Super Eagles’ captain, Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi has dedicated the manner in which he celebrated his first goal for Nigeria to his father, Sports247 reports.
The Besiktas of Turkey holding midfielder romped home a powerful header for Nigeria’s second goal in a 3-2 win over Tunisia on Saturday at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and then went gaga with a historic ‘drunken style celebration.’
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Memories were brought alive for Nigerians, as the former Nath Boys FC of Lagos, RKC Genk of Belgium and Leicester City of England battler celebrated in the same manner former Eagles’ captain, Nwankwo Kanu did at Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games.
Ndidi has now revealed that his dad was a huge fan of Kanu’s and often encouraged him to emulate the former Arsenal of England star, hence his decision to copy the lanky icon’s goal celebration after scoring on Saturday in Fes, Morocco.
He expatiated, “The idea for this celebration came from my dad, because he is always talking about Kanu Nwankwo. While I was growing up, my dad loved to talk about Kanu all the time.
“So, one day, I watched a video of Nigeria’s match, and I saw how Kanu celebrated a goal. It just came to my head that I’m going to do the same thing one day.
“I told myself that I’m going to do it for my dad, and I’m happy that I was able to do it after scoring at this AFCON,” Ndidi remarked.
