By Our Correspondent

Former Super Eagles captain, Austin Jay Jay Okocha has stated that Nigeria produces more attacking footballers because every aspiring football player in the country wants to be goalscorers

Currently, Nigeria parades an intimidating profile of strikers and attackers who shine prominently on the global stage compared to defenders, midfielders, and goalkeepers.

Strikers such Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, Taiwo Awoniyi, Gift Orban, Kelechi Iheanacho, Terem Moffi, and Akor Adams have been excelling in their various European leagues scoring goals week in, week out.

Speaking during a Bundesliga media round table, Okocha who played for Bolton Wanderers in England expressed his opinion on Nigeria’s proficiency in producing successful strikers, attributing it to cultural background.

“I will say football is part of our culture in Nigeria. And every kid in Nigeria wants to be a goal scorer. (Players) want to be noticed. They realized that maybe the offensive midfielders, players and strikers are the ones that get noticed more than defenders. And maybe because of nature. Also, the way we are built has made us [Nigeria] produce a lot of strikers” he commented.

 “If you look at a country like Senegal, I think they have produced more defenders than strikers. So it might have something to do with our genes. But also, the fans might also have a hand in it, because we don’t forgive defenders if they score an own goal but we can forgive strikers.” he added.