"Super Eagles 96": Film recalls when Nigeria stunned the footballing world by winning Olympic gold
-Nigeria versus Brazil Semi-Final Match:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e_aZsLkhOg

Nigeria versus Argentina Final Match:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZQiy67pTo

In 1996, Nigeria stunned the footballing world by winning gold at the Atlanta Olympic Games. The team's story is told in a new documentary, "Super Eagles 96."

When Nigeria's national football team competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, few thought it could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with countries like Argentina and Brazil. But the team, lovingly nicknamed the Super Eagles, stunned the footballing world by winning gold in the world's biggest sporting event.

"Super Eagles 96," a new documentary by London-born filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, which recently premiered at the London Film Festival, showcases this brief, but important moment in Nigerian history.
Though Bamiro was just 13 when the Atlanta Games took place, the team left a strong impression on him. "Those guys are superheroes," Bamiro tells CNN. "As someone who loves football and someone whose parents are Nigerian, the Super Eagles were always around in our culture and household."

Bamiro spent nearly two years making the film, shooting in the UK and Nigeria, and interviewing a mixture of experts and players including Jay-Jay Okocha, Taribo West and Celestine Babayaro.

The team was coached by Dutchman Jo Bonfrere, but it's another Dutch coach who is widely credited for much of the team's success. Clemens Westerhof, the "Dutchgerian," coached the national football team between 1989 and 1994, laying the groundwork for the Olympic victory. He is central to the film, noted for his talent for scouting out players, but also his sheer determination. "I'm a bad loser, I want always to win," says Westerhof in the film.

Before Westherhof's tenure, Nigeria had a spotty record as a footballing nation. Though it had won the African Cup of Nations in 1980, it had never qualified for a World Cup. Under Westerhof, the country won the 1994 African Cup of Nations and competed in the 1994 World Cup, though it was knocked out by Italy before the quarterfinals.

Despite Nigeria's previous mixed fortunes in the sport, it has always prided itself as being a footballing nation. Football is popular even in the poorest parts of the country and during the opening moments of the film, Bamiro depicts children playing the game on a marsh beneath an overpass.

"From a young age, all I dream(ed) about was football," Super Eagles defender Taribo West says in the film, adding that he and his countrymen often lacked the opportunities that would be taken for granted in some of the sport's most successful countries.

At the Olympic Games, the Nigerian team stayed in a motel that cost $10 a night, says West. "We were packed in a room. Two would sleep in a bed, others would sleep on the floor. After two hours, we would change. It was madness," remembers West.

Nonetheless, their Olympic journey captivated audiences. Nigeria first made it to the quarterfinals, beating Mexico 2-0. Though losing to Brazil earlier in the tournament, Nigeria beat the then four-time World Cup-winning nation 4-3 in the semi-final, before pulling off a historic 3-2 win in the final over an Argentina team that featured international stars including Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez.

"The thing that unites Nigerians is football" For Bamiro, though, the story of the team was impossible to tell without explaining the country's turbulent politics around that time, which he said led to Nigeria being seen as a "pariah nation."

After a decade of military rule, in 1993, civilian leader Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was widely believed to have won the June 12 presidential election, but the result was annulled by the incumbent military ruler Ibrahim Babangida. Abiola was imprisoned in 1994 after declaring himself the winner and died in custody in 1998.

In 1995, Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations following the execution by the military government of nine environmentalists including Ken Saro-Wiwa, an activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee who spoke out about oil pollution in his country.

"It was only football that could take the weight of this trouble away," recalls West in the film. "It's a big country, but the thing that unites Nigerians is football." Bamiro echoes that sentiment. "If you're a young boy growing up anywhere in Nigeria, it's always about football," he says. "It didn't matter if you were from different tribes or different backgrounds."

Ultimately, the film suggests that the Atlanta Olympics was not just a win for the team, but a win for the country. For a brief moment, Nigerians were able to forget their troubles and celebrate in a moment of unity.

In the documentary, Noo Saro-Wiwa, daughter of Ken Saro-Wiwa, remembers the effect the Super Eagles' triumph had on her nation: "To see Nigerians smiling, laughing, and celebrating, I hadn't seen that in such a long time. We were getting attention for the right reasons."

