Daniel Amokachi

Daniel Owefin Amokachi (born 30 December 1972 in Kaduna) is a Nigerian former professional footballer of Idoma descent and former assistant manager of the Nigeria national football team.

As a player he was a striker from 1989 until 2005, starting his career with Ranchers Bees before earning notability by playing outside his native country with Premier League side Everton, as well as Club Brugge and Beşiktaş before initially finishing his career in the United States with Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids. He returned to Nigeria in 2005 to briefly play for Nasarawa United, who he went on to manage before moving on to Enyimba. He had his second spell as assistant manager of Nigeria after that. Amokachi is currently the manager of Finnish 2nd division side JS Hercules ^[1]for the season 2016.

Playing career

Amokachi, nicknamed "The Bull" was discovered while playing for Ranchers Bee by Nigerian national team coach Clemens Westerhof, who brought the talented player to the 1990 African Nations Cup, and soon Amokachi moved to play for Club Brugge in Belgium. He competed in the new format of the Champions League, and became the first player to score in the competition, after his goal secured a 1–0 win in the opening match in the group stage against CSKA Moscow. Performing well in Belgium and at the 1994 World Cup, Everton became interested in Amokachi and their manager Mike Walker signed him for a fee of £3,000,000 ($4,700,000).

He went on to win the FA Cup with Everton in 1995, famously infuriating manager Joe Royle by bringing himself on as a substitute then proceeding to score two goals in the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur. He appeared in the final only briefly, late on, as a substitute but is remembered fondly for his beret wearing celebrations.

He remained at Everton until the end of the 1995–96 season, when he was transferred to Beşiktaş of Turkey for a fee of £1.75million. He had failed to make the impact at Goodison Park that many fans had been hoping for, and had been unable to win a regular place in the first team, as Paul Rideout and Duncan Ferguson were firmly established as Everton's two strikers at this stage. He did, however, stand in for Ferguson while he spent six weeks in prison during the autumn of 1995 for an offence committed in Scotland 18 months earlier.

International

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Nigeria
Men's Football
	1996 Atlanta	Team Competition

He played many international matches for Nigeria, and was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and 1998 FIFA World Cup and won the 1994 African Nations Cup. He also helped win the Olympic gold medal in 1996, scoring in the Gold Medal game itself against Argentina.

Amokachi sustained an injury just ahead of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, played one game, but struggled with knee problems thereafter. After leaving Beşiktaş in 1999, his playing career more or less ended. He signed with 1860 Munich, but the contract was cancelled after he failed a medical test. In turn he was rejected by Tranmere Rovers for the same reason. Amokachi trained with French second division side US Créteil, but the deal was hampered by injuries. American MLS team Colorado Rapids signed him in 2002, but seeing as he was not fit enough they released him before a single match was played. He went to play in the United Arab Emirates, but was denied again due to his medical condition.

Managerial career

Amokachi managed Nigerian club Nasarawa United F.C. and later Enyimba Aba. In April 2007 he quit his role as assistant coach of the Nigeria national team. On 10 April 2008 Amokachi was re-appointed to Nigeria's national team, the Super Eagles, as assistant coach to Shuaibu Amodu, also being assistant manager to Stephen Keshi.

Statistics

^[2]

International goals

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.^[3]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Scored
1	18 August 1990	Lagos, Nigeria	Togo	3-0	1992 African Cup of Nations qualifier	1
2	27 April 1991	Lagos, Nigeria	Benin	3-0	1992 African Cup of Nations qualifier	1
3	29 August 1992	Lagos, Nigeria	Uganda	2-0	1994 African Cup of Nations qualifier	1
4	13 July 1993	Lagos, Nigeria	Algeria	4-1	1994 World Cup qualifier	1
5	25 September 1993	Lagos, Nigeria	Ivory Coast	4-1	1994 World Cup qualifier	1
6	21 June 1994	Dallas, United States	Bulgaria	3-0	1994 World Cup	1
7	30 June 1994	Boston, United States	Greece	2-0	1994 World Cup	1
8	6 January 1995	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Japan	3-0	1995 Intercontinental Cup	1
9	13 January 1995	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Mexico	1-1	1995 Intercontinental Cup	1
10, 11	9 November 1997	Lagos, Nigeria	Burkina Faso	2-0	1998 World Cup qualifier	2
12, 13	5 April 1997	Lagos, Nigeria	Guinea	2-1	1998 World Cup qualifier	2

References

• "Daniel Amokachi". Nigerian Players. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. 
• "Amokachi just wants a club". BBC Sport. 30 March 2001. Retrieved 23 March 2010. 

Nigeria Squads Nigeria squad – 1994 African Cup of Nations Winners (2nd title) GK Agbonavbare GK Agu GK Rufai DF Eguavoen DF Iroha DF Keshi DF Okafor DF Uche DF Semitoje DF Ugbade MF Adepoju MF Ederma MF Finidi MF Okocha MF Oliha MF Oliseh FW Amokachi FW Amuneke FW Ekoku FW Ikpeba FW Siasia FW Yekini Coach: Westerhof Nigeria squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Rufai (c) 2 Eguavoen 3 Iroha 4 Keshi 5 Uche 6 Nwanu 7 George 8 Oliha 9 Yekini 10 Okocha 11 Amuneke 12 Siasia 13 Ezeugo 14 Amokachi 15 Oliseh 16 Agu 17 Ikpeba 18 Ekoku 19 Emenalo 20 Okafor 21 Adepoju 22 Agbonavbare Coach: Westerhof Nigeria squad – 1995 King Fahd Cup Fourth Place 1 Rufai 2 Eguavoen 3 Iroha 4 Keshi 5 Uche 6 Mutari 7 Imenger 8 Adepoju 9 Iorfa 10 Okocha 11 Amuneke 12 Siasia 13 Oliseh 14 Amokachi 15 Douglas 16 Shorunmu 17 Pam 18 Ekoku 19 Emenalo 20 Okafor Coach: Amodu Nigeria men's football squad – 1996 Summer Olympics – Gold Medalists 1 E. Babayaro 2 C. Babayaro 3 West 4 Kanu 5 Uche 6 Amuneke 7 Babangida 8 Oruma 9 Fatusi 10 Okocha 11 Ikpeba 12 Obafemi 13 Lawal 14 Amokachi 15 Oliseh 16 Obiekwu 17 Oparaku 18 Joseph Coach: Bonfrere Nigeria squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Rufai 2 Oparaku 3 Babayaro 4 Kanu 5 Uche (c) 6 West 7 Finidi 8 Adepoju 9 Yekini 10 Okocha 11 Lawal 12 W. Okpara 13 Babangida 14 Amokachi 15 Oliseh 16 Okafor 17 Eguavoen 18 Oruma 19 Iroha 20 Ikpeba 21 G. Okpara 22 Baruwa Coach: Milutinović