Former Super Eagles’ striker and ex-assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi has revealed that he got his nickname (The Bull) from the Nigerian team’s iconic tactician, Clemens Westerhof, Sports247 reports.
Amokachi further disclosed that Westerhof, who was fondly called ‘Dutch-Gerian,’ also predicted the very first day they met that the Eagles would qualify for the 1994 World Cup and win the Africa Cup of Nations the same year with him in the squad.
The ex-international, who went on to play for Club Brugge of Belgium, Besiktas of Turkey and Everton of England, recalled that he was still at a secondary school in Kaduna when Westerhof gave those predictions, hence his amazement when they both came to pass.
The all-action attacker, who was nicknamed ‘Amo-Taxi’ during his heyday in England, reminisced: “I was just becoming 16, but he said, ‘I want you to come and play with the big players in the national team.
“‘You are 16, but you are a very good player. You will help Nigeria to qualify for their first World Cup and to win the Africa Cup of Nations in ’94.’ That was what Westerhof said.
“At that time, I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I kept it in my head, and it all came to pass.”
Amokachi then recounted how he became the apple of Westerhof’s eye, mostly due to his bullish playing style, which eventually led to his iconic nickname coming through the Dutch gaffer’s wity words.
“I became Westerhof’s favourite because he loved the way I played my football. My nickname, The Bull, was given me by Westerhof because of my style of play,” Amokachi recounted with a tone of nostalgia.
He further noted how Westerhof also put him through the first stage of interest in becoming a coach by making him watch training while sitting beside him on the sidelines.
“I remember when we were training one day, he just put me on the side and said, ‘Keep watching.’
“One day, two days, three days; he kept me beside him and said, ‘Watch them and read the game. When I put you in, with your kind of football, go and bully everybody.’
“He said I could bully people because I had the strength of a buffalo. That’s how the nickname got stuck with me,” Amokachi recalled with a twinkle in his eye.
