Daniel Amokachi

Daniel Owefin Amokachi (born 30 December 1972) is a Nigerian former professional footballer, and former assistant manager of the Nigeria national football team.

Daniel Amokachi
Personal information
Full name Daniel Ray Owefin Amokachi
Date of birth (1972-12-30) 30 December 1972
Place of birth Kaduna, Nigeria
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1990 Ranchers Bees ? (?)
1990–1994 Club Brugge 81 (35)
1994–1996 Everton 43 (10)
1996–1999 Beşiktaş 77 (19)
2002 Colorado Rapids 0 (0)
2005 Nasarawa United ? (?)
National team
1990–1999 Nigeria 44 (13)
Teams managed
2006 Nasarawa United
2007 Nigeria (Assistant coach)
2008 Enyimba
2008–2014 Nigeria (Assistant coach)
2014–2015 Nigeria (interim)
2015 Ifeanyi Ubah
2016–2017 JS Hercules
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He has been a technical director since 2006. With World Cup performances, he was third in the African Footballer of the Year award three times. As a forward, he was known for his speed, technique and physical strength, which earnmed him the nicknames Black Bull and Black Train. Amokachi, who is also very popular and well known in his country, contributed to Nigeria's top two tournaments to the World Cup along with his attack partner Emmanuel Amunike. Amokachi scored the first goal of the UEFA Champions League with Club Brugge on 25 November 1992, beating CSKA Moscow 1–0.

Club career

Amokachi, nicknamed "The Bull",[1] was discovered while playing for Ranchers Bees by Nigerian national team coach Clemens Westerhof, who brought the talented player to the 1990 African Nations Cup, and soon Amokachi moved to play for Club Brugge in Belgium.[1] He competed in the new format of the Champions League, and became the first player to score in the competition, after his goal secured a 1–0 win in the opening match in the group stage against CSKA Moscow. Performing well in Belgium and at the 1994 World Cup,[1] Everton became interested in Amokachi and their manager Mike Walker signed him for a fee of £3,000,000 ($4,700,000).[2][3]

He went on to win the FA Cup with Everton in 1995, scoring two goals in the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur[1] after 'substituting himself' into the match while Paul Rideout was receiving treatment (the manager Joe Royle had only instructed him to warm up in preparation for possibly coming on).[4][5][3][2] He appeared in the final only briefly, late on, again as a substitute but is remembered fondly for his beret-wearing celebrations afterwards.[2][3]

He remained at Everton until the end of the 1995–96 season, when he was transferred to Beşiktaş of Turkey for a fee of £1.75million. He had failed to make the impact at Goodison Park that many fans had been hoping for,[2] and had been unable to win a regular place in the first team, as Rideout and Duncan Ferguson were firmly established as Everton's two strikers at that stage. He did, however, stand in for Ferguson while he spent six weeks in prison during the autumn of 1995 for an offence committed in Scotland 18 months earlier.

After leaving Beşiktaş in 1999, his playing career more or less ended. He signed with 1860 Munich, but the contract was cancelled after he failed a medical test. In turn he was rejected by Tranmere Rovers for the same reason.[1] Amokachi trained with French second division side US Créteil,[1] but the deal was hampered by injuries. American MLS team Colorado Rapids signed him in 2002, but seeing he was not fit enough they released him before a single match was played. He went to play in the United Arab Emirates, but was denied again due to his medical condition.

International career
Olympic medal record
Representing  Nigeria
Men's Football
1996 Atlanta Team Competition

He played many international matches for Nigeria, and was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and 1998 FIFA World Cup[3] and won the 1994 African Nations Cup. He also helped win the Olympic gold medal in 1996, scoring in the Gold Medal game itself against Argentina.[1]

Amokachi sustained an injury just ahead of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, played one match at the tournament, but struggled with knee problems thereafter.[2]

Managerial career

Amokachi managed Nigerian club Nasarawa United and later Enyimba Aba. In April 2007, he quit his role as assistant coach of the Nigeria national team. On 10 April 2008, Amokachi was re-appointed to Nigeria's national team, the Super Eagles, as assistant coach to Shuaibu Amodu, and then as assistant to Stephen Keshi.

In 2015, Amokachi managed Ifeanyi Ubah, resigning after five weeks in the post.[6] In January 2016, he was named as manager of JS Hercules.[7] 4 February 2020, Amokachi was named as Nigeria’s football ambassador by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd).[8]

Career statistics

[9]

Club performance League
Season Club League AppsGoals
Belgium League
1990–91BruggeFirst Division30
1991–922612
1992–93239
1993–942814
1994–9510
England League
1994–95EvertonPremier League184
1995–96256
Turkey League
1996–97BeşiktaşFirst League307
1997–98278
1998–99204
CountryBelgium 8135
England 4310
Turkey 7719
Total 20164
Nigeria national team
YearAppsGoals
199071
199141
199211
199342
1994122
199552
199612
199752
199840
199910
Total4413

International goals
Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.[10]

Honours

Everton

Beşiktaş

Nigeria

Individual

Personal life

Amokachi is married to a Tunisian woman and has twin sons named Kalim and Nazim who are following their father's footsteps in becoming footballers. Both are currently in the Besiktas youth academy.[20]

References
  1. "Amokachi just wants a club". BBC Sport. 30 March 2001. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  2. Aanu Adeoye (7 November 2017). "An ode to Daniel Amokachi, Everton cult hero and the best sub never made". Planet Football. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  3. Adam Bate (24 July 2017). "Daniel Amokachi interview: Former Everton man happy to come home". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  4. "Daniel Amokachi". Everton F.C. 30 March 2001. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  5. "The strangest substitution ever?". BBC Sport. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  6. "Daniel Amokachi quits as FC IfeanyiUbah coach after five weeks". BBC Sport. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  7. "Daniel Amokachi appointed JS Hercules manager | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  8. "Buhari names Amokachi football ambassador". www.msn.com. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  9. "Daniel Amokachi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  10. Daniel Owefin Amokachi - Goals in International Matches Archived 3 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. Milliyet. "Protesto çağrısı". Archived from the original on 12 December 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  12. AA. "Beşiktaş 3000. golü bekliyor". Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  13. Sporx (22 December 2015). "Türkiye Spor Adamları Ödülleri sahiplerini buldu - Futbol". Sporx.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  14. "Yılın Menajeri Özkan Doğan". Haberler.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  15. "2015'te de Yılın Spor Gazetesi". Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  16. uefa.com (13 September 2013). "UEFA Champions League - News – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  17. Dove, Ed. "The 50 Greatest African Players of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  18. "IFFHS' Century Elections". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  19. http://bahsidiger.blogspot.com.tr/2011/12/uzun-sortun-mucidi-daniel-amokachi.html
  20. "Nigeria And Tunisia In Tug Of War Over International Future Of Amokachi Twins". owngoalnigeria.com. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
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