N.M.Paedia Express Multimedia Group of Lagos,Nigeria first heard of Augustine Jay Jay Okocha in a 1992/1993 Complete Football magazine edition which he had brought from the vendor stands in Sabo Garin  area of Kano while on holidays at the time.

The journal had revealed the beautiful story of how a Nigerian soccer wizard had confronted and made a mincemeat of the great and better known Lothar Mattheaus in a German Bundesliga Game Between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich and when you add that to the fact that one of the best strikers globally at the time was the Ghanaian Tony Yeboah ,okocha became a cult hero or figure almost immediately at home .

If you doubted his abilities  then go and watch how he made Oliver Khann miserable after rounding up at least six players from the center of the field and then slotting past arguably the best goalkeeper in the world at the time with the goal tender bemused as if he had seen a ghost.

Okocha also took matters into his hands when he single handedly wreaked havoc on several premiership  club sides while playing for Bolton Wanderers.

His displays did not go unnoticed  as he was picked as one of the top six in England in a particular season due to his outstanding performance on the field of play .

We have heard it being stated that Diego Maradona was both a Saint and a Devil by analysts ,but we think that this type of commentaries are not fair to the memories of a man who brought joy to the faces of billions on  planet Earth.

Maradona never called himself  God but people out of willful  stupidity  decided to worship him  and in the process called him one ,hence because he was not God there was no way he could have lived without sin as he was human just like the rest of us.

There are lots of people this days wh9o take cocaine or other forms of drugs but it’s not seen as abnormal because there are legislations presently that does not criminalize it as opposed to 30 to 40 years ago when Maradona started to indulge in this in Naples playing for Napoli…

Maradona’s only sin was been addicted to drugs ,this however should not be enough to erase his years of services to mankind and his nation through sports.

We dare say ,Diego Aramando Franco Maradona   ,no matter what some may say about him was a very good man.

His place in history as the greatest political figure from Argentina despite been a sporting professional will not be forgotten so easily or so soon …

His place also as the greatest soccer artiste the world has ever seen alongside the likes of Zico,Pele,Garrincha,Cristiano Ronaldo,Johan Cruyff,Michael Platini,Franz Beckenbauar,George Weah,Samuel Etoo Fils,Roger Milla ,Puskas,amongst so many other greats too numerous to be listed is assured in history books for years and centuries to come…

To mother Argentina ,we say mourn no more but celebrate the life and times of Diego Maradona as he gave his all to serving his people affectionately even up to his last breath  on planet earth.

To his team mates like Careca in Napoli,the likes of Burruchaga,Valdano,Mario Kempes,Ossie Ardilles,Claudio Canniggia,Sergio Goycochea,Nerry Pumpido,Ollarticochea etc ,we can onoly say that they should take heart and continue to inspire millions globally with Diego Maradona legacy.