On August 11, 1985 in far-away China, a bunch of Nigerian youth players wrote the name of the country on the world map of football when they helped the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria grabbed the maiden edition of the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship. Nigerians all over the world celebrated the heroic performance of these youngsters, but 30 years later, hardly does the country remember these boys who are today 46 years old and above. In the goal-posts were Lucky Agbonsevbafe, Imama Amapakabor.
The defence had Tenworimi Duere, Nduka Ugbade, Fatai Atere, Binabei Numa, Baldwin Bazuaye and Chukwuma Nwoha. The mid-field was confidently managed by the likes of Kingsley Aikhionbore, Salisu Nakade, Sani Adamu, Mohamed Yahaya, Hilary Adiki and Dele Abubakar. In the forward position were Jonathan Akpoborie, Victor Igbinoba, Bella Momoh and Joseph Babatunde. The head coach was Sebastian Brodrick-Imasuen. The final game which was played on August 11, 1985, at the Worker’s Stadium in Beijing had 80,000 spectators in attendance.
The centre referee was Christopher Bambridge. The event brought Ugbade into prominence after Jonathan Akpoborie in the 4th minute and Victor Igbinoba in the 70th minute scored unreplied goals for Nigeria against West Germany to secure what was Nigeria’s and Africa’s first major win in football on the global stage. The Federal Government’s policy to keep the players together rather became a reproach to them. Government had announced that the players would be kept together and be made to graduate to the next category of (age-grade) national team.
By the policy, which also prevented them from playing for local clubs, they were called ‘government property.’ But while this policy lasted, the players lost opportunities, though not wittingly.
As offers to play professional football abroad came, the government policy hindered them. When some of them tried to play professional football abroad they were arrested at the airport. The likes of Hilary Adiki, Victor Igbinoba,
Lucky Agbonsevbafe
and Kingsley Aikhionbare were stopped from tavelling to Italy, where two of them would have signed for Roma while the two others would have joined Torino. While, Fatai Atere was stopped from joining Tottenham Hotspur FC of England. Thirty years after, the majority of the players scattered all over the world languish away in inactivities and are filled with tales of woes with stories brought about by their share heroic performance putting Nigeria on the world map of football in 1985.
Nduka Ugbade
Some 27 years later, Ugbade had an opportunity to again experience glory in the competition, when he assisted Manu Garba as the Golden Eaglets won their fourth title, beating Mexico 3-0 in the final played in Abu Dhabi. And to him, being part of the set-up again showed him just how different times were. Played in the qualifying matches for the 1994 World Cup and came on as a substitute in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994 when we beat Zambia. But when the squad for USA 1994 was announced, he was not selected.
Lucky Agbonsevbafe:
He was the first choice goalkeeper of the Nigerian team that won the 1st edition of the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship in China. He was part of the Nigerian U-20 team at the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile and also was part of Nigeria’s soccer team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Agbonsevbafe is a Latter-day Saint and was the first Latterday Saint to represent Nigeria at the Olympics. After a brief stint playing for local football club Flash Flamengoes Football club of Benin together with Hilary Adiki in the Nigerian league. He relocated to the United Kingdom where is based at the moment not having anything serious to do with football.
Imama Amapakabor:
He was the reserved goalkeeper to Lucky Agbonsevbafe at the China 85 Under-17 World Cup. After the competition he was recruited by Sharks FC of Port Harcourt where he played professional football until he retired from active football. On retirement he become one of the assistant coaches at Sharks FC until he moved to Enyimba International as assistant coach from 2013. In July 2015, he was appointed as the chief coach of Rangers International FC of Enugu.
Hilary Adiki
Hilary Adiki played in the central midfield for the Golden Eaglets at the China 85 World Cup. He had only one cap recorded for him at that championship from the FIFA data. Adiki on return to Nigeria from the historic feat at China played in the Nigerian league for Flash Flamengoes of Benin. After some years of active football, Hilary dropped everything about football and he is now a school teacher in Port Harcourt, Rivers state after he attended University of Lagos for a degree in Human Kinetics on self-sponsorship despite claims that he was given a scholarship to attend Unilag. Hilary is so bitter with the Nigerian government that he has finally turned his back on football as he focused on his teaching profession.
Tenworimi Duere
Tenworimi Duere went into the history books as the Eaglets to have played in most Fifa U17 World Cup finals. He featured against West Germany and Soviet Union in the finals of the China 1985 and Canada 1987 editions. He bagged a red card in the 60thminute before Victor Igbinoba scored the winning goal against Germany in the final. Duere did not make any meaningful impact playing football at the club level in Nigeria this made his popularity fizzled into the thin air. He is presently based in Italy where he works outside football.
