NIGERIAN PLAYERS IN THE BACK STREETS OF EUROPE

On my bed wondering what the problem is that has seen our best players playing in the back streets of Europe. Gone are the days when our boys went to Barca, Juve, Arsenal, Milan etc.
I like Ogenyi Onazi a lot, he's going to Serbia.

Taribo West: After winning several major trophies with Auxerre in French football, West went on to play for both Milanese clubs, Inter and Milan. He also appeared in the top level leagues of England and Germany.

At international level, West made 42 caps for Nigeria between 1994 and 2005, taking part in two World Cups and two African Championships. He also represented Nigeria at the 1996 Olympics, winning a gold medal.

Sunday Oliseh: A physical yet technically gifted defensive midfielder, Oliseh played for world-famous clubs such as Ajax, Dortmund and Juventus.
Oliseh played 63 international matches and scored three goals for Nigeria, and played at the World Cups of 1994 and 1998.

Oliseh also participated in the Olympic gold medal winning team of 1996. And was voted Africa's third best footballer in 1998 by CAF. He is now a coach who worked briefly with Nigeria before throwing in the towel due to disagreement with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)

Victor Ikpeba: He was voted Africa's Best Footballer in 1997 by CAF, played thirty-one international matches and scored seven goals for Nigeria. He played at the FIFA World Cups in 1994 and 1998. Helped win the 1994 African Nations Cup and the Olympic football gold medal in 1996.

Ikpeba teamed up with Sunday Oliseh at Borussia Dortmund in 1999, for a transfer fee of £4.8m. After falling out with coach Matthias Sammer, he turned down Southampton to join Real Betis of Spain on a season-long loan.

Emmanuel Amuneke: 1994 African Footballer of the Year, BBC African Footballer of the Year 1996. He played for Zamalek, Sporting Lisbon, Barcelona and Albacete.
Amunike played 27 times for Nigeria, scoring nine goals.

He was part of the 1994 World Cup team in the United States, scoring against Bulgaria and Italy; also in that year, he helped the Super Eagles win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, eventually being voted African Footballer of the Year.

Additionally, Amunike played all the games at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, scoring the winning goal in the final as the national team won the gold medal. As a coach, he led Nigeria to win the U-17 World Cup and led Tamzania to the Nations Cup.

Finidi George: After making a name for himself at Ajax in the Netherlands – being a leading figure in a team which won eight major titles, including the 1995 Champions League – he played several years in Spain with Real Betis, and a brief spell in England.

FiniBefore joining Betis, he was close to moving to Real Madrid, but the deal fell through. After Betis' 2000 top-flight relegation, Finidi stayed one more year in Spain with Mallorca.

Austin Okocha: One of the finest that has played the game. In 1990, he joined Enugu Rangers. He produced many spectacular displays including one where he rounded off and scored a goal, against goalkeeper Willy Okpara in a match against BCC Lions.

He went on holiday to Germany, the 1990 World Cup winners so he could watch the German league. His friend Binebi Numa was playing in the 3rd Division for Borussia Neunkirchen and one morning he accompanied Numa to training and 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 FC Saarbrücken, but stayed only a few months with the Bundesliga side before a move to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Okocha debuted for Nigeria in the 2–1 1994 World Cup Qualifier away loss to Ivory Coast in May 1993. Won the Nations Cup in 1994, Played at three World Cups, Olympic gold medal at Atlanta, BBC African Best Player 2003, 2004, 2nd Best CAF African Player

Joseph Yobo: He left Nigeria to join Standard Liège in 1998. Made his first team debut in 2000, and went on to appear 46 times. Bought in 2001 by Marseille but loaned to Tenerife. He returned to Marseille, before joining Everton on loan in July 2002.

He became the first signing of David Moyes. An option to make the move permanent was taken up and completed in 2003 after a dispute between Yobo and Marseille was settled, with Everton agreeing a fixed additional fee of £4m.

In 2010, Yobo signed a one-year loan contract with Fenerbahçe and played in 30 official matches and scored a goal, helping his team win the league title. On 30 January 2014, Yobo returned to England on loan at Norwich City for the remainder of the season.

Yobo retired as captain of the Super Eaglsis, he was capped 101 times and represented the Nigeria at three FIFA World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He won the 2013 Nations cup in South Africa as captain.

Victor Moses: Born in Nigeria, Moses represented England youth teams at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels, but opted to play for Nigeria as opposed to being fully capped for England.

Made his debut for Nigeria in 2012 and gained over 35 caps. Part of the winning campaign at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as the campaign in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Moses played for Chelsea, Liverpool, Fenerbahche and now Inter Milan.

Odion Ighalo: From Prime FC, Julius Berger, Ighalo moved to Norwegian club Lyn in 2007. A year later, he was signed by Italian club Udinese, spending most of his tenure on two separate loan spells with Spanish club Granada.

In 2014, he signed for Watford and was integral in the club's promotion to the Premier League in the 2014–15 season. In January 2017, Ighalo joined Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai for a reported £20 million, before moving onto Shanghai Greenland Shenhua.

Ighalo debuted for Nigeria in 2015 against Uganda and made the 2018 World Cup. Emerged highest goalscorer in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign, he finished in the competition's Team of the Tournament and was crowned top scorer.