Victor Osimhen of Galatasaray (Photo by Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)
This is the second part of the story about Mutiu Adepoju. You can read the first part — where he talks about leading Nigeria to their first-ever World Cup, playing in Spain’s top league, dealing with rejection, and much more — here.
When Mutiu Adepoju was a young lad in Ibadan, Nigeria, he quickly developed a penchant for his aerial prowess. Where others would simply dodge the ball – often far heavier and more painful than a standard football – Mutiu would rise to the occasion. He would read the ball’s trajectory every step of the way, keeping his arms down and his eyes glued to the ball, leaning back and snapping his body through it and timing his jump to perfection in order to maximize power and control. His friends nicknamed him ‘Coconut Head’ due to his unflinching ability in the air, and despite only reaching 5’11”, his teammates knew that they could rely on him to either 1v1 duel in midfield, clear an opposing corner kick out of danger, or head home a cross into the back of the net. Later, when he reached the national team, he was given a far more dignified moniker: The Headmaster.
“Ever since I was in secondary school, I loved using my head to score goals, and as I grew up, I mastered the art of scoring headers…that was my main asset,” stated Adepoju in an exclusive RG interview. “I realized very young that I had this gift of being able to jump and head the ball no matter how hard it was, whereas other players would be afraid of heading it. I would describe myself as a workaholic who helped out in defense and scored so many goals, and who worked hard for the team. I’d compare myself to Jude Bellingham, he’s a great box-to-box midfielder who’s very good at scoring with his head, but the difference is that, unlike me, he was able to play for Real Madrid’s first team.”
Thanks in large part to this aerial adroitness, Adepoju was able to achieve a storybook career that saw him win the Africa Cup of Nations and lead the Super Eagles to their first-ever World Cup and their second World Cup – where he would score a header vs. Spain – as well as make 175 appearances in LaLiga. However, after suffering a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat in the 2000 AFCON Final, Adepoju elected to end his 11-year spell in Spain and make the move to Saudi Arabia. He enjoyed a fleeting spell at Al-Ittihad before heading back to Iberia and joining Segunda side Salamanca, enabling him to be selected for the 2002 AFCON and the 2002 World Cup. Later that year, Adepoju announced his international retirement after amassing 48 caps for the Super Eagles.
Brief sojourns at Turkish outfit Samsunspor and Cypriot side AEK Limassol would follow before Adepoju returned to Spain once again, bouncing around from lower-tier sides Eldense and Cobeña before hanging up his boots in 2006. And in 2008, he decided to head back to Nigeria after 19 years abroad and become the General Manager of his hometown club Shooting Stars Sport Club, where he played before going professional.
“Retiring from football was very tough for me because it’s something I had been doing for so many years and suddenly I had to stop. It was very strange to me…every weekend, I had been playing football, and now, I was watching it on TV. These past 19 years, I’ve tried as much as possible to get myself used to different things. It has been a fruitful journey, but quite different from being a player.”
Adepoju helped improve Shooting Stars’ form and guided them back to Nigeria’s top flight, before resigning in 2012 to attend a two-week UEFA Pro Licence course in Spain in order to revalidate his coaching license. He then spent two years as an administrator for the Kwara Football Academy, before serving as a LaLiga ambassador as well as an advisor in Nigeria’s Technical Committee. Today, he balances his time between doing consulting work for Nigerian football academies, attending important sporting events, flying to Europe to visit family – three of his children are in Spain whilst his eldest is in Brussels – and being interviewed by his nation’s biggest radio shows and newspapers on a regular basis.
In an exclusive RG interview, Mutiu discussed various topics, including:
How important were your parents in your development not just as a footballer, but as a human?
“My parents were very influential in my development and upbringing, not just in the sense of football, but in terms of the core values of Yorubaland: respect, integrity, and honesty. My parents were very intentional about teaching us these core values and ensuring that I play football with these values. I have tried as hard as possible to inculcate these values in my children. Whatever you do, whoever you decide to be, these core values are very important in shaping one’s life.”
How special was it to reach the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship with Nigeria?
“Reaching the final was great. Nigeria had won the U-16 World Championship in China in 1985, and many of those players were part of the team that reached the final four years later. We never thought we’d reach that stage, although we believed in ourselves. The belief came when we won the first game and qualified for the quarterfinal. Seeing what we did against the Soviet Union, after losing 4-0, coming back and winning in a penalty shootout, that’s when we believed it was possible…it was a great opportunity for us.
