Google has honoured the late Nigerian footballer Rashidi Yekini with a doodle on what would have been his 60th birthday.
Yekini overcame poverty and homelessness to make his mark as one of Nigeria’s greatest football stars.
The Google doodle recreates Yekini’s celebration during the 1994 World Cup.
It depicts the moment when, following scoring against Bulgaria, Yekini ran into the net and clutched it with both arms while tearfully celebrating after scoring Nigeria’s first-ever World Cup finals goal.
“Many consider it one of the most iconic goal celebrations in football history and it served as inspiration for today’s Doodle artwork,” said Google.
Nigeria went on to beat Bulgaria 3-0. The team later went into the Round of 16 where they were knocked out by Italy.
Yekini is still the Super Eagles’ all-time leading scorer with 37 goals.
His international career aside, Yekini was also prolific at club level – seeing huge success with Shooting Stars of Nigeria, Ivory Coast’s Africa Sport and Vitoria Setubal of Portugal, among others.
He helped Shooting Stars reach the final of the African Champions Cup (forerunner of the African Champions League) in 1984 and made his debut for Nigeria the same year.
He was named the African Footballer of the Year in 1993.
Yekini earned the nickname “Goalsfather” for his for his extraordinary ability to repeatedly outwit goalkeepers and score.
He died in 2012.
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