Nigeria has been blessed with men and women who
by their talent, skill, hard work and commitment to sports, have made
Nigeria proud, and granted her international recognition, inspiring
others to do more. CHIKELU CHINELO and ANDREW ESSIEN write...
Chidi Imo (Track and field)
Born August 27, 1963, Chidi Imo is a former sprinter from Nigeria who won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also won a silver medal in the 100 metres at the 1986 Goodwill Games, finished behind Ben Johnson and ahead of Carl Lewis. He won a 60 metres Bronze medal at the 1991 World Indoor Championships, and he became the African champion in 1984 and 1985.
In 1986, he posted the world leading time for that year in the 100 metres, winning the 100 metres race in the 1987 All-Africa Games.
Imoh is also a former runner for the University of Missouri in Columbia. He holds the records there in the 200 m outdoor with a time of 19.9, the 100 m outdoor with a time of 10.00, and in the 55 m indoor with a time of 6.10.
Christian “Night Train” Okoye (American Football)
Born August 16, 1961, Christian Emeka Okoye is a Nigerian-American former American football fullback for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1987 to 1992. Nicknamed “The Nigerian Nightmare”.
Known for his powerful speed and ability to break tackles, Okoye’s six seasons in the NFL saw a league rushing title in 1989, two Pro Bowl appearances (1989, 1991), and three playoff appearances.
In his rookie year, he rushed for 660 yards on 157 carries. The following year, a thumb injury limited him to nine games, and he finished the season with 473 yards.
In 1989, Okoye enjoyed his best NFL season by far, leading the league in both rushing attempts (370) and rushing yards (1,480). Though the Chiefs missed the playoffs, Okoye was selected by UPI as the American Football Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and earned a trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl.
The remainder of Okoye’s career was marked by a nagging knee injury, one which limited him to 805 yards and a 3.3 yard average per carry in 1990. Though his 1991 performance (1,031 yards, 4.6 yards per carry) earned him his second Pro Bowl appearance, Okoye’s carries in 1992 were largely limited to goal-line situations.
Okoye has stated that he ended his NFL career because he became tired of practice, and that he considered football to be a job.
He retired as the Chiefs’ all-time rushing leader, having amassed 4,897 yards, 1,246 attempts, and 14 games with at least 100 yards rushing, in his six seasons. Those team records have since been surpassed by Priest Holmes. His 40 career rushing touchdowns as a member of the Chiefs trail only Holmes and Marcus Allen. His Chiefs records for carries in a game and rushing attempts in a season were surpassed by Larry Johnson. Okoye was the team MVP in 1989, and was enshrined in the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2000.
Kanu Nwankwo (Football)
Nwankwo Kanu or simply Kanu as popularly known was born August 1, 1976 and played as a forward for the Nigerian football team. He was a member of and later captained the Nigerian national team for 16 years from 1994 until 2010.
Kanu has won a UEFA Champions League medal, a UEFA Cup medal, three FA Cup Winners Medals and two-time African Player of the Year. He is also one of few players to have won the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal.
He made the third-most substitute appearances in Premier League history, appearing from the bench 118 times.
Stephen Keshi (Football)
Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, born 23 January, 1962 was a football defender and a former football manager of the Nigeria National team. One of only two players along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as both a player and a coach.
After a playing career mostly with Belgian clubs, Keshi went to the United States to be educated in coaching.
In 1996, he was joined by Augustine Eguavoen, who once coached the Nigerian national team. They played together in California as the backbone of the defence for the short-lived Sacramento Scorpions.
Keshi has at some point been a part of the coaching staff for the Nigerian national team, most notably as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2001 African Youth Championship which also served as qualification for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, without success.
Between 2004 and 2006, Keshi coached the Togo national football team, surprisingly bringing them to their first World Cup tournament, Germany 2006. Having secured Togo’s unlikely qualification, he was promptly replaced by German coach, Otto Pfister prior to the World Cup finals, after Togo showed a dismal performance and failed to advance to the knock-out stage in 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
However, Pfister did not last beyond a controversial World Cup campaign that nearly resulted in a player’s strike over pay and Togo remained without a manager until February 2007 when they re-engaged Keshi in time for a friendly against Cameroon.
