What became of... Mutiu

Previously… Mutiu Adepoju (Ibadan, Nigeria, 1970) is a former central midfielder who played for Real Madrid Castilla, Real Racing Club, Real Sociedad de Fútbol ad UD Salamanca.

His achievements… Mutiu was one of the grand figures of Nigerian football in the 90s. He left his country in 1989 to sign for Real Madrid Castilla, scoring eight goals, bringing him to the attention of Racing who signed him up in their quest to return to Liga BBVA. The Ibadan-born player did not disappoint, and scored 11 goals in the second division, helping the Cantabrian side achieve promotion. After four years in Santander he moved to San Sebastián, signing for Real Sociedad, where he also spent four years.

In the twilight of his career he passed through Saudi Arabia, Turkish and Greek football, and also played for Spanish sides Salamanca and CD Eldense.

After hanging up his boots… He called it a day in the 2005/06 season at CD Cobeña in Madrid. After that he returned to Nigeria to take up the post of general director at his first professional club, Shooting Stars SC.

Did you know… Mutiu played for the Nigeria national side in three World Cups (1994, 1998 and 2002), getting to the last 16 in his first two tournaments. In France he was in the XI that defeated Spain 3-2 in the group stage, scoring one of the goals past Andoni Zubizarreta in the 24th minute. It was his only World Cup goal.