IKENWA NNABUOGOR takes a look at Nigerian players who could have made a career in gymnastics by their cartwheel goals celebrations and attempts to pick the man whose acrobatics have caught the eye the most…
The beautiful game of football also makes a case for acrobats who may have chosen football either by design or accident much to the delight of the viewing public.
Not until Colombian star Faustino Aspirilla popularised the now famous cartwheel celebrations for Newcastle United and AC Parma that it welcomed a lot more player-acrobats to add colour and panache to celebrations of goal in the beautiful game.
Robbie Keane also brought his own version of cartwheel celebrations that thrilled the Premier League fans, but back home in Nigeria, there are a few Keanes and Aspirillas that reminded fans the beautiful game was all about fun.
Still in Nigeria, football and acrobatics are bed mates as some kids growing up gave up gymnastics to face the beautiful game for more money, fame and international recognitions.
Former Super Eagles’ striker Julius Aghahowa could well be described as one great acrobat that never took acrobatics to another level, but left a footprint in the beautiful game with his unique cartwheel celebrations that also thrilled referees, opposing players and even pundits.
Insurance gave the youngster a chance and a licence to thrill, but not until he forced his way into his country’s junior national team, the Flying Eagles that the world came to see how well he could have done had he chosen acrobatics as career.
It wasn’t long he caught the eye Super Eagles’ handlers and brought his legendary cartwheel celebrations over to the delight of the teeming fans.
Back in his club Shakhtar Donetsk, Aghahowa thrilled his club fans with his trademark celebrations with his admirable attendant goal returns that the club owner and the richest man in Ukraine, Rinat Ahkmetov, refused to listen to offers abroad and ultimately held on to his most prized star for seven years.
Soon his exciting acrobatics would earn him a nickname “Agha-wonder” by the appreciative Nigerian press as fans were more thrilled with his celebrations than Eagles winning games.
Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup was a disaster for the Super Eagles, but fans refused to see it as a disaster for “Agha-wonder” whose backflips in the painful 2-1 loss to Sweden not only thrilled the Japanese fans in Kobe, but also caught the commentator who added more colour in the famous cartwheels by counting how many times he flipped, screaming “and Aghahowa on and on and on and on and on and on, huuuuuuuuuu!”
The referee Bolivian Rene Ortube also caught the bug, “joined” in the celebration that attracted all the Super Eagles players while in actual fact, the man in black was actually “admiring” his stop watch for strict officiating, though he wouldn’t deny he didn’t enjoy Agha-wonder’s cartwheels.
Fans would argue Agha-wonder’s cartwheels outshone other contenders judging by the number of times he flipped with same sweet rhythms that could attract millions of viewers for if used in television product commercials.
The former Wigan star was on the pitch 32 times for his country for a career largely distorted by a myriad of injuries and netted 14 times and that meant he did the cartwheel celebration 14 times as well.
Obafemi Martins is a one solid cartwheel celebration performer his teeming fans at club and country levels would never forget in a hurry.
Developed at Inter Milan’s Primavera (youth) side, “Obagoal” thrilled fans to no end with his unique acrobatics that endeared him to the world and as well as improved his bank balances.
With every goal and the subsequent cartwheels, Obagoal was smiling to the bank as clubs coughed out fortunes to made him their own and that was why he changed clubs nine times before he finally hung his boots in 2020.
Back home in the Super Eagles, ‘Obagoal’ was a sure bet to hit the back of the net and expectedly, those backflips that got the fans yearning for more.
Swift as he was in front of goal, so he was in those backflips that the referees didn’t have to wait too long to finish his routines before he restarted the game.
Wheeling away in quick successions was also part of the Obagoal goal-filled fun games as the former Inter Milan starlet would have done his thing five or six times before a drop of a hat.
He was fast, yes he was that quick that before his team mates would grab him to stop him from his trademark routines he was always faster to beat them to feed his fans with the fun.
Inter Milan played formative agents to his career joining up from local side FC Ebiede at the age of 15, but by the time he showed up at St. James’ Park as a Magpie he had opened his gymnastics school much to the delight of the Toon Army.
