I regret not playing alongside Okocha in Eagles – Friday Ekpo

Friday Ekpo was one of the most influential players in the domestic league in the late 80s and early 90s.

The diminutive midfielder won plenty of plaudits from the fans and made headlines after each game. His skills made him one of the most-sought after players in the country and it’s no surprise that he played for some of

the biggest sides in the Nigerian league  then – Abiola Babes, Leventis United and Iwuanyanwu Nationale.

Ekpo grew up admiring the skills of the likes of   Muda Lawal (deceased) and Henry Nwosu, who are unquestionably two of the best attacking midfielders Nigeria has produced.

 He also adored Brazil’s Zico and France’s Michel Platini and tried to emulate them when he began to play football in Surulere, Lagos, in the late 70s.

“At home, Muda Lawal and Nwosu influenced my style of play a lot,” Ekpo told our correspondent on the telephone during the week.

“Zico and Platini were great players and I was one of their fans in Nigeria and I followed their games with the aim of learning from them.

“I have no regrets trying to play like them in my heyday.”

Ironically, Ekpo took the place of the ageing Nwosu in the senior national team in 1989.  After the 45-year-old turned down the chance to play for the national Under-20 team – Flying Eagles – in 1983, he decided to work hard to earn an invitation to the Super Eagles.

Although Ekpo  was invited to the Eagles after his impressive performances in the league, he was not given  the opportunity   to represent his country in major tournaments for unknown reasons.

However, his  breakthrough came in 1989 when  Nigeria coach Paul Hamilton invited him for a 1990 World Cup qualifying game.

He  was in top form playing for Calabar Rovers in the league that year  and he did not disappoint when Hamilton gave him the chance to play.

Ekpo finally nailed down a first-team place in the Eagles, with Nigeria ’80 Africa Cup of Nations winner Nwosu ending his long service to the country.

Ekpo, who was signed by Abiola Babes after he became a household name in Abeokuta, where he helped fill  up Premier  Grammar School’s  trophy cabinet,  was one of the established players in the Eagles when Dutchman Clemens Westerhof took over from Hamilton.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the Italia ’90 World Cup finals after the Eagles, who needed, a draw to reach Italy, lost 1-0 to the indomitable Lions of Cameroon in Yaoundé on August 27, 1989 – with Westerhof  in charge.

With Ekpo posting impressive performances in the league, Westerhof had no choice but to invite him to the Eagles for the next assignment – the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Nigeria qualified for the tournament with Ekpo, who had dumped Calabar Rovers for Gabonese outfit  Shell FC,  named in the Nigeria’s   22-man squad for the competition in Senegal.

After playing in the 2-1 defeat of Kenya in the group stages, Ekpo did not play in the championship until the third-placed encounter against Cameroon.

The midfielder scored the first goal  and set up Rashidi Yekini for the winning goal to help the Eagles win bronze after beating the Indomitable Lions 2-1.

Ekpo was one of the players who played at the Senegal ’92  that failed to make it to the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia two years later.

He watched  his colleagues claim the African title  at Stade El Menzah, Tunis, on  April 10, 1994 on TV. Eleven of the 22-man Tunisia ’94 squad  were in Senegal. They are Peter Rufai, Aloy Agu, Austin Eguavoen, Stephen Keshi, Mutiu Adepoju, Nduka Ugbade, Uche Okechukwu, Finidi George, Thompson Oliha, Victor Ikpeba and Samson Siasia.

Other players in the winning squad are Daniel Amokachi, Sunday Oliseh, Austin Okocha, Wilfred Agbonavbare,Edema Fuludu, Emmanuel Amuneke, Efan Ekoku, Uche Okafor, Isaac Semitoje and  Benedict Iroha.

The tournament was Okocha’s first major for Nigeria and received plenty of plaudits for his mercurial football talent.

Although some  fans of  the national team clamoured  for Westerhof  to recall Ekpo to the Eagles, they did not criticise him when he decided to put his faith in young Okocha  instead of the more  experienced  former Leventis United player for the  1994 World Cup.

And Okocha went ahead to  show his class in the World Cup in the United States – Nigeria’s first ever appearance in the  football’s showpiece.

Ekpo says he monitored the performances of Okocha right from the ex-Nigeria captain’s appearance at the  Africa Cup of Nations  in Tunisia until he called it quits with the national team after the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.

The ex-Calabar Rovers star expressed his  regret for not getting an opportunity to play alongside the former Eintracht Frankfurt and  PSG  midfielder.

He  said, “Nigerians  missed an opportunity  to see two great midfielders playing  for the national team.

“If we had played alongside each other in the Eagles, I don’t know what would have happened.

“I think the country has been denied the opportunity to have a  strong midfield with two gifted players in me and Okocha.

“He was immensely talented just like me. It’s painful I didn’t play with him in the Eagles. If you ask me, I regret not playing alongside him in the Eagles. Okocha was a great player.”

Ekpo, who currently works with the Lagos State Government, insists he neither  regrets not winning the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia nor participating in the USA ’94  World Cup.

He said, “It’s the dream of every   player  to play at the top level and win trophies. I wanted to win the Africa Cup of Nations and   play at the World Cup.

“Most players   often say they regret not playing at the World Cup or winning a particular tournament, but this is not the case with me.

“I thank God for the opportunity to represent my country. There were many good players who didn’t get the chance to wear the national colours and I think I was lucky.

“Nobody explained to me why I was not invited to play at Tunisia ’94 and USA ’94. Maybe I was not considered good enough to play in both competitions.

“I don’t think Westerhof refused to take me to Tunsia’94 and USA’94 because I wasn’t playing in Europe. it’s not also true that  I had confrontation with him or that some of my teammates worked against me.

“It’s not true that (Nigeria coach) Stephen Keshi was against  my invitation. The players in the team then were like a family.

“None of my former teammates, who won the Africa Cup of Nations and played at the World Cup, has  snubbed me because I didn’t play in the two tournaments. We are still good  friends today. I was with Austin Eguavoen the other day.”

He added, “Everything in Nigeria is politicised. If you stand up for your rights, you will be castigated. I have no regrets standing for my rights while in the national team.

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