Augustine Azuka "Jay-Jay" Okocha is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a midfielder.
He is widely regarded as the Best Nigerian Player of his Generation.
He is also known for his stepovers, skill, technique, and being 'so good that they named
him twice'.
He is a dual Nigerian-Turkish citizen, having acquired Turkish citizenship as "Muhammet
Yavuz" while playing for Süper Lig team Fenerbahçe.
Career Okocha was born in Enugu, Enugu State.
His parents were from Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Nigeria.
The name Jay-Jay was actually passed down from his older brother James, who started
playing football first.
His immediate older brother Emmanuel was also called Emma Jay-jay, but the name stuck with
Okocha.
He began playing football on the street just like many other football stars, usually with
a makeshift ball.
In an interview with BBC Sport he said "as far as I can remember, we used to play with
anything, with any round thing we could find, and whenever we managed to get hold of a ball,
that was a bonus!
I mean it was amazing!"
In 1990, he joined Enugu Rangers.
In his time at the club he produced many spectacular displays including one where he rounded off
and scored a goal, against experienced Nigerian goalkeeper William Okpara in a match against
BCC Lions.
Later he travelled to Germany to meet a friend, where he was asked to train with his team
after impressing in training, and landed a deal with German Third Division side Borussia
Neunkirchen.
Eintracht Frankfurt Okocha joined Eintracht Frankfurt in 1992,
where he linked up with many well-known players including Ghanaian international striker Tony
Yeboah and later Thomas Doll.
He continued to shine for the German side, one highlight being a goal he scored against
Karlsruhe, dribbling in the penalty box and slotting the ball past Oliver Kahn even going
past some players twice.
The goal was voted Goal of the Season by many soccer magazines, and also voted as 1993 Goal
of the Year by viewers of Sportschau.
In 1995, Okocha, Yeboah and Maurizio Gaudino were all involved in a feud with manager Jupp
Heynckes, which led to their departure from the club.
Yeboah and Gaudino later left for England, while Okocha stayed until the end of the season
when Frankfurt were relegated to the Second division, before signing for Istanbul club
Fenerbahçe.
Fenerbahçe Okocha joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe following
Eintracht Frankfurt's relegation to Bundesliga 2.
In his two seasons with the team he amassed thirty goals in sixty appearances, many of
them coming from direct free kicks which had become something of a trademark for him at
the club.
While at Fenerbahçe, he also became a Turkish citizen as "Muhammet Yavuz."
Paris St-Germain In 1998, French side PSG splashed around $24
million on Okocha, making him the most expensive African player at the time.
During his four-year stint with PSG, he played 84 matches and scored 12 goals.
He has also served as a mentor for Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho during his time in Paris.
Bolton Wanderers Okocha joined Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer
after leaving PSG in the summer of 2002 after the FIFA World Cup.
His debut season, despite being hampered by injury, made him a favourite with the Bolton
fans, with the team printing shirts with the inscription "Jay-Jay – so good they named
him twice".
He steered the team away from relegation with seven goals, including the team Goal of the
Season in the vital league win against West Ham United.
This was voted Bolton's best Premier League goal in a fans vote in 2008.
The next season saw Okocha receive more responsibility as he was given the captain's armband following
Guðni Bergsson's retirement.
As captain he led Bolton to their first cup final in nine years where they finished runners-up
in the 2004 Football League Cup.
In 2006, he was stripped of the captaincy – something he said he had seen coming,
as there had been a change in attitude from some staff members.
This had probably been due to his proposed move to the Middle East, which had been growing
in speculation.
At the end of the season, he refused a one-year extension in order to move to Qatar.
Following Bolton's relegation from the Premier League in 2012, Okocha stated that his time
at the club was a waste of time, saying the club had not improved since his time there.
Hull City After just one season in Qatar, Football League
Championship side Hull City signed Okocha on a free transfer in 2007, after the player
had been linked to Real Salt Lake and Sydney FC.
It was a move he made saying that "God had told him to do so".
He however was not able to contribute greatly to Hull's promotion campaign due to fitness
and constant injury problems, playing only 18 games and scoring no goals.
Hull still succeeded in grabbing promotion to the Premier League, for the first time
in their 104-year history.
At the end of the season, after changing his mind on a proposed retirement due to Hull's
promotion, he was released by the club, which sent him into retirement.
International career Okocha made his official debut for Nigeria
in their 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup Qualifier away loss against Ivory Coast in May 1993.It
was not until his second cap and home debut that he became a favourite with the Nigerian
supporters.
With Nigeria trailing 1–0 against Algeria, in a match they needed to win, he scored from
a direct free kick to equalise, before helping the team to a 4–1 win, eventually securing
qualification to their first World Cup.
In 1994, he was a member of both the victorious 1994 African Cup of Nations squad and the
World Cup squad who made it to the second round before they lost in a dramatic match
against eventual runners-up Italy.
