Mutiu Adepoju (born 22 December 1970) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
He spent most of his career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 175 games and 22 goals over the course of seven seasons and representing mainly Racing de Santander and Real Sociedad.
A Nigeria international for 12 years, Adepoju appeared for the country in three World Cups and as many Africa Cup of Nations.
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 their reserves. The 1992–93 season was impressive as he scored 11 Segunda División goals to help Racing de Santander return to La Liga,HISTORIA / Cap. 12 Descenso a 2ªB y ascenso a Primera (HISTORY / Ch. 12 Relegation to 2ªB and promotion to Primera); at Racing Santander Aquel ascenso inolvidable (That unforgettable promotion); El Diario Montañés, 29 June 2018 and he continued to feature regularly for the Cantabrians over the next three years.
Mutiu left for Real Sociedad for 1996–97 but, after a solid first campaign, struggled heavily to hold down a regular place with the Basques. In 2001–02 he represented Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), but quickly returned to Spain where he featured rarely for second division club 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 general manager.Mutiu Adepoju: Shooting Stars will recruit only six players; Goal, 1 October 2012
International career Adepoju was a member of the Nigeria U20 team that played in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. His brace against the United States (which featured Kasey Keller in goal) in the semi-finals ensured a final against Portugal, a 2–0 defeat.
Adepoju went on to collect 48 caps for the full side, with six goals. He made his debut against Togo in August 1990, but his breakthrough came during the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations,African Nations Cup 1992; at RSSSF and he helped his nation win the next continental edition.African Nations Cup 1994; at RSSSF
Adepoju was part of Nigeria's squads for the FIFA World Cups in 1994, 1998 – where he scored in a 3–2 win against SpainNigeria rallies to stun Spain with late goal; The Washington Post, 13 June 1998– and 2002, although he did not play in the latter tournament. He reflected on his career and noted that his header against Spain was his proudest and best World Cup moment.
Career statistics International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsNigeria1990301991101992711993301994102199551199620199741199861199920200040200210Total486
Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Adepoju goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Mutiu AdepojuNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1Stade de l'Amitié, Dakar, Senegal1–01–21992 African Cup of Nations2El Menzah Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia2–03–01994 African Cup of Nations3Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, Nigeria5–15–1Friendly4King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia2–03–01995 King Fahd Cup5Stade du 4 Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso1–02–11998 FIFA World Cup qualification6Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France1–13–21998 FIFA World Cup
References
External links
Nigerian Players profile
Mutiu Adepoju X(Twitter)