He worked as manager of the Mali national football team, after being appointed in April 2008 on a two-year deal. Keshi was sacked in January 2010, after Mali’s early exit in the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Keshi became coach of the Nigerian National Team in 2011. On 16 November 2013, Keshi’s Nigeria secured qualification to the 2014 World Cup by beating Ethiopia 4–1 on aggregate in a play-off.
In July 2015, following Nigeria’s exit from the World Cup, Keshi’s contract with the Nigerian Football Federation expired but was not renewed. A statement by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee said the decision was made, having thoroughly reviewed the reports/findings of the NFF Disciplinary Committee and NFF Technical and Development Committee, as well as having reviewed the actions and inaction of Stephen Keshi, in the performance of his duties as Super Eagles’ Head Coach, which NFF found to lack the required commitment to achieve the Federation’s objectives as set out in the Coach’s employment contract.
Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije
Three-time Olympic Games athlete, he made his debut at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in the +80kg event, but lost at the preliminary levels to Pascal Gentil of France. Deemed one of the best chances for a gold medal for Nigeria at the Olympics, prior to an intensive training abroad, he qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in defeating Akmal Irgashev of Uzbekistan at the Repechage level to win a bronze medal. A foot injury sustained while qualifying for the 2012 Olympics affected his performance and he lost his first bout to Robelis Despaigne, the eventual bronze medalist at the event. At the African level, the athlete holds a gold medal at the 2007 All Africa Games, a silver medal at the 2011 All Africa Games and bronze medal at the 2003 All Africa Games. Recently, the athlete has been busy training future Taekwondo athletes in his Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation which he founded in 2012. The foundation was the first of its kind in Africa to introduce the use of the electronic head gear in a sports competition.
Chioma Ajunwa-Opara
She is the first Nigerian and West-African female athlete to win a gold medal in a single event at the 1996 Olympics at Atlanta Georgia, USA. Ajunwa won the long jump event at the 1996 Olympics with a jump length of 7.12 meters at the finals. Before her venture into track and field, she had been a football player, playing with the Super Falcons in the 1991 Women’s World Cup, but left the football scene after been benched for long periods of time. She founded the Chioma Ajunwa Sports Foundation focused on discovering sports talents, kick drugs out of sports and empower and mentor youths.
Blessing Okagbare
The multi-track and field and Olympic athlete held the best 100m race record at the Commonwealth 2014 Games, beating Debbie McKenzie’s 12-year record of 10.91 with a jump of 10.85. She further won a gold medal at the 200m race to become the fourth woman to win the 100m and 200m double at the Commonwealth Games. Okagbare won a gold medal at her first Olympic debut in 2008, but placed eighth at the 2012 Olympics in London. At the African Championships, she took gold medals in the long jump event with a distance of 6.62m, 100m race with a record of 11.03 seconds. Okagbare secured a silver medal in the long jump, with a 6.99m at the World Championship in Moscow. In 2015, Okagbare beat the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt to the Guinness World Records as the athlete with the most diamond league appearance from July 2010 to September 2014. She appeared and excelled in more track and field events within the period than Usain Bolt.
Mariam Usman
US based Nigerian +75kg event Weightlifter, Mariam Usman won overall gold at the 2008 African Weightlifting Championships in Kenya, and ranked 5th at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the previous year, she was the overall silver medalist at the All African Games with a total of 248kg. More recently, she picked three gold medals in +75kg event at the Brazzaville 2015 All Africa Games, having also picked a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Mercy Akide Udoh
US based ex-Super Falcon Player and 2001 African Women Footballer of the Year, Mercy Akide Udoh, earned her place in the female national team in 1994 and went to make three FIFA Women’s World Cup appearances in 1995, 1999 and 2004. She made the World All-Star prestige in 1999 and 2004, and was named one of the 15 Ambassadors for Women’s Football by FIFA in 2015. She is married to sports journalist, Colin Udoh.
