GTBank: Nigeria's greatest players

It's almost an impossible task selecting the best of the best amongst the Super Eagles, but Goal narrowed it to these four stars. 

Stephen Keshi

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Keshi was one of the most influential captains in the history of the Super Eagles. 

He was the team's captain when Nigeria qualified for the global showpiece in USA before helping his team win the 1994 continental crown.

In 2013, Keshi lifted Africa's premier competition trophy with the Super Eagles as head coach, and subsequently joined an exclusive club of legends to have won the trophy both as a player and a coach. 

Since then, the Super Eagles have struggled to win any major trophy, and it shows how special a leader Keshi was among his teammates (as a player) and players (as a coach).   

Nwankwo Kanu

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The former Arsenal man is undoubtedly one of the most successful footballers to have come out of Nigeria. 

He may have fallen short of winning the continental title with the Super Eagles after losing the 2000 Africa games to Cameroon, but Kanu remains a recognisable face who gave his all for his country. 

Kanu won many league titles at different teams he played for, but the greatest success was winning the African Footballer of the Year twice between 1996 and 1999. 

No other Nigerian player has won the accolade twice more than once. 

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Jay-Jay Okocha 

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Okocha is renowned for his majestic dribbling skills and creativity as a midfielder.

However, he was more than just a dribbling wizard; he was a team player who contributed to the success of the Super Eagles. 

What makes him a special and rare talent was his world-class free-kick technique, and it is for this reason and many others he he won many individual accolades, and major trophies as a player. 

Okocha was named Nigerian Footballer of the Year a record seven times between 1995 and 2005.  

He also won Africa's elite competition with the Super Eagles in 1994 before falling short of his second continental crown in 2000.  

John Obi Mikel 

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Mikel is a Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League winner with Chelsea, but his contribution to the African football is unquestionable. 

He contributed immensely to the team's success at the 2013 finals in South Africa, Nigeria's second continental title. 

In 2016, Mikel showed just why he is among the best players to have come out of Nigeria when he inspired the nation to a third-place finish at the Olympic Games. 

Mikel rose to prominence in 2005 when he was named African Young Player of the Year, the accolade he again scooped in 2006. 

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