Our parents almost cost us World Cup glory - China ’85 heroes

Members of the Nigeria U-17 winning team have recalled how their parents’ lack of support almost cost them a chance of being part of the team that won the maiden U-17 World Cup in China in 1985.

It’s an unforgettable moment in Nigerian football history as Sebastian Brodricks-Imasuen’s boys won the inaugural cadet championship after defeating Germany 2-0 in the final in front of 80,000 fans at the Workers Stadium in Beijing.

Some of the members, in a chat with Saturday PUNCH, said were it not for their stubbornness; they could have had their names omitted from the history books.

Captain of the team, Nduka Ugbade, said, “Football was perceived to be for the unserious ones; this was what many parents thought at that time. Again, most of the rich parents’ children didn’t play football. My parents were not rich, so there was no way I was going to tell them that I wanted to play football.

“Sometimes they would see my legs very dirty because we didn’t wear boots then when we started. I was also too young not to be doing anything at home. I was flogged anytime I came back home after playing football.”

One of the goalkeepers of the team, Imama Amapakabo, said parents hardly allowed their children to play football at the time, adding that it was a major challenge for him and his contemporaries.

“I was a bit stubborn; I sneaked out of school and travelled to Lagos to play in a competition. I never knew it was going to be published in a newspaper because I was very young. When I came back, my dad invited me into his room,” Imama said.

“I don’t know any of our players that went to the 1985 World Cup whose parents actually gave them the support to play football. All of us had challenges,” Imama said.

Retired defender Chukwuma Nwoha is also a member of the historic squad.

Today, the former Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland) defender is battling a leg ailment that has kept him bedridden since September 2017.

In a recent interview with Saturday PUNCH, Nwoha said he was told by doctors he may not walk again if his infected leg was not operated upon on time.

He also told our correspondent his experiences on the way to World Cup glory.

“We are the pioneers of what is happening in Nigerian football now because it was when we came back with the World Cup that parents began to allow their children to play football. But we could have missed out of the glory due to our parents’ lack of support,” Nwoha said.

“Those days, nobody recognised what we were doing. It was when we got to the semi-finals of the World Cup that the world took recognition. We left the country for the tournament unheralded.”

Success, they say, has many fathers and mothers, while failure is an orphan. That was the case of the victorious Eaglets.

On their return back to the country with the World Cup, the players’ parents celebrated the young heroes with their fellow countrymen, after their initial resistance.

“My parents’ reaction to our 85 World Cup victory was wonderful because they never thought it was going to be that big, that they could watch me on TV playing in China playing. The whole community would fill our house to watch our games on TV anytime we played.

“We had the opportunity to shake hands with the then Head-of-State (Muhammadu Buhari) and it was so overwhelming for my parents,” Ugbade said.

Abia Warriors manager Imama added, “We were highly celebrated on our arrival and our parents were proud of us, that their children represented Nigeria.

“Our success opened our parents’ eyes to a lot of things. After the World Cup, we had a global acceptance because our competition was first of its kind even though it was a cadet event.”