In 1996, Okocha became a member of an arguably more successful Nigerian side, their Olympic
gold winning side at the Atlanta Games, later nicknamed Dream Team by the Nigerian press
after the USA 1992 Olympic gold winning basketball team.
In the 1998 FIFA World Cup hosted by France, Okocha played for a disappointing Super Eagles
side who failed to live up to expectations again reaching the round of 16, albeit with
less impressive performances save for their 3–2 opening win against Spain.
This did not destroy interest in Okocha, who had entertained fans with his trademark skills
and dribbles and went on to be named in the squad of the tournament.
Okocha again joined the Super Eagles in the 2000 African Cup of Nations co-hosted with
Ghana.
He scored three goals in the tournament, two in the opening game against Tunisia, and a
left-foot blast from outside the penalty area into the top corner in the final against Cameroon,
which equalized the score 2–2 and ultimately would send the match into extra time.
There was no change in the score during the supplement, so the winner was decided on penalties;
Okocha converted his shot but Nigeria lost the shootout to earn the silver medal.
After a disappointing Nations Cup in 2002 where Nigeria ended up finishing third, Okocha
was named Nigeria captain after Sunday Oliseh and Finidi George were axed from the side.
His first tournament as captain came that summer in the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by
Korea and Japan.
Playing in Group E, the ‘group of the death’ alongside Argentina, Sweden and England, Nigeria
failed to make it to the next round gaining only one point in their final game, a goalless
draw against England.
Okocha later led the Nigerian team to a third place finish at the 2004 African Nations Cup
in Tunisia, with some breathtaking displays, scoring four goals which include a spectacular
free kick against Cameroon in the quarter finals and most notably the 1000th goal in
Nations Cup history against South Africa, and winning the Player of the tournament and
joint Golden boot winner.
After failing to help Nigeria qualify for the 2006 World Cup, Okocha announced that
he would retire from international scene after the Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Injury prevented Okocha from featuring in any of Nigeria's opening fixtures and he did
not regain fitness until the semi final loss against Ivory Coast.
He then played in his final international appearance in a 2–1 victory in a third place
playoff against Senegal, he was then given a standing ovation by the nearly 60,000 attendance
when he left the field.
He made a return to the Super Eagles in his testimonial against an African select side
in Warri.
The game featured former players Daniel Amokachi, Alloysius Agu and John Fashanu, as well as
current players Benjani and Sulley Muntari.
Nigeria won the game 2–1 with Okocha scoring the winning goal after appearing for the side
in the second half.
In March 2004, he was named among the top 125 living footballers by Pelé.
Honours Club honours
Saarland Cup: 1990, 1992 Oberliga Südwest: 1991
Fuji-Cup: 1992 Chancellor Cup: 1998
Atatürk Cup: 1998 Trophée des Champions: 1998
UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001 Football League Cup: Runner-Up 2004
Football League Championship play-off: 2008 International honours
African Cup of Nations: 1994 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations: 1995
Olympic Games: 1996 Individual honours
Okocha never won the African Player of Year award, becoming arguably the best player never
to win the award despite coming second twice in 1998.
He did however win the inaugural BBC African Footballer of the Year and the successive
one, becoming the only player to retain the award and win it more than once.
In 2004 he was listed in football legend Pelé's FIFA 100.
In 2007 he was voted number 12 on the greatest African footballers of the past 50 years list,
on a poll conducted by CAF to coincide with their 50th anniversary.
August 1993 Goal of the Month 1993 Goal of the Year
1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Nigerian footballer of the year
1996 Nigerian footballer of the year 1998 African Footballer of the Year
2003, 2004 BBC African Footballer of the Year April 2003 Goal of the Month
November 2003 Premier League Player of the Month
2005 Bolton Wanderers footballer of the year FIFA 100
Personal life Okocha met his wife Nkechi in 1994 and they
have two children Daniella and A-Jay.
His older brother Emmanuel was also a former international for the Nigerian team.
Okocha is a cousin of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's current Minister of Finance and
former Foreign Affairs Minister and World Bank Managing Director.
Okocha is also a member of the Anioma, a subgroup of Igboethnic group.
His nephew Kamocha plays for Guna F.C.
whilst another nephew Alex Iwobi is at Arsenal.
Sponsorships and other ventures Okocha has appeared in commercials for Pepsi,
Samsung, V-Mobile and B-29.
He released a DVD in 2004 titled Superskills with Jay-Jay, where he taught difficult tricks
to children.
He also briefly promoted his own brand of water named Jay-Jay during the late 1990s.
He was mentioned in the lyrics of M.I.A's hit song Paper Planes.
He also owns a bar in Victoria Island, Lagos named Number 10.
Career statistics
See also Jay Jay Okocha Stadium
References
External links Jay-Jay Okocha career stats at Soccerbase
Jay-Jay Okocha non official website Jay-Jay Okocha at fussballdaten.de