Mary Onyali Omagbemi
The ex-sprinter and four time Olympic Games qualifier won gold medals at the 100m and a bronze at the 4x100m women’s relay in the 1992 Olympic Games, and a gold medal in the 200m track event at the 1996 Olympic Games. Onyali also won the 100m gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. She clinched seven individual gold medals at the All Africa Games between 1987 and 2003. They are divided into three gold medals in the 100m race in 1987, 1991, 1995, and 2003, in addition to 4 gold medals in the 200m race in 1987, 1995 and 2003. Onyali starred in the Nigerian Women’s 4x100m Relay team that won all races at the All Africa Games from 1987 to 2003.
Augustine Azuka “Jay-Jay” Okocha (Footballer)
Jay-Jay Okocha as he is fondly called was born 14 August, 1973. He is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A quick and skilful playmaker, who was widely regarded as the best Nigerian player of his generation and one of the greatest African players of all time.
Okocha was known for his confidence, technique, creativity, and dribbling skills, as well as his use of feints, in particular, the step over.
Okocha made his official debut for Nigeria in their 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier away loss against Ivory Coast in May 1993. It was not until his second cap and home debut that he became a favourite with the Nigerian supporters. With Nigeria trailing 1–0 against Algeria, in a match they needed to win, he scored from a direct free kick to equalise, before helping the team to a 4–1 win, eventually securing qualification to their first World Cup. In 1994, he was a member of both the victorious 1994 African Cup of Nations squad and the World Cup squad who made it to the second round before they lost in a dramatic match against eventual runners-up Italy.
In 1996, Okocha became a member of an arguably more successful Nigerian side, their Olympic gold winning side at the Atlanta Games, later nicknamed Dream Team by the Nigerian press after the USA 1992 Olympic gold winning basketball team. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup hosted by France, Okocha played for a disappointing Super Eagles side who failed to live up to expectations again reaching the round of 16, albeit with less impressive performances save for their 3–2 opening win against Spain. This did not destroy interest in Okocha, who had entertained fans with his trademark skills and dribbles and went on to be named in the squad of the tournament.
AHMED MUSA (Footballer)
Ahmed Musa, born October 14, 1992, is a Nigerian professional footballer who played forward for Russian club CSKA Moscow and the Nigeria national team. He is known for his pace, dribbling, composure, versatility and defensive effort. He had been compared to Jesus Navas and Arjen Robben for his pace and his ability to cut inside and cause havoc, he is a good creator as well as corner specialist.
Musa was the first Nigerian to score more than once in a FIFA World Cup match after scoring twice against Argentina in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Among his many achievements, In August 2011, Musa represented Nigeria U20 in the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Colombia, where he scored three goals in five matches. Musa was included by FIFA in shortlist of 10 candidates for the Adidas Golden Ball, which was awarded to the most outstanding player of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
On 7 December, 2011, Ahmed Musa was one of the four nominees named for the Confederation of African Football Most Promising Talent Award, however the award went to Côte d’Ivoire’s Souleymane Coulibaly.
Musa was called up to Nigeria’s 23-man squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. He scored in a 4–1 semi-final defeat of Mali and appeared as a substitute against Burkina Faso in the final, as the Super Eagles won their fifth continental title. Overall, he appeared in five of the team’s six matches. At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, he started in all three of the team’s matches as they were eliminated in the group stage.
After appearing in all of Nigeria’s qualifying matches, Musa was named in Stephen Keshi’s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He scored two goals in the team’s final Group F match, a 3–2 defeat to Argentina.
SUNDAY OLISEH
Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh was born September 14, 1974 in Abavo, Delta State. A former Nigerian footballer who in his active career, played as a midfielder, transmuting into the coach of the Nigerian national football team from July 14, 2015, until he resigned on February 26, 2016.
Oliseh played 54 international matches and scored two goals for Nigeria, and played at the Football World Cups of 1994 and 1998. Oliseh also participated in the Olympic gold medal winning team of 1996.
He is mostly remembered for scoring the winning goal in the group stage match against Spain in the 1998 World Cup, as Nigeria prevailed 3–2. A throw-in deep in the Spanish half was headed clear by Fernando Hierro – Oliseh ran and fired an explosive shot from 25 yards and took Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta completely by surprise.
Ahead of the unveiling exercise by the Nigeria Football Federation, he was appointed Super Eagles coach Tuesday 14 July 2015, to take up the job of coaching Nigeria’s national team.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) decided to motivate him afterwards by giving him a brand new Nissan Altima 2.5 SL 2015 Model Car, which is worth six million Naira.
