Such is the mans confidence. Such is the Bulls tenacity. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bull I present today is none other than the Nigerian ace Daniel Amokachi . Born on December the 20th 1972 "Amotaxi" as he is also known was unveiled to Africa and the rest of the world during the Eagles 2-0 victory in 1990 against the Elephants of Ivory Coast. 60 days later he became the youngest player at that time to participate in the 1990 African Nations Cup where he stunned both friend and foe with his aggressive yet spectacular play. (1) When I remember Amokachis overall style then today, I best compare it to a woman's skirt that is long enough to be respectable but short enough to be interesting, make that very interesting. Unlike other Eagle dribblers whose work product could be called um, masturbatory for lack of a better word Amokachi's could never be called the same since self gratification mostly resulted in spectacular goals.

Records may come and they may go, some are all huff and no puff while some deserve a raised eye lid. Well raise 2 and chew on this because Nigeria has only lost 1 non friendly Team A game in which Danny boy started and played a full 90 minutes ! The Bull first started off in Nigeria's Pepsi league where he roamed the wings for the Kaduna Ranchers Bees at an amazing 16 , annoying both defenders and goal keepers with his persistent aggressive style of play and love affair with the back of the net


Our Bull had so much grace he could have easily have danced through many a China shop and not break one thing!

On April the 27th against the Benin Republic during the ANC qualification game he would score his first of a dozen brilliant goals for Nigeria when he tagged their "onion basket" in the 27th minute. Other notable monsters would be the 17th minute bulala against Uganda in Surulere in 1992, the 87th minute "full stop" against Algeria in the 4-1 rout also in Lagos a year later and the breath taking "bang bang double trouble" versus Burkina Faso in 96 where he made the Stallion Goal Keeper retrieve the ball from his net twice in 2 minutes

But then we are getting ahead of ourselves here aren't we ? I say this because the winged Pegasus out of Africa for the young Tiv boy named Daniel, came calling in form of the scouts for the Belgian Club Bruges and not from the tea sipping FA. Here again Amokachi played handsomely and one could seriously question what drained him more - the bitter weather with the stoic Flemish hospitality or what the defence threw against him every Sunday. Hoping that you al chose option number 1 you can now understand how he felt when those same tea drinking scouts I mentioned above did come calling !

When they came they came from Everton, drank Guinness instead of Earl Grey, and liked what they saw very much. When they presented the Nigerian not just with their clubs resume but also with a list of Nigerian restaurant menus-all within spitting distance of the grounds-Amo was Britannia bound. Here he slid into the ease of his new role designed by Coach Joe Royle like the smooth uninterrupted singular motion of a meguards arrow leaving its quiver and soaring to meet its bulls eye !

Soon budding friendships with people like King George Weah as well as his play on the field would make both fan and scout sit up straight and pay attention when the Bulls name was mentioned, be it for real or just for charity. He was certainly among Africa's best ! At the 1994 WC in addition to Yekinis net entanglement and Baggios " I blew it" stances Amo's hands and knees crawl to the corner flag celebration against Bulgaria in the Cotton Bowl remains among the dominant hightlights of the competition. (2) Anyway Everton was just what the Doctor prescribed and provided the spring board that Amokachi needed ! Playing along other hungry top notch forwards the team first sputtered then roared into full gear and by 1995 was a double edged sword that based her attack on sheer spunk and borderline reckless bravado. Amokachis "double trouble 2" in the FA semi final when he would bomb the The Hotspurs into submission with 2 unanswered monster goals still makes Everton fans cross themselves when they talk about the Bull.

Who can forget his cheekiest almost childish of all grins while ferrying the FA cup around Wembley on his head as if he was fetching water from a stream with a size 7 bucket back home ? I for one cant ! Anyway I could drone on for as long as the weeks has days about Amo and we would still arrive at the humble fact that while there are many who play in the FA out of Africa there are but a handfull Africans who have held argubaly the most precious of the UK's trophies in their bare hands - Go and c

Unchecked Fury, AMOTAXI's game for lack of a better term was just plain "sexy"

In the 2 monster games against their main rival Ferbenache armed with Uche and Okocha Amokachi single handedly maimed the other "giant" by scoring what till today they call the soap" goal" in Turkey. It was that slippery and would have been enough for the fans but considering Amo had just banged in what they dubbed "the leg of Allah goal" just moments later, they lay dazed and confused ! Oh BTW he just happened to be lying upside down, AIRBORNE ! His regal staus remained throughout 1998 by which he was the Super Eagles top scorer during the same year WC qualifications. Despite medical advice from Istanbul he played through still soft scar tissue from an injury suffered in Turkey, starting a rift between himself and the club. To make matters worse his Eagles crashed out and things got worse when Amo hurt his knee so badly that the initial dignosis put not just to end his career on the field, but on the walkway where he modeled part time as well

It would be impossible to try and track the various headlines we have all read linking Amo to some far out remedy or treatment for his knee. It would be even harder to try and weed out those with merit and those with out. However all we know is that he tried everything and never gave up hope. While the finger waggers and so called experts all begged him to retire he refused and continued to play for those who would still give him a chance! However the knee problems persisted and sooner than later Amo would do the right thing and focus on rehabilitation 100% . In 2001 he shocked the world when days before the critical game between Nigeria and Sudan he suddenly appeard at the Eagles camp claiming to be ready to roar. While thousands of fans saw it different he was still unable to crack Amodus line up and was soon all over Europe and the UAE shopping his services.

It would not be Europe but the US that would finally ensnare the Ex Nigerian captain when the Colorado Rapids would annouce his signing and where Amotaxi cracked the THE 1st ELEVEN after one practice.

Amazing ? Not if you remember part 2 of the Indian chant:

Da Bull a coming better not looking down

Da Bull a stomping, steppin out of the clouds

Da Bull A killa, Put em in da ground Listen America Da Bull a coming listen for the sound !