Nigeria’s Atlanta ‘96 Olympic Football Team
Book: The Making of Nigeria’s Dream Team
Author: Mumini Alao PhD
Reviewer: Adebayo Olowo-Ake
As you might have guessed, the book is about the victory of Nigeria’s football team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. It evokes fond memories of iconic books that have been written on great sports victories worldwide. Such books include “Talking to GOATS” by Jim Gray; “Young Bucks,” by Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson; “The Commonwealth of Cricket,” by Ramachandra Guha; “So Many Ways to Lose,” by Devin Gordon; “The Boys in the Boat,” by Daniel James Brown and “The League,” by John Eisenberg, to mention but some.
Such books not only provide critical details of those behind-the-scenes developments that occurred on the road to landmark victories by sports teams in some of the most hotly contested events, but also document for us those elements that made the momentous successes so ably captured by the authors possible and the role played by some or all of the athletes, coaches, sports federations, sponsors and indeed, everyone connected with these very successful teams.
One of Nigeria’s best-known football stars and an iconic figure, the inimitable Dr. Segun Odegbami, writes the foreword to the book in 5 pages of free-flowing prose, sharing in it some of his own perspectives on Nigeria’s victory in Atlanta. He then focuses on the work by Mumini, whom he says “is bringing to the remembrance of the world, and to Nigerians in particular, an achievement so significant that it marked a turning point in the psychology of African football teams about their capability to dream the biggest dreams in world football.” According to Segun Odegbami and as far as this Nigerian story is concerned, Mumini Alao has “…captured and documented…” it “…as a permanent reference for posterity.”
For those who read Mumini’s columns regularly, they will agree that he writes in simple language such that the sophisticated and not-so-sophisticated in his reading audience can enjoy what he presents. The style he chose for this book is no different, but the simplicity of his writing is however encapsulated in an enduring literary elegance that is gleaned throughout the book! It is therefore easy to read all of the 189-page book and savour the 8 additional pages of complementary photos of the various aspects of the Atlanta Olympics soccer victory and its reportage.
The road to that victory did not however start on such a bright note as the author so vividly captures in the chapter titled “Doing the Double over Zimbabwe” (pages 26-32), as well as the spectacular defeat of the team in what was its last home game before departing for the Olympics when Togo humbled the players in a 1-3 bashing at the National Stadium in Lagos (pages 42-43).
Now, in the quest to qualify, getting past Zimbabwe initially looked tough, despite Nigeria’s dominance away to the southern Africans in Harare but the team scraped through 1-0. The second leg was a more comfortable win, seeing Nigeria sweep past the Zimbabweans on a 2-0 aggregate score. Was Nigeria home and dry? Not quite, as the Zimbabweans protested to FIFA over the ‘unqualified’ use by Nigeria, of goalkeeper Abiodun Baruwa! Now, how did that protest gather steam? Who provided information to the Zimbabweans? How did Nigeria respond? What did FIFA finally do? You will need to read the saga of that protest in the book for all the details (pages 33-45)!
The book explains all the underpinnings of that defeat—the increasing and assertive role of Jo Bonfere vis-à-vis the erstwhile serially-successful national coach Willy Bazuaye; his review of the team list and the associated controversy and rumbling in the camp over that and the general ill-preparation for the game (which ought to have been against Gabon, with Togo only coming in as last-minute replacement). The refusal of the Minister of Sports, Jim Nwobodo, to come to the game as “Guest of Honour” only served to underscore the lackadaisical preparations which saw the humbling defeat in the hands of Togo.
There are two lighthearted developments captured in the book that I found quite funny. One had to do with the antics of Jo Bonfere, who, while the players had arrived in the US and were basically scrounging for funds to run the camp (with some players using their credit cards to pay for team expenses, hire and drive buses to training), he simply sat on USD25,000 but told the team that the Nigerian Football Association (NFA) had not sent any money to the them (contradicting the strident insistence of the Federation that it had actually sent funds). Alas, it was eventually found out that the NFA did send the money but Bonfere later confessed, in view of that confirmation to the players, that he had ‘sat’ on the money as that was the only way he could recoup some of what he was being owed by the Football body (pages 49-51)!
