A former Nigerian international, Garba Lawal has expressed shock over the report which quoted his former team mate, Daniel Amokachi as naming John Mikel Obi as the greatest Nigerian football player.
Completesports.com last Monday quoted Amokachi as saying he considers Mikel to be the country’s standout player based on his achievements.
”Mikel is the greatest player,’’ Amokachi said on Brila FM’s Show “The Bull’s Pit”.
‘‘He has won everything that a player can hope to; the Champions League, Europa, AFCON in 2013 and he also captained the national team.
‘‘As a footballer, your laurels count and that will surely count for Mikel because nobody has won that much in Nigerian football.’’
When contacted by Daily Trust, Garba Lawal expressed shock and wondered why Amokachi would say Mikel is the greatest Nigerian player just as he doubted the genuineness of the report.
He started by saying it was not possible for Amokachi to make such a submission having been a witness to the array of football stars produced by the country.
Lawal maintained that before anyone can arrive at such a conclusion, he must have taken so many factors into consideration.
“How is that possible?. Honestly it is surprising. I doubt it so much. How can Dan say such a thing?.
“Someone called me before and I told him I doubt the report. You are a sports journalist and you know that you must weigh so many things before you arrive at such conclusion.
“There are different categories and players’ abilities are different. The skills and a lot of things are not the same. You cannot compare all.
“Did the report quote Daniel as basing his conclusion on trophies won?. Everybody has his own qualities so it is difficult to say,” the former Super Eagles utility player reiterated.
Lawal, however, said he would call his former team mate to confirm from him if truly he granted the interview or he was misquoted.
“I will call Dan and ask him but I doubt very much. How can you rate and compare a defensive midfielder and an attacking midfielder, they play different roles. Their roles are different.
“I am really surprised by that comment but sometimes people just fabricate stories. I won’t be surprised if I call Daniel and he says he didn’t grant such interview,” he concluded.
