Tijani Babangida is a retired
NigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n footballer, who played as a winger. Known for his pace, his playing style was sometimes compared to that of
Marc OvermarsMarc Overmars is a retired Dutch footballer. He is best known as a right-footed left winger, although he is able to use both his feet with equal precision and power...
. Babangida spent the majority of his playing career at Ajax. Overall, he has played in five different countries on three different continents. At club level, Babangida spent nine years in
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, playing for VVV-Venlo,
Roda JC and Ajax, winning the
EredivisieThe Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
plus
KNVB CupThe KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...
double with the latter side.
He played over 30 games for his national side, including four at the
1998 World CupThe 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
in
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He participated in two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and won the 1996 Olympics with Nigeria. Babangida made his international debut in 1994. He lost his place in the squad right before the
2002 World CupThe 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
. After a two-year lay-off from international football, Babangida was recalled to the Nigeria team for the
2004 African Cup of NationsThe 2004 African Cup of Nations was the 24th edition of the African Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa . It was hosted by Tunisia. Just like in 2002, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four...
preparations in
TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
.
Personal life
Babangida, sometimes nicknamed "TJ", was born into a large family in the city of
KadunaKaduna is the state capital of Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria. The city, located on the Kaduna River, is a trade center and a major transportation hub for the surrounding agricultural areas with its rail and road junction. The population of Kaduna is at 760,084 as of the 2006 Nigerian census...
in 1970. He is married to Rabah, the sister of
Daniel AmokachiDaniel Owefin Amokachi nicknamed "The Bull" is a former football striker from Nigeria.- Career :While playing for Ranchers Bees, Amokachi was discovered by Nigerian national team coach Clemens Westerhof, who brought the talented player to the 1990 African Nations Cup, and soon Amokachi moved to...
's wife. Two of his nine brothers,
IbrahimIbrahim Babangida is a retired Nigerian footballer.-Career:Babangida played for Katsina United, Stationery Stores F.C...
and
HarunaHaruna Babangida is a Nigerian footballer who currently is free agent.Babangida is a hard working, quick right wing who can also play on the left side.He is the younger brother of Tijani Babangida and Ibrahim Babangida...
are also footballers. The former spent five years at
VolendamFootball Club Volendam is a Dutch football club based in Volendam, North Holland, Edam-Volendam. Founded on June 1, 1977, as a result of a split up with RKSV . It currently plays in the Eerste Divisie, holding home games at Kras Stadion, with a 6,260-seat capacity.-History:Football Club Volendam...
, while the latter became the youngest ever player in the history of
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
football to have a buy-out clause in his contract and the second youngest player to appear for
FC BarcelonaFutbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
, when he made his debut in 1998 as a fifteen year-old.
In 2004, Babangida signed a $2 million contract to bring new footballs to Nigeria. The same year, he opened a shopping mall in Kaduna. Upon retiring from professional football, Babangida has also been working as a
football agentA sports agent procures and negotiates employment and endorsement contracts for an athlete.In return, the sports agent generally receives between 4 and 10% of the athlete's playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete's endorsement contract, though these figures vary...
.
Early career
In 1991, Babangida, at the age of seventeen, left local club Niger Tornadoes to sign with
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
EredivisieThe Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
side
Roda JC, after performing well at the
1991 All-Africa GamesThe 5th All-Africa Games were held from September 20 to October 1, 1991 in Cairo, Egypt. Forty-three countries participated in eighteen sports....
. He was loaned out to Roda's league rivals VVV-Venlo until the end of the season. Babangida made a total of six league appearances, scoring three times in the 1991–92 season. Despite Venlo's relegation to
Eerste DivisieThe Eerste Divisie is the second-highest division of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via a promotion/relegation system. It is also known as the Jupiler League due to sponsorship, which is the same name as the top league in Belgium...
, Babangida remained at the club for another year.
Babangida received his breakthrough in the 1992–93 season as he scored 16 goals, helping Venlo to achieve promotion to Eredivisie. The following season, Babangida returned to Roda, immediately becoming a first-team regular with the
KerkradeKerkrade is a town and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands.It is the western half of the divided region and de facto city, taken together with the eastern half, the German town of Herzogenrath...
side. Babangida made a total of 29 league appearances for Roda that season, scoring 11 goals.
