Mutiu Adepoju

Mutiu Adepoju

Adepoju playing with Real Madrid veterans
Personal information
Full name	Mutiu Adepoju
Date of birth	(1970-12-22) 22 December 1970
Place of birth	Ibadan, Nigeria
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1986–1987	Femo Scorpions
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988	Shooting Stars
1989	Julius Berger
1989–1992	Real Madrid B	67	(26)
1992–1996	Racing Santander	124	(25)
1996–2000	Real Sociedad	88	(8)
2000–2001	Ittihad FC	10	(2)
2001–2002	Salamanca	14	(0)
2002–2003	Samsunspor	8	(0)
2003–2004	AEL Limassol	5	(1)
2004–2005	Eldense
2005–2006	Cobeña
International career
1990–2002	Nigeria	48	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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

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 mainly representing Racing de Santander and Real Sociedad.

A Nigerian 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 (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 scored 11 league goals to help Racing de Santander return to La Liga, and he continued to feature and net regularly for the Cantabrians in the next three years.

Mutiu left for Real Sociedad for the 1996–97 campaign but, after a solid first season, struggled heavily to hold down a regular place with the Basques. In 2001–02 he represented Saudi Arabia's Ittihad FC, but quickly returned to Spain where he featured rarely for second level 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 chief administrator.

International career

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

Adepoju went on to collect 48 international full caps, with six 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 – where he scored in a 3–2 win against Spain– and 2002, although he did not play in the latter tournament.

External links

• Nigerian Players profile
• Mutiu Adepoju at BDFutbol
• Mutiu Adepoju at National-Football-Teams.com
• Mutiu Adepoju – FIFA competition record (archived)