Ronaldinho confirmed Eto’o ‘Okocha not recognized claims’?
It looks like Brazil legend Ronaldinho Gaucho shares the same sentiment as Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o on Nigeria legend Austin Okocha.
The current Cameroon FA chairman Samuel Eto’o was quoted by Onvoitout saying Austin Okocha was as good as his former Barcelona teammate Ronaldinho Gaucho.
Samuel Eto’o further said that Austin Okocha had done all that Ronaldinho Gaucho did years before the Brazilian did them.
The former Real Madrid player said Okocha was never recognized as Ronaldinho because he is African.
“It’s the injustice of world football,” Eto’o said, as per Onvoitout.
“What we saw Ronaldinho do a few years ago, Jay-Jay (Okocha) had done 10 or 15 years before and he never had the recognition of others. And that’s what happens when it comes to Africa.”
Samuel Eto’o take has generated several arguments for and against his points of view.
Some of the points raised against Samuel Eto’o take are: ‘Okocha never played for any big club because he was never a serious player’, ‘Okocha didn’t win as many titles as Ronaldinho’.
The points raised in support of Samuel Eto’o claim are: ‘Okocha had been doing these tricks before Ronaldinho’, ‘if Okocha played for a European country he would have been recognized’, ‘he was cheated home and abroad’.
While everyone may be right with their take, one important take on this matter was what Ronaldinho said about Okocha.
As far back as 2017, Ronaldinho in Tweet, via his official page, literally confirmed Samuel Eto’o claims.
Eto’o said Okocha was doing what Ronaldinho did before the Brazilian.
And Ronaldinho who shared the same dressing room with the Nigerian at Paris Saint-Germain confirmed this in 2017 with his ‘Only 10 shirt I’ve always admired’.
You always want to model your game after those you admire and this claim was also confirmed by Okocha in an interview with AS.
“Ronaldinho tried to imitate some of my skills and dribbles, he was still a young player before I left for England, and he joined Barcelona,” Okocha told ‘On-time sports, per AS.
Well, numbers don’t lie, those against Samuel Eto’o claims, referred to all the collective and individual titles won by Ronaldinho.
While those for his claims also said numbers don’t necessarily capture all that happens on the field of play, go back and watch the clips of both players.
Which side of the divide do you belong?
