Revealed! Why Argentina Defeated Super Eagles At USA 1994 World Cup-Adepoju

Mutiu Adepoju has revealed why Nigeria lost to Argentina at the 1994 World Cup in the USA

 

News Rain Nigeria gathered that Adepoju who was a member of the Super Eagle’s squad at the U.S.A. ’94 World Cup, speaking in an interview revealed why Nigeria’s Super Eagles lost to its Argentine counterpart at the World Cup, also paid tribute to the legendary Diego Maradona, who died on November 25, describing the Argentine as one of the greatest to have ever played the game.

While reflecting on the life and times of Maradona, Adepoju described him as one with incomparable skills and ingenuity on the field.

 

Why Argentina Defeated Super Eagles At USA 1994 World Cup

 

He said: “Maradona was a great player no doubt, one of the greatest ever in football, and it is quite unfortunate that we have to lose him at that age.

“I was shocked when I heard about his demise, but as we know we will have to leave this world one day.

“Maradona was one of the legends of all times. He can singlehandedly create havoc for the opposing team and win any game on his own. I just wish him eternal rest.

On what transpired during the showdown between Nigeria and Argentina at U.S.A. ’94 when the Eagles lost their second match to the Maradona captained the side, after defeating Bulgaria in their opening match; Adepoju said that the loss was due to loss of concentration.

“It’s not that we are scared of Maradona when we faced him at U.S.A. ’94 World Cup, but we respect him as one of the best footballers in the world that can cause havoc to us.

“For me, playing against him, I was being respectful and very much aware of what he can do and we managed that very well if not for the loss of concentration at that moment.

“We are a quality side in our own right, and we really took care of him in the midfield and managed him very well, we cannot be more careful with such a great player.

“We knew that he can create problems for us and not that we were scared of him, but respect for his status as an experienced player and his personality. We had a good game against him.”

According to him, the late football icon was only able to outwit his teammates during the World Cup showdown when they lost concentration.

It will be recalled that Adepoju, who was nicknamed ‘headmaster’ because of his prowess in the air with precise nodding of the ball, was one of the central midfielders that faced Maradona during Nigeria’s second match at the World Cup. Nigeria however lost the match to Argentina after Claudio Caniggia struck twice in quick succession from Maradona’s assists, in the 22nd and 29th minutes of the keenly contested match, to cancel out Samson Siasia’s goal that was scored in the eighth minute.