Top five attacking duos in I-League history

3. Odafa Okolie & Felix Chimaokwu (Churchill Brothers 2008-2010)

Odafa Okolie (holding the flag) and to his left Felix Chimaokwu (hand on head) celebrate Churchill Brothers’ first league triumph

While the previous two pairings relied on some tactical tweaks from their coach, there was nothing complicated about this Nigerian strike pairing as they tormented opposition defences with their strength and were deadly in front of goal. Odafa, who finished top scorer for four straight seasons between 2006 and 2010, of course would make the headlines as his strike rate was by far the best in the I-League, but Felix too was quite clinical as he had a healthy return in the two seasons that he spent with Churchill Brothers. Many forwards in the past have struggled to combine with goal machine Odafa but Felix complemented his compatriot flawlessly.

The two Nigerian forwards were directly involved in 75 percent of Churchill Brothers’ goals in the 2008-09 I-League, which they eventually won to lift the club’s maiden Indian league title. There were games which Odafa single-handedly won for Churchill but in tight matches he benefited from the support of his compatriot Felix, who acted as the perfect foil for his more prolific strike partner. Churchill Brothers were runners-up in the 2009-10 season but finished with the second best attack with Odafa and Felix once again contributing more than half of their team’s goals. They also reached the AFC Cup round of 16, with both strikers making key contributions against some of the best West Asian clubs.