Emeka Amadi: Dammam Miracle, my unforgettable moment

ormer U-20 National Team goalkeeper, Emeka Amadi earned his place in the Nigerian football firmament as part of historic team that won Africa’s first Silver Medal at the biennial championship in Saudi Arabia. As the 22nd edition of championship gets underway in Poland between 23rd May and 15th June, Amadi currently working as assistant coach to Emmanuel Amuneke in Tanzania, recalls the momentous match between Nigeria and former Soviet Union in an interesting conversation with MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN.

Three decades after his heroics  in the penalty-shootout  win over the former Soviet Union (USSR)  at the  FIFA  U-20 World Youth Championship in Saudi Arabia, erstwhile Flying Eagles’ goalkeeper  Emeka Amadi  has admitted  the dramatic match would forever  remain one of the country’s finest football moment.

“The FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1989 is best remembered for the quarter final match between Nigeria and USSR and that match is simply unforgettable,” began Amadi who featured for both Enugu Rangers international and Bendel insurance in his prime before moving to Germany for studies. “Though it is 30 years ago, being part of that squad  still gives me a sense of pride and achievement  and I’m happy to be involved in that particular quarter final  duel against USSR.”

For younger minds, the performance of the Flying Eagles as well as their epic tie against the Eastern European side in the quarter finals was well summarised in a FIFA Technical Report of Saudi 1989:“Nigeria proved equally sensational. Expected to hold their own, given their strong performances in younger age groups, nobody expected the Flying Eagles to be quite so resourceful.

“Three times they hit back after going behind (against Czechoslovakia, USSR and the USA), and nobody who witnessed it will ever forget their historic encounter with the USSR; trailing by 4 goals to 0 with half an hour to play, the Africans scored 4 times in 24 minutes before winning the game on penalties.”

“Victory over the Americans made Nigeria the first African side to reach a FIFA World Youth Championship Final. Christopher Ohenhen, Mutiu Adepoju, and Christopher Nwosu were all key elements in a physically imposing and technically gifted outfit.”

Speaking further on the feat, Amadi who came in as a second half substitute for Angus Ikeji , said  he had his date with destiny against the  USSR, adding victory was more or less fait accompli once they pulled  the chestnut from the fire to level scores at 4-4.

“ There is no team that can win a tournament without a good goalkeeper and I think we were  confident  going into the penalty shootout because the players knew I was good at stopping penalties,” offered Amadi.

Indeed, Ohenhen, late Peter Ogaba, Mike Onyemachara, Mutiu Adepoju and Samuel Elijah all scored from the spot to earn Nigeria a famous 5-3 victory after Amadi foiled Qosinov which was his side’s third kick.

“The quarter final match against the Soviet Union is usually called the Miracle of Dammam and it was a miraculous event indeed,” Amadi further explained.“ But let me share one of the success secrets of that team because up till today, I don’t think any Nigerian team up to the Super Eagles have enjoined such support in the history of Nigerian football.

“Immediately we got to Saudi, the then NFA paid our daily allowance from the first day up to the final day of the competition even when nobody knew if we were going to even qualify from the group stage.

“That was already a huge motivation for us  and I think we carried that spirit into all our matches. But even before we got to Saudi Arabia for the World Cup,  our team already had history off clawing back from the jaw of defeat.

“I would cite two outstanding examples. In our friendly match against Dragons of Benin in Cotonou and they led us  2-0 till about 20 minutes to the end of the match but we equalised and later won the match  3-2. In another game against Ijebu United or so, we also came back from 3-0 to level the scores at 3-3; and such was the reputation of our team going to Saudi Arabia.

“I didn’t get to play until the quarter finals when I came in as replacement for injured Angus Ikeji in the second half and by that time we were already 3-0 down but we equalized with less than 30 minutes left in the match before we won in penalties; it’s simply unforgettable and I’m happy always that I actually stopped USSR in the penalty shootout,” noted Amadi.

