For this hot Nigerian, football is cold business

NEW DELHI, November 7: "Football at its best is a game of beauty and intelligence", late England manager Ron Greenwood once said. Meet someone, who can lend to the 'beautiful game' a dash of science too. Churchill Brothers' 'Odafe' Onyeka Okolie can make it look utterly methodical, still managing to do it most nonchalantly - so obvious and yet so ruthless.
There wouldn't be a worthy opponent left in the country who would have escaped a beating at the hands of this soon-to-be 22 Nigerian striker, who however, feels that his thrashing of rivals' is no match to the whipping he received from his mother when the 27-inch sphere became his object of fancy rather than the world of books and education.
If it had not been for Odafe's father, neither Churchill Brothers could have witnessed a dream-like campaign in this edition of Durand Cup (thanks to Odafe's 11 goals in four matches to give the Goan side its first title ever), nor could they have finished a handsome fourth in the last National Football League just after returning from relegation - Odafe claiming the top scorer award with 18 goals out of the 30 Churchill scored in all.
"Oh! My god. Mom didn't like it a bit - me sneaking out to kick the ball around with friends at the time of study," the towering footballer recollects the memoirs of a 'problem' child. "Thankfully whenever she screamed 'Stop football' at me, dad ordered her to leave me alone. He was the only one who supported me."
Sounds like a familiar tale. Yes, even the prized Ivory Coast and Chelsea forward Didier Drogba faced similar resistance from his parents and that delayed the blossoming his career by a few years.
But for Odafe, the nickname given by his father that hangs by his neck in a gold chain, being the youngest of the six and with all siblings quite adept at their lessons, the soccer bit turned out to be more arduous than he expected.
"And when people around you deem footballers as those bad boys who keep bad company, have bad habits and are in a sense anti-social, it becomes all the more difficult," Odafe says in a tired tone and it's not easy to make out whether the lanky footballer is exhausted by the shopping spree he has just returned from or from all the hardships he had to bear before he could find a reasonable footing in football.
It was by sheer accident that the African landed himself into Indian football. He had planned to try his luck in the English sport instead - his ultimate dream is to don Arsenal jersey. Odafe came here thinking it will be easier to get a visa to UK from India. As there were some hitches in that process he joined Mohammedan Sporting to kill time. After a season he had to move to Peerless SC as "with Mohammedan in relegation, nobody really wanted me there". Hence he tried to find solace in Bangladesh's Muktijodha FC and was "top scorer in the very first season".
Then came the call from Churchill Brothers. The rest is history. "But all the hopes riding on me and the 'Odafe can do it' sometimes scare me a lot," Odafe says, who takes refuge in the God in such situations.
For all the unwavering faith Odafe kept all this while, the struggles have finally paid off. "Maybe that is why footballers generally turn out to be a stubborn breed," Odafe makes a statement which he feels, but finds hard to articulate further.
But maybe he would be able to explain the game more profoundly. So, Odafe, what do YOU think is football - art, science or both?
"I don't know. I can't say, but it is just cold business. Nothing else."