FORMER Nigerian international, Reuben Agboola has revealed that the late renowned football proprietor, Chief MKO Abiola made his dream to play for Nigeria in 1991 possible.
Agboola, who hailed from Offa, Kwara State, was a member of the Super Eagles squad who won the bronze at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in Senegal.
“Chief Abiola made contact with me. Yes. His daughter and her husband (Richard Edewor I believe it was) lived in Lancaster Gate and they contacted Sunderland about my availability for Nigeria.
“I got to the [Heathrow] airport with my UK passport and I was not issued a boarding pass so I could not get on the flight. I had no visa so quite rightly I was denied boarding. He (Richard Edewor) told the person at the counter to go and call his boss. The boss appeared and insisted on the same thing to which Richard told them that they would be in trouble if the President of Nigeria found out these ones here denied a player boarding. Boom, my boarding pass appeared,” the former Southampton defender told Supersport.com.
The former Sunderland defender also recalled his competitive debut game where Nigeria hammered Benin Republic 3-0 in Lagos.
“On our way to the stadium [National Stadium, Lagos] the streets were packed with cars and people. I was shocked. As we came off the bus people were touching me and I asked [Ben] Iroha when we got into the dressing room why and he said they wanted to be sure I was real.
“Not much [of the match against Benin] to be honest. It was incredibly hot and I just tried to keep it simple. I got a lot of encouragement from the fans too,” Agboola stated.
The 54-year-old also recalled the ill-fated AFCON qualifier against the Stallions of Burkina Faso where the Eagles cut off tracksuit into shorts and won 7-1.
“We knew quite early that the whole kit didn’t come with the team and someone had been despatched to go and get it. So we were waiting. Then the referee came into our dressing room and told us we had five minutes or the game will be awarded to the visitors.
“Yes. Then immediately someone suggested that we cut off the tracksuit bottoms and use as shorts. We did that. Quickly too. And went out to play. I actually framed the cut off trackies and kept it for a long time,” Agboola said.
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