Nduka Ugbade
He was the captain of the victorious team at China 85. Four years later in the U-20 category, he was also part of Nigeria national under-20 football team at the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship that placed second and won silver medals in Saudi Arabia. He soon graduated to the Super Eagles where he played for some years, but was plagued by injuries and poor form in the later years of his career which denied him of the opportunity of starring at the 1994 World Cup.
Today he has a football academy and was coach of Mountain of Fire Football club before he was appointed assistant coach to the Under-17 to chief coach Manu Garba in 2011. Together they won the U-17 World Cup in 2013. The duo were promoted to the Under-20 as coaches, they had a poor outing at the Under-20 World Cup.
Fatai Atere
Two years later, at 16, Fatai Atere played in same World Cup and in three years he had faded out of the game. Atere was just 19 when he quit active football. While playing for National Team in 1988, before he relocated to England to join Tottenham Hotspur. His career was cut short however, when the Nigeria Football Association denied him transfer clearance under secretary Okpomo. After moving to the United States in 1990, he was named the Commissioner for the NSF-USA Nigeria Soccer Tournament.
After relocating to the United States Of America in 1990, Atere was named the Managing Director of the EJJE Youth Soccer Academy in Tampa, Florida. He guest coaches nationally promoting youth soccer development. A street in Mushin, Lagos was named after him by the federal government, for his achievements, called “Fatai Atere Way.” He is also a Member of the Order of the Niger. He has remained in the United States until date where he picked as his new home. Today he lives in Germantown, Maryland, USA.
Binaebi Numa:
One of the defenders of the Eaglets team in 1985. He had a brief stint playing professional football in Europe but nagging injuries forced him to retire from active football at very young age. At a point of his life, he ventured into sports reporting and was a member of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Lagos state chapter where as a member he played series of friendly and competitive games for the Lagos SWAN team before he returned to Bayelsa state where he settled down fully into sports administration. Numa, is now the Team Manager of Bayelsa United Football Club of Yenagoa, he is also into youth development programme and equipment marketing,
Baldwin Bazuaye:
After the Golden Eaglets World Cup experience, Bazuaye moved to play in the Greek second division at the age of 24, signing with Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. Finish his playing career in Nigeria, playing for Concord F.C. of Abeokuta and Shooting Stars F.C of Ibadan, helping the latter in their 1999 CAF Champions League campaign. Bazuaye also played for the senior Nigeria national football team and participated in the 1990 African Nations Cup finals. After his playing career ended, Bazuaye began coaching and took the helm of Lobi Stars F.C. He is based in Benin City. He also played for Union Bank, Bendel Insurance, and then to JIB Rocks in Jos. He moved to Gabon after the Nations Cup in Morocco in 1988.
He played in the WAFU Cup with all home-based players like Aloy Agu, David Ngodigha, Daniel Amokachi, Uche Okechukwu, and Ben Iroha. He had a short spell at Gabon before joining Julius Berger. He made another trip to Europe again but this time to Greece. He retired in 2003 at Sunshine Stars of Akure. From here he went for his coaching course and later the CAF course with some other seminars. He coached Bendel Insurance and Lobi Stars and he is once again back to Insurance FC of Benin as coach.
Chukwuma Nwoha
The only thing remembered about Chukwuma Nwoha after the China 85 Golden Eaglets victorious outing is the Road named after the Imo state born footballer who won gold at China 85, with Golden Eaglets of Nigeria as directed by the federal government. The Chukwuma Nwoha Road is in Trans Egbu Estate Owerri. This road is one of the longest streets in Owerri, and hosts some of the prominent citizens in the state. It links Ikenegbu, Trans Egbu and IMSU with Egbu/Umuahia road by statesman Newspaper junction. Unfortunately, this all -important road has been abandoned, and turned to dust bin depot simply because of a major bad spot on the road.
Sani Adamu:
He was a midfield maestro at the China 85 team, he was still a super star at the Saudi 89 Under- 20 team where he featured prominently. He ended his career as a youth international without making it to the Super Eagles. Soon after returning from China 85, the street he was born Butcher Line in Jos was renamed Sani Adamu Street. But Sani Adamu Street has since been reverted to Butcher Line. Today he is into coaching.He is now an assistant coach with Plateau United FC of Jos.
Jonathan Akpoborie
He is undoubtedly the most successful player from the bunch of the 1985 squad as he played first class professional football in Europe, played prominently in the Super Eagles. And off the pitch he was a very successful businessman who was into shipping. In 2001, his shipping business ran into murky waters with the law and his vessels were seized. Today, just like other world class ex-soccer stars in the world, he was a first class football analyst with Supersport and has now moved to Startimes as an analyst.