The director believes the triumph helped changed Nigerians' perceptions of their country. "That victory helped us to refocus people's minds in that we are not defined by what our politicians do," he says. "It's a story about overcoming adversity, achieving something that no one expected them to achieve."

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/16/football/super-eagles-96/index.html

Nigeria’s ’96 Olympic gold medallists: Where are they now? Whatever happened to the Super Eagles’ Golden Generation of 1996?

Joseph Dosu
Despite arriving at the Olympics as Nigeria’s second-choice goalkeeper - and one of the two home-based players in the squad - Dosu established himself as the undisputed first choice before the competition and played every minute of the Dream Team’s march to victory.

More was expected of him, but an unfortunate car accident in Lagos in 1997 prematurely ended his career at the age of 23, just as he was about to team up with Italian side Reggiana. He moved on to football management after his recovery, and took over as the head coach of Westerlo Football Academy in Lagos.

Emmanuel Babayaro
The elder Babayaro was the first choice goalkeeper before the start of the tournament, but lost his place to Dosu and remained on the bench for the entirety of the Games.In 2015, he was appointed the General Manager of Kaduna United on an initial three-year contract.

Celestine Babayaro
Celestine was a crucial member of Jo Bonfrere’s squad in the USA, playing five out of six games.He earned a move to Chelsea a year after the Olympics, and later featured for Newcastle United, spending a total of 11 years in English football. Not much has been heard of Babayaro since 2009 after he joined the UEFA Trophy Tour, although he is alleged to have filed for bankruptcy in 2011.

Taribo West
West was an ever-present at the Games, playing all six games in the heart of defence with his partner Uche Okechukwu.West went on to play for Italian giants Internazionale and AC Milan, as well as taking in spells in England, Germany, Serbia, and Qatar.He retired in 2008 and has become a Pentecostal preacher.

Uche Okechukwu
Okechukwu was one of two overage players picked for the tournament. An experienced centre-back plying his trade with Fenerbahce in 1996, Okechukwu marshalled the defence alongside West.

He moved back to Nigeria to play for Ocean Boys and Bayelsa United before retiring in 2009. He later featured the testimonial organised in honour of Joseph Yobo’s retirement in Port Harcourt in 2016.

Nwankwo Kanu
Kanu was the star of the Nigeria team in 1996. A heart condition, which ruled him out for almost a year, was discovered few months later at Inter Milan, but he bounced back and achieved success in England with Arsenal, Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion.

Kanu retired in 2012, and now manages his string of businesses as well as his charity, the Kanu Heart Foundation.

Emmanuel Amuneke
Amuneke was the other overage player selected for the Games. He played all six games in Atlanta and secured a move to Barcelona after the competition.

Amuneke became a manager in 2008, winning the Fifa U-17 World Cup with Nigeria in 2015, & subsequently progressed to the U-20s before taking the reins with Tanzania. He was most recently with Masr El Makasa of Egypt.

Tijani Babangida
Babangida played all six games in Atlanta, before going on to seal a move to Ajax where he spent seven seasons – however he was loaned out to a number of clubs during his spell with the Dutch giants. He retired from football in 2004 in order to work as an agent.

Wilson Oruma
Oruma did not feature prominently in Atlanta as he was mostly reduced to substitute appearances against Brazil and Argentina in the semi-final and final respectively. He went on to spend the best of his career with clubs in France before retiring in 2010, where he remained living in France.

Teslim Fatusi
Fatusi was a fringe player at the Games, although he was crucial in qualifying. He didn’t make it to the Super Eagles senior side, and retired in 2007. Then Fatusi subsequently moved to the USA where he dabbled in business...............CONTINUE @

https://www.goal.com/en-ug/lists/nigerias-96-olympic-gold-medallists-where-are-they-now/1y0diw0045ax41nxsf4pp2vu6h

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtZl_sq7kVA
Atlanta 1996 was really a nostalgic time no living person in Nigeria then will ever forget especially August 3rd 1996, the day Nigeria dream team-1 made history by defeating a highly studded Argentinian side that parades the like of Gabriel Batistuta, Herman Crespo, etc to win the Olympic gold medal of that winter event.

This was when passion and enthusiasm to play and do exploits for country was @ its peak. The quest for glory was very conspicuous in the then generation of Nigerian players.

"...Nonetheless, their Olympic journey captivated audiences. Nigeria first made it to the quarterfinals, beating Mexico 2-0.

