Nigeria’s all-time leading goal scorer, Rashidi Yekini, is being celebrated and remembered on his posthumous 60th Birthday.
Here are 14 things to know about Nigeria’s greatest goal scorer:
1. Yekini was born in Kaduna, of Yoruba origin
2. He was born on 23 October 1963
3. He played as a striker for Nigeria and other clubs
4. He started his professional career in the Nigerian League
5. After starting his professional career in the Nigerian league, he moved to Ivory Coast to play for Africa Sports National
6. He played in Portugal for Vitória de Setúbal where he experienced his most memorable years, eventually becoming the Primeira Liga’s top scorer in the 1993–94 season after scoring 21 goals
7. He was the African Footballer of the Year in 1993.
8. Scoring 37 goals for Nigeria in 62 appearances, Yekini is the national record goalscorer.
9. He was part of the team that participated in the 1994 World Cup, the Nigerian team that went farthest in the World Cup.
10. Yekini also won the AFCON in 1994.
11. Yekini started as a welder and mechanic before he honoured his football calling, joining his first football club, ‘UNTL FC’ in Kaduna.
12. The late soccer star also played for international clubs in Spain, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Greece, Portugal, and Switzerland.
13. He was married to three wives and had three daughters: Yemisi, Omoyemi, and Damilola.
14. Yekini died in Ibadan, Oyo State, on May 4, 2012, at age 48.