Chidi Imo (Track and field)
Born August 27, 1963, Chidi Imo is a former sprinter from Nigeria who won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also won a silver medal in the 100 metres at the 1986 Goodwill Games, finished behind Ben Johnson and ahead of Carl Lewis. He won a 60 metres Bronze medal at the 1991 World Indoor Championships, and he became the African champion in 1984 and 1985.
In 1986, he posted the world leading time for that year in the 100 metres, winning the 100 metres race in the 1987 All-Africa Games.
Imoh is also a former runner for the University of Missouri in Columbia. He holds the records there in the 200 m outdoor with a time of 19.9, the 100 m outdoor with a time of 10.00, and in the 55 m indoor with a time of 6.10.
Christian “Night Train” Okoye (American Football)
Born August 16, 1961, Christian Emeka Okoye is a Nigerian-American former American football fullback for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1987 to 1992. Nicknamed “The Nigerian Nightmare”.
Known for his powerful speed and ability to break tackles, Okoye’s six seasons in the NFL saw a league rushing title in 1989, two Pro Bowl appearances (1989, 1991), and three playoff appearances.
In his rookie year, he rushed for 660 yards on 157 carries. The following year, a thumb injury limited him to nine games, and he finished the season with 473 yards.
In 1989, Okoye enjoyed his best NFL season by far, leading the league in both rushing attempts (370) and rushing yards (1,480). Though the Chiefs missed the playoffs, Okoye was selected by UPI as the American Football Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and earned a trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl.
The remainder of Okoye’s career was marked by a nagging knee injury, one which limited him to 805 yards and a 3.3 yard average per carry in 1990. Though his 1991 performance (1,031 yards, 4.6 yards per carry) earned him his second Pro Bowl appearance, Okoye’s carries in 1992 were largely limited to goal-line situations.
Okoye has stated that he ended his NFL career because he became tired of practice, and that he considered football to be a job.
He retired as the Chiefs’ all-time rushing leader, having amassed 4,897 yards, 1,246 attempts, and 14 games with at least 100 yards rushing, in his six seasons. Those team records have since been surpassed by Priest Holmes. His 40 career rushing touchdowns as a member of the Chiefs trail only Holmes and Marcus Allen. His Chiefs records for carries in a game and rushing attempts in a season were surpassed by Larry Johnson. Okoye was the team MVP in 1989, and was enshrined in the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2000.
Kanu Nwankwo (Football)
Nwankwo Kanu or simply Kanu as popularly known was born August 1, 1976 and played as a forward for the Nigerian football team. He was a member of and later captained the Nigerian national team for 16 years from 1994 until 2010.
Kanu has won a UEFA Champions League medal, a UEFA Cup medal, three FA Cup Winners Medals and two-time African Player of the Year. He is also one of few players to have won the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal.
He made the third-most substitute appearances in Premier League history, appearing from the bench 118 times.
Stephen Keshi (Football)
Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, born 23 January, 1962 was a football defender and a former football manager of the Nigeria National team. One of only two players along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as both a player and a coach.
After a playing career mostly with Belgian clubs, Keshi went to the United States to be educated in coaching.
In 1996, he was joined by Augustine Eguavoen, who once coached the Nigerian national team. They played together in California as the backbone of the defence for the short-lived Sacramento Scorpions.
Keshi has at some point been a part of the coaching staff for the Nigerian national team, most notably as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2001 African Youth Championship which also served as qualification for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, without success.
Between 2004 and 2006, Keshi coached the Togo national football team, surprisingly bringing them to their first World Cup tournament, Germany 2006. Having secured Togo’s unlikely qualification, he was promptly replaced by German coach, Otto Pfister prior to the World Cup finals, after Togo showed a dismal performance and failed to advance to the knock-out stage in 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
However, Pfister did not last beyond a controversial World Cup campaign that nearly resulted in a player’s strike over pay and Togo remained without a manager until February 2007 when they re-engaged Keshi in time for a friendly against Cameroon.
