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Nigeria football legend Austin Okocha has taken a swipe at Jamie Carragher after the former Liverpool defender appeared to downplay the significance of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Footynaija.com reports.
Carragher’s comments sparked widespread criticism across Africa, with Okocha becoming the latest high-profile figure to voice his displeasure.
The ex-England international suggested Mohamed Salah’s absence from what he termed “major tournaments” with Egypt could be a factor in why the Liverpool star could be overlooked for the Ballon d’Or.
However, Okocha has now joined a growing list of African football icons, including Ahmed Elmohamady and John Mikel Obi, in condemning Carragher’s remarks.
How it all started
Carragher made the controversial comments while speaking on The Overlap alongside Roy Keane, Micah Richards, and Daniel Sturridge.
The discussion centred around Salah’s chances of winning the 2025 Ballon d’Or after the Egyptian scored his 25th Premier League goal of the season in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Manchester City.
While analysing Salah’s prospects, Carragher said:
“I think the problem [is] the fact he’s with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe got a great chance of winning. I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament.”
Jamie Carragher disrespectfully implies that the AFCON isn’t a major football tournament.
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) February 24, 2025
He said Salah may not win the Ballon d’Or if he doesn’t win a major tournament.
Micah Richards and Sturridge said the AFCON is a major tournament, then he scoffed. pic.twitter.com/Mbzodct1Xf
The comments were widely perceived as dismissive of the AFCON, Africa’s most prestigious football tournament, which has produced some of the game’s greatest moments and talents.
Okocha’s stinging response
Okocha, who won the 1994 AFCON with Nigeria, pulled no punches in his response, suggesting Carragher was in no position to belittle African football given his own modest international achievements.
“There are some players that will say something, you will just overlook it,” Okocha said.
“If you look at their career, if you look at the type of football that they played, you can understand… I mean, you wouldn’t want your son to be like Carragher. So he can never appreciate African football or the talents that come from Africa.”
Okocha: “You won’t want your son to play like Carragher.” pic.twitter.com/3xm5KSjQjy
— POOJA!!! (@PoojaMedia) February 27, 2025
Carragher spent his entire club career at Liverpool but never won a major international tournament with England — a fact Okocha was quick to highlight in his scathing rebuke.
Mourinho’s famous dig resurfaces
Okocha’s comments echoed a famous jibe from José Mourinho, who once mocked Carragher’s punditry credentials during his time at Chelsea.
“Jamie Carragher talks too much for someone who isn’t even among the top 1,000 defenders in football history,” Mourinho said in 2015.
“How can someone who never won the Premier [League] talk about what it takes to win the Premier [League]?”
The resurfaced quote has added fuel to the backlash, with many African football fans using Carragher’s lack of major international trophies to knock the former defender.
Africa fights back
Okocha’s criticism is the latest in a wave of outrage across Africa.
Former Egypt international Ahmed Elmohamady, who won the AFCON twice in 2008 and 2010, was one of the first to call out Carragher’s comments.
“Jamie Carragher doesn’t know what major tournaments are because he never won one,” Elmohamady wrote on social media.
“AFCON is a major tournament. So proud to have won it twice.”
John Mikel Obi also weighed in, blasting Carragher on his Obi One podcast for what he described as a “disrespectful” and “ignorant” statement.
“It’s so disrespectful what he said, and this is coming from someone who never won any major international competition with England,” Mikel said.
“His statement was absolutely wrong. I hope he will come out and make a massive apology because he owes people around the world an apology. [It was] ignorant to disrespect such a wonderful tournament.”
John Obi Mikel was NOT happy with Jamie Carragher’s comments about AFCON pic.twitter.com/UFLxWMHLVu
— george (@StokeyyG2) February 27, 2025
Mikel, who won the 2013 AFCON with Nigeria, also reminded Carragher that African players like himself had played a vital role in the Premier League’s global success.
“Africans, including myself, contributed to the growth of the game in England,” he said.
“Children, kids, grow up watching their idols, watching and supporting their country because the African Cup of Nations is what inspires them. The next generation, the influx of African players coming into the Premier League, coming to Europe to play, it’s all because they grew up watching the African Cup of Nations.”
With African voices refusing to stay silent, the message to Carragher and others is clear — AFCON deserves far greater respect.
