Saturday, 15 May 2021: The Nigerian striker, Kelechi Ihenacho may be the key player to watch. In this year’s FA cup finals
The Nigeria striker has been in sensational form in 2021, and on Saturday, he faces arguably the biggest game of his career when he features for the Foxes in the FA Cup final.
FA Cup is the oldest football tournament in the world. It has been contested on and off from 1872 and has been won by 43 different teams; the most successful being Arsenal with 14 triumphs. Manchester United have won it 12 times; Tottenham, have also won it eight times while London neighbours, Chelsea are seeking a ninth win against Leicester City today.

It’s the first time since 1969 that Leicester City have featured in the showpiece fixture in the England football calendar, and Brendan Rodgers’ side which parades two Nigeria International footballers−Kelechi Ihenacho and Wilfred Ndidi are aiming for their first victory in the competition.

While few had expected Iheanacho’s scoring form of recent months, particularly after he had struggled to previously impress when handed an opportunity for Leicester, the striker does have an awesome record in the competition.

Since he made his FA Cup debut for Manchester City, he has scored a lot of goals with ease in the competition, while the Nigerian also proved to be the hero against Southampton in the semi-final.

It was Iheanacho’s 55th-minute effort that powered Rodgers’ troops to their Wembley showdown with Chelsea, with the forward having previously scored against Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United in earlier rounds.

Ihenacho’s compatriot, Wilfred Ndidi is also expected to be on parade when the King Power Stadium outfit takes on Chelsea today.

Ndidi’s impact on Leicester City’s progress this season cannot be undermined. Foxes’ manager, Brendan Rodgers has helped him to grow into a brilliant footballer since his arrival at the Premier League club and the Nigeria international has developed into one of the best combative defensive midfielders in the English top-flight since joining the Foxes from Belgian side Genk in 2017.

These two internationals will be hoping to help their side triumph as they take on Chelsea today thereby emulating seven other Nigerian footballers who have achieved these feats in the past. Notable among them is Daniel Amokachi.

The FA Cup−a football competition steeped in so much history has had its fair share of Nigerian flavour and the most memorable is Daniel Amokachi’s self-introduction in the semi-final of the tournament in 1995 while playing for Everton.

The date was April 9, 1995, and ‘Da Bull’ was a substitute as Everton went up against Tottenham at Elland Road but in quite absurd circumstances, the Nigerian subbed himself into the action when Paul Rideout was still receiving treatment pitch-side.

In the days where you could only come on to the pitch through one way, Amokachi jogged on and effectively took the decision out of manager Joe Royle’s hands. Royle was totally against the move but it played out well for Amokachi as he scored the two goals that made the game safe for the Toffees and took them to the final.

After the game, Royle admitted, “What a good mistake”. In the final, they beat Manchester United1-0 with the goal scored by Rideout and Amokachi came on [legally] in the 69th minute.

Also, Nigerian defender, Babayaro emerged as an English FA Cup winner in the year 2000. One of the six trophies that Babayaro won while playing for Chelsea between 1997 and 2005 was the FA Cup with a 1-0 triumph over Aston Villa in 2000.

In eight seasons in which he appeared in the FA Cup, the left-back made 20 appearances; scoring once and providing one assist.

Kanu Nwankwo while featuring for Arsenal in 2002−2003 and Portsmouth in 2008 also won the FA cup.
Kanu is the only Nigerian to have won the FA Cup with two different sides. While at Arsenal between 1999 and 2004, the Gunners won in 2002, beating Chelsea 2-0 in the final and retained the Cup in 2003 by beating Southampton 1-0.

But his greatest triumph was with Portsmouth in 2008, when against all expectations; they went all the way to the final and defeated Cardiff 1-0, with Kanu scoring the only goal in the 35th minute.

John Utaka was in the winning Portsmouth team of 2008 alongside Kanu as they both won the FA Cup together. Utaka played for 69 minutes before coming off.

Mikel Obi is not left out among the Nigerian internationals who have snapped up the highly coveted English FA trophy.  

Mikel won three FA Cup titles during his time at Chelsea. The midfielder was on the pitch for the full 120 minutes as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in extra-time time to lift the FA Cup in 2007.

Alex Iwobi also made the list, winning the 2017 FA Cup title−the first trophy ever of his professional football career when Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 to win trophy.

Victor Moses also wrote his name in the history books by featuring in the Chelsea line-up that won the FA cup in 2018 becoming the seventh Nigerian player in history to win the FA Cup. Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 courtesy of a 22nd minute penalty by Eden Hazard.
Will Kelechi Ihenacho and Wilfred Ndidi join this crop of FA Cup winners?, only time will tell.