He worked as manager of the Mali national football team, after being appointed in April 2008 on a two-year deal. Keshi was sacked in January 2010, after Mali’s early exit in the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Keshi became coach of the Nigerian National Team in 2011. On 16 November 2013, Keshi’s Nigeria secured qualification to the 2014 World Cup by beating Ethiopia 4–1 on aggregate in a play-off.
In July 2015, following Nigeria’s exit from the World Cup, Keshi’s contract with the Nigerian Football Federation expired but was not renewed. A statement by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee said the decision was made, having thoroughly reviewed the reports/findings of the NFF Disciplinary Committee and NFF Technical and Development Committee, as well as having reviewed the actions and inaction of Stephen Keshi, in the performance of his duties as Super Eagles’ Head Coach, which NFF found to lack the required commitment to achieve the Federation’s objectives as set out in the Coach’s employment contract.
Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije
Three-time Olympic Games athlete, he made his debut at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in the +80kg event, but lost at the preliminary levels to Pascal Gentil of France. Deemed one of the best chances for a gold medal for Nigeria at the Olympics, prior to an intensive training abroad, he qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in defeating Akmal Irgashev of Uzbekistan at the Repechage level to win a bronze medal. A foot injury sustained while qualifying for the 2012 Olympics affected his performance and he lost his first bout to Robelis Despaigne, the eventual bronze medalist at the event. At the African level, the athlete holds a gold medal at the 2007 All Africa Games, a silver medal at the 2011 All Africa Games and bronze medal at the 2003 All Africa Games. Recently, the athlete has been busy training future Taekwondo athletes in his Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation which he founded in 2012. The foundation was the first of its kind in Africa to introduce the use of the electronic head gear in a sports competition.
Chioma Ajunwa-Opara
She is the first Nigerian and West-African female athlete to win a gold medal in a single event at the 1996 Olympics at Atlanta Georgia, USA. Ajunwa won the long jump event at the 1996 Olympics with a jump length of 7.12 meters at the finals. Before her venture into track and field, she had been a football player, playing with the Super Falcons in the 1991 Women’s World Cup, but left the football scene after been benched for long periods of time. She founded the Chioma Ajunwa Sports Foundation focused on discovering sports talents, kick drugs out of sports and empower and mentor youths.
Blessing Okagbare
The multi-track and field and Olympic athlete held the best 100m race record at the Commonwealth 2014 Games, beating Debbie McKenzie’s 12-year record of 10.91 with a jump of 10.85. She further won a gold medal at the 200m race to become the fourth woman to win the 100m and 200m double at the Commonwealth Games. Okagbare won a gold medal at her first Olympic debut in 2008, but placed eighth at the 2012 Olympics in London. At the African Championships, she took gold medals in the long jump event with a distance of 6.62m, 100m race with a record of 11.03 seconds. Okagbare secured a silver medal in the long jump, with a 6.99m at the World Championship in Moscow. In 2015, Okagbare beat the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt to the Guinness World Records as the athlete with the most diamond league appearance from July 2010 to September 2014. She appeared and excelled in more track and field events within the period than Usain Bolt.
Mariam Usman
US based Nigerian +75kg event Weightlifter, Mariam Usman won overall gold at the 2008 African Weightlifting Championships in Kenya, and ranked 5th at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the previous year, she was the overall silver medalist at the All African Games with a total of 248kg. More recently, she picked three gold medals in +75kg event at the Brazzaville 2015 All Africa Games, having also picked a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Mercy Akide Udoh
US based ex-Super Falcon Player and 2001 African Women Footballer of the Year, Mercy Akide Udoh, earned her place in the female national team in 1994 and went to make three FIFA Women’s World Cup appearances in 1995, 1999 and 2004. She made the World All-Star prestige in 1999 and 2004, and was named one of the 15 Ambassadors for Women’s Football by FIFA in 2015. She is married to sports journalist, Colin Udoh.
Mary Onyali Omagbemi
The ex-sprinter and four time Olympic Games qualifier won gold medals at the 100m and a bronze at the 4x100m women’s relay in the 1992 Olympic Games, and a gold medal in the 200m track event at the 1996 Olympic Games. Onyali also won the 100m gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. She clinched seven individual gold medals at the All Africa Games between 1987 and 2003. They are divided into three gold medals in the 100m race in 1987, 1991, 1995, and 2003, in addition to 4 gold medals in the 200m race in 1987, 1995 and 2003. Onyali starred in the Nigerian Women’s 4x100m Relay team that won all races at the All Africa Games from 1987 to 2003.
