Jay Jay Okocha
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Augustine Azuka Okocha | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 14 August 1973 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| Enugu Rangers | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Borussia Neunkirchen | 35 | (7) | |||||||||||||
| 1992–1996 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 90 | (16) | |||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Fenerbahçe | 62 | (30) | |||||||||||||
| 1998–2002 | Paris Saint-Germain | 84 | (23) | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Bolton Wanderers | 124 | (14) | |||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Qatar SC | 41 | (6) | |||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Hull City | 18 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 454 | (85) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1993–2006 | Nigeria | 75 | (14) | |||||||||||||
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Augustine Azuka "Jay-Jay" Okocha (born 14 August 1973) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A quick and skillful playmaker, who is widely regarded as the best Nigerian player of his generation and one of the greatest African players of all time, Okocha was known for his confidence, technique, creativity, and dribbling skills, as well as his use of feints, in particular the stepover. Due to his skill, he was described as being 'so good that they named him twice' (a line immortalised in a terrace chant while Okocha played for Bolton Wanderers). He is a dual Nigerian-Turkish citizen, having acquired Turkish citizenship as "Muhammet Yavuz" while playing for Süper Lig team Fenerbahçe.
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 elder brother James, who started playing football first. His immediate elder brother, Emmanuel was also called Emma Jay-jay, but the name stuck with Okocha instead. He began playing football on the streets 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 that year, he went on holiday to West Germany, the country that had just won the 1990 FIFA World Cup, so he could watch German league football. His friend Binebi Numa was playing in the Third Division for Borussia Neunkirchen, and one morning Okocha accompanied Numa to training, where he asked to join in. The Neunkirchen coach was impressed with Okocha's skills and invited him back the next day before offering him a contract. A year later, he joined 1. FC Saarbrücken, but stayed only a few months with the 2. Bundesliga side before a move to the 1. Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt.
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