Babangida spent two more seasons at Roda JC. Babangida's 10 league goals in 1995–96, made him the club's top scorer that season. In 1995, Babangida made his European debut, scoring a goal in the
UEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
first-round win over
Olimpija LjubljanaNK Olimpija Ljubljana was a Slovenian association football club based in Ljubljana. The club had traced its origin back to 1911 when it was originally founded as SK Ilirija. It had gone through a series of mergers in the first half of the 20th century before adopting the name Olimpija in 1962...
, Roda's first European campaign in five years. Roda went on to beat the
SloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n side 5–2 on aggregate, but lost to Benfica in the second round. Solid performances at both international and club level led to interest from Dutch side Ajax, as
Louis van GaalAloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON is a Dutch football manager formerly in charge of Ajax, Netherlands, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich...
was looking to replace Babangida's compatriot
Finidi GeorgeFinidi George is a retired Nigerian footballer who played as a right winger.After making a name for himself at Ajax in the Netherlands – being a leading figure in a team which won eight major titles, including the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League – he played several years in Spain with Real Betis,...
, who had recently departed to
Real BetisReal Betis Balompié S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 12 September 1907, it currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at Estadio Benito Villamarín....
.
Ajax
Babangida joined Ajax in the summer of 1996 in a long-anticipated €5 million move. He appeared in 29 league games, scoring four goals in his first season with Ajax. Babangida played an important role in Ajax's European campaign, scoring three goals, including one against
AuxerreAssociation de la Jeunesse Auxerroise is a French association football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the...
in the group stages, and the winning goal in the second leg of the
UEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
encounter with Atlético Madrid at the
Vicente Calderón StadiumThe Vicente Calderón Stadium is the home stadium of La Liga football club Atlético Madrid and is located in the Arganzuela district of Spanish capital Madrid. The stadium was originally called the Manzanares Stadium, but this was later changed to the Vicente Calderón Stadium, after the famous...
, that put Ajax through to the semi-finals of the competition.
Babangida had a successful second season with the club as he helped Ajax to another Eredivisie title with a 39 point gap over
PSV Eindhoven, while his 13 league goals in 26 games made him the club's third top scorer, behind
Shota ArveladzeShota Arveladze is a former Georgian professional football player and currently the manager of Kayserispor. He is Georgia’s all-time top scorer with 291 goals in his 410 league games for his clubs and 26 goals during his 61 games on the national team...
and
Jari LitmanenJari Olavi Litmanen is a Finnish footballer, currently playing for HJK. He is the current vice-captain of Finland national football team, where he served as a first choice captain between 1996–2008...
. Ajax clinched the second title of the season with a 5–0 victory over
PSV in the
KNVB CupThe KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...
final, with the Nigerian scoring the first goal.
Babangida's fortunes started to change towards the end of 1998. Having missed the start of the season with malaria, Babangida gradually lost his starting line-up position as
Morten OlsenMorten Per Olsen is a Danish football manager and former football player. He has been the head coach of the Danish national team since 2000, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup...
was looking to improve on the team's inconsistent performances both in the domestic league and in Europe. Babangida started two of his team's opening
Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
games. The European season, however, ended in disappointment as Ajax finished bottom of their group behind Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb and Porto. Overall, Babangida appeared in 18 league games for Ajax that season, starting only seven. He didn't feature in the
Dutch CupThe KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...
final where Ajax managed to retain the trophy after beating
Fortuna SittardFortuna Sittard is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Trendwork Arena and features in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. The club was a merger of former clubs 'Fortuna 54' and 'Sittardia' to merge as the Fortuna Sittard Combinatie on July 1,...
in the final.
Babangida saw even less playing time after the 1999 season, as he made a mere eight appearances the following year and didn't play a single game in the first half of the 2000–01 season. In an attempt to offload the player, Ajax came to an agreement with the
TurkishTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
Süper Lig side Gençlerbirliği, who signed Babangida on a half-year loan deal until the end of the season.
Later career
The spell in Turkey, however, proved to be an unhappy time for Babangida and the
AnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
side chose no to pursue their interest in the player once the loan deal expired. Looking for a move away from Netherlands, Babangida came close to signing with
AJ AuxerreAssociation de la Jeunesse Auxerroise is a French association football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the...
, but received a last-minute call from
Ronald KoemanRonald Koeman is a former Dutch footballer, and the current manager of Feyenoord. He is the younger brother of former Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman...
and agreed to join him at Vitesse instead. Another loan move followed. First team player under Koeman, Babangida subsequently lost his place in the starting line-up, when Ronald Koeman left for Ajax and was replaced by
Edward SturingEdward Jeroen Sturing is former footballer defender from the Netherlands, who obtained three caps for the Dutch national team. He played for De Graafschap and Vitesse Arnhem . After his career he became a football manager, first as an assistant and later as head coach...
