Mutiu Adepoju
Mutiu Adepoju is a former Nigerian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
He spent most of his career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 175 games and 22 goals over the course of seven seasons and representing mainly Racing de Santander and Real Sociedad.
A Nigeria 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 left Nigeria in 1989 to join Real Madrid, but never made it past their reserves. The 1992–93 season was impressive as he scored 11 Segunda División goals to help Racing de Santander return to La Liga, and he continued to feature regularly for the Cantabrians over the next three years.Mutiu left for Real Sociedad for 1996–97 but, after a solid first campaign, struggled heavily to hold down a regular place with the Basques. In 2001–02 he represented Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad Club, but quickly returned to Spain where he featured rarely for second division 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 general manager.
International career
Adepoju was a member of the Nigeria U20 team that played in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. His brace against the United States in the semi-finals ensured a final against Portugal, a 2–0 defeat.Adepoju went on to collect 48 caps for the full side, with six goals. He made his debut against Togo in August 1990, but his breakthrough came during the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations, and he helped his nation win the next continental edition.
Adepoju was part of Nigeria's squads for the FIFA World Cups in 1994, 1998 – where he scored in a 3–2 win against Spain– and 2002, although he did not play in the latter tournament.
Career statistics
International
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |
| 1 | Stade de l'Amitié, Dakar, Senegal | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1992 African Cup of Nations | |||
| 2 | El Menzah Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1994 African Cup of Nations | |||
| 3 | Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, Nigeria | 5–1 | 5–1 | Friendly | |||
| 4 | King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1995 King Fahd Cup | |||
| 5 | Stade du 4 Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | |||
| 6 | Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1998 FIFA World Cup |