Nigerian Football

HOW EMENALO MISSED MARADONA’S LAST INTERNATIONAL SHIRT

Published

7 years ago

November 6, 2017

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Man of the moment, Nigeria’s Michael Emenalo whose Monday resignation had been the most trending sports news on twitter, could have also been in possession of what could have been a memorable archival material, the last shirt worn by the legendary Diego Maradona in his very last international match, in fact, and his last competitive match.

Emenalo, a 1985 player of Enugu Rangers, only played for Nigeria 14 times and was one of the late inclusions to the famed Class of 1994 Super Eagles. That was 13 years before he joined Chelsea as an opposition scout under Avram Grant. He later rose along the ladder to become a member of the football club’s board and one of Roman Abramovich’s most trusted lieutenants.

Sports Village Square recalls a story Emenalo told The Telegraph in UK some years back. He told the story of that June 25, 1994 match in which a Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina scored two goals in two successive free kicks by Claudio Caniggia to cancel the earlier lead Nigeria had had through Samson Siasia.

Michael Emenalo tailing the legendary Diego Maradona during a USA ’94 World Cup match played at Foxborough Stadium at the outskirt of Boston.

Argentina won 2-1. Emenalo had not realised at the time, but as he sat on a plastic chair outside the drug testing room in Massachusetts’ Foxborough Stadium – still in his kit, and totally exhausted – Diego Maradona was trying to tell him something.

Both had been randomly selected for the mandatory dope test. Hear Emenalo: “I was sat in the corridor with him and he [Maradona] was making jokes about it”.

“He had his shirt in his hand and he was looking at me. This was Maradona! I was just thinking about how I had a poor game. I was thinking I wasn’t going to play the next game against Greece.

“All the time he was looking at me. It wasn’t until I went home I thought, ‘He wanted to swap shirts’. Later when I got married I told my wife and she laughed. Can you imagine that last Argentina shirt? With Maradona’s sweat on it? I could have had that shirt in my hand!”

Emenalo was one of the Nigerian defenders that made life unbearable for Maradona in the match. While Emenalo passed his test. Maradona failed!

Maradona tested positive for ephedrine, was sent home from the 1994 World Cup finals in disgrace and never played for Argentina again. That sweaty blue and white shirt would have been Maradona’s last national team jersey, and quite a memento.

The Aba-born player-turned technical director, Sports Village Square gathered, regretted missing the opportunity.

Emenalo had an unusual playing career, which took in stints at the Belgian club now known as FC Brussels; Germany’s Eintracht Trier; Notts County; San Jose Clash; Lleida in Spain and finally Maccabi Tel Aviv where he played under Avram Grant.

He spent 85 days at Notts County in the 1994-1995 season, having been encouraged to play in England by international team-mate John Chiedozie. During that time he worked under Howard Kendall and Steve Nicol.

Emenalo joined County late in his career. “I grew up watching English football. I watched the Match of the Day which we got two weeks late! I always wanted to play in England.”

At Lleida he was managed by Juande Ramos, who approached him about joining him at Tottenham Hotspur in 2007 and Emenalo was close to doing so until Ramos procrastinated and Grant made him an offer to come to Chelsea. He began as a scout and was briefly an assistant to Carlo Ancelotti before becoming technical director in 2011.

Nigerian Football

Nigeria’s sports minister, Enoh applauds NFF for ‘buying local material’

Published

6 hours ago

May 13, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Sports Minister Enoh (left) and NFF President Gusau (right) unveil Finidi.

Nigeria’s Minister of Sports Development, John Owan Enoh on Monday praised the leadership of Nigeria Football Federation for settling for an indigenous Head Coach for the Super Eagles, despite the plethora of foreign tacticians who applied for the job.

Enoh, who spoke at the unveiling ceremony of the Eagles’ new substantive Head Coach, Finidi George at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, charged the NFF to give the former winger all the support to succeed, while also soliciting the support of all Nigerians for the new helmsman.

“As a student of the University of Calabar in those days, I used to go to the UJ Esuene Stadium to watch Calabar Rovers, which included Finidi George. I am excited to see him seated here as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles.”

President of NFF, Ibrahim Musa Gusau exuded delight with the ‘new chapter’ the Federation is opening about the Nigeria game, saying the football-governing body is determined to fully support George and his assistants to lead the Super Eagles to new heights.

“When we returned from the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, we began the search for a new Head Coach. There was a plethora of foreign applicants, far more than the indigenous applicants. However, we undertook a thorough process that has produced an indigenous Coach and we are very happy about that. Finidi George was part of the technical crew that came close to winning the AFCON, and we have faith in him that he will lead the team to the title next time.

“Our objective now is to ensure the enthronement of excellence at all levels of the National Teams.”

Nigerian Football

No more bench-warmers in the Super Eagles, says Finidi George

Published

6 hours ago

May 13, 2024

Kunle Solaja

New man on the managerial saddle of the Super Eagles, Finidi George has stated that he will invite for international assignments, only players who feature regularly at their clubs either in Nigeria or in the diaspora, and promised that the Super Eagles will remain even more competitive in the years ahead.

Nigerian Football

Finidi George handed a short-term contract as Nigeria’s 41st coach

Published

8 hours ago

May 13, 2024

Kunle Solaja

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Former Super Eagles’ player Finidi George has been formally presented as the 41^st person to ever handle the Nigeria national team.

His unveiling was made at the Media Centre of the Moshood Abiola Media Centre.

However, he was handed a short-term contract as his tenure is programmed to lapse after one year.

In essence, his tenure may lapse on or before the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 which timing has not been ascertained.

The competition will however hold in Morocco. Also, by May 2025 when the contract will lapse, Nigeria will be looking forward to a potentially dicey Match Day 8 World Cup qualifier against South Africa on 7 September 2025.

Finidi who had been holding forth since the expiration of the his former boss’ contract is expected to build on his impressive credentials. The World Cup and the Olympic Games’ medal are the only laurels he missed having won others, including the UEFA Champions League.

His goal qualified Nigeria for the World Cup for the first time in 1993. In 1994, he scored the goal that pushed Nigeria into the next round before Daniel Amokachi later score the one that shot Nigeria to the top of the group that comprised of Argentina, Bulgaria and Greece.

His impressive career in the Africa Cup of Nations include three podium finishing as number one in 1994, number two in 2000 and third placed at Senegal ‘92.

He also won the European Champions League with Ajax. He will be striving to take Nigeria back to an enviable height with qualification for the 2026 World Cup and winning of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 in Morocco.