Unforgettable AFCON moments: Jay Jay Okocha’s last dance with greatness at Tunisia 2004

Nigeria’s captain Augustine Jay-Jay Okocha was the standout player at the 2004 AFCON. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP

It’s winter in Tunisia, January to be precise and the nation is about to open its doors to the biggest tournament on the continent; The Africa Cup of Nations. Touching down the shores of the land of the Carthage are the greatest players the continent has to offer.

In fact, it would be a tournament majorly dominated on paper by two of the greatest African footballers at the moment: Samuel Eto’o, the reigning CAF African footballer of the year, and Jay Jay Okocha, the reigning BBC African footballer of the year, who for over a year, have been churning out brilliant performances for their clubs in Europe and inadvertently started a sort of rivalry for who the best African footballer really is. This left many salivating at the prospect of the superstar duo setting an early marker for the 2004 AFOTY award as both men bore the weight of their various nations hopes of AFCON glory in Tunisia.

Jay Jay Okocha came into the tournament with a renewed zest for the game after the disappointing few months at the end of his PSG career had him looking like a shadow of himself in Mali two years prior as Nigeria laboured to a third-place finish, despite possessing the most complete team on paper at that tournament.

Augustine Jay Jay Okocha leaves the pitch after Nigeria’s African Nations Cup semi-final match against Senegal in Bamako, Mali. Senegal won 2-1 and qualified for the final of the 2002 African Nations Cup. Photo: Issouf Sanogo/AFP

Okocha would go into Tunisia 2004 with a lot of confidence after his miraculous goalscoring act in the final few weeks of the 2002/2003 Premier League season saved Bolton from relegation and his fine