The northwest of England knew they wouldn’t have their exciting Nigerian for long, quickly prepared for life without quality goal celebrations long after Colombian superstar Aspirilla fed them with similar onfield fun as Martins moved on to Wolfsburg in Germany.
🎂
— Oluwashina Okeleji (@oluwashina) February 12, 2022
Julius Aghahowa scored #Nigeria’s lone goal at the 2002 World Cup in the 2-1 defeat to Sweden. pic.twitter.com/35sbWfzV3c
Still in his Super Eagles career that began with a sweet strike as well as well-rehearsed back flips in Eagles’ 3-0 win against Republic of Ireland in the Unity Cup in 2004 , Martins would remind the millions of fans of Rashidi Yekini whose 37 goals for his country still remains unequalled till date but Martins’ regularity wasn’t gold-plated.
Marred by a litany of injuries and an on-and-off stances, Martins never appeared he was going to be the Eagles first centurion and thus no threat to Yekini’s intimidating record, Martins reduced his Eagles backflips to 18 goal celebrations in 42 appearances for country.
His final bow in 2015 for his Eagles career meant his clubs enjoyed more of those cartwheel celebrations than his country that expected a lot from him.
However, a date with the physios a number of times to treat sprained ankles as direct results of his backflips, is one of the lows of Martins’ exciting backflip celebration story
If Aghahowa and Martins enjoyed more fun with their backflips as strikers they were, Celestine Babayaro had a limited fun with his backflips as a defender, a left back, who had his details firmly confined to his defensive duties.
But Babayaro’s eye for goal and his backflips would always need a review as the former Chelsea star combined goal scoring and defensive duties so well that there were no clashes in the roles.
Obafemi Martins appreciation tweet.
— VERSUS (@vsrsus) October 21, 2019
What a celebration. pic.twitter.com/tPzdbSLdom
He was never deployed to court the goalkeepers as his duties detailed him to shield the keepers, but would help his strikers to win games with his timely occasional goals and leave the fans in awe with his backflips afterwards.
His overall career 15 goals for club and country was essentially sweet career high for a defender who excelled in the role after he was converted from the midfield.
Super Eagles’ winger and substantial captain Simon Moses is another cartwheel celebration artist that has also caught the eye with his acts.
“Daddy” attracted Ajax Amsterdam while doing his thing with his country’s U-20 side, but ended up at Slovak side AS Trencin
But it was at Belgium’s KAA Gent that the world began to take full notice of him as his goals, assists and cartwheel celebrations not only earned him a runner-up spot for the prestigious Ebony Shoe Award, but also a transfer move to FC Nantes, via Levante in the Spanish top flight.
Though not in the class of Aghahowa and Martins, Moses still thrills fans with his trademark backflips at Nantes.
He will soon take his trade outside France when the right fees change hands to continue his backflips in a larger scale before bigger fans.
Former Super Eagles’ winger Victor Moses and defender Efe Ambrose are also good in the acts as they have demonstrated for club and country, but would struggle in contention with Aghahowa and Martins in this act.
While Moses is a striker and a fairly regular scorer, Ambrose’s defensive duties reduce him to a cameo backflip acts with limited chances at goal but both have done well enough to earn worthy mention.
Other players who have celebrated their goals acrobatically include Bartho Ogbeche (India), Terem Moffi (FC Lorient) and Olusegun Olakunle (Kransnodar).
Whose nose is in the front after all?
Aghahowa and Martins are two contenders for this “prestigious” award, but choices will definitely be divided.
Many would gladly hand the award without a fuss to “Agha-wonder” considering mostly the importance and significance of his efforts, with his two magical strikes against Senegal in the quarter-finals of the 2000 African Nations Cup in Lagos with Eagles trailing to a Khalilou Fadiga’s seventh minute goal, coming readily close to mind.
Aghahowa’s 85th minute equaliser forced the fierce contest into extra time before the former Kayserispor striker hit the target again after two minutes of extra time to make the contest safe for Super Eagles and the attendant cartwheel celebration is still a delight to watch.
Further argument will equally hand the award to Martins and his 18-goal harvest for his country could sway fans’ choice of him.
Your choice is your prerogative, though…
