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TWO OF A KIND: PELE, RASHIDI YEKINI SHARE COMMON BIRTHDAY

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA

Football legend, Pele of Brazil was a special guest of honour at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations final match, which pitched Nigeria against Zambia. At the pre-match ceremony, perspective observers may have noticed the special attention Pele gave to Rashidi Yekini when he was having handshake with the players.

 

Pele could be seen giving Yekini more that the traditional handshake. It turned to a hug and the rubbing the Nigerian player’s head.

There are certain attributes both Pele and Yekini share in common.  Well known is the fact that both have goal-scoring instinct. That may explain why Pele gave that attention to Yekini.

But lesser known is the fact that both players were born on 23 October date and thus share common birthdays.

Pele clocks 80 this Friday. If Yekini were alive, he would have been 57.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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