African Tales (and Fails)

Sam Day 03/08/2015 26comments  |  Jump to last

Over the course of our proud history, Everton have had just 14 Africans on our books. Some became club legends, some gained unwanted infamy, and some (most actually!) were just downright useless. This is their story...

Firstly, if any bluenose nerds want to challenge themselves by naming all 14 from memory, go ahead. The full list is at the bottom. However, I will reveal two obscure names immediately because you'll almost certainly never guess them. One is Aristote Nsiala from the Democratic Republic of Congo who achieved his Everton success as an unused substitute during our unforgettable loss to BATE Borisov. His later career has taken him to Vietnam and Grimsby Town (which is more civilised?) as well as a solitary cap for his national team. Who knew that? The second is Ibrahim Said, an Egyptian central defender signed on loan in January 2003. Like Nsiala, he never played for us and was sent back to Al-Ahly having featured on our bench just once (at Spurs). Rumour has it that he made up an excuse (family illness) in order to be released, so he could play in a local derby back home. Regardless, he's definitely not one of Moyes' best buys. Despite this career setback, Said managed to pick up 72 caps for the Pharaohs, winning 2 African Cup of Nations tournaments.

The rest are more well known. Who can forget Ibrahima Bakayoko, the Ivorian striker signed for 4.5million by Walter Smith in 1998? 4 league goals followed, half of which came during a 2-1 victory over Blackburn at Ewood Park. Later successes include top scorer in the Greek 2nd Division in 2011 and an amazing 30 goals in 45 games for his country. What a fantastic player! Everton's first Ghanaian will also be remembered for just as long. Alex Nyarko played (badly) for just 2 seasons at Goodison and his transfer away was famously initiated by a fan running onto the pitch to hand him his own replica shirt. Bringing back happy memories? Quite amazingly, the midfielder is an Olympic medallist having picked up Bronze for his country during the 1992 Barcelona games. The mind boggles!

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To be fair to Nyarko, at least he made more of an impression than his countryman Christian Atsu did last season (I'd already forgotten him) not to mention Lacina Traoré, the 6"8 giant who scored a backheel after 3 minutes before promptly injuring himself for the remainder of his loan spell. Arouna Koné will also inevitably join the list of flops once he gets off his camel, reacquainting himself with the likes of Magaye Gueye, who now plays in the Turkish second division only a year after being released. Don't ask me why but I always liked the man from Senegal. Maybe it was because he always seemed to play with a smile on his face as if he was relieved to be at the top level.

Finally, Samuel Eto'o (yes, he actually played for us!!!!!) joins the underwhelming gang of Evertonians from Africa. His highlights included scoring with his first touch in royal blue and a brace at Burnley, before unceremoniously leaving to Sampdoria for a higher wage. Obviously we were too much of a step up for him to succeed, having previously played for much smaller teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Thankfully, I can safely say that the abject failures have now been covered which leaves just 5 decent players (in my opinion). Currently playing for us is Steven Pienaar, old and injury prone, but in his heyday a quality winger, and a poster boy for his nation over the course of his South African career. The Johannesburger will be remembered most fondly for an exquisite dink over Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia at the Emirates, a goal that should've given Moyes his only win away at Big 4 opposition. Anyone remember the Rosicky deflection?

The remaining four players are all Nigerian, and all of them have a special place in my Everton heart because I lived in that country for over four years. Firstly, there's Victor Anichebe, a contender for the fail list in many people's eyes but always one of my favourite players. Yes, he didn't try in some games, and yes, he didn't live up to his potential. However, he had all the skill set needed to be a good player and on his day could be fantastic. He also popped up with some very important goals, none more so than his strike against Liverpool for West Brom after latching on to a Kolo Touré backpass. Hilarious.

One of Big Vic's strike partners at Everton was Yakubu, the man with no age. Having picked 22 as his number, the Yak scored 21 goals in his first season at the club, only one short of his target (and his age). The rest was downhill but the journeyman always chipped in and was famous for his eagle celebration which has now been displayed at Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Reading, Leicester and Blackburn.

