Mutiu Adepoju
 Adepoju playing with Real Madrid veterans | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mutiu Adepoju | ||
| Date of birth | 22 December 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Ibadan, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1987 | Femo Scorpions | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1988 | Shooting Stars | ||
| 1989 | Julius Berger | ||
| 1989–1992 | Real Madrid B | 65 | (27) |
| 1992–1996 | Racing Santander | 123 | (24) |
| 1996–2000 | Real Sociedad | 89 | (8) |
| 2000–2001 | Ittihad FC | 10 | (2) |
| 2001–2002 | Salamanca | 14 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Samsunspor | 8 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | AEL Limassol | 5 | (1) |
| 2004–2005 | Eldense | ||
| 2005–2006 | Cobeña | ||
| National team | |||
| 1990–2002 | Nigeria | 54 | (5) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Mutiu Adepoju (born 22 December 1970) is a Nigerian retired footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder.
Nicknamed "The Headmaster", he played most of his career in Spain – amassing La Liga totals of 175 games and 22 goals over the course of seven seasons – and represented his country in three World Cups.
Club career
Born in Ibadan, Adepoju (also called by his first name in Spain) left Nigeria in 1989 to join Real Madrid, but never made it past its B-side. His first professional season was impressive, as he scored 11 league goals to help Racing de Santander return to La Liga, and he continued to feature and net regularly for the Cantabrians in the next three years.
Mutiu left for Real Sociedad for the 1996–97 campaign but, after a solid first season, struggled heavily to hold down a regular place with the Basque team. In 2001–02 he represented Saudi Arabia's Ittihad FC, but quickly returned to Spain, where he featured rarely for second level side UD Salamanca.
After two more weak years, in Turkey and Cyprus, Adepoju retired in 2006 in Spain's lower leagues. He subsequently returned to his first team Shooting Stars FC, as chief administrator.[1]
International career
Mutiu was a member of the Nigerian team that played in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. His brace against the United States (which featured Kasey Keller in goal) in the semifinals ensured a final against star-studded Portugal, in a 0–2 defeat.
He went on to collect 54 international full caps, with five goals. He made his debut against Togo in August 1990, but his breakthrough at international level came during the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations, and he helped his nation win the next continental edition.
Adepoju was part of the squads for the FIFA World Cups in 1994, 1998 – scoring in a 3–2 win against Spain – and 2002 (although he did not play in the latter tournament).
References
External links
- Nigerian Players profile
- BDFutbol profile
- Mutiu Adepoju at National-Football-Teams.com
- Mutiu Adepoju – FIFA competition record
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