Kanu tips `Jay Jay` Okocha for African crown (06.09.2001)
LAGOS,
Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu has tipped fellow Nigerian international Austin `Jay Jay` Okocha to be voted African Footballer of the Year.
"If I`m asked to choose (for the African Footballer of the Year) now based on what I`ve seen so far, my choice would undoubtedly be Austin Okocha," Kanu told a local football magazine in an interview published this week.
"Osei Kuffour did well with Bayern Munich last season, winning the European Champions League, but that was only half of the year. The award is judged on many counts of which club achievement is only one such consideration," he said.
Kanu added: "Finidi (George) and I won the European Cup in 1995 but the award that year went to George Weah and nobody argued with that choice. Mustapha Hadji of Morocco won in 1998. Yet, he had nothing to show as far as his
club career went that year."
The England-based forward, who has won the individual award twice, praised Okocha`s performance for Nigeria in the qualifying campaign for both the 2002 World Cup and the African Nations Cup.
"Jay Jay has done tremendously well for Nigeria this year which, ironically, was why he didn`t have a good time at his club last season," Kanu said.
Okocha, midfielder with French side Paris Saint-Germain, was a regular feature as Nigeria qualified for their third consecutive World Cup finals.
He scored three goals in the qualifiers and was voted man-of-the-match in the decisive games against Sudan and Ghana.
Spain-based Emmanuel Amuneke and Victor Ikpeba are the other Nigerian stars who have won the award organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