Augustine Azuka “Jay-Jay” Okocha (Footballer)
Jay-Jay Okocha as he is fondly called was born 14 August, 1973. He is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A quick and skilful playmaker, who was widely regarded as the best Nigerian player of his generation and one of the greatest African players of all time.
Okocha was known for his confidence, technique, creativity, and dribbling skills, as well as his use of feints, in particular, the step over.
Okocha made his official debut for Nigeria in their 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier away loss against Ivory Coast in May 1993. It was not until his second cap and home debut that he became a favourite with the Nigerian supporters. With Nigeria trailing 1–0 against Algeria, in a match they needed to win, he scored from a direct free kick to equalise, before helping the team to a 4–1 win, eventually securing qualification to their first World Cup. In 1994, he was a member of both the victorious 1994 African Cup of Nations squad and the World Cup squad who made it to the second round before they lost in a dramatic match against eventual runners-up Italy.
In 1996, Okocha became a member of an arguably more successful Nigerian side, their Olympic gold winning side at the Atlanta Games, later nicknamed Dream Team by the Nigerian press after the USA 1992 Olympic gold winning basketball team. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup hosted by France, Okocha played for a disappointing Super Eagles side who failed to live up to expectations again reaching the round of 16, albeit with less impressive performances save for their 3–2 opening win against Spain. This did not destroy interest in Okocha, who had entertained fans with his trademark skills and dribbles and went on to be named in the squad of the tournament.
AHMED MUSA (Footballer)
Ahmed Musa, born October 14, 1992, is a Nigerian professional footballer who played forward for Russian club CSKA Moscow and the Nigeria national team. He is known for his pace, dribbling, composure, versatility and defensive effort. He had been compared to Jesus Navas and Arjen Robben for his pace and his ability to cut inside and cause havoc, he is a good creator as well as corner specialist.
Musa was the first Nigerian to score more than once in a FIFA World Cup match after scoring twice against Argentina in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Among his many achievements, In August 2011, Musa represented Nigeria U20 in the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Colombia, where he scored three goals in five matches. Musa was included by FIFA in shortlist of 10 candidates for the Adidas Golden Ball, which was awarded to the most outstanding player of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
On 7 December, 2011, Ahmed Musa was one of the four nominees named for the Confederation of African Football Most Promising Talent Award, however the award went to Côte d’Ivoire’s Souleymane Coulibaly.
Musa was called up to Nigeria’s 23-man squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. He scored in a 4–1 semi-final defeat of Mali and appeared as a substitute against Burkina Faso in the final, as the Super Eagles won their fifth continental title. Overall, he appeared in five of the team’s six matches. At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, he started in all three of the team’s matches as they were eliminated in the group stage.
After appearing in all of Nigeria’s qualifying matches, Musa was named in Stephen Keshi’s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He scored two goals in the team’s final Group F match, a 3–2 defeat to Argentina.
SUNDAY OLISEH
Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh was born September 14, 1974 in Abavo, Delta State. A former Nigerian footballer who in his active career, played as a midfielder, transmuting into the coach of the Nigerian national football team from July 14, 2015, until he resigned on February 26, 2016.
Oliseh played 54 international matches and scored two goals for Nigeria, and played at the Football World Cups of 1994 and 1998. Oliseh also participated in the Olympic gold medal winning team of 1996.
He is mostly remembered for scoring the winning goal in the group stage match against Spain in the 1998 World Cup, as Nigeria prevailed 3–2. A throw-in deep in the Spanish half was headed clear by Fernando Hierro – Oliseh ran and fired an explosive shot from 25 yards and took Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta completely by surprise.
Ahead of the unveiling exercise by the Nigeria Football Federation, he was appointed Super Eagles coach Tuesday 14 July 2015, to take up the job of coaching Nigeria’s national team.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) decided to motivate him afterwards by giving him a brand new Nissan Altima 2.5 SL 2015 Model Car, which is worth six million Naira.
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