Then fast forward to a never-to-be-forgotten experience by the author himself, who had to be handed a most complicated flight itinerary to enable him cover the Olympics. Initially looking fine but just rather lengthy in duration, that itinerary turned out to be an “Israelite’s journey” when Mumini ended up a favourite of Thomas Cook which cooked up an interesting cuisine of flights to get him to his destination—one that saw him on a seeming merry-go-round from Heathrow (where he thought he was connecting to the US from after flying into the UK from Nigeria), to Gatwick and then back to Heathrow again and within whiskers of almost missing out on the supposed flight out of Gatwick! You would need to read the book to fully comprehend how this confusion began, what was responsible for it and all other dimensions to the drama I am trying to describe here for you (pages 57-60)!!
There are those who would rather look at photos, instead of reading. Such individuals struggle to go through text, even if these are few. If you belong in this group, Mumini probably had you in mind and have you ‘covered.’ You will see 18 dazzling photos in ‘living’ colour between pages 46-47. These images help illustrate this remarkable story, situate it within context and enliven the entire book in no small measure!
As the Nigerians settle into the competition proper and progress in measured steps, they will face one big ‘problem,’ which is the absence of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club in any large number. The few ‘voluntary’ Nigerian supporters who were mobilised in the US had the initial shock of the clearly overzealous security agents not allowing them enter the stadium with their musical instruments on the suspicion that these could be used to ferment trouble! You better believe it because Mumini was in the US live for the Olympics and wasn’t making up this story at all.
As the Nigerian team progressed, it became inevitable that it would meet almighty Brazil. It was a definite ‘star match’ and Nigerian supporters found themselves “adopted” by US fans, who deployed everything they had in support of Nigeria’s “Dream Team.” The support was vociferous and overwhelming. Why, you may wonder, did the Americans choose to support Nigeria? The answer to that can be found within pages 71-75
At the end of the first encounter with Brazil (same group with Nigeria), Mumini recalled one of the Nigerian officials exclaiming to no one in particular, “when are we ever going to beat Brazil?” (pages 85-86). He would get his answer just two more games ahead in one of the most iconic and dramatic football matches ever played in living memory. Mumini does real justice to his reportage of the game in what I will describe as simple prose but exhilarating description! Its all there on pages 95-101. Nigeria’s dream team would go from there to humble Argentina and win Africa’s first ever Olympic soccer gold medal!
“The Making of Nigeria’s Dream Team” is not just about how the country won the gold medal but an insider’s description of all that went on in making that happen, including the rivalry between the players, the tensions between the Ministry of Sports and the NFA on the one hand, and the coach on the other. It also details the contribution of several Nigerians based in the US who played a crucial part, oftentimes without expectation of any material reward, towards making their country succeed. It is a book worth keeping in your collection as it probably ranks as the only authentic documentation of this historic feat in the annals of African and indeed global soccer.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book by Dr. Mumini Alao. Indeed, we’ve known each other for almost 30 years. We of course belong to the same profession (even if I have only practiced it sporadically and not as consistently as Mumini has been doing). Highlights of those professional interaction have included being paired on the same presentation teams on national TV for some of the most high-profile football tournaments like FIFA’s France ’98, Nigeria ’99 (U-20) and Korea-Japan 2000 World Cups; as well as the Ghana-Nigeria 2000 AFCON. Additionally, I had found myself writing a column for ‘Complete Football’ (edited by Mumini) at a point and totally savoured the experience!
It is against this background of such a profound personal and professional relationship that I looked forward to reading the book and I daresay that it has been thrilling for me. The power of expression for which Mumini is known took me back in time to Atlanta and I found myself following the seamless transition of the story from one scene to another, as he recounts all that unfolded there in this rich effort of his. Although this would not be the first time I will be reading any of his books (for indeed, the author is as prolific in writing sports columns as he is in writing books), given the magnitude of the event that formed the focus of the book and the achievement captured in it, this would be the most anticipated read for me of all the books that he has written!
I therefore wholeheartedly commend “The Making of Nigeria’s Dream Team” to you, assuring you of the sheer pleasure you will derive from buying a copy and even greater fulfilment you will gain by reading it!
