Mudashiru Lawal
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Mudashiru Babatunde Lawal (born June 8, 1954 in Abeokuta, died July 6, 1991 in Ibadan) was a Nigerian football midfielder. He won 86 caps and scored 12 goals for his country, and is still the most capped Nigerian player. The only player ever to appear at five consecutive Nation Cup final rounds (1976-1984), Lawal guided Nigeria to its first African Nations title, at the 1980 African Nations Cup. The team also competed at the Summer Olympics the same year.
He worked as a mechanic when his football talents were discovered, making his national team debut in 1975. The same year he joined IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan, where he would play for many years, winning the African Cup Winners Cup as the first Nigerian team. In 1985 the team was ordered disbanded by a military governor, but after four seasons he returned to Shooting Stars as a playing assistant coach.
Lawal died in his home in 1991. The Ashero Stadium in his hometown Abeokuta was named after him upon his death.