Though losing to Brazil earlier in the tournament, Nigeria beat the then four-time World Cup-winning nation 4-3 in the semi-final, before pulling off a historic 3-2 win in the final over an Argentina team that featured international stars including Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez...."

The stunning semi-final match against Brazil( which Nigeria won 4 : 3) and the equally victorious 3 : 2 final match against Argentina are the most memorable during this tournament. I remember my dad off the TV when Brazil was leading 3 : 1 and asked my and younger brother to go and sleep - that it is over for Nigeria. I went to my neighbor's quarters to watch the match

The thunderous shout of Nigeria's final goal that Kanu Nwankwo scored in the early hours of the next day sent the whole Barracks into a frenzy. My neighbor almost chopped my head off when he unknowingly lift me up to a ceiling fan above his house during celebration.

We just could not sleep that night but jubilate till we got to government house in Agodi. The final victory against Argentina was a continuation of the one against Brazil. I can't still describe it.

These two teams were the world's football houses then.I know the "indomie generation" will never understand what it took Nigeria to attain this feat, but God was the ultimate pillar behind us as both Brazil and Argentina were really humbled that year to learn a big lesson in never allowing pride be their downfall.
nlfpmod

FTC dedicated to Emmanuel Amunike &
Kanu Nwankwo...only legends will comprehend why...

BTW If you are a sport lover or fan try to monetize your passion...earn in $dollars.

Kingosytex:


Take the FTC to the bank and cash out

Rest it's just a bragging tradition on NL moreso it allows for wider view of one's comment(s).





Wittyness

😎

Damnnn niggar

That year

Since then ?

Nostalgic feeling

When the eagle in super eagles was still flying .

The type of joy that Nigeria vs Brazil match brought to Nigerians is something else that year.

This team is indeed a dream team.

Incompetent greedy,dollar stealing officials at NFF feeding fat from the player's sweat.

There can never be another super eagles team like this set. They were golden. The name we still have as a football nation was this set of Eagles team and still which this present crop of players are living on

Watching this video just brought tears to my eyes. Kanu was the hero

Nigerian football federation failed to live up to standard even after starting very well...dreams and talents have been killed and buried by this politicians in the sporting ministry

How time fly's!

Hope we will get it better again in the nearest future

They did well, kudos to them.

A time Nigeria was under the tyranny of Abacha, witnessed economic downturn and we children of teachers could hardly eat and our parents pay house rent.

Nig suddenly won the Olympic soccer gold and it seems we have all been fed by the cup. The joy of winning temporarily united the nation alongside the Abacha junta.

Best ever football team Nigeria ever produced

U actually want us to watch the full match...?

Spend data in this our economy?
What are we going to learn from it?

I can never forget that day as a young lad. We all ran to EBS in jubilation

greatest Nigerian football team ever..1996 ,wheew..such a long time...

So wait most of the key players na southerners.

Which means when we break the only reason person go hear of north na for terrorism.

Chai and to think that key players are all from South

No wonder many no want make nija break

wittywriter:
FTC dedicated to Emmanuel Amunike &
Kanu Nwankwo...only legends will comprehend why...

BTW If you are a sport lover or fan try to monetize your passion...earn in $dollars.



Wittyness

Take the FTC to the bank and cash out

Awesome dream team

There’s a plaque for them till today at the Atlanta Olympic park in Georgia. All their names are written

Another country still recognizes them

Old Glory

I can remember this era... it was indeed golden!

Nostalgia!
it was during dis Olympic dat I saw comrades hook up b/w telly onto a car battery to watch matches...

nothing like inverter or solar power then!
na ummuna boiz 4 area run am oo!
Respect Igbos!

I remember that their poster never left the wall of "boys room"

God bless BIAFRA and BIAFRANs

God Bless Mazi Kanu



Nigeria is a cursed Country

Indomie children cannot relate

Buhari4dullard:
So wait most of the key players na southerners.

Which means when we break the only reason person go hear of north na for terrorism.

Chai and to think that key players are all from South

No wonder many no want make nija break

Yoru. Bas are treacherous

I was already living in Atlanta for 3 years before this game. I was at the Olympic venue every day, but I didn't get to watch this game. I sure wish now that I was there. I didn't attach that much importance to the game back then.