{"id":27912,"date":"2020-07-27T18:15:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T18:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/nigeria\/?p=27912"},"modified":"2020-07-27T18:15:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T18:15:39","slug":"maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol","title":{"rendered":"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Africa Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria international Josh Maja is hoping to establish himself in the Super Eagles team under head coach Gernot Rohr.<\/p>\n<p>The England-born winger is a newcomer in the Nigerian national team having made his international debut in September 2019 against Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Maja impressed in his maiden full season in the French Ligue 1 as he netted six times in 22 games for FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the 2019\/20 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>This was after the 21-year-old player had joined Bordeaux from English club Sunderland midway through the 2018\/19 season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, playing in one of Europe\u2019s top five leagues and performing well will improve my chances [of international selection],\u201d Maja told BBC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve settled in well since I joined [from Sunderland in January 2019]. I\u2019ve adapted to the playing style and culture of the league and I\u2019m hoping to play more games in the future. It\u2019s a great experience in a top league.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Nigerian team has always had quality, but now there are a lot of young talents playing, so the future is very bright for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former Manchester City academy player named legendary Nigerian midfielder Augustine \u2018Jay-Jay\u2019 Okocha as his idol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully the opportunity comes to play and help them make history. Playing on an international stage was a dream of mine and to represent my country and make my family proud,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m familiar with my roots. I went to Nigeria a few times when I was young, and in the next few years, I\u2019ll be going again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkocha was a big icon and an example to many players, even outside of Nigeria. He had lots of qualities and performed well in the Premier League.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa Press-Nigeria: Nigeria international Josh Maja is hoping to establish himself in the Super Eagles team under head coach Gernot Rohr. The England-born winger is a newcomer in the Nigerian national team having made his international debut in September 2019 against Ukraine. Maja impressed in his maiden full season in the French Ligue 1 as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":27914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[174,115],"class_list":["post-27912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-football-in-nigeria","tag-nigerian-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Africa Press-Nigeria:Nigeria international Josh Maja is hoping to establish himself in the Super Eagles team under head coach Gernot Rohr.The England-born\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa Press-Nigeria:Nigeria international Josh Maja is hoping to establish himself in the Super Eagles team under head coach Gernot Rohr.The England-born\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-27T18:15:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"581\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"757\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"alico\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"alico\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"alico\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\"},\"headline\":\"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-27T18:15:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol\"},\"wordCount\":289,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Football in Nigeria\",\"Nigerian sports\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol\",\"name\":\"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-27T18:15:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\"},\"description\":\"Africa Press-Nigeria:Nigeria international Josh Maja is hoping to establish himself in the Super Eagles team under head coach Gernot Rohr.The England-born\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg\",\"width\":581,\"height\":757},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\",\"name\":\"alico\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/alico\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL - Nigeria","description":"Africa Press-Nigeria:Nigeria international Josh Maja is hoping to establish himself in the Super Eagles team under head coach Gernot Rohr.The England-born","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL","og_description":"Africa Press-Nigeria:Nigeria international Josh Maja is hoping to establish himself in the Super Eagles team under head coach Gernot Rohr.The England-born","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2020-07-27T18:15:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":581,"height":757,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"alico","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"alico","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol"},"author":{"name":"alico","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7"},"headline":"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL","datePublished":"2020-07-27T18:15:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol"},"wordCount":289,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg","keywords":["Football in Nigeria","Nigerian sports"],"articleSection":["all news","Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol","name":"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-27T18:15:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7"},"description":"Africa Press-Nigeria:Nigeria international Josh Maja is hoping to establish himself in the Super Eagles team under head coach Gernot Rohr.The England-born","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/453824-1543494972.jpg","width":581,"height":757},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/maja-sets-nigeria-target-names-okocha-his-idol#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MAJA SETS NIGERIA TARGET, NAMES OKOCHA HIS IDOL"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7","name":"alico","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/alico"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}