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Tag: Jay jay okocha

  • Okocha wasted his talent by moving to EPL – Ronaldinho

    Okocha wasted his talent by moving to EPL – Ronaldinho

    Brazil football lcon, Ronaldinho has faulted Jay- Jay  Okocha’s decision to join Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League years back.

    Ronaldinho noted that Okocha “wasted his talent” by joining Bolton Wanderers.

    Recall that Okocha moved to the English club in 2002 from Paris Saint-Germain.

    Ronaldinho played at PSG from 2001 to 2003 and regarded Okocha as his idol.

    According to quotes from Frank KhalidUK, Ronaldinho believes the Nigerian legend would have received more recognition if he went to Italy, or Spain instead of England.

    “His problem is that he was too keen to move to England,” Ronaldinho said.

    “I didn’t like the decision, at least in Italy or Spain, there, they allow you to play your skilled football without interfering with your play.

    “In LaLiga or Serie A, he would definitely get a chance to play for a big team, because they love skilled players over there.

    “In England, you stand no chance of playing for a big team if you’re that skilled. They think it’s not necessary.”

  • Victor Osimhen will be crowned next African best – Okocha

    Victor Osimhen will be crowned next African best – Okocha

    Former Mercurial Super Eagles Midfielder, Austin Okocha has tipped Napoli forward, Victor Osimhem to be crowned the next African footballer of the year.

    Osimhen  has been highly inspirational for Napoli this season, scoring a couple of goals and topping the Serie A scorer’s chart.

    The former Lille forward is currently the top scorer in the Italian topflight, having scored 17 goals in 18 games for the Parthenopeans.

    Former midfield maestro Okocha believes the ex-Lille star is a strong contender for the prestigious African award and also expressed confidence in his chances of winning it.

    “Yes definitely, I think he is the best player in Africa right now and I have no doubt that he is a very strong contender for that award,” Okocha told newsmen.

    The former Paris Saint-German star noted that Osimhen’s hunger for goals stood him out among other strikers in Europe.

    “Osimmeh is hungry to score goals and shoots smartly when he playing. It’s not something that you can learn, it comes naturally, maybe when you grow up in this side of the world, you learn on the streets how to fetch for yourself.

    “You can see in Osimhen’s eyes the hunger for success and I think that is what is driving him.”

    Osimhen’s exceptional performance has attracted interests from top clubs in the Premier League, with Manchester United and Chelsea keen on signing the Nigerian striker in the summer.

    The 24-year-old was linked with a move to Old Trafford in January but turned down the chance of joining the Red Devils.

    Osimhen’s impressive form earned him Serie A’s best player of the month for January, while he was also named the winner of the Serie A Goal of The Month award for his stunning Pele-like goal against Roma in the same month under review.

    His  17 goals in 18 games has helped Napoli to stay on top of the Serie A standing thereby putting the club at a vantage position to win the scudetto first time in over 30 years.

  • Jay Jay Okocha hails daughter, Daniella as she bags a degree [Photo]

    Jay Jay Okocha hails daughter, Daniella as she bags a degree [Photo]

    Nigerian former professional footballer,  Augustine Azuka Okocha, commonly known as Jay-Jay Okocha, has hailed his daughter, Daniella, for bagging a degree from an abroad university.

     

    The legendary footballer and his wife, Nkechi stormed their daughter’s graduation to support her on her day.

     

    The proud father took to his social media page to share photos they had taken at the event and to describe how happy and proud she has made him.

    Jay Jay

     

    He wrote: “Congratulations to my darling daughter, we are so proud of you”

    Jay Jay
    Daniella Okocha

     

    Daniella is the first child of the two kids Jay Jay Okocha had with his wife, Nkechi.

     

    She has grown to a beautiful lady.

    The legendary footballer is originally from Delta State but was born and brought up in Enugu State.

     

    His wife Nkechi is from Abia State.

    Jay Jay

    Not too many people knew Jay Jay Okocha has such a grown lady as a daughter. Daniella Okocha turned 25 on 25th of June, 2022.

    Daniella is living and studying in the United Kingdom. She sometimes visits the country to see her father who resides in Lagos.

    Jay Jay

    Daniella has really grown to a beautiful woman and hopefully suitors will be queuing up to ask for her hand in marriage.

    Here are a couple of her beautiful pictures. Feed your eyes on the beautiful gene of Jay Jay Okocha.

     

  • World Cup draws: Jay Jay Okocha to grace ceremony in Qatar

    World Cup draws: Jay Jay Okocha to grace ceremony in Qatar

    The 2022 World Cup draws will be conducted on Friday for the groupings of qualified nations holding in Qatar in November

    The draw will take place on Friday at 12pm, Eastern time, at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Qatar.