We tried our best and it helped put us out there, and that’s why I managed to go to Real Madrid.”
Who is the toughest opponent you faced in your career?
“Looking at the African continent, whenever we played in AFCON or the AFCON or World Cup qualifiers, the defenders of Cameroon were always fierce and strong and very tough to contend with, and one of them was Rigobert Song. Generally, all opponents are tough, and it only depends on the strategy and the way you look at it and the way you can maneuver it.”
Nigeria recently appointed Éric Chelle as their new manager, who was born in the Ivory Coast, spent his career in France, and played for Mali. What do you make of this move and overall, are you concerned that Nigeria aren’t promoting domestic coaches?
“I don’t have any problem with this appointment and I have to commend him for taking the job and accepting the conditions and demands. Not all coaches would want to take a job where you’re not sure whether you’re going to qualify for the World Cup. He’s a brave guy and I want to believe that he’s going to try his best. We have produced many top-level domestic coaches like Stephen Keshi, who won the 2013 AFCON and qualified us to the 2014 World Cup. We’re not patient enough to give Nigerian coaches the opportunity to demonstrate how good they are, but we’ve had some of them who are working outside the country and doing very well.”
It’s been a rough year for Kelechi Iheanacho – suffering relegation with Leicester and failing to crack down a spot at Sevilla. How confident are you that he’ll get back to his best at Middlesbrough?
“Things don’t always work out the way one envisions, and that’s what happened with Kelechi Iheanacho at Sevilla. Sevilla could have been a good place for him to resuscitate his career and bring himself back to top form because of the kind of football that is practiced in Spain, but things didn’t work out the way he expected. Going to Middlesbrough is an okay move for him because he needs somewhere he can play week in, week out and get his best form back. He needs to work very hard to succeed and get back to the national team, but I believe he is the kind of player who can still come back to the reckoning. He’s a good player.”
Lazio are challenging for top four and making a deep UEFA Europa League run under Marco Baroni, and one player who has been crucial is Fisawo Dele-Bashiru. At 24, just how high is his ceiling?
“Fisawo Dele-Bashiru is a very good player and he’s shown that with the Super Eagles and at Lazio. He’s an impressive player, and if I believe that if he continues working hard, he will reach the highest level. Lazio isn’t a small club, but doing well at Lazio means that he can do well in any team that he plays in…I’m actually impressed with what he’s doing at Lazio and I hope he’ll continue that way.”
As opposed to Dele-Bashiru, one Nigerian who is struggling to make the most of his move to Italy is Samuel Chukwueze. Do you expect Chukwueze to leave Milan in the summer?
The greatest Nigerian player in Serie A history is Victor Osimhen, but two years after guiding Napoli to the Scudetto, he’s now playing on loan at Galatasaray. How highly do you rate Osimhen and where do you see him going this summer?
“Victor Osimhen is one of the best strikers we have had in Nigerian history. He is a very aggressive striker and somebody who wants to win and fights for every ball…that’s the sign of a very good striker. I can’t really say if he’s happy where he is, but he’s scoring a lot at Galatasaray. I believe a Premier League or LaLiga move would be very good for him.”
One year after losing in the AFCON Final, Alex Iwobi is enjoying the best form of his career with Fulham…just how important is he going to be for Fulham and Nigeria’s ambitions in the short and long term?
“Alex Iwobi has always been a very important player for Nigeria and Fulham and that’s going to continue. Sometimes, you’ll have a situation where for one reason or another, you have a dip in form and you have a bad game, and that was what happened to Iwobi at last year’s AFCON. I know that he’s a very strong player, and when you’re strong psychologically, it’s easier to get things right. He’s doing things very well for Fulham this season and he’s going to continue being very important for the Nigerian national team.”
He’s gone under the radar with the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior hogging the spotlight, but Rodrygo remains a crucial figure in Real Madrid’s attack. How important is he going to be as Los Blancos look to retain their European and Spanish crowns?
“I rate Rodrygo very highly, he’s a very good player. Ever since he came in from Castilla, he has been doing great for the first team. He has scored so many goals that have really helped Real Madrid, he’s a very fast, complete winger and very quick with the ball at his feet, he has very good dribbling skills. He has everything that an attacker could want, and he’s really demonstrated that this season…he’s going to be very important for so many years for Real Madrid.”
