Nigerian football legend Jay Jay Okocha grew up playing on the streets of Enugu as he recounts his childhood days and the struggles of life.
Okocha left an indelible footprint in the game of football as he is known with the moniker 'so good they named him twice'.
He is renowned for his incredible skills and trickery, and many consider him the greatest dribbler football has ever seen.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder came from humble beginnings in the South Eastern part of Nigeria.
Okocha recently detailed how he was determined to excel as he appeared in a clip from 'No Room For Racism' initiative.
The drive is to celebrate the diversity of the English Premier League through the theme of "Greatness comes from everywhere".
Okocha said via Premier League:
"My father worked on the railways. It was just your normal average African families, just trying to survive.
"I had my first football shoe at the age of 12 and it was so uncomfortable. I had to get used to it because I was used to playing barefooted."
Okocha recalls growing up in Enugu
Soccernet reports that he started his youth career with local club Enugu Rangers before he moved to Europe in 1990.
"We had one big team in Enugu that was playing in the first division, Enugu Rangers.
"My strength was the desire that I had to survive. The desire that I had to succeed, having to leave my family, having to go to a country where you don’t understand the language, you don’t understand the culture."
Legend of the day| 🇳🇬Jay Jay Okocha ⬇️
— Pan-Africa Football (@PanAfricaFooty) October 29, 2024
He is a former Nigerian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He started his career playing for Enugu warriors in the Nigerian professional football league.
He later moved on to Borussia Neunkirchen a team that played in… pic.twitter.com/ZnfmVLDyIf