    Before the draw, each of the qualified teams is usually assigned to one of four pots, based on its world ranking.

    One team from each pot will be placed in each of the eight World Cup opening round groups, to ensure the teams are divided by strength. There are also rules to keep them apart from regional rivals.

    Apart from Nigeria’s Jay Jay Okocha ,other soccer stars including Cafu (Brazil), Lothar Matthäus (Germany), Adel Ahmed Malalla (Qatar), Ali Daei (Iran), Bora Milutinovic (Serbia), Rabah Madjer (Algeria) and Tim Cahill (Australia) to do the actual drawing of the balls out of the bowls.

    Pot 2: The United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia and Uruguay.

    Pot 3: Serbia, Poland, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Iran, Japan and South Korea.

    Pot 4: Canada, Ghana, Cameroon, Ecuador and Saudi Arabia.

    Three teams have not yet been determined. The teams when determined will also be in Pot 4.

    It would be either Ukraine, Scotland or Wales. Another spot will go to Costa Rica and New Zealand. And the last one, Peru, Australia or the United Arab Emirates. All to be decided by games in June.

    Africa football power horse Nigeria and European Champions Italy will not be at the mundial after losing out to Ghana and Macedonia respectively.

     

     

  • PHOTO: Jay-Jay Okocha, wife celebrate 24th wedding anniversary

    PHOTO: Jay-Jay Okocha, wife celebrate 24th wedding anniversary

    Nigeria’s football icon, Jay-Jay Okocha and his wife, Nkechi marked their 24th wedding anniversary yesterday, January 3.

    They got married in 1998 and their union is blessed with two children.

    Okocha shared their photo on his social media page and wrote: “It’s our Anniversary today, we give God the glory,Dorime all the way”.

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by The Real Jay Jay (@official_jj10)

  • Ebonyi soccer fans celebrate ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha at 48

    Ebonyi soccer fans celebrate ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha at 48

    Football fans in Ebonyi have joined others across the globe to celebrate a former Super Eagles skipper and talisman, Augustine Okocha who clocked 48 on Saturday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the dribbling wizard, known as ‘Jay Jay’ by fans around the world and affectionately called ‘Pa Jay’ by those in Enugu where he grew up, was born on Aug. 14, 1973.

    NAN also reports that the AFCON 1994 gold medalist, Olympic Games 1996 gold medalist, AFCON 2000 silver medalist and AFCON 2002, 2004 and 2006 bronze medalist, meritoriously represented Nigeria from 1993 to 2006.

    The fans, who spoke with NAN in Abakaliki on Saturday, described Okocha as a skill workshop whom the iconic Pele of Brazil touted as one of the world’s greatest footballers.

    Ndudi Okonkwo, a Football Historian, recalled that Okocha took the nation’s football by storm in 1993 after a scintillating performance for the Flying Eagles at the African Youth Championship in Mauritius.

    “I was inside the National Stadium, Lagos on July 3, 1993 when Jay Jay made his home debut for the Super Eagles in a USA ‘94 World Cup qualifier against Algeria.

    “He kept fans on the edges of their seats with a scintillating performance, capped with an awesome free kick-equaliser for Nigeria and an audacious overhead dribble of the Algerian left full back,” he said.

    Nobert Okolie, Media Officer of Okocha’s boyhood club, Enugu Rangers International FC, said that the club would always be proud of the mercurial midfielder.

    “Pa Jay played for Rangers before leaving Nigeria in 1990 for Germany where he made his mark with Borrussia Neunkirchen and Eintracht Frankfurt.

    “He played alongside his elder brother, Emma, and will be best remembered for his stupefying goal against defunct African Continental Bank (ACB) of Lagos, off a shot from the centre circle,” he said.

    Franklin Anosike, a former student of Nike Grammar School, Enugu, where Okocha also attended, wished him God’s blessings and continued success in life.

    “Okocha brought the school to the forefront of sports in the country and had a fabled tale about him stuffing oranges as football inside his school bag, while knocking around any round object.

    “He tutored the great Ronaldinhio of Brazil in PSG of France when Lionel Messi, whose move to the club is currently being celebrated globally, was just 11 years old,” he said.

    Mrs Angela Obi, a Financial Expert and Soccer Enthusiast, also felicitated Okocha and commended him for his responsible conduct during his active days.

    “Okocha was not engrossed in any off-field controversy during his playing days and married Nkechinyere, his long-time heartthrob, instead of a foreign lady.