Next, we have Joseph Yobo, Everton's record African appearance holder having taken part in 253 matches in all competitions for the club. He also reached 101 caps for his country and was always dependable for us during his 7 seasons on Merseyside. The centre back even overcame the kidnapping of his brother, Norum, by Nigerian pirates in 2008. He also features in the photo at the bottom having combined with his national teammates for a goal at Villa. Sickeningly, he won his only domestic silverware after he left the club, for Fenerbache in Turkey.

At long last, we come to the big man himself, none other than Daniel "The Bull" Amokachi. Despite not making that much of an impact for Everton, Ammo will go down in our history as the man who set us on the way to the FA Cup in 1995, the most recent competition we've won. By famously bringing himself on to score 2 goals against Spurs, the long serving coach of Nigeria became an Everton legend. Nothing more needs to be said. In his short career he also won a Gold medal at the 1996 Olympics but had to retire young due to injury. As the only one to win a trophy he remains the most successful African ever to play for the Toffees. It may be fantasy, but, in the distant future, could another African challenge his record haul? Only time will tell.

The full list is below:

Daniel Amokachi 1994-96
Ibrahima Bakayoko 1998-99
Alex Nyarko 2000-04
Ibrahim Said 2003
Jospeh Yobo 2003-10
Victor Anichebe 2006-13
Aiyegbeni Yakubu 2007-11
Steven Pienaar 2008-
Aristote Nsiala 2009-12
Magaye Gueye 2010-14
Arouna Koné 2013-
Lacina Traoré 2014
Samuel Eto'o 2014
Christian Atsu 2014-15

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Reader Comments (26)

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Danny Broderick
1 Posted 03/08/2015 at 19:45:00
After reading the first half, I was thinking we need to stop buying Africans! Of the rest, I wouldn’t really class Anichebe as African, as he’s got a Scouse accent and grew up in Liverpool.

He did okay for us though -- he was never a world beater, but we got £6 million for him. I was never a fan of Yobo -- too many mistakes and lapses in concentration -- but again, he served us well.

Pienaar did well for us, particularly in his first spell. Yakubu did well too until his Achilles injury.

I’ll always have a soft spot for Amokachi. His debut against QPR was one of the best displays I’ve seen from an Everton Number 9. He then helped us to win our last trophy. Is it a coincidence that the Nigerians and Pienaar all spoke perfect English? They seemed to settle the best...

Matt Traynor
2 Posted 03/08/2015 at 20:04:53
Oh Nyarko. A player signed on a 5-year contract, despite only being granted a 4-year work permit, so when that was up we had to pay him off his last year. Ineptitude has been with us for a long time.
Jim Jennings
3 Posted 03/08/2015 at 20:28:59
My first thought reading the first line or two was "I wonder will Ibrahim Said get a mention". The overall number seems low. Yobo was probably the pick of the bunch based on longevity with Pienaar a close second.
Peter McHugh
4 Posted 03/08/2015 at 20:39:43
Really enjoyed that read. I loved the Yak and thought he was ace at Blackburn after Moyes got rid. I hope to get to love Lukaku just as much but thought he was naff last year. If a player doesn’t try he has to be brill as Yak was before his Achilles.

I actually had forgotten about Nyarko. Thought he was class when he signed and he was hailed as the new Viera!!!!! This helped (but only a little) of softening the blow after Smith I think had sold Hutchinson to Sunderland for peanuts -- or was that the season after?

My recollection was that Nyarko played really well to begin with and then scored an amazing thunderbolt goal against Spurs away I think but thereafter just went shit. Then again perhaps my memory is playing tricks and he was just shit.

Anyway, there was no shortage of drama in those days -- actually that’s not true: I recall an away day at Villa whereby Smith played 6 centre halves and Kevin Campbell played left wing! Unsurprisingly the result was 0-0.

David Chait
5 Posted 03/08/2015 at 20:55:45
Yobo did a fantastic job for us and I think is underrated actually. He was lightening quick and saved us many times.

Yakubu is probably in my top 10 Everton players post 80’s and I never understood him being marginalised by Moyes at the end. He was probably the most natural goal scorer we have had since Sharp... Shame we didn’t enjoy his abilities to their fullest for much longer.

Sam Hoare
6 Posted 03/08/2015 at 21:00:27
I concur ,David. Yobbo was one of my favourite players and could have been top, top class were it not for the lapses!

