Mutiu Adepoju was highly revered as ‘The Headmaster’ for his knack at scoring goals with his head, an art he displayed with uncommon precision at the 1992 African Cup of Nations against Ghana and at the France 1998 FIFA World Cup against Spain, amongst other repertories. The former Nigeria International midfielder here recollects his unforgettable time with the Super Eagles and how best to bring back the good old days for the beleaguered national team seeking a ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN reports…
Former Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju, has revealed that Nigeria will continue to play second fiddle in sports especially football if supervising administrators fail to consider the option of long-term planning for all the country’s national teams.
Nigeria has won the FIFA U-17 World Cup a record five times and twice got to the final of the FIFA U20 World Cup with the Super Eagles, also qualifying for the senior FIFA World Cup six times with three of the editions playing up to the second round.
The Super Falcons too have remained dominant in Africa until recently when South Africa, Zambia and Morocco began to rub shoulders with Nigeria while the under aged teams are yet to fully get to their potential at world stage.
Adepoju, a product of youth competition, noted that the NFF’s interest in immediate success and future plans would continue to see Nigeria crumbling when it matters most because of lack of solid foundation.
The revered ‘Headmaster’ noted that the Eagles set of USA 94 continues to be spoken about as the best crop of senior national team players because the team came from a long-term plan of over four years.
“It feels good and I feel honoured to have been part of the USA 1994 World Cup team and there is nothing that can compare to qualifying your country for the World Cup for the first time in history,” Adepoju told NationSport. “Playing at the World Cup eventually was a big honour and a good feeling. It was surreal to have been part of the team.”
At USA 1994, Nigeria was literally thrown at wits end after being drawn in the same group with Argentina, Bulgaria and Greece in what was regarded as ‘Group D of Death’, but the coach Clemens Westerhof-led side surprisingly passed in flying colours.
“Of course, Argentina was a force and still remains one till now,” admitted the former Real Sociedad midfielder. “Bulgaria had a good team and were just attending for the first time but we knew our capability
“We had the players and what it took to make impact against our group stage opponents: Bulgaria, Greece and Argentina. We didn’t look down on ourselves. We just believed we had to go and do our best.
“It was our debut but we knew what was at stake that we could qualify. The team was built in over four years. We had been trying many players who had been coming in and out. The best of the players were selected for the World Cup. We had enough time to prepare and to know ourselves
“When we got to the World Cup, we just wanted to prove ourselves and register Nigeria’s name on the world map.”
Adepoju rued the late minutes collapse against Italy, adding that the Super Eagles could have gone all the way against Spain in the next round and Bulgaria again in the semifinal had they held on against Italy in the second round clash.
“Nobody knew how far Nigeria would have gone if we had beaten Italy but our mind was fixed on crossing a hurdle at a time. If we had beaten Italy, probably we would have met Spain but I just believe it was unfortunate. But we just wanted to cross the Italy hurdle before focusing on our next opponent but we lost it in the dying minutes,” he recalled.
Meanwhile, Adepoju has cautioned the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Nigerian fans against seeking immediate success, noting that a team cannot be fixed by changing the head coach after just a few unpalatable results; but that the football house needs to seek a good coach who they can trust with the long term plans of the senior national team and other national teams.
“It is possible for Nigeria to raise a formidable team as the Super Eagles of 1994 but the only problem is that we don’t plan ahead and we are not patient enough,” he further said. “Our administrators should learn to wait and try to plan for many years. It is not just a matter of planning for just two or six months. There must be plans on ground for about 10 years and we must move according to the plan. We have the talents but there is no long-term plan in Nigeria.”
Speaking specifically about the coaching fiasco befuddling the Super Eagles, following the shock resignation of his former teammate and friend, Finidi George, Adepoju said it was rather unfortunate, adding that those in charge of Nigerian football should take the best decision in the interest of the country.
“It was very unfortunate because I’m one of the people that supported having an indigenous coach to manage the Super Eagles,” Adepoju said in an interview with Nigeria Info FM, Abuja. “We have had foreign coaches for so many years as well as indigenous coaches and some of them actually succeeded.
“We had the late Stephen Keshi and I believe we still have these type of coaches locally like Finidi, Amuneke and even Siasia.
“I believe if they were given the chance and enough support, they would also do well and it would not have been like this.
“But, unfortunately, it didn’t work out well (with Finidi).
“I think if a coach felt he was not getting the needed support, the best thing for that coach was to resign; and I won’t fault Finidi on this.”
He continued: “As per the future (and hiring of a foreign coach), I don’t want to say anything because I have already said what I wanted. “But those in charge should take the best decision because Nigeria is very important.
“There are countries with indigenous coaches and they are doing well. Unfortunately, that is not the situation here but they just have to find a way so that everybody, including the fans, would be happy.”
Yet Adepoju is miffed over the fact that Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen took to the social media to pour out his venom on coach Finidi:
“It is something I wasn’t happy about because Osimhen had coaches at club levels too and everyone deserves respect. This was something that should have been resolved privately or even in the dressing room and not ranting in the public.
“Finidi is a legend and he deserves respect and he should not be disrespected simply because things did not work with him in the national team.”
Meanwhile, Adepoju has enthused about how he trained to be a perfectionist using his head to score goals while turning out for Nigeria in his heyday as a junior international and a full international with the Super Eagles.
“Actually, I would say it’s an innate thing and I actually started training to score goals with my head right from the primary school where I realised I could use that as an advantage; and I tried as much as possible to improve on every aspect of it,” Adepoju, who scored a textbook opening header in the 3-2 defeat of Spain at the France 1998 FIFA World Cup, explained. “Ever since, I could determine the right positioning and when and how to jump, depending on where the pull out was coming from and I tried to study the positioning of the goalkeepers too.
“These were some of the things I studied and tried to work on while I was growing up (as a footballer).
“Of course, I would say there was no specific training by my coaches other than the fact that I tried to master the art of headers by myself. It was good enough that some of the coaches understood how talented I was and ensured their teams played to my capacity by bringing out quality pull outs for me, especially while I was in Spain,” he emphasised.
