Rashidi Yekini (23 October 1963 – 4 May 2012) was a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward. Yekini is widely regarded as one of the greatest Nigerian footballers of all time and one of the greatest players from the continent of Africa. Powerful, fast, and clinical in front of goal. His emotional World Cup celebration became one of the most iconic moments in Nigerian sports history. He was known by his Nigerian team mates and fans as "The Goals Father", he scored more than 480 goals in over 670 games in his career.
Yekini scored 37 goals in international matches and represented Nigeria in seven football tournaments, including two World Cups, where he scored the country's first-ever goal in the competition. He was also named the African Footballer of the Year in 1993.Nigeria: Legendary footballer, Rashidi Yekini dies at 48 ; All Africa, 5 May 2012 He is the third all time highest goalscorer in Africa Cup of Nations history with 13 goals.
Club career Yekini was born in Kaduna, of Yoruba origin. After starting his professional career in the Nigerian league, he moved to Ivory Coast to play for Africa Sports, and from there he went to Portugal and 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; the previous campaign he had netted a career-best 34 in 32 games to help the Sadinos gain promotion from the second division, and those performances earned him the title of African Footballer of the Year once, the first ever for the nation.
In the summer of 1994, Yekini signed for Greek club Olympiacos, but did not get along with teammates and left soon after. His career never really got back on track, not even upon a return to Setúbal which happened after another unassuming spell, in La Liga with Sporting de Gijón; he successively played with FC Zürich, CA Bizertin and Al Shabab, before rejoining Africa Sports. In 2003, aged 39, he returned to the Nigerian championship with Julius Berger.
In April 2005, 41-year-old Yekini made a short comeback, moving alongside former national teammate Mobi Oparaku to Gateway United.
International career Scoring 37 goals for Nigeria in 62 appearances, Yekini is the national record goalscorer. He was part of the team that participated in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups. In the 1994 tournament, he scored Nigeria's first-ever World Cup goal in a 3–0 win against Bulgaria; his celebration, crying while holding the net, became one of the iconic images of the competition.
Additionally, Yekini helped the Super Eagles win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, where he topped the goal charts and was named player of the tournament. He also represented Nigeria at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
International goals Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yekini goal. +No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 6 April 1985 Nairobi, Kenya 3–0 3–0 1986 World Cup qualification2 20 April 1985 Lagos, Nigeria 2–0 3–1 1986 World Cup qualification3 23 June 1985 Abidjan, Ivory Coast 1–1 Friendly4 26 June 1985 Bouake, Ivory Coast 1–1 Friendly5 14 March 1988 Rabat, Morocco 1–0 3–0 1988 African Cup of Nations6 5 March 1990 Algiers, Algeria 1–0 1–0 1990 African Cup of Nations7 8 March 1990 Algiers, Algeria 1–0 1–0 1990 African Cup of Nations8 12 March 1990 Algiers, Algeria 2–0 2–0 1990 African Cup of Nations9 27 July 1991 Lagos, Nigeria 1–0 7–1 1992 African Cup of Nations qualification10 3–111 4–112 6–113 14 January 1992 Dakar, Senegal 1–0 2–1 1992 African Cup of Nations14 2–015 19 January 1992 Dakar, Senegal 1–0 1–0 1992 African Cup of Nations16 25 January 1992 Dakar, Senegal 2–1 2–1 1992 African Cup of Nations17 10 October 1992 Lagos, Nigeria 3–0 4–0 1994 World Cup qualification18 4–019 20 December 1992 Pointe-Noire, Congo 1–0 1–0 1994 World Cup qualification20 25 April 1993 Lagos, Nigeria 1–0 4–0 1994 African Cup of Nations qualification21 2 May 1993 Abidjan, Ivory Coast 1–0 1–2 1994 World Cup qualification22 3 July 1993 Lagos, Nigeria 2–1 4–1 1994 World Cup qualification23 3–124 24 July 1993 Lagos, Nigeria 2–0 6–0 1994 African Cup of Nations qualification25 3–026 5–027 25 September 1993 Lagos, Nigeria 3–1 4–1 1994 World Cup qualification28 4–129 26 March 1994 Tunis, Tunisia 1–0 3–0 1994 African Cup of Nations30 3–031 2 April 1994 Tunis, Tunisia 1–0 2–0 1994 African Cup of Nations32 2–033 6 April 1994 Tunis, Tunisia 2–2 2–2 1994 African Cup of Nations34 11 June 1994 Ibadan, Nigeria 2–1 5–1 Friendly35 3–136 21 June 1994 Dallas, United States 1–0 3–0 1994 FIFA World Cup37 22 February 1998 Kingston, Jamaica 1–0 2–2 Friendly
Honors Shooting Stars CAF Champions League runner-up: 1984 Nigerian Premier League: 1983
Abiola Babes Nigerian FA Cup: 1985, 1987
Africa Sports Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1999 Côte d'Ivoire Cup: 1989, 2002 Coupe Houphouët-Boigny: 1987, 1988, 1989
Al Shabab Crown Prince Cup: 1999
Nigeria African Cup of Nations: 1994; runner-up: 1984, 1988, 1990; third place: 1992 CSSA Nations Cup third place: 1987 CEDEAO Cup: 1990 World Team of the Year: 1996 African National Team of the Year: 1993, 1994
Individual African Cup of Nations best player: 1994 African Cup of Nations top goalscorer: 1992, 1994 African Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 1992, 1994 CAF Golden Jubilee Best Players poll
Personal life Yekini married three wives. He had three daughters, named Yemisi, Omoyemi and Damilola.
Death Yekini was reported to be ill for an extended period of time. In 2011, news media in Nigeria began issuing reports of his failing health, and he was said to suffer from bipolar disorder and some other undisclosed psychiatric condition. He died in Ibadan on 4 May 2012, aged 48. His death was confirmed by former national teammates Mutiu Adepoju and Ike Shorunmu, and he was buried at his residence in Ira, Kwara State, in the presence of family members.
References
External links
Rashidi Yekini: Nigeria's goal-scoring legend