The football career of Nwankwo Kanu, Nigeria's most decorated player, which started about two decades ago, comes to an end today at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, with a testimonial game between the Friends of Kanu and Super Eagles All Stars.
Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, will be the captain of the Eagles team. The organisers say the game will also be used to raise fund for a specialist hospital that Kanu will build in Abuja.
Chelsea star Michael Essien, 1998 World Cup winner Marcel Desailly, Africa Footballer of the Year, Samuel Eto'o, Chelsea midfielder, Michael Essien, Arsenal defenders, Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue, South Africa's Siphiwe Tshabalala, former World Footballer of the Year, George Weah, former Chelsea striker, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, former Cameroon captain, Rigobert Song and former South Africa captain, Lucas Radebe will play on the side of the Friends of Kanu in the match.
Born August 1, 1976, Kanu started football at Federal Works before joining Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland) in 1992. But after featuring in the 1993 FIFA U-17 Championship in Japan, which Nigeria won, Kanu became a wanted man in world football as big European clubs lined up for his signature.
He chose to play for Ajax Amsterdam, with whom he won three Dutch Eredivisie titles in 1994, 1995 and 1996. He also won the UEFA Champions League in 1995, the UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup in the same year. Before leaving Ajax in 1996, Kanu scored a total of 25 goals in 54 matches.
In 1996, Ajax reached an agreement with Inter Milan and Kanu moved to Italy for a fee of $4.7m. But after leading Nigeria to football gold in the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, Kanu was diagnosed to have had a heart defect, which required replacement of an aortic valve. The experience led to his founding of Kanu Heart Foundation. After 11 games and one goal for the club, Arsenal tabled a bid that saw Kanu moving to London in 1999. While was at Inter, the club won the UEFA Cup title in 1998.
It was a move that brought glory and lots of honours for the Nigerian as he won the Premier League with the club in 2002 and 2004. He also won the English FA Cup 2002 and 2003 and the FA Community Shield in 1999, the year he joined the club. After 119 appearances and 30 goals, Kanu moved to newly promoted side West Brom in 2004.
His time at the club was uneventful however, and the tall striker will be remember for sending a low cross well over the bar from inside the six yard box in a match against Middlesbrough. Nevertheless, West Brom escaped relegation in the season despite staying at the bottom of the league at Christmas.
But their stay at the top flight was short-lived as the club got relegated the following season after Kanu had played 58 times with nine goals. The end of the season coincided with the expiration of Kanu's contract and he moved as free agent to Portsmouth. At Portsmouth, Kanu won the FA Cup, scoring the winning goal against Cardiff City. Kanu played 87 times for Nigeria, scoring 13 goals.
Source: The Punch