I want to surpass Yekini’s record – Emenike

Emmanuel Emenike

Fenerbahce hitman Emmanuel Emenike  has set himself the challenge of surpassing Rashidi Yekini’s goalscoring record for Nigeria.

Yekini, who died last year, holds the all-time scoring record for the  country. The 1993 African Footballer of the Year scored 37 goals for  the Super Eagles in 58 appearances spanning  14 years.  The deceased represented Nigeria  in five major tournaments, including  the USA ’94 and France ’98 World Cups.

But Emenike, who has scored 10 goals in 17 matches for the Eagles, hopes to surpass the Tunisia ’94 Africa Cup of Nations winner’s record.

“Yekini’s shoes are still too big for me to wear, I am only doing what I know best for my fatherland and I have not done anything yet,” the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Golden Boot winner told MTNFootball.com in an interview on Thursday.

 

“I still have a lot to do to get to the height reached by such a legend.

“The fans have to wait before I can accept that tag but for now, I’m thinking about making the name Emenike bigger than the late  Yekini.

“But I won’t rush my race. I will keep delivering when I’m given the chance to serve my country.”

The former Spartak Moscow star admitted that it would be a “dream” to represent his  country at  the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, saying the Eagles would play their hearts out in the second leg playoff against Ethiopia in Calabar on November 16 to seal rtheir berth in the finals.

“I’m glad to have played in the Africa Nations Cup and won,” Emenike said.

“I’m dreaming of playing in my first World Cup for Nigeria. That will be the first time I will be at the World Cup and to get to play in Brazil, where they are crazy about football, would be a dream come true.

“I started nursing the dream to play at  World Cup since 1994. I was a very small boy then, but could still remember how the older boys around followed the tournament and were mentioning the players’ names, praising them. Ever since then, I have wanted to also be praised for playing at the World Cup. It would be great to play in Brazil.”

However, the 25-year-old said the Eagles are not getting carried away by Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Ethiopia in the World Cup playoff in Addis Ababa.

He said, “It is to be expected for the fans to celebrate such a victory because it was away from home.But we the players are not thinking that way.

“I’m sure the ticket is within the reach now. Our fans should know that we as footballers always want to win and they should always have it in their mind that football is all about ups and downs.

“They (Ethiopia) are a good side. They gave us a scare, they were everywhere and determined for revenge but we went, we saw and we conquered.

“We played against a good side in the Ethiopians. We knew that right from the Africa Nations Cup and they have improved.”