IF ONLY INDIA KNEW WHEN THEY BEAT NIGERIA 99-1

The date was April 11, 2001, Archie Thompson had just set a new record of scoring 13 goals, the highest by a single player in Australia's landslide 31 -0 victory against American Samoa. The Soceroos had earlier humiliated Tonga 22-0 in another World Cup Qualifying game. The outcomes of both games mean no other international match has produced more goals since the end of the 1st World War; a record that occupies the echelon of football history till today.
Tonga and American Samoa are the flimsiest of footballing nations and heavy defeats to Australia was expected. The spectacle obviously was the avalanche of goals.
The reaction will however be different if the results were the other way round like when India were said to have 'defeated' the then Green Eagles of Nigeria 99-1 in the 1980s. That sounds ridiculous right?
The 'Ill fated' game is no doubt a potpourri of multiple mythical narratives and a tale of terror and fear culminating in Sam Okwaraji's matyr. The Nigerian midfielder was said to have died from hitting hard a ball-turned-stone to salvage some pride for his team in the face of India's barrage of super-natural display. This singular act became his legacy.
One begins to wonder how such a well concorted tale crept into the history books. In this piece, I retell the real story behind this myth.
DID NIGERIA TRULY PLAY INDIA?
For the avoidance of doubt, no Nigerian team has ever faced India in any competitive game. There are few highlights in the Asian country's footballing history and Nigeria aren't in any.
For a country whose chief sport is Cricket, only a quantum of the population followed Football until recently.
India's significant moment was at the 1948 London Olympics. A predominately barefooted Indian team lost 2–1 to France, failing to convert two penalties.
Their greatest achievement however, came at the 1956 Olympics where they finished fourth beating powerhouse, Australia in their opener.
The team also qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents but they couldn't participate at the mundial due to financial crisis.
SO SAM DIDN'T KICK THE 'BALL' ?
Well, he actually kicked the 'ball' but not against India but against Angola.
Saturday, August 12, 1989 is etched as Nigeria's football darkest day. The National Stadium, Surulere was parked full for the Eagles' penultimate World Cup qualifier against the Angolans. A victory in the game and at least a draw in their last game against familiar foe, Cameroon will see the West Africans through to World Cup. Everyone was there to witness the first of those two steps.
Nigeria opened scoring in the first half through the diminutive Stephen Keshi (Late). The fans were in utmost euphoria, but that was suddenly short-lived in the 77th minute when Nigeria's number 6 collapsed. The whole stadium went numb! It was Sam Okwaraji laying motionless on the grass!
Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji was born in Imo State in I964. He left Nigeria in 1982 to study International Law in Italy. He put his studies on temporary hold to sign for the mighty Roma as a youth player. Having failed to make a breakthrough there, and having belatedly completed his studies, he moved on to Dinamo Zagreb in Yugoslavia and then on to Klagenfurt in Austria before finally ending at Ulm, Germany..
In 1987, he made his international debut against Algeria in Enugu. He instantly became the fans favorite, endearing them with his skills and trade mark dreadlocks. The future looked bright for the 25 year old in the national team until his final offering in arguably the country's most disorganized football game.
The news of his death didn't arrive until the following day. He had died on the pitch of congestive heart failure and not by the "mythical ball".