He is also player agent for Rogon Sports Management. He was part of the Nigeria team that won the first edition of the FIFA U-16 Championship in 1985, scoring in the final against the then West Germany. Two years later, he featured for the Flying Eagles at the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile. At the senior level, he was selected for the 1992 and 2000 Africa Cup of Nations where he won bronze and silver respectively. His first senior cap was in a 1992 Africa Cup of Nations Third-place match against Cameroon, which the Super Eagles won. He scored his first goal for the Super Eagles against Mexico at the 1995 U.S. Cup on 24 June 1995.
He got his second goal – a 48th minute equalizer – in a 1-1 draw with Kenya in a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification match on 12 January 1997. Akpoborie was surprisingly dropped from Nigeria’s squad for 1998 FIFA World Cup by Bora Milutinović, in spite of the fact that he played in five of the six 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and was the joint second top scorer in the 1997-98 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup tournament. He was also one of the two Nigerian footballers to play in a European Cup final that year, the other being Inter Milan defender Taribo West.
Victor Igbinoba
After representing Nigeria in 1985, Igbinoba was also in Nigeria’s Under-20 squad at the Chile ‘87 World Youth Championship, now the Fifa under-20 World Cup. He has seven appearances for the Eaglets, scored three goals including the winning goal at the 1985 championship in China. He ensured four wins, two draws and one loss for the Eaglets. After playing in the Chile 87 squad for the Flying Eagles, Igbinoba became inactive and started adding weight. At aged 46 years old he has stopped playing football, he is based in Holland doing nothing with football. As an explayer Igbinoba said the NFF should keep encouraging homebased coaches and more chances should be given to the homebased players. Today he shuttles between Holland and Nigeria.
Kingsley Akhionbare:
Bella Momoh:
He played in two halves of 40 minutes each when the Eaglets defeated Italy in the China 85 World Cup where he scored a wonderful header which many thought was a fluke. He was Nigeria’s highest goal scorer at the maiden edition of the Under- 17 World Cup in China. He passed the ultimate test of mental strength for a star-studded team at the brink of setting a world record. Bella Momoh didn’t play serious professional football after the team returned from China, as he travelled to the United States of America where he settled down and started another life. Today he is a Staff Sgt. in the US Army. And he is fond of wearing a traditional Nigerian tribal costume wrist band wherever he is posted to serve by the US Army.
Joseph Babatunde
Joseph Babatunde at the China 85 World Cup moved like hot knife on butter as he mesmerized Golden Eaglets opponents on the left flank despite being a right footed player supplying killer passes afterwards which gave Nigeria vital goals. After the China 85 victory Joseph Babatunde traveled to the United states for some years to play in the United states soccer league before moving to Germany to play for DFB-POKAL where he won one Domestic League Cup. He later returned to Nigeria after his playing career ended and ever since he has been into grassroots coaching of youth players.
Dele Abubakar
He was an unused substitute at the China 85 World Cup.. Dele a proud son of Ilorin is today totally out of football and what would have kept his name in memory was also removed. He was present at the commissioning of his own street in the Kwara state capital: “A street was named after him, but it is not in use. It is still being called the old name that was given to it, that is Stadium Road, instead of Dele Abubakar Road. But in government’s record, it was commissioned as Dele Abubakar Road by the then military governor, Colonel Abdulahi Mohammed. Mrs Sarah Jubril was the Commissioner for Sports at the time. He is not remembered in Ilorin any longer.
Mohamed Yahaya
Mohammed Yahaya was the only player in the bunch that was able to access the government’s scholarship, and that, according to him, did not come on a platter. Mohammed attended Kaduna Polytechnic where he bagged a diploma in Purchasing and Supply on his own bill. He eventually got the scholarship after the programme in 1989, when he “had to struggle hard” pestering the authorities under Bayo Lawal as Sports Minister and Chairman National Sports Commission.
Yahaya Mohammed
Yahaya was the only player in the bunch that was able to access the government’s scholarship, and that, according to him, did not come on a platter. Mohammed attended Kaduna Polytechnic where he bagged a diploma in Purchasing and Supply on his own bill. He eventually got the scholarship after the programme in 1989, when he “had to struggle hard” pestering the authorities under Bayo Lawal as Sports Minister and Chairman National Sports Commission. Yahaya Mohammed Yahaya Mohammed has been totally forgotten as a soccer hero in his homeland Minna, Niger state. If the street named after him was maintained his name perhaps would have continued to ring a bell, but this is not so.
He was in joyous mood as a street owner in Minna, Niger State, until after the death of U.K. Bello. His name was quickly removed and replaced by U.K. Bello this was during the era of military president Ibrahim Babangida. U.K Bello was Babangida’s aidede- camp who was killed in a botched military coup, led by Major Gideon Gwarzo Orkar, on April 22, 1990. Mohammed, now works with the Niger State Ministry of Sports Development as civil servant.
