The Nigerian was famend for his tough-tackling however he was additionally arguably forward of his time, given his consolation on the ball.
The altering nature of soccer signifies that defenders that undertake a no-nonsense method to the sport are actually few and much between, with trendy managers largely preferring gamers snug in possession over those that thrive when their groups don’t have the ball.
One wonders, then, how Taribo West would have fared as of late.
Even in an period when attackers have been provided much less safety, and referees went simpler on aggressive centre-backs, West stood out, famend for his fearsome physicality.
He was a fiercely decided character who took no prisoners â Andrei Kanchelskis may vouch for that â and, consequently, collected loads of yellow and purple playing cards.
There was undoubtedly a little bit of the satan about him, which was ironic given he was a religious Christian who would later change into a pastor, organising his personal church referred to as ‘Shelter within the Storm Miracle Ministries of All Nation’.
Nevertheless, whereas West achieved infamy due to his tough-tackling fashion, he was certainly not poor in possession.
Certainly, he was arguably forward of his time in that he was all the time prepared to hold the ball ahead from deep earlier than releasing it to extra technically adept team-mates.
That was a facet of West that loads of individuals have forgotten, maybe understandably given he made much more headlines for typically stepping over the mark.
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It was no shock that he performed the sport with an actual edge, although.
He endured a tough upbringing which noticed him transfer from Port-Harcourt to Lagos as a teen, and work his approach by way of a collection of dead-end jobs within the slum that was Shomolu.
The demise of a childhood good friend amid these peccadillos noticed West return to Port-Harcourt earlier than getting his massive break within the lovely sport in France in 1993.
4 seasons with Auxerre yielded a Ligue 1 title in 1995-96, which stays the membershipâs solely top-flight honour, and left a mark on a younger Thierry Henry.
Certainly, when requested to call his hardest opponent throughout CBS Sports activities’ Champions League protection in 2021, the Arsenal legend replied, “I might return within the day â to Taribo West.
âAt Auxerre, they have been man-marking. He was following you all over the place, even within the dressing room!â
That interval from the mid-Nineties to the early 2000s represented Westâs prime.
He instantly adopted up that French league title triumph by enjoying each minute of Nigeriaâs shock gold medal on the 1996 Olympics, the place the ‘Dream Workforce’ defeated each Brazil and Argentina on their approach to claiming prime spot on the rostrum in Atlanta.
By the point Nigeria made her second World Cup look two years later, in France, West was already a family identify.
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Simply as he had completed in 1996, the powerful centre-back went into a world match on the again of membership success, having performed his half in Inter’s well-known 3-0 win over Lazio within the UEFA Cup closing in Paris â a sport illuminated by a Ronaldo on the peak of his powers.
A lot has been fabricated from West getting despatched off in that sport in Paris, however with the Nerazzurri three targets up on the time, solely probably the most catastrophic of collapses would have seen them throw away such a wholesome benefit with eight minutes of regular time to play.
Nonetheless, the dismissal cemented his standing within the eyes of informal observers as one in every of soccer’s dangerous boys.
Nevertheless, the reality was that when West returned to France, this time together with his nationwide workforce, he did in order a much more mature character to the one which had first made his identify in Ligue 1.
At 24, he was in his prime and assured of serving to the Tremendous Eagles make historical past by reaching the quarter-finals for the primary time of their historical past.
They definitely had the expertise, with the squad comprising the vast majority of the facet that had Olympic gold two years earlier than.
Nevertheless, Nigeria bowed out within the final 16, having been surprisingly routed by Denmark.
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Nonetheless, that they had at the very least already left their mark on the match, with their marketing campaign maybe finest remembered for Jay-Jay Okochaâs outrageous expertise and the Sunday Oliseh piledriver that shocked Spain within the group stage.
Nevertheless, West additionally caught the attention, and never simply due to his iconic coiffure.
He was a mainstay in Bora Milutinovicâs XI for the group-stage fixtures and that ill-fated round-of-16 defeat by Denmark.
Certainly, with regards to West’s efficiency in that 4-1 loss, two moments stand out that arguably sum him up.
The primary arrived after 31 minutes with Nigeria already 2-0 down, with West trying a roulette on the sting of the Danesâ field. He pulled it off, too, and received the Tremendous Eagles a throw-in deep contained in the opponentâs half.
Nevertheless, the second spotlight was extra in step with his hard-man repute.
When Michael Laudrup went previous Okocha and Oliseh, who regarded petrified and unwilling to the touch the elegant No.10, West launched himself right into a full-blooded â however profitable â deal with that stopped one of many sport’s nice playmakers firmly in his tracks.
So, provided that he had performed the sport together with his traditional ferocity, West was bitterly disenchanted to see a lot of his team-mates ship surprisingly subdued performances in Saint-Denis.
Nigeria had, in spite of everything, received their group and have been the favourites to progress to the quarter-finals.
West, a person by no means afraid to talk his thoughts, had his personal idea for the workforce’s sluggish show.
âI learn experiences about Eagles visiting nightclubs and driving limousines through the World Cup in France, however, actually, I donât find out about that,â Taribo instructed The Punch in 2020.
âHowever what I do know is that some gamers sneaked ladies into camp; I noticed that.
âThe ladies have been Africans who got here to observe the match and fell in love with our workforce, due to the best way we performed within the group stage. So, it was straightforward for these gamers to woo them to their rooms.
âThat’s the reason on match day, you might see a number of the gamers didnât have the power to curtail the Danish gamers. They have been drained after overworking themselves the night time earlier than.
“I used to be yelling at them on the pitch. I used to be very offended with them.â
Whereas the defender-turned-pastor’s story stays uncorroborated, it has been taken as gospel reality within the West African nation.
We might by no means know for certain what actually transpired earlier than Nigeriaâs loss to Denmark, however the disappointment of France 98 definitely did not hurt West’s legacy.
He’s one in every of his nationâs most celebrated gamers, which is hardly stunning. He might have had a flashy coiffure however, for higher or for worse, he all the time gave his all on the soccer discipline.
There might not be room within the trendy sport for centre-backs of such an uncompromising nature however, in fact, even again within the day, Taribo West was one in every of a sort.
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