Jay Jay Okocha Did Not Take His Talent with Seriousness, Akinola Bode-Alaaka
– Emeka Esogbue
Ex-Nigerian International and Super Eagles Captain Austin Jay Jay Okocha never took his talent seriously. This opinion was aired by an online commentator on Nigerian football, simply identified as Akinola Bode-Alaaka.
Passing comment on a short video clip, posted by Frank Khalid, Bode-Alaaka on his page, full of admiration for the Midfield Maestro but apparently regretful that the football wizard did not take his career as far as expected by his fans, commented.
Khalid had posted a video clip showing Jay Jay Okocha and Argentine Diego Maradona and titled it “Diego Maradona vs Jay-Jay Okocha in Word Cup 1994. For me, two of the best dribblers in Football history,” which attracted several admirable comments.
Expression his view, Akinola stated,
“Okocha never took his talent serious (sic). Not like what we have in world football now.”
“He never cared about statistics et al. More importantly, didn’t have the right mentor.”
“He was like a rough precious diamond that never got polished,” he said.
Austin Jay Jay Okocha hails from the Ogwashi-Uku community of Anioma in Delta State.
Anioma people, often praised for the huge human resources available to them at the time, produced three Super Eagles captains in succession, and they were Stephen Keshi, Sunday Olise, and Austin Okocha.
Jay Jay Okocha is considered one of the best players in the round leather game.