Retired Super Eagles skipper Austin Okocha has spoken about the importance of football to Nigerians, and has picked Manchester City's Yaya Toure as the best footballer in Africa at the moment.

The former Paris Saint-Germain star was invited to France last week by Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo to take part in a charity match against poverty.

“It's a religion in my country. It unites the whole country as one. If the football goes well, then everything goes well. It's more than a game, more than a sport. It's part of our culture,” Okocha said to fifa.com

“You can't be completely satisfied with the situation at the moment. We're lacking a bit of consistency, but there's plenty of work being done at the top.

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Added Okocha : “We've been through some tough times, but the good thing is that we're a big country with a lot of talented players.

“We just need to get the right structures in place so that the light can shine for good.

“I'd say Yaya Toure (is the best African player). He's the most consistent performer. And then there's Jay-Jay of course .”

In a career spanning close to two decades, Austin Okocha turned out for clubs in Germany, Turkey, France, England and Qatar before hanging up his boots.

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