For years, there had been  this misconception that the coach Tunde Disu-led Flying Eagles went to sleep after dumping USSR  in the quarter final and USA in the semi-final  hence they lost  2-0 to Portugal the championship’s decider against Portugal .

Hear Amadi:

“ We didn’t go to any party  before the final match against Portugal as it was erroneously reported; which party would you go in Saudi Arabia? We were only invited to  dinner attended by other teams after we defeated the USA.

“People forgot the fact that we beat both USSR and USA after extra-time which might  have taken its toll on us before we met Portugal. Though we lost to Portugal, nobody can talk about Saudi 1989 without talking about  the Miracle of Dammam which I think was the major highlight of that tournament.”

Now 47, Amadi  is forever passionate about the crucial position of a goalkeeper in a team  and apart from standing between the sticks with Bendel Insurance and Rangers, he had  stints  in Germany with SV Steinheim; FC Brakel and Hannover’96.

He also featured for Tus Celle; FC Oberneuland and SV Nienhagen where he retired and took coaching appointment. He was on the technical crew  of Nigeria’s  2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup winning team where his ward, Dele Alampasu was adjudged the best goalkeeper of the championship with the Golden Gloves award.

“A team without a good goalkeeper would struggle to compete,” noted Amadi in his usual measured voice. “A goalkeeper is like a gladiator that can motivates his team to greater heights and I’m really proud of the quality of goalkeepers I discovered and trained during our time with the Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles.

“It’s not a coincidence that these goalkeepers like  Alampasu who won the Golden Gloves

Award when we won the U-17  World Cup in 2013; Francis Uzoho who is currently with the Super Eagles, Benjamin Amos who was the best goalkeeper during the WAFU B-U-17 tournament in Lome in 2015  Akpan Udoh who was adjudged one of the best when we won the U-17 World Cup in Chile and the current National U-23 coach Adamu all passed through my hands.

“It shows the kind of job and quality I bring to the table for the teams I’ve been attached with because a good goalkeeper is more or less the eyes of the coach on the pitch and he’s expected to motivate and direct his colleagues, he initiates attack because he is also  a player too .”

Meanwhile, Amadi who is currently an assistant coach to Emmanuel Amuneke  in Tanzania , has  further spoken about   the miraculous qualification of  Taifa Stars for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the first time since their debut at the  1980 finals held in Nigeria.

“Going to Tanzania with coach Amuneke wa not a gamble because right from the outset, I was optimistic that we can do something tangible because Amuneke and I have come a long way,” he explained.“ We are like minds and this type of job we have in Tanzania is an opportunity to show what we can do; it is a motivation for us to achieve something  and our target first and foremost was to qualify for the AFCON.

“One thing that I like about Amuneke is that he’s not egoistic and he constant evaluate himself as a professional.  He doesn’t compromise discipline but he’s very humane in his conduct with players.  He’s a good listener and he like constructive criticism and feedback too.

“We wanted to make history with Tanzania and of course as Nigerians  that took Tanzania to the AFCON after 39 years.  We prayed. We worked and our technical know-how impacted well on the team; but no matter how good you are, you still need the element of luck and I could say we were lucky also to take Tanzania to the AFCON for only the second time in their history.

“It’s been great working with the Tanzania Football Federation(TFF) and they gave us free hands to execute our plans; there is no disturbance which has really inspired us to bring all what we have to achieve this great objective.

“ I’m very happy that from the goalkeeping department, we contributed our part towards the qualification of Taifa Stars for the AFCON. Goalkeeper Manula was outstanding and I think he inspired confidence on his teammates. I’m not just an ordinary goalkeeper trainer but I was trained in Germany in such a way that I can even handle the German national team goalkeepers.

“The experience from Germany  has helped me to train good goalkeepers  over the years and I’m happy I’m on the part of that  same excellence  with Tanzania.”

After the  heroics of AFCON qualification, Amadi is confident that the Taifa Stars would not be a whipping team  despite being  drawn in a seemingly tough preliminary round Group C that houses Senegal, Algeria and their East African rivals, Kenya.