.
He then signed a six-month loan deal with Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in 2002, joining
BebetoJosé Roberto Gama de Oliveira, known as 'Bebeto', is a former football forward, a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup...
and
Titi CamaraAboubacar Sidiki Camara, more commonly known as Titi Camara , is the Sports Minister of Guinea. He is a former football player who was also the coach of the Syli National , the Guinean national team, which he captained and played for.-Club career:Camara was once a highly-touted prospect, spending...
, but walked out of the team in November after disagreements with
José Oscar BernardiJosé Oscar Bernardi , nicknamed Oscar, is a noted association footballer, having been on the Brazil national football team and a member of São Paulo Futebol Clube and Associação Atlética Ponte Preta, and having played in defence at the Football World Cup in 1978, 1982, and as a reserve in 1986...
. Looking to resolve the deadlock with Ajax, Babangida returned to Amsterdam to continue negotiating a termination of his contract with the club. On April 30, 2003, three years since Babangida played his last game for the club, it was announced that both sides had come to an agreement and the player's contract was finally terminated.
As a
free agentIn professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
, Babangida underwent a successful trial at
ChineseChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
side Tianjin Teda in the summer of 2003. The move, however, was put off due to the outbreak of
SARSSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...
in China, and Babangida signed with the second-tier side Changchun Yatai shortly after. His four goals in the second part of the season helped his team to the
Jia BThe China League One is the second tier professional league for Chinese football clubs. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association. Above the League One is Chinese Super League....
title and earned him a recall to the national team for their preparations for the
2004 African Cup of NationsThe 2004 African Cup of Nations was the 24th edition of the African Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa . It was hosted by Tunisia. Just like in 2002, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four...
. Babangida scored four more goals for Yatai the following season before retiring in 2004.
International career
Babangida received his first call-up to the senior
Nigeria national teamThe Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...
for a pre-
World CupThe FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
friendly against
RomaniaThe Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...
in 1994. He then played in a friendly against
GeorgiaThe Georgia national football team is the national association football team of Georgia and is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation. The Georgian team's first match took place in 1990, while Georgia was still part of the Soviet Union. The team have attempted to qualify for each major...
, but did not make the final squad for
1994 World CupThe 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...
.
Babangida's international chances were partly limited due to the fact that he often found himself behind
Finidi GeorgeFinidi George is a retired Nigerian footballer who played as a right winger.After making a name for himself at Ajax in the Netherlands – being a leading figure in a team which won eight major titles, including the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League – he played several years in Spain with Real Betis,...
in the pecking order. He played an important role in his team's
OlympicThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
triumph in
AtlantaThe 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
in 1996, as Nigeria overcame tough resistance from
BrazilThe Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
and
ArgentinaThe Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...
, packed with the likes of Dida, Roberto Carlos,
BebetoJosé Roberto Gama de Oliveira, known as 'Bebeto', is a former football forward, a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup...
,
RonaldoRonaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...
,
RivaldoRivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira , commonly known simply as Rivaldo , is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for São Paulo, on loan from Mogi Mirim, as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a supporting striker.He most notably played five years with Spanish club FC Barcelona, with whom he...
,
Hernan CrespoHernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...
, Claudio López,
Ariel OrtegaArnaldo Ariel Ortega is an Argentine football attacking midfielder. His nickname is "El Burrito" , thus he is called "Burrito Ortega"....
and
Diego Simeone among others. Babangida took part in Nigeria's
1998 World CupThe 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
campaign, playing a total of 120 minutes as he started one game and came on as a sub in the other three. He scored his team's only goal in the second-round defeat to
DenmarkThe Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
. In January 2001, Babangida appeared in an
exhibition gameAn exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
at the Yokohama International Stadium (known as the Nissan Stadium nowadays), playing for FIFA XI in a game against the unified team of
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and
South KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
.