I would happily take a young Yobo now.... lightning fast and almost unbeatable in the air. Just what we need!

Ian Bonnette
7 Posted 03/08/2015 at 21:13:07
Could you include Abel Xavier in that? He was born in Mozambique but played his international career for Portugal.
Denis Richardson
8 Posted 03/08/2015 at 21:38:35
Am amazed how we've only had 14 in over 20 odd years since the premiership was set up. Given the relative success of other African players in the league the low number seems odd. Especially also as English players are so overpriced.

Not sure I'd class big vic as nigerian or Geuyeas senelagese. Former is English (born and grew up in England) and the latter is French (born and grew up in France).

Yobo and Yak were great signings. Favourite moment is still Carragher being knocked back 10 yards when he went to challenge the Yak - man was a beast! And who can forget the '95 semi when Amok can amok....'and Everton are on their way to Wembley....'

(What exactly does Kone have to do with Camels btw?)

Sam Day
9 Posted 03/08/2015 at 22:07:57
Denis, Koné was pictured with a camel last year I think when he was injured. Look it up, its pretty funny.

I agree that Anichebe and Gueye may not be African but they both played for those national teams so I had to include them.

Lukaku was born in DRC but plays for Belgium.

Leighton Cooper
10 Posted 03/08/2015 at 22:32:13
Didn’t Magaye Gueye go to Millwall? The fact you lose Africans for 6 weeks every two seasons to play in their nations competition is enough to put you off signing them. (Did Alex Ferguson say as much?)

Didn’t we lose Yakubu and Pienaar for the second leg of our League Cup semi final against Chelsea? South America came in line with Europe by playing theirs every 4 years.
Sam Day
11 Posted 03/08/2015 at 23:41:16
Leighton, Gueye did to to Millwall but has just been signed by Adanaspor.
Jim Jennings
12 Posted 04/08/2015 at 00:57:29
Apologies for going off topic but on the subject of obscure former players, does anyone remember Peter Degn? I heard (or read) somewhere years ago that Smith (or maybe it was Kenwright) basically admitted an agent has sold us a dud but have nothing to back it up. Anyone else hear this?
John Daley
13 Posted 04/08/2015 at 01:15:29
Jim,

I remember his name the same way I remember the name Stefan Rehn, but know virtually nothing about his ability as a footballer. Can't recall him ever getting a game for us.

Came across this little snippet (by Lincoln City coach David Preece) that maybe illustrates why he never got a shot in a team scrapping for survival:

"One time Everton starlet, Peter Degn, and I were talking about his time at Goodison, which then progressed to a much broader chat on English football. For the record, Peter Degn is probably one of the most gifted talents I have played with but a classic case of such a player there ever was. For all the abundance of technique, skill and creativity he possessed, the application to the other side of his game was a barren wasteland. But man, what a player. For every time I’d scream to the bottom of my lungs at him to track back, I’d marvel at his ability to put a ball, be it a cross or a shot, anywhere he wanted. But yes, it must be said, fitness was not his friend.

So we discussed the English game and his love of our passion, attitude and the energy we showed in game but it was a discussion broken with a verbal punch to the kidneys. “You run all the time, chasing everything. You’re all fucking stupid.”. “Hold on, Degn.” I said, rushing to my county’s defence. “You’re not the cleverest either, to be fair.”. He laughed and told me I’d got him wrong. “I mean you’re football stupid. You waste all of your energy chasing down meaningless balls or pressuring when you’re alone and get picked off. You chase down back passes to goalkeepers, every time, all the time. It’s stupid".

Denver Daniels
14 Posted 04/08/2015 at 02:40:58
A few that got away............

South African Benni McCarthy was dead-set to join us from Porto but the deal fell through at the last minute.

Another South African, winger Delron Buckley, had a short trial with us but despite seemingly impressing, was not picked up by David Moyes.

Lastly, Momo Sissoko was also on his way to us from Valencia before Liverpool stole him from us with the deal seemingly done. The deal also included Valencia defender Emiliano Moretti who obviously didn't come either.

