FIFA honours Jay-Jay Okocha with retrospective award

By Folashade Olorunfemi –

Former Super Eagles captain, Jay-Jay Okocha, has received a FIFA World Cup retrospective Player of the Match award for his outstanding performance in Nigeria’s 3-2 victory over Spain at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

The former football star shared the news on his Instagram page on Thursday, posting a video of the unveiling ceremony.

Expressing his appreciation in the video, Okocha unveiled the silver trophy from a custom case and described the recognition as “amazing.”

“Hello, this is JJ Okocha. I’m about to unveil this special award being given to me by FIFA, and it was given to me for winning the Player of the Match award in a World Cup game, Nigeria versus Spain, 1998.

“Special thanks to Michelob ULTRA and Copa90 for this amazing award. I feel so honoured to receive it. Thank you,” he said.

The award is part of a collaborative initiative by Michelob ULTRA and football content platform Copa90 to retrospectively honour outstanding performances from FIFA World Cups before the official Player of the Match award was introduced in 2002.

Born Augustine Azuka Okocha, Jay-Jay is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He earned 73 caps for the Nigerian national team between 1993 and 2006, scoring 14 goals. He featured in three FIFA World Cup tournaments and is widely regarded as one of Africa’s greatest footballers of all time.