To celebrate the 16th anniversary of Kanu signing for Arsenal, we pulled an interview with the former Nigeria striker from our archives. This piece first appeared in the Arsenal Magazine in March 2004.

Kanu’s worth to the Gunners this season was emphasised when Arsène Wenger asked him to delay his departure for the African Nations Cup until the last possible minute, so as he could call on the Nigerian’s services in the crucial Premiership game against Aston Villa and the home leg of the Carling Cup Semi-Final against Middlesbrough.

The giant striker was in prime form prior to heading off to Tunisia and a typical piece of skill earned the penalty that sealed the Gunners win it Villa Park. But after the 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough it was almost a month before he loped back into the training ground, ready to pick-up where he left off prior to his sojourn with the Super Eagles.

Nigeria were one of the favourites to win the tournament, boasting the lavish talents of Kanu, JayJay Okocha and Julius Aghahowa, but things started terribly for the continent’s giants, slumping to a 1-0 defeat to Morocco. The squad was then thrown into crisis as the experienced Yakubi, Babayaro and Agali were sent home for breaking a curfew and things were looking desperate for Christian Chukwu’s team.

Kanu in action during the African Cup of Nations

But wins over South Africa and Benin ensured qualification for the knock-out rounds where Cameroon were then dispatched, 2-1. Unfortunately, a penalty shoot-out against the hosts in the semi-final proved a bridge too far and the Super Eagles had been shot down.

Kanu takes up the story: “We lost our first game, which wasn’t good for our morale or confidence. The experienced players realised we had to help carry the other players on from that point and things did get better.

“I think after the first game, we played together well as a team and I was happy with the way I played,” continues Kanu. “The manager tried to go back to the old system which had served us well in the past.

“Beating Cameroon was the most important game for the country, because we lost to them in the 2000 Final and there is a big rivalry there so everyone was very happy to get a win over them.

“We thought we had a very good chance to win then because Cameroon are one of the strongest contenders but then playing against Tunisia we felt we were hard done by with some of the officiating, when we were 1-0 ahead they got a penalty to equalise which we didn’t think was right. I think also the home nation enjoyed some fortunate refereeing decisions in the Quarter-Final against Senegal too.”

Kanu in action for Nigeria

The tournament was covered extensively on terrestial television and when not discussing the marvellous skills on show, there was significant talk about the officiating, which, as Kanu alludes to, was not always consistent.

“In general refereeing in Africa has always been different,” says Kanu, “for example you always saw a lot of kicking of opponents which went unpunished, even though it could be a red card in Europe. But suddenly they tried to totally change for this last tournament and referee things differently and maybe this caused problems. I think overall the standard has to get better to be honest.”

The officiating may have raised eyebrows, but by far the most contentions episode of the entire tournament was the expulsion of three of Nigeria’s most experienced players for breaking a curfew. As a senior figure within the Nigerian game, it’s a tough subject for Kanu to comment upon, but you can sense that he felt his nation’s chances of victory were compromised by the decision.

“It’s a difficult subject to talk about,” agonises Kanu, who is fast approaching 50 caps for his country. “Yes they broke the curfew, but rather than being sent home straight away, perhaps they should have just been warned about things. It really did make a big impact on the players, because our squad was then very small.

“Even when I was injured, in the South Africa match, I had to carry on playing because two of our strikers had gone home. They could have penalised them some how, maybe a fine, as long as they’d not gone home, we could at least have planned for the later stages with them.”

Having shouldered a heavy striking responsibility for his country, it was straight back into the thick of things for the Gunners on Kanu’s return. But Kanu wasn’t surprised that the other Arsenal players had continued to perform at a supremely high level in his absence.

“When I first got back I was a bit tired because after the African Nations Cup we had to fly back to Nigeria to meet the President before I could come back to England,” the 27 year-old reveals. “I was immediately on the bench for the Chelsea game and it was pretty hard for me to be honest. But then I got back into training here and after probably a week I felt good again and I just want to get back playing again.

“When you have such a strong squad as we do everyone wants their chance to contend for the first-team and if you go away it is difficult because when you come back someone has been picked and is doing very well.

“And of course another striker had joined while I was away and Jose Antonio looks very good. Obviously the Boss wants to give him a chance to show what he can do but I am determined to keep working hard to try and get back into the side.”

