Former Super Eagles captain Austin Jay-Jay Okocha has described Nigeria’s Olympic gold medal win at Atlanta 1996 as the greatest moment of his career — but also one of the toughest journeys of his life.
Speaking in a recent interview, the former Bolton Wanderers and PSG star admitted that while fans celebrate the glory, few know the hardships the team faced behind the scenes.
“It’s on record because we were the first African football team to win the Olympics in 1996,” Okocha said. “It is special for me because of what we went through. People only see the end product, but they don’t really see the process.”
The 51-year-old recalled shocking moments during their training camp in the United States before the Games. “We woke up one day and our training coach was gone, the bus was also gone. They took it with the spare key because the FA hadn’t paid,” he revealed.
The players also endured days of poor feeding as hotel staff threatened to throw them out. “For like a week, the hotel gave us the same meal — rice and sauce every day. They told us we should be glad we were still there because our FA hadn’t paid for food and accommodation,” Okocha said.
With the team stranded, Okocha and other senior players had to dip into their own pockets. “A few of us had to use our cards to pay for the accommodation, and then we rented minivans to keep the camp running,” he explained.
Despite the chaos, Nigeria went on to shock the world. In the semi-final, Nwankwo Kanu’s golden goal completed a dramatic comeback against Brazil, and in the final Emmanuel Amuneke’s late strike sealed a historic 3-2 victory over Argentina.
The triumph remains one of Africa’s proudest football moments, and Okocha believes the struggles behind it made the victory even sweeter.