Mutiu Adepoju

Mutiu Adepoju

Adepoju playing with Real Madrid veterans
Personal information
Full name Mutiu Adepoju
Date of birth (1970-12-22) 22 December 1970
Place of birth Ibadan, Nigeria
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
1986–1987 Femo Scorpions
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988 Shooting Stars
1989 Julius Berger
1989–1992 Real Madrid B 67 (26)
1992–1996 Racing Santander 124 (25)
1996–2000 Real Sociedad 88 (8)
2000–2001 Ittihad FC 10 (2)
2001–2002 Salamanca 14 (0)
2002–2003 Samsunspor 8 (0)
2003–2004 AEL Limassol 5 (1)
2004–2005 Eldense
2005–2006 Cobeña
National team
1990–2002 Nigeria 48 (6)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Mutiu Adepoju (born 22 December 1970) is a Nigerian retired footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder.

He played most of his career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 175 games and 22 goals over the course of seven seasons and mainly representing Racing de Santander and Real Sociedad.

A Nigerian 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 its B-side. His first professional season was impressive as he scored 11 league goals to help Racing de Santander return to La Liga, and he continued to feature and net regularly for the Cantabrians in the next three years.

Mutiu left for Real Sociedad for the 1996–97 campaign but, after a solid first season, struggled heavily to hold down a regular place with the Basques. In 2001–02 he represented Saudi Arabia's Ittihad FC, but quickly returned to Spain where he featured rarely for second level 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 chief administrator.[1]

International career

Adepoju was a member of the Nigerian team that played in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. His brace against the United States (which featured Kasey Keller in goal) in the semifinals ensured a final against Portugal, in a 0–2 defeat.

Adepoju went on to collect 48 international full caps, with six goals. He made his debut against Togo in August 1990, but his breakthrough at international level came during the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations, and he helped his nation win the next continental edition.

Adepoju was part of the squads for the FIFA World Cups in 1994, 1998 – where he scored in a 3–2 win against Spain[2]– and 2002, although he did not play in the latter tournament.

References

  1. ↑ Veteran Mutiu Adepoju to head Shooting Stars FC
  2. ↑ Nigeria rallies to stun Spain with late goal; The Washington Post, 13 June 1998
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