Mutiu Adepoju

Mutiu Adepoju

Personal information
Full name	Mutiu Adepoju
Date of birth	December 22, 1970 (1970-12-22)
Place of birth	Ibadan, Nigeria
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1986–1987	Femo Scorpions
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1988	Shooting Stars
1989	Julius Berger
1989–1992	Real Madrid B	65	(27)
1992–1996	Racing Santander	123	(24)
1996–2000	Real Sociedad	89	(8)
2000–2001	Al-Ittihad
2001–2002	Salamanca	14	(0)
2002–2003	Samsunspor	8	(0)
2003–2004	AEL Limassol	5	(1)
2004–2005	Eldense
2005–2006	Cobeña
National team
1990–2002	Nigeria	54	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Mutiu Adepoju (born 22 December 1970 in Ibadan) is a retired Nigerian footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder.

Nicknamed "The Headmaster", he played most of his career in Spain - amassing La Liga totals of 175 games and 22 goals over the course of seven seasons - and represented his country in three World Cups.

Club career

Adepoju (also called by his first name in Spain) left Nigeria in 1989 to join Real Madrid, but never made it past its B side. His first professional season was impressive, as he netted 11 league goals to help Racing de Santander return to the top flight, and he continue to feature and score regularly for the Cantabrians in the next three seasons.

Mutiu left for Real Sociedad, in 1996–97 but, after a solid first campaign, struggled mightily to hold down a regular place with the Basque team. In 2001–02, he represented Saudia Arabia's Al-Ittihad (Jeddah), but quickly returned to Spain, playing an unimpressive season with second level side 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 chief administrator.

International career

Mutiu was a member of the Nigerian team that played in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. His brace against the USA (which featured Kasey Keller in goal) in the semifinals ensured a final against star-studded Portugal, in a 0–2 defeat.

He went on to collect 54 international full caps, with five goals. He made his debut against Togo in August 1990, but his breakthrough at international level came during the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations, and he helped his nation win the next continental edition.

Adepoju was part of the squads for the FIFA World Cups in 1994, 1998 - scoring in a 3–2 win against Spain - and 2002 (although he did not play in the latter tournament).

External links

• Nigerian Players profile
• BDFutbol profile
• Mutiu Adepoju at National-Football-Teams.com