Rashidi Yekini AKA “The Net Breaker, The Goals Father” is one of the most recognizable footballer in Nigerian football.
Yekini holds the national record for goals scored, having scored 37 goals in 62 games for Nigeria. He played for Nigeria in the 1994 World Cup, when he scored the country’s first goal in a 3–0 victory over Bulgaria.
Yekini also led the goal charts and won the award for best player in the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, where he assisted the Super Eagles in winning the tournament. He also competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
In 1993, he was also recognized as the African Footballer of the Year. Former national teammates Mutiu Adepoju and Ike Shorunmu revealed that he passed away in Ibadan on May 4, 2012, at the young age of 48. He was buried at his home in Ira, Kwara State. May his soul rest in peace forever.
