Nigeria: Nwankwo Kanu Bows Out

11 June 2011

FORMER Super Eagles skipper, Nwankwo Kanu, will make his final bow from international soccer today when he leads top foreign international stars known as “Friends of Kanu” to trade tackles with Super Eagles All-stars at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, in a testimonial match organized in his honour for his years of service to the country.

Some of the foreign stars, who will don the colours of “Friends of Kanu” in the game, include Chelsea’s Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan of Sunderland, Samuel Eto’o Fils of Inter Milan, El Hadji Diouf, Sulley Muntari, Emmanuel Adebayor, Lucas Radebe, Tony Silva, Rigobert Song, Aaron Mokoena, Lomana Lua Lua, Khalilou Fadiga, Stephen Appiah, Madjid Bougherra and Zambia’s Kalusha Bwalya amongst others. They will be handled by Stephen Keshi, who was also a former captain of the Super Eagles.

The Super Eagles All-stars who will be handled by former skipper of the Green Eagles of old, Christian Chukwu, include, Samson Siasia, Daniel Amokachi, Mutiu Adepoju, Austin Eguavoen, Austin Okocha, Emmanuel Amunike, Taribo West, Uche Okechukwu and others.

Kanu, who is 34, said recently in an interview that age is no long on his side and wants to leave the stage for the younger generation of Nigerian players so as to concentrate fully on his Heart Foundation project.

“I need more time for my heart foundation. So, I think the time has come for me to quit for the young ones… I’ve no regrets playing for Nigeria for 17 years. Indeed, it was a privilege,” said Papilo as he is fondly called by his admirers because of his beautiful football skills

Kanu had the honour of playing international football with the Nigeria teams starting from the Under 17, Under -23 and the Eagles, who he captained at S/Africa where he won 86 caps for the national team.

Kanu came to soccer limelight playing for Iwuanyanwu Nationale in 1992.

vital to Nigeria winning the trophy. He was rewarded with a move to Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam. He made his Ajax debut the following year and went on to score 25 goals in 54 appearances.

In 1996 he led the Dream Team 1 to win gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Shortly after, he suffered a serious heart problem that threatened his soccer career but he underwent a corrective surgery in November 1996 to replace an aortic valve and in April 1997 made a surprise return to his club, Inter Milan.

He enjoyed a fruitful spell with Arsenal scoring 44 goals from 197 appearances. Most times he came from the bench to win matches for Arsenal.

One memorable game was when he came from the bench to score a second-half hat-trick against Chelsea. He was voted 13th on the list of Arsenal’s greatest 50 players.

In 2004 Arsenal manager refused to renew Kanu’s contract and he moved on West Brom. He spent three seasons there and in 2007 he moved to Portsmouth where he has kept the faith.

AllAfrica – All the Time