Taribo West: Brazil Legend Ronaldo Admits Difficulties Playing Against Nigerian Defender
- Taribo West was one of the greatest defenders in the 90s who shared the same dressing room with Ronaldo de Lima
- The Brazilian, who goes by the moniker, 'O Fenomeno, admitted how difficult it was playing against the Nigerian defender
- Both superstars played together at the Italian club Inter Milan, as they also played against each other at international level
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Nigerian football legend Taribo West was one of the greatest defenders during his active playing days and he even shared the same dressing room with the Brazilian phenomenon, Ronaldo de Lima.
The pair were teammates at Italian club Inter Milan, but Ronaldo once explained that they had met many years earlier.
West enjoyed success during his almost 15-year professional football career, during which he played against some of the greatest strikers of the time, including Ronaldo.
Source: Getty Images
He was just 19 when he moved to Europe in 1993 to sign with the French club Auxerre. Before that, he had been a standout performer in Nigeria's domestic league for four years, where he played for teams like Sharks of Port Harcourt, Enugu Rangers, and Julius Berger.
By then, the youthful defender had already established himself as the backbone of Nigeria's U20 national team defence.
The Nigerian defender moved to Inter in 1997 having signed from French club Auxerre, the same year 'O Fenomeno' joined from Spanish club Barcelona, per One Football.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup champion recently recounted his very first experience playing against West on the football pitch.
Their paths had crossed in 1996 when West was a key member of Nigeria's Dream Team that won gold at the Atalanta Olympic Games.
Recall that the West African pulled off an extraordinary comeback to defeat the Samba Boys 4-3 in a pulsating semi-final clash before Nigeria went on to win the title by defeating Argentina in the final.
Ronaldo insisted that he even met Taribo earlier, saying West was a member of Nigeria’s U20 team that played against an Under-17 Brazilian team that had him in the lineup.
Source: Getty Images
Ronaldo de Lima recalls first time meeting Taribo
In a chat with former Italian striker Christian Vieri as per Ilbianconero, Ronaldo admitted that it was difficult playing the Nigerian defender.
Ronaldo said:
“I was in the under 16, and we were in retreat with the Brazilian national team for two weeks.
“At the time I was 15, and we made a friendly match with Nigeria Under-20 team where Taribo played.
“They were very fast; they were adults, we were only 15 years old. On that occasion, I exchanged shoes with Taribo, but we didn’t know each other yet.
“After so many years, we met at Inter.”
Oparaku names Taribo in his Nigeria XI
Legit.ng earlier reported that former Nigerian defender Mobi Oparaku named his all-time Nigeria best XI, including Taribo West.
The Olympic gold medalist disclosed that his most memorable moment was Sunday Oliseh's winning goal against Spain at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Okparaku was part of the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Cup team and played in all the qualifying matches for the 1998 World Cup per TheNation. He said:
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Source: Legit.ng