Peter Gorman
15 Posted 04/08/2015 at 10:00:59
What with Maggie and Vic being Africans can we also consider Richard Gough for the list? He grew up in South Africa (though he was also born in Sweden so keep that for your list of Scandinavian players to follow).

As much as I love Pienaar, from the list I think Yobo should be considered a bit of a blue legend. At the very least he was a good servant for the club at 253 games and if I remember correctly (which I do) his sheer pace transformed our rather sedate back-line and gave us all something to crow about. Plus, he was a great, humble lad.

Peter Gorman
16 Posted 04/08/2015 at 10:06:14
Perhaps even more obscure; Matteo Ferrari.

Classy centre-half that played for us during one of the more unpleasant seasons under Moyes. He was pretty classy and it would have been nice to have kept hold of him. Not only was his mother from Guinea but he himself was born in Algeria.

John Hughes
17 Posted 04/08/2015 at 10:12:51
Sam (9) I understood that Romelu Lukaku was born in Antwerp which is in Belgium, according to the Nationwide Football Annual.
Erik Dols
18 Posted 04/08/2015 at 10:26:37
I consider Yobo to be one of the best buys Moyes made, actually. If I’m correct he was the first player Moyes got in (on loan initially) and boy, was he an improvement to the ageing squad we had.

We were relegation candidates at that time and to sign an international from a club like Marseilles... He was a starter for many years to come and he was exactly what we needed at that time.

Sam Day
19 Posted 04/08/2015 at 11:25:11
John (17), sorry I see he was from Antwerp. His father played for Zaire (now DRC) though.
Dave Abrahams
20 Posted 04/08/2015 at 13:09:29
Yobo and Pienaar... both very good players; the least said about the others the better.
Sean Patton
21 Posted 04/08/2015 at 13:49:46
Sam

Thought you were joking about Bakayoko’s international record until I checked; he clearly kept his scoring for his country... still we will always have Blackburn!

Yakubu was absolute top class until his injury, a wonderful finisher who came alive in the box; that goal against Brann when he dummied the two defenders and gave the keeper the eyes is one of my favourite Goodison goals.

James Newcombe
22 Posted 04/08/2015 at 17:24:01
Matteo Ferrari looked like a quality defender, and I remember him being extremely comfortable on the ball. I was mystified as to why we didn’t sign him permanently.

I've got to lend another voice to the praise of Yakubu, he was awesome. Questionable work rate sometimes, but he often only needed one chance...

Jim Jennings
23 Posted 04/08/2015 at 23:38:00
Cheers John, that’s an interesting anecdote on Degn. I didn’t remember him playing but apparently he had a few sub appearances in his first season. My overriding memory of him was that it was nigh on impossible to sell him on Football Manager in my late teens -- an accurate barometer of any shit player, I'm sure you will agree!!!

I agree with Erik on Yobo and I remember being hugely impressed with him in his debut season when we were pushing for Europe. He stood out in a Nigerian side that disappointed in World Cup 2002 and if memory serves me right played the three group games in three different positions (RB, CB and DM).

Ferrari was another I was delighted we signed but he never got going. He looked very good early on but with us struggling badly after the Villarreal / Bucharest European defeats and 7 defeats from 8 (I think), Moyes stuck to his tried and trusted foot soldiers, especially after being burned with the Krøldrup signing. Stubbs returning in January meant Ferrari never got a look in again.

Seb Niemand
24 Posted 05/08/2015 at 07:42:08
Great article! For what it is worth, I still consider Alex Nyarko to be the worst player, African or otherwise, I have ever seen pull on an Everton shirt. A few others had fewer skills, but none had a worse attitude.
David S Shaw
25 Posted 05/08/2015 at 14:43:50
I'm surprised by the word only, I wouldn't mind guessing that outside our own continent Africa is the one we've had the most players from?
David Hallwood
26 Posted 05/08/2015 at 20:03:33
Seb (#24) I think Alex Nyarko started off really welland played really well the first few games plus he scored a cracker (v Spurs I think). I thought we had another Patrick Veira on our hands but unfortunately he quickly turned into Patricia. It was as if he'd been kidnapped and replaced by a look-a-like.

Yet another chapter in the long running saga, "golden dawn over Goodison" BTW Sam, great read


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