Nigerian football was thrown into
a sad state with the announcement of the
demise of a former national team
goalkeeper, Wilfred Agbonavbare who
died in Spain after a long battle with cancer.
He was aged 48.


Five important
things about him that may have not been
known or told

1. Wilfred Agbonavbare was part of the
first Nigerian team to qualify for an
international competition; the 1983 FIFA
U-20 World Cup.

2. He and wife died from the same cause,
Cancer; He was working as a delivery
boy and a goalkeeper coach before he
succumbed to the illness.

3. Agbonavbare was nicknamed ‘Flying
Cat’ for his diving prowess; he, however,
started fumbling towards the early kick-
off of the last decade and would later
recoined Wilfred ‘Agbonabasket’. As a
result, Peter Rufai became Nigeria’s first
at the 1994 Nations Cup.

4. He is the fourth member of the 1994
Nations Cup winning team to have
passed away

5. He was part of the Tunisia 1994 Nations
Cup winning team; the country finally
lifting the trophy after three successive
silver spells in 1984, 1988 and 1990.