    “He, alongside players like Kanu Nwankwo and few others are still financially stable, unlike other celebrated stars, who did not plan properly for the rainy day,” he said.

  • It’s time for Salah to leave Liverpool for Barca – Okocha

    It’s time for Salah to leave Liverpool for Barca – Okocha

    Former Nigerian international Austin Jay-Jay Okocha says it’s time for Mohamed Salah to leave Premier League side Liverpool.

    Salah has been urged to quit Anfield for Barcelona because “his energy has run out with Liverpool”, insists Okocha.

    The former Galatasaray star told ONTime Sports: “If there is a chance to join Barcelona, I advise Salah to go there.

    “His energy has run out with Liverpool.

    “The situation is now regressing in Liverpool, and Salah must leave the Premier League. If there is any chance to join Barcelona, I advise him to go there.”

  • Alleged tax evasion: Ex-Super Eagles captain, Okocha settles case with LIRS

    Alleged tax evasion: Ex-Super Eagles captain, Okocha settles case with LIRS

    A Lagos State Prosecutor, Mrs Y. A. Pitan, said a former Super Eagles’ Captain, Augustine Okocha, accused of income tax evasion since 2017, had finally settled with the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS).

    She told an Igbosere High Court on Wednesday in Lagos that the LIRS informed it that the defendant visited its office and reconciled his accounts.

    Pitan then prayed the court for an adjournment to enable her file a notice of discontinuance of the charge preferred against Okocha.

    Justice Adedayo Akintoye, consequently, withdrew the warrant of arrest earlier issued on the defendant.

    She adjourned further hearing until Nov. 14, to enable prosecution file notice of discontinuance of the charge.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the prosecutor had on May 28, informed the court that the defendant visited the office of LIRS to reconcile his accounts.

    The prosecutor then said that the defendant could not reach a common ground with the agency.

    Earlier, the prosecutor had filed a three-count charge against Okocha on June 6, 2017, accusing him of:

    “Failure to furnish returns of income for tax purposes with the LIRS, and failure to pay income tax.

    “The offences contravene Section 56(a) and (b) of the Lagos State Revenue Administration Law No. 8 of 2006 and Section 94 (1) of the Personal Income Tax Act Cap P8 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004 (As Amended)”.

  • AFCON 2019: Yobo, Okocha hail VAR decision against Super Eagles

    Ex-Internationals Joseph Yobo and Austin Jay-Jay Okocha have hailed the decision of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) which awarded a “contentious goal” to South Africa in the quarter-final game against Nigeria.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the VAR system was introduced at the quarter-final stage of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt and is being used in the competition for the first time.

    It made its first significant intervention when it overruled a linesman’s decision to disallow South Africa’s Bongani Zungu’s goal for offside in their quarterfinal game against Nigeria.

    Okocha and Yobo who were guests analyst on a football show hosted by Super Sports on Thursday, said VAR was a welcome development in the AFCON and must be embraced by all football stakeholders on the African continent.

    “At first, I thought it was an offside goal, but then when we saw the VAR replay it was obvious that the ball came off the back of Odion Ighalo which automatically put South Africa’s Zungu onside position.

    “So, it was legitimate at the end of the day and it rightly stood even though the linesman had initially ruled the goal as offside.

    “That’s the beauty of VAR. A lot of people have been criticising the newly introduced technology, but the truth is that no one wants to go home feeling cheated.

    “This is why we need technology in football now because the game has become a lot quicker than what it used to be and with the ordinary eyes you can’t really get everything,” Okocha said.

    Yobo, on his part said: “I think with VAR there has to be a little bit more clarity. I can’t understand why they are not showing us (viewers) all the angles.

    “From my understanding, they have about 12 angles, so they have to show it all to the fans, viewers and the players because these are decisive moments in a game.

    “In this particular situation, I think the VAR probably got it right but can they give us some clarity earlier on? So, that decisions can be made and for viewers, fans and everybody can understand the reason behind the decision.

    “But like Okocha rightly said, I think VAR is there to help the game and at the moment I think they are doing very well,” he said.

  • Again, court orders Jay Jay Okocha’s arrest

    Again, court orders Jay Jay Okocha’s arrest

    Justice Adedayo Akintoye of a Lagos High court sitting in Igbosere, has again issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a former Super Eagles Captain, Augustine popularly known as Jay- Jay Okocha over alleged tax evasion.

    Justice Akintoye made the order following Okocha’s alleged failure to settle a 2017 income tax evasion case brought against him by the Lagos State Government.

    The judge first made the order on January 29, following an application by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.

    The ministry told the court that Okocha had also failed to appear in court since 2017 when the case was filed against him.

    Details to follow….