He said:“ As a coach, I love to compete  but I’d rather stay at home  if I think I don’t  have a chance. We (Taifa Stars)  are going to Egypt to compete nothing less than that. We have our aims and  we are determined  and we  have to keep our focus.  We want to have a good AFCON  and we are going to work hard  to achieve our focus.

“ We are going to come out of that group; it’s not an easy task but  hard work would  see us through.

“ Personally on the long term,  I want to unearth and train a new crop of goalkeepers that would serve Tanzania for a long time to come. I hope I can also help create a good working goalkeeping department before leaving Tanzania. I want to make a name for myself too  I want to impart my knowledge and train good goalkeepers across the continent if I can have such opportunity,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Amadi has spoken passionately on other sundry issues. Below are the excerpts.

Between Saudi 1989 and Poland 2019  FIFA U-20 World Cup

I still have fond memories about Saudi 1989 FIFA U-20 World Cup  because as you know, it was a great moment for us and I would say, it was also a miraculous outing for us as a team. Time runs fast and it is already 30 years after we won the Silver medal because we were beaten in the final match by Portugal. It was a momentous occasion for us because that was the first time an African team  came second at the U-20 level in a FIFA-organized tournament. It was a major breakthrough and coupled with the famous Golden Eaglets’ victory in the inaugural 1985  edition of the FIFA U-16 World  Cup in China, our performance in Saudi  turned  global attention  to Nigeria. It I important to say that it would be a thing of hoy if the current Flying Eagles to the FIFA U-20 WC in Poland can go a step further by winning the trophy after our set in 1989 and  2005 set came second.  It would be a historic feat if they can go all the way to win the Cup after 30 years when Nigeria first came second at that level.  Nigerians still remember our  feat of 1989 because we truly showed the never-say-die attitude of most Nigerians; we were united  and that was why we were able to bounce back against the former Soviet Union (USSR) in the quarter finals. We beat the USA in the semi-finals and lost to Portugal in the final but the way and manner we beat USSSR  in the quarter finals made Nigerians to be proud of us till today.

My recruitment into the Flying Eagles

Except some few players like Nduka Ugbade who had played at the FFA U-16 World Cup , the bulk of players selected for the U-20 set of 1989 were virtually unknown. Some of us were picked after our performance  during college championship and I was already in my first year  at University of Nigeria Nsukka  but I was picked twice actually from both the Anambra State Youth Festival  and was also picked during the  Pepsi/NUGA championship because I was the best goalkeeper  of the 1987 edition.

Dearth of African  goalkeepers with top teams in Europe

We have talented goalkeepers in Africa but the problem is that unlike their European counterparts, they were not exposed earlier enough  to the rudiments of the game.  Players and goalkeepers are well exposed to the basics at their tender ages in Europe whereas African goalkeepers no matter how talented, are not exposed to the basics early enough. The problem is that we don’t even pay attention to the grooming of goalkeepers in Africa. For instance, how many soccer academies in Nigeria have well trained goalkeepers ?

Joy of being a goalkeeper and goalkeepers’ trainer

During my playing career, the joy for me was going out there to give my best and help my team to win matches. No joy is greater than that for a goalkeeper. Doing your best  to ensure the success of your team.  Of course, there are occasions that one’s best was not good enough but that has  since taught me a valuable lesson about  life that it can’t be bed of roses all the times. No cross, no crown. I’m now training these young goalkeepers based on the experiences that I have gained over the years and like a father, I’m happy that some of the goalkeepers that had passed through my hands are doing well with the Nigerian national teams presently.

My personae

A lot of people know my name but most people don’t know me because I’m not the type that seeks publicity. I want to live a normal live like the every man on the streets. But I’m coming out of my shell. I’m proud of myself; I’m proud of my name. Yes, some called me ‘The Hot Chocolate’ because I love drinking hot beverages and some said it’s as a result of the fact that I dish out tough training for goalkeepers I trained.