Babangida only made his African Nations Cup debut in 2000 as Nigeria withdrew from the
1996 edition-Group B:---------------------Group C:------------ withdrew, so their three matches were canceled.*vs. , January 16, 1996*vs. , January 19, 1996*vs...
in
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
due to political reasons and missed out on
1998 African Cup of NationsThe 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso was the 21st edition of the African Cup of Nations , the national football championship of Africa, administered by the Confederation of African Football . Just like in 1996, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four...
through disqualification. Babangida scored two spectacular goals against
South AfricaThe South Africa national football team represents South Africa in association football and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. South Africa's home ground is Soccer City, known as FNB Stadium due to a naming rights deal, in...
to put Nigeria through to the final against
CameroonThe Cameroon national football team, nicknamed Les Lions Indomptables , is controlled by the Fédération Camerounaise de Football and is Africa's most successful side in FIFA world cup; having qualified for the FIFA World Cup six times – in 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010– more than any...
, where they drew 2–2, before being narrowly defeated 3–4 on penalties. He appeared in all of his team's five games, starting two.
He then featured in Nigeria's run to the
2002 World Cup finalsThe 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
, scoring two important first-half goals against
GhanaThe Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
on the final day of the
2002 World Cup qualificationListed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African Zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification....
, helping Nigeria seal the final African region World Cup berth. Babangida played in all of his team's games at the
2002 Nations Cup, but was dropped ahead of the World Cup, alongside several other experienced players like
Sunday Oliseh and
Finidi GeorgeFinidi George is a retired Nigerian footballer who played as a right winger.After making a name for himself at Ajax in the Netherlands – being a leading figure in a team which won eight major titles, including the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League – he played several years in Spain with Real Betis,...
. He was recalled to the national team for the pre-Nations Cup training camp in
Faro, PortugalFaro is the southernmost city in Portugal. It is located in the Faro Municipality in southern Portugal. The city proper has 41,934 inhabitants and the entire municipality has 58,305. It is the seat of the Faro District and capital of the Algarve region...
in 2004, but did not make the final squad, making the 2002 Cup of Nations his last major international tournament.
Career statistics
|-
|1991–92||rowspan="2"|VVV-Venlo||
EredivisieThe Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||6||3
|-
|1992–93||
Eerste DivisieThe Eerste Divisie is the second-highest division of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via a promotion/relegation system. It is also known as the Jupiler League due to sponsorship, which is the same name as the top league in Belgium...
||28||16
|-
|1993–94||rowspan="3"|
Roda||rowspan="3"|
EredivisieThe Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||29||11
|-
|1994–95||20||5
|-
|1995–96||29||10
|-
|1996–97||rowspan="4"|Ajax||rowspan="4"|
EredivisieThe Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||25||4
|-
|1997–98|||26||13
|-
|1998–99||18||2
|-
|1999–2000||8||1
|-
|2000–01||Gençlerbirliği||Turkish First Football League||12||2
|-
|2001–02||Vitesse||
EredivisieThe Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||14||1
|-
|
2002–03-Stadia and locations:Regular SeasonTable: 1.Al-Ittihad 22 15 4 3 53-24 49 Qualified [Jeddah] 2.Al-Ahly 22 15 2 5 54-23 47 Qualified [Jeddah] 3.Al-Nasr 22 12 6 4 49-26 42 Qualified [Riyadh]...
||Al-Ittihad||
Premier LeagueThe Saudi Professional League, officially known as , is the main football competition in Saudi Arabia. The first competition was held in the year of 1976–77...
||5||0
|-
|2003||rowspan="2"|Changchun Yatai||Jia-B League||9||4
|-
|2004||League One||20||4
203||66
12||2
5||0
29||8
249||76
|}
National team statistics
|-
|1994||2||0
|-
|1995||0||0
|-
|1996||0||0
|-
|1997||2||0
|-
|1998||7||1
|-
|1999||3||0
|-
|2000||10||2
|-
|2001||7||2
|-
|2002||5||0
|-
!Total||36||5
|}
International goals
- Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1. |
28 June 1998 |
Stade de FranceThe Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...
, Saint-DenisSaint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Saint-Denis is a sous-préfecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Saint-Denis....
|
|
1–4 |
1–4 |
1998 World CupThe 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
|
| 2. |
10 February 2000 |
National Stadium, Lagos Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
|
|
1–0 |
2–0 |
2000 African Cup of NationsThe 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa . It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as host. Just like in 1998, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four...
|
| 3. |
2–0 |
| 4. |
29 July 2001 |
Liberation Stadium Liberation Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Elekahia area of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Dolphins F.C.. The stadium has a capacity of 25,000 people....
, Port Harcourt |
|
2–0 |
3–0 |
2002 World Cup qualifier Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African Zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification....
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| 3. |
3–0 |
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