ACTUALITE |
24.01.2002
Frustrated Nigeria ace Okocha uncertain about future
BAMAKO
Nigeria playmaker Austin `Jayjay` Okocha cast doubt on his international future with the `Super Eagles` beyond this summer`s World Cup here Wednesday.
Okocha, a regular fixture in his country`s colours for much of the past decade, said the frustrating failure of Nigerian football to show signs of progress made it doubtful he would be around for the 2006 World Cup.
"It might be my last World Cup," the 28-year-old Paris St-Germain star said as the African Nations Cup paused for the second of two rest days.
"I`ve been in the national team for nine years now, and so many things have not changed," he added. "You get bored when you see things have not progressed at all, so yes, this year might be my last World Cup."
While team-mate Taribo West has bullishly predicted that Nigeria can progess as far as the semi-finals in Japan and South Korea, Okocha sounded a note of caution, saying his team would do well to emerge from the first round `Group of Death` that includes Argentina, Sweden and England.
"I think this time will be even more difficult than the last World Cup if you look at the group we`re in," he said.
"If we can come out of our group it will be a great achievement. Then we can start thinking about the later stages."
Okocha is one of a gifted generation of Nigerian players who have often failed to deliver in major tournaments. But the attacking midfielder believes his team are better placed than ever to do well in Mali.
"I think the team spirit is better here because some of us have been together for at least 7 years," he said.
"The atmosphere is like a family, we are more than friends," adding that the pain of defeat to Cameroon in the 2000 final had been consigned to history.
"We`re here to win," Okocha said. "The 2000 final has gone, it`s over, it will never come back."
Okocha provided one of the best individual performances of the Nations Cup so far on Monday as his team defeated Algeria 1-0 in Bamako.
The stocky maestro pulled off a handful of magical touches, yet modestly believed he had been playing conservatively.
"Some people said it was not me, that I was not really dribbling," Okocha said of his performance.
"So sometimes I get confused. I don`t really know what to do - even when I try to make my game look easy there are some people that think I`m still showing off. For me its the way I learn to how to play," he said.
Meanwhile, the former African Footballer of the Year has his sights set on a possible move to the English Premiership if he fails to agree a new deal with PSG when his present contract expires in June.
"I have said I would love to play one day in the English league if it is possible and I still stick to that," Okocha added.
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