Yekini beats Ghana’s Yeboah as greatest striker on FIFA poll

Legendary Nigerian striker, late Rashidi Yekini has been rated a better striker than former Black Stars of Ghana forward Anthony Yeboah according to a poll organised by World Football Governing body (FIFA), yesterday.

On FIFA’s verified Twitter handle, football fans were asked to cast their votes on who among Yekini and Yeboah was a better striker.

In the first hour, Yeboah had a better percentage of votes but things took a new dimension as the votes poured in.

Yekini polled 77.9 percent of the votes, while Yeboah polled 22.1 percent.

The late Yekini is AFCON’s 3rd all-time scorer and was the highest scorer in two AFCON tournaments and was also awarded the CAF player of the year in 1993. He also scored Nigeria’s first-ever World Cup goal at USA’94. He played for Abiola Babes, African Sport, Victoria Setubal and Olympiacos. He scored 91 goals in 114 appearances for Setubal.

Nicknamed Ye-King, scored a total of 164 goals in 253 club appearances and 37 goals in 58 national team games. He also won the Portuguese Primeira Liga Golden Boot with 21 goals. He also played in the Seoul ’88 Olympics. He was the best player at the 1994 African of Nations after emerging as the highest goal scorer of the tournament.

Many fans who voted felt it was wrong to compare Yeboah with the Legendary Rashidi Yekini.

However, records show that Yeboah was also a top striker, one of the best on the African continent. He scored 29 goals in 59 games for the Black Stars of Ghana. He had a brilliant season in the German Bundesliga where he won the Golden Boot twice, in 1993 and 1994. He was renowned for scoring spectacular goals, those that would be nominated for top awards.

He is the third all-time scorer of the Black Stars behind Abedi Pele and Asamoah Gyan. He played in three African Cup of Nations Tournaments.

Voting ended at 1.00 am yesterday. The poll saw 10, 445 votes cast. The votes for Super Eagles legend, Rashidi Yekini, gave him a massive victory.

Yekini passed away in Ibadan on May 4, 2012, at the age of 48.