Rashidi Yekini
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Sports & Athletics • Historical Archive • 🇳🇬 Nigeria • 7 views

Rashidi Yekini 🇳🇬

Rashidi Yekini
Legendary Football Striker, African Footballer of the Year, World Cup Pioneer
Born Oct 23, 1963 🇳🇬 Kaduna, Nigeria
Passed Away May 04, 2012 Ibadan, Nigeria
Lifespan 48 years old
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Notice / Correction
"It was pure joy. I didn't plan the celebration; I just held the net and thanked God for making our dreams come true."

Archival Overview

Legendary Nigerian footballer and all-time national team top scorer who scored Nigeria's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal in 1994, celebrated worldwide for his iconic goal celebration shaking the net in tears.

Biographical Record

Born into poverty in Kaduna, Rashidi Yekini honed his devastating finishing and explosive speed in the Nigerian domestic league before moving to Portuguese club Vitória de Setúbal, where he became the Primeira Liga top scorer with thirty-four goals in the 1993–94 season.

Leading Nigeria's 'Super Eagles', Yekini won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, finishing as top scorer and best player. At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, he scored Nigeria's historic first World Cup goal against Bulgaria, grabbing the net and weeping with raw emotion. He scored thirty-seven goals in fifty-eight international caps, remaining Nigeria's greatest international goalscorer.

Key Life Milestones

1993

African Footballer of the Year

Became the first Nigerian footballer to be crowned African Footballer of the Year by the Confederation of African Football.

1994

First Nigerian World Cup Goal

Scored Nigeria's historic maiden World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, immortalized in one of football's most iconic celebrations.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Ira Royal Cemetery
Ira, Nigeria
GPS: 8.2045, 4.7578
View on Memory Atlas
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