It came as rude shock when the news was announced that Nigeria's record goals scorer Rashidi Yekini had died on Friday, May 4.
The man who almost single-handedly qualified the Super Eagles for their maiden World Cup in 1994 had died in ignominy, away from the klieg lights that heralded his playing days. The 1993 African footballer of the year led the Super Eagles to win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia where he scored five goals.
Perhaps the most memorable of all his record 37 international goals is that which he scored in Nigeria's first game at the World Cup, USA '94. It was a just reward that Yekini would score the country's first ever goal on the biggest stage of all and he celebrated by running into the goals, grabbed the net and screamed into the Dallas air.
The powerful man was all heart...
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