At 36 years old, Robert Lewandowski is still delivering the goods and leading the line for Barcelona. He’s on track to win yet another Golden Boot this season…is he one of the greatest strikers of all time?
“Robert Lewandowski is one of the best strikers that football has ever produced and at 36, he’s still going very strong. I rate him amongst the best strikers in the world…he’s still doing well for Barcelona at his age…I rate him very highly.”
Bournemouth are challenging for their first-ever European qualification under Andoni Iraola…having followed his work at Rayo Vallecano, are you surprised that he’s managed to take the Cherries to the next level in such a short timespan?
“Andoni Iraola was a very good player and he has proven to be a very good coach too. He’s very young but already has his tiki-taka philosophy, and having that philosophy is one of the most important things in one’s coaching career. He likes to play fluid football and that’s what he’s tried to inculcate in his players at Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth.
He’s a very good coach with a good system and plan in place, and that’s why Bournemouth are going to continue to rise even further.”
Ademola Lookman has taken world football by storm by scoring a hat-trick in last year’s Europa League Final and finishing 14th in the Ballon d’Or race…where do you rank him amongst the best players in the game?
“There’s no doubt that Lookman is a very good player, that’s why he won the African Player of the Year. He’s doing very well at Atalanta, although I’d love to see him play in a big team in Spain like Barcelona or Real Madrid…that’s where we are going to see him at his full potential. He’s a very good player who puts everything into his game, and that’s yielding results for him. I still believe in him and I hope we’re going to see him continue playing good football for many more years.”
Stanley Nwabili played a vital role in Nigeria’s run to last year’s AFCON Final…how highly do you rate him?
“Stanley Nwabili has been doing very well all this while, and he has what it takes to be one of the best goalkeepers in the history of the national team. If he continues this level of performance, he will end up as one of the best goalkeepers that Nigeria has ever had.”
Wilfred Ndidi has emerged as the defensive midfield linchpin for the Super Eagles and Leicester City…at 28, how much more does he have left to offer?
“He’s a valuable player for Nigeria and Leicester, and that’s why he’s playing for them week in, week out, but what I can advise is for him to add a little bit more aggressiveness in midfield and command a bit more respect. He has to talk a lot more with his other teammates so that they can do a better job of managing the team…that’s where he has a bit of trouble in the communication aspect.”
Lastly, Nigeria have done an incredible job of producing center forwards in recent years…is Victor Boniface going to be Nigeria’s next elite striker?
“Victor Boniface has been doing very well for his club but he hasn’t yet transformed that form into performances for the Super Eagles. Out of all the opportunities that he’s been given, we haven’t really seen his potential in the senior international team. As long as Osimhen and Lookman continue scoring for Nigeria, he’ll have to put in a great job when he’s invited and score, but the facts remain that he’s doing very well for Leverkusen and is proving to be a very good striker for them.”
We’ve seen a lot of Nigerian players like Osimhen and Boniface excel in Belgium’s top-flight…is Genk’s Tolu Arokodare the next top player to do so?
“He’s scored 4 goals in his last 6 matches, he’s doing very well for Genk. Tolu is a good striker who has to be looked into, he’s been doing quite well for his club but he’s still new in the national team and it will take a little bit of time for him to adapt. He has some great strikers ahead of him like Osimhen who are veterans in the national team, so he has to take his time and work very hard, but he has what it takes to be a success. He has the skills, and he has the potential to settle in the national team and score goals.”
Moses Simon is leading Nantes for goals, assists, expected assists, big chances created and various other metrics…how high is his ceiling?
“He’s always been a very good winger, either on the left or right flank, and he’s doing very well at Nantes, that’s why he has the second-most assists in Ligue 1. He’s very important for Nigeria, he has been in the national team for several years, and he knows what it takes. I still believe that he can get a big move from Nantes to another club, but he needs to keep working hard so that clubs will believe in his abilities and go for him.”
Zach Lowy is a freelance football journalist who has written for leading outlets like FotMob, BetUS, Apuestas Deportivas, and who has appeared as a radio and television guest for BBC, SiriusXMFC, and various other platforms. After pursuing a global sports journalism degree at George Washington University, Zach has been able to tap into his multilingual background and interview major footballing figures in Spanish and Portuguese as well as operate the weekly podcast 'Zach Lowy's European Football Show' on BET Central.
