naptu2:


Predrag Mijatovic. That was against Yugoslavia. Regarding Rufai, he (rightly) said that he was not in form for the World Cup. He was on his way to the Caribbeans for his holiday when he was recalled, which leads to my questions, (1) Why was he dropped in the first place (2) Why was he handed the first team shirt ahead of the others.

hatux:
Cool

elampiro:


Rufai had clearly past his best by 1998. You know too he did not participate in our world cup qualifier matches towards USA 94. The matches were kept by Wilfried Agnonovbare. Rufai was lucky to be recalled into the team at his final stage of his career. So, after USA 94 it was obvious Rufai was done with Super Eagles.

Ike Shoronmu was obvioulsy our best keeper in 1997 and 1998 while Biodun was rated very high with his great form in 3SC. Local journalist wrote and promoted Biodun. With these two guys, Rufai's time in Super Eagles was over.

Unfortunately news came that Shoronmu was injured. I almost cried. Then Biodun was thought to be up to the task until his nervousness exposed him and he missed clearing a back pass. That was why Rufai was recalled. At least he wont have the stage fright of unexposed Biodun Baruwa and Opara.

naptu2:


Rufai moved to Dragoons of Benin in the mid-1980s and dropped out of the Super Eagles after Maroc '88 as a result. Aloy Agu was our first choice keeper. Westerhof was also angry with Rufai because of what happened in Cameroon in 1989. The Minister brought Rufai to the camp after the deadline for players had passed. He wanted Westerhof to field Rufai, but Westerhoff said, "either he go or I go".

Alloy was our first choice keeper at Algeria '90 and Senegal '92, but Alloy had an injury when we played in a match against Ghana. He collided with the post and lost a tooth. He was never the same after that. Westerhof tried Agbonavbare, but he was awful, so he had no choice but to recall Rufai.


Ike was undoubtedly our best keeper before France '98. I had been a fan of his right from when he was Stores and I followed his career even when Shooting stole him from us, but Rufai was our second best keeper at the time. I agree with you that he was not as good as he was at Maroc '88 or USA '94, but he was good enough to be second choice. I also cried when Ikeh got injured because I knew that Abiodun Baruwa was not experienced enough to be second choice and I was vindicated when they had to recall Rufai (bypassing both Opara and Baruwa). Rufai should not have been dropped.

elampiro:


Agbonovbare was not awful. How can a keeper who qualified us for our first world cup ever was awful. Qualifying matches were more difficult than the tournaments proper.

How many goals did he even concede in all the games of the final Qualifying matches. If my memory serve me right, we lost 1-2 in Ivory Coast, won 4-1 respect against Algeria and Ivory Coast respectively in Lagos. Drew 1-1 in Algiers to top the group to qualify.

I saw Rufai in Maroc 88 and Henry Nwosu, Bright Omokaro and co. I knew all that story about Westrhof, the match in Cameroun, Allow Agu etc.

But you were wrong about Agbonovbare. He benched Agu in our world cup Qualifying games. He did greatly.

naptu2:


Alloy Agu started the qualifiers (both Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers). He initially benched Agbonavbare (against South Africa, Congo, etc), but he suffered a shocking loss of form after his injury. I was usually scared when he was between the sticks. Agbonavbare took over for the second part of the qualifiers. He also suffered a loss of form. There were many close shaves and I remember that after a game in Lagos (I think it was against Ivory Coast, I can't remember for sure) fans demanded that he should be replaced. The newspapers revived the nickname "Agbonabasket". I remember my young neighbour saying that they should never field "that fat man" again. It was after the loss of form that Westerhoff finally decided to invite Rufai. NFA officials had been on Westerhoff's case that he should invite Rufai, but he had refused (especially after what happened in Cameroon in 1989). The only reason that Westerhoff gave in was because both Agbonavbare and Alloy had lost form.

elampiro:


Agbonovbare kept the most important stage. Agu kept the walk over stage.

Agbonovbare was called basket long before he took over from Agu. He was marvelous. Agu only lost his tooth, he met a Superior keeper in Agbonovbare and Agu bowed out.

naptu2:


I need to go to sleep, so this must be my last post.

I'm not arguing about whether Agbonavbare was good or not. I know he was good. I watched him play for Rayo and he was superb. He originally got the nickname Agbonavbare from our game against Brazil at Seoul '88 (we lost 4-0), that's why I used the word revived.

However, he lost form during the qualifiers and this was why Westerhoff had to recall Rufai (despite the fact that he really didn't want to).

Yomieluv:
The three horsemen.

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sucess001:



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