Football is the most popular sport in the world and people show their appreciation for the sport in different ways.
Players are awarded with different acts for their contribution to their clubs or countries they represent.
Some are given state honours while others go to the extent of having sculptures made of them being erected in cities.
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The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Thiery Henry are some of the renowned footballers to have statues of themselves erected in different countries.
However there is only one African who has had the privilege of having a statue of himself erected in one of the European nations.
Nigerian striker Anthony Nwakaeme in 2021 was rewarded with a huge statue in Turkey for his contributions at Super Lig side Trabzonspor.
The 32-year-old joined the Turkish side back in 2018 where after three years at the club one of the club's supporters decided to erect his statue.
The Nigerian international, in just 114 appearances, was able to score 35 goals and gave 35 assists to his fellow teammates.
During his spell at Trabzonspor, he also helped his team win the Turkish Cup and the Turkish Super Cups titles.
The statue was created by a fan known as Adem Birsen who noted that the construction took him a whole six months.
"A long construction process of 6 months. We had it done with a special sculptor. We love & admire him very much."
"We could've picked any Turkish footballer, but Nwakaeme is a very different name for us. He came from outside and embodied us. A man who loves Trabzonspor like us, we see him as one of us. He has the characteristics of Trabzon.
"It cost Ksh233,153 (30 thousand TL), but the money is not important. Let him come here, we have food, we eat & drink. Let him continue to score. If Fenerbahçe has Alex, we have Nwakaeme. We love him very much, he should continue to score, he is our everything,” Adem Birsen noted.
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