Jay-Jay Okocha: Peter Drury extols Nigeria’s great with lyrical commentaries

World-renowned commentator Peter Drury has revealed his admiration for Nigerian football great and former Super Eagles captain Austin Jay Jay Okocha.

Arguably Nigeria’s greatest-ever player, Okocha was named Nigerian Footballer of the Year a record seven times and won the Best Player award at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.

Bolton Wanderers, with Okocha pulled the strings in midfield as they became tough to beat for many clubs in the Premier League and won the BBC Footballer of the Year award twice. In 2017, the Super Eagles legend was voted the best player to have ever played for Bolton at the Reebok Stadium – earning the reviews of the English commentator.

“You go back to Jay Jay Okocha who’s towards the start of the Premier League era,” Drury told SuperSports.

“And he was just a beautiful conjurer. And he was one of those who you thought understands how lucky he was to be a professional footballer. He played with a smile. He was an entertainer. He was a juggler, a conjurer, and a dancer,” he added.

After winning the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations and a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States, Okocha’s legendary status in Africa had been secured.

Talking about the great commentary line on Okocha that went viral, Drury revealed that he did not coined the famous line ‘Jay Jay Okocha – so good they named him twice, Jay Jay.’

“No, not mine, somebody else did but it was a great line. And he played for Bolton Wanderers which is not one of the natural winners. But they had an incredible team. They qualified for Europe and all that under Sam Allardyce.

“He (Okocha) was just fun. When he was there, you didn’t need floodlights. He lit the place up. And what a free-kick he would take.”