Jose Antonio Reyes in action for Arsenal

Unique to the Arsenal squad, Kanu has won a Champions League during his career, and he knows what it will take to earn the ultimate accolade in Club football. But if you listen to the former Ajax and Inter Milan striker, his belief that the Gunners can find their ‘holy grail’ is paramount.

“We know each other very well now,” he says “we are like family. We work very hard for each other and the spirit has developed over the past few years. It’s like when Manchester United won the treble, they had a group of players who had grown up together too.

“I won a Champions league with Ajax and for me we now have the players, quality, spirit and experience to win this competition.

“I think Champions League football is all about experience and we now have enough experience in this competition, that matters a lot. We are full of confidence that we can go further than ever before.

“As an Arsenal player,” continues Kanu, “you see that right now you have the chance to win three trophies this season and you are confident you can do it because you are positive about the ability and experience of all of the players. We don’t want to give-up on anything and we have the squad to cope with each the Champions League, the league, which we are leading by nine points and the FA Cup.”

Kanu in action for Arsenal

Even the trophy that Arsenal are not still involved in will stand us in good stead in the future according to Kanu:

“The Carling Cup was a very positive experience,” he says. “I know that the Manager treats the competition a little differently, he mixes it up with senior players and the youngsters and it was great this season. Really good experience for the young players and the older ones like myself too.

"I love the Club, the supporters are great to me and always have been. Even if new players come in they still chant my name and that means so much to me and makes me happy" Kanu

“And now when a young player comes into the team for the Premiership or Europe maybe, like Gael Clichy or David Bentley, they’re not put in a situation they find hard to deal with.”

Positive about the Club and his own game, Kanu appears very happy with his lot at the moment, but his contract is up at the end of the season, so what of that?

“Well I have just come back from the African Nations and have been concentrating on my football but what I would say is I love the Club, the supporters are great to me and always have been. Even if new players come in they still chant my name and that means so much to me and makes me happy. They are always with me and make me feel very positive.”

If Kanu needs his nearest and dearest close to continue to help him enjoy his life in England, he need only drive up the M11: “My brother, Chris, is still at Peterborough United, he joined them last summer. He has had a little injury but has played quite a lot of games for Barry Fry this season.” The one and only Barry Fry. “I have never met him, but my brother has told me a lot about him!” He laughs.

Th subject of Chris, who stands 5’ 8”, reminded me of a recent newspaper article that said Kanu learnt all of his outrageous skills whilst still relatively small before a mighty growth spurt pushed him up to the towering 6’ 5”. So is this true?

Kanu in 1999

“When you are young in Nigeria you learn a lot of tricks and skills because you play in the street all of the time,” he explains. “It is not structured like here, you don’t have kids already playing for big teams when they are 10, you are just playing for fun and learning skills. But I wasn’t always big, when I was a kid I wasn’t tall but then, before I went to Ajax, I grew a lot in a short space of time, so I suppose you could say I had already learned a lot of my tricks.”

Kanu always seems to be a candidate for an unlikely story or two in the press, a fact that he happily laughs at.

"I think people like to look at what I can do with the ball and how I control it and think I must have very big feet! Still, it’s a good story" Kanu

“I read those things about my feet and hear them on TV,” he smiles. I even went to find Vic (Akers, Kit Manager) and said: ‘Vic what size are my feet?’ and I am a 12 which I think is probably normal for someone who is my height. I think people like to look at what I can do with the ball and how I control it and think I must have very big feet! Still, it’s a good story.

“And if I was as old as people sometimes say, I’d already have retired!” Finally, a conversatoin with Kanu, isn’t complete without finding the latest concerning his Heart Foundation, which has done such great work in helping African youngsters with seroius heart problems get treatment. And if a former Gunners striker now presents the National Lottery programme on TV, Kanu can go one better than Ian Wright - he runs it in Nigeria.

“The lottery in Nigeria is now run by the Heart Foundation” he says, “and helps us raise money to send more children for essential operations. The numbers are drawn every week and there are many prizes: money, holidays, scholarships. cars...lots of things. It is very popular.

“We are planning to bring some more kids over here for operations and we also take them to Israel. We are also hoping that some of the American surgeons who have helped us before can come over to Nigeria too.

“Socially it is very quiet at the moment, we are waiting for the end of the season. When we last did the ‘double’ we hosted a great party which everyone came to and raised lots of money. You never know, the Heart Foundation might be able to celebrate a treble this year!”