Many have heard about this
match. Some think it’s an
urban legend. Some think it’s
only a joke.But only few
know the truth.
A long time ago, few months after the endof the Nigeria-
Biafra war, the Military
Governor of Lagos decided to
stage an exhibition match at
the then glorious National
Stadium Lagos. He thought it would be a special way of
celebrating Nigeria’s victory in
the war, a way of helping
Lagosians to forget the sad
bloody years that had just
passed. He wanted to stage the match between Nigeria &
Ghana but was advised against
it. His advisers reminded him
how Ghana trashed Nigeria 3-
Nil at the 1960 Independence
Match, that another loss to Ghana might defeat the
purpose of the exhibition
match. His advisers suggested
that they choose a team that
would be very easy to beat.
Brig Gen Mobolaji Johnson agreed. Ethiopia was
considered. Zimbabwe was
considered. India
wasconsidered. USA was
considered. And Indiawas
chosen. He & hisadvisers believed that India would be a
walkover. But had heknown
what would happen he might
have chosen Brazil. Yes, Brazil
were the reigning world
champions at the timebut… Oh, had he known.
India agreed to play the
exhibition match with Nigeria.
In fact, they were overjoyed.
Nigeria was one of the best
teams in Africa. And they had never played with an African
team before. What more! They
were most overjoyedthat
Nigeria had agreed to their
threespecial conditions. What
were these conditions? Well, on that fateful day, a
bright Saturday afternoon on
August 15th, 1970, the National
Stadium Lagos was filled with
excited spectators. That
wasCondition No. 1, that the match be played on India’s
Independence Day. As the
players of Nigeria & India came
into the pitch, spectators
screamedwith more
excitementas they saw that all the twenty-two players were
barefooted. That wasCondition
No. 2. (Remember that India
had withdrawn from the 1950
World Cup because they
weren’t allowed to play barefooted.)
Priiii… Referee Mohamed Touati
blewhis whistle to begin the
game. (The Tunisian referee
hadbeen suspended by FIFA
earlier that yearbut had accepted to officiate this
special match.) Indian forward
Amer Al-Amer made the first
pass. And before anyone could
say “Bosnia-Herzego vina”, one Majed Suleman fired the
ball high into the air towards
the Nigerian post. The gaint of
a Nigerian keeper, Emmanuel
Okala, dived to the right while
the ball dropped into the left side of the net. Gooooaaal!!!
3-0. That was Condition No. 3,
that each goal scored by India
would be counted as 3points
while each byNigeria would be
1 as usual. (Nigeria agreed because theybelieved that
India could never score. Or at
least couldn’t score more than
one goal.) Emmanuel was
looking confused. He was very
sure he had dived towards the ball. Every other person
thought he’d deliberately let
the Indians score just to spice
up the game. Meanwhile,
India’s fan club was going wild
with jubilation. Priii… The Nigerian forwards
Sunday Atuma & Thompson
Usiyen passed. As Thompson
passed toPaul Hamilton, he
wassurprised when he saw
India’s Faisal Al-Dakheel with the ball. Faisal quickly shot the
ball into the air towards
Nigeria’spost. Goooal! 6-0.
Thompson was so confused. He
could have sworn it was Paul
his teammate hehad passed to. Priii… Sunday Atuma passed
into the Nigerian half.
Alloysius Atuegbu passed to
Haruna Ilerika. Haruna made a
long pass into the Indian half
to Samuel Okoye. He was shocked when he saw the ball
in the legs of Abdullah Al-
Shemmari. Haruna wiped his
eyes in disbelief. Too late!
Abdullah shot the ballinto the
air. Goal! 9-0. Three goals in barely six minutes? Nigerian
spectators were wondering
whatwas happening.
Priii… Goal! 12-0. Yusuf Al-
Suwayed. 15-0. Amer Al-
Amer. 18-0. Majed Suleman’s second goal. 21-0. AbdulazizAl-
Bul oushi. 24-0. Majed’s hat- trick. 27-0. Faisal Al-Dakheel’s
second goal. 30-0. Waleed Al-
Mubarak. At the twentieth
minute, Nigeria’s Paul Hamilton
ran with the ball all the way
to India’s box-18. But as he raised his leg to shoot, he
slipped& fell. India’s defender
Mahboub Jumaa easily took
the ball as Paul lay on the
ground moaning like a baby.
That was the nearest Nigeria had gotten to the Indian post
so far.
Twenty-five minutes later &
eight goals more, the score
stood at 54-0. Some spectators
angrily left the stadium evenbefore the half-time
whistle. Others waited
patiently, hoping that Nigeria
would revenge in the2nd half.
“Boys, what the hell is
happening out there?!” Coach JorgePenna was furious.
“You’re the damn captain,
answer me!!”he was shouting
at Emmanuel Okala.
Emmanuel was speechless. He
didn’tknow what to say. “Co-co-coach…” Godwin
Achebe began“I think I know
what’s happening sir”
The coach was glaring at him
now.
“Those Indians dey use juju. They’re using ma-magic.”
“Yes! Yes!” his teammates
echoed & nodded & murmured
amongst themselves.
“Shut up you fools!! Magic my
foot!!! There is no magic in football!”

Did this really happen?
i thought it was one of those stories.

Hahahahahaha... Op you are a clown... Abeg i don laff tire.... Waht da eff Haaahahaha

yes, it was probably juju, if this event really happened.

If anyone of you can find proof that this happened, that person's next internet bill is on me.

Mynd_44: If anyone of you can find proof that this happened, that person's next internet bill is on me.

dont worry we have the video

aminho: dont worry we have the video

Okay let's see it

The match is just a fiction it didn't really happen....bedtime stories for children if you ask me.