Most successful brothers in Nigeria National team history
Playing for the senior men`s team the Super Eagles is an honor. In this article, SportsRation reviews the top three brothers who have represented the Nigeria National Football team.
KALU AND IKECHUKWU UCHE : The Uche Brothers will top this on chart on the minds of many Nigerians. That is because, unlike the others, both of them featured in a good number of games and at some point were key mentions in every matchday squad for Nigeria.
Kalu Uche was the first to get a National team invitation. That was in 2003 and the senior Uche made a goal-scoring debut for Nigeria on 21 June 2003 vs Angola. 4-years later (2007), Ikechukwu Uche also made his international bow for the Nigeria National team.
Ikechukwu Uche enjoyed more National team success than Kalu Uche. From 2007 to 2014, Ikechukwu made 49 Super Eagles appearances scoring 19-goals to earn a mention amongst the top scorers in Nigeria National team history. Ike Uche was a member of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winning squad.
Kalu Uche on his part made 37 Super Eagles appearances from 2003 to 2012. The senior Uche scored 6-goals during this time.
The Uche`s spent most of their playing career in Spain. They have since retired from active football. At the moment [2023], Kalu Uche is 40 [will be 41 in November] while Ikechukwu is 39.
SEGUN AND WOLE ODEGBAMI: Olusegun Odegbami and Oluwole Odegbami are second on the list of most successful brothers in Nigeria National team history. The youths will be more familiar with the name Segun Odegbami.
Segun Odegbami 70, made 42 Nigeria National team appearances scoring 22-goals. Nicknamed “Mathematical” because he attended and graduated from Nigeria’s premier technical institution; The Polytechnic, Ibadan where he studied Engineering, Segun Odegbami was key to Nigeria`s first AFCON title win in 1980.
His 22-goals for Nigeria places him as the second all time highest goal-scorer for the National team.
Wole Odegbami is 7-years younger than Segun. Himself a striker, Wole made 18 appearances for the Nigeria over 11-years scoring 2-goals during this time.
EMMANUEL AND AUSTIN OKOCHA
Emmanuel Okocha is the older brother of Austin Jay Jay Okocha. Emmanuel was a midfielder and made 7 Nigeria National team appearances scoring 1-goal. Emmanuel was part of the Nigerian team to the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
In 1993, Austin Okocha followed in his older brothers Okocha made his official debut for Nigeria in their 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup Qualifier away loss against Ivory Coast in May 1993. In his second appearance, Jay Jay Okocha as he was fondly called wrote his name in the heart of Nigerian football supporters with a delightful free kick to inspire a 4-1 win over Algeria and send the Eagles to the 1994 World Cup.
Okocha went on to win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations title, 1996 Atlanta Olympic games medal with the Dream team. In total, Austin Okocha made 73 international appearances for the Nigeria National team , scoring 14-goals and providing loads of assist in the green white green colours of Nigeria.
OTHERS
The list of brothers who have enjoyed the honor of representing the Eagles is not limited to the three above. The legendary Nwankwo Kanu also had his brother Christopher Kanu represent Nigeria at Full International level. Not forget the legendary goalkeepers Patrick and Emmanuel Okala.
There was John and Peter Utaka. Two forwards, John Utaka was older than Peter. John was a household name with the Nigeria National team. Peter Utaka made 7-appearances for the Super Eagles scoring 3-goals. Chidiebere and Kelechi Nwakali are the last brothers to get on the Nigeria National team.
A combination of injury and inconsistency has denied Nigeria opportunity of enjoying the services of this brothers who showed great promise during their U-17 years.
