Nigeria's legendary striker, Rashidi Yekini missed out on the all-time best strikers list in the latest compilation by top football platform, GOAL.
This is despite scoring 200 career goals and 37 for the Super Eagles. He donned the number 9 jersey during his playing days.
Goal scoring is an art, a special talent that can’t just be found in a footballer, but there are strikers who find the back of the net for fun, Legit.ng reports.
The number 9 jersey is more or less ‘sacred’ only reserved for a particular striker who can, in a twinkle of an eye, get the ball in the back of the net.
Alan Shearer who scored 260 goals in 441 Premier League appearances and struck 30 goals in 63 games for England was mentioned.
According to Legit.ng, Liberian legend George Weah who won the Ballon d’Or in 1995 revolutionized the number 9 shirt in the 1990s bringing greater emphasis on power, speed and skill.
Of course, Ronaldo Nazario de Lima who many consider as one of the greatest strikers of all-time was named in the list.
Better kown as 'The Phenomenon' in Brazil, Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the best Number 9s ever to grace a football pitch.
Here is the list:
1. Alan Shearer – England
2. Ronaldo – Brazil
3. Robert Lewandowski – Poland
4. Gabriel Batistuta – Argentina
5. George Weah – Liberia
6. Harry Kane – England
7. Marco van Basten - Netherlands
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Sweden
9. Ruud van Nistelrooy – Netherlands
10. Karim Benzema – France
11. Gerd Muller – Germany
12. Christian Vieri - Italy
13. Miroslav Klose - Germany
14. Fernando Torres - Spain
15. Ian Rush - Wales
16. Didier Drogba - Ivory Coast
17. Sergio Aguero - Argentina
18. Romario | Brazil
19. Hernan Crespo - Argentina
20. Luis Suarez - Uruguay
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Diego Maradona once had his say on the unending debate between countryman Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over who the better player is.
Football fans across the globe are split between these two legends who have dominated the football space for almost a decade and a half.
Messi and Ronaldo share a staggering 11 Ballon d’Or titles between themselves with the Argentine having six while his Portuguese counterpart has five in his kitty.
Babajide is a digital publishing expert, an avid sports content thinker, researcher and writer. He is a graduate of Guidance and Counselling, having bagged his B.SC (ED) from the Ekiti State University. He can be reached on Twitter @JideOrevba