Sunday Oliseh

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Sunday Oliseh bigraphy, stories - Nigerian football player and manager

Sunday Oliseh : biography

14 September 1974 –

Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh (born 14 September 1974 in Abavo, Delta State) is a former Nigerian footballer and coach, who in his active player career played as a midfielder. He now lives in Baelen (Belgium)

Football career

A physical, technical central midfielder, Oliseh played for well known clubs such as AFC Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus F.C..

Oliseh played 63 international matches and scored four goals for Nigeria, and played at the Football World Cups of 1994 and 1998. Oliseh also participated in the Olympic gold medal winning team of 1996.

He is mostly remembered for scoring the winning goal in the group stage match against Spain in the 1998 World Cup, as Nigeria prevailed 3–2. A throw-in deep in the Spanish half was headed clear by a defender – Oliseh ran and fired an explosive shot from 25 yards, and took Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta completely by surprise. Despite captaining Nigeria during the 2002 African Cup of Nations, Oliseh was omitted from his country’s World Cup squad later that year for disciplinary reasons. After missing out on World Cup selection, Oliseh retired from international football in June 2002.

In March 2004, Oliseh was sacked by Borussia Dortmund after punching team-mate Vahid Hashemian while on loan at VfL Bochum.

In January 2006, at the age of 31, Oliseh retired from professional football after playing a half season for Belgian top club K.R.C. Genk.

Club statistics

Club performance League
Season Club League Apps Goals
Belgium League
1990–91 Liège First Division 3 0
1991–92 16 1
1992–93 30 2
1993–94 26 0
Italy League
1994–95 Reggiana Serie A 29 1
Germany League
1995–96 Köln Bundesliga 24 0
1996–97 30 4
Netherlands League
1997–98 Ajax Eredivisie 29 5
1998–99 25 3
Italy League
1999–00 Juventus Serie A 8 0
Germany League
2000–01 Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga 22 0
2001–02 18 1
2002–03 2 0
2002–03 Bochum 11 0
2003–04 21 1
2004–05 Borussia Dortmund 11 0
Belgium League
2005–06 Genk First Division 16 0
Country Belgium 91 3
Italy 37 1
Germany 139 6
Netherlands 54 8
Total 321 18

Honours

Club

Ajax
  • Eredivisie: 1997–98
  • KNVB Cup (2): 1997–98, 1998–99
Borussia Dortmund
  • Bundesliga: 2001–02
  • UEFA Cup: 2001–02 (Runner-up)

Country

Nigeria
  • African Cup of Nations: 1994
  • Olympic Gold Medal: 1996

International career statistics

Nigeria national team
Year Apps Goals
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998 7 1
1999 3 0
2000 10 1
2001 7 0
2002 7 0
Total

Personal

His younger brothers, Azubuike and Egutu, are also professional footballers; another brother is Churchill Oliseh and his nephew is Sekou Oliseh.