Virtually everybody born before the invention of
the internet must have heard the tale of a
nonexistent football match between Nigeria and
India that obviously took place in a parallel
universe and somehow we got to hear the gory
stories of that match.
Though there are many variations of the story,
every prevaricator seems to agree on a couple of
facts about this fictional football match. Each
storyteller agrees that;

1. This match ended with India scoring 99 goals
and Nigeria scoring just one goal.

2. Nigerians where unable to kick the ball
because the football kept turning to a lion (or
something scary) to prevent them from
playing the soccer ball.

3. The Indians later agreed that if Nigeria
could score a goal, they would concede defeat

4. Samuel Okwaraji scored the winning goal
and lost his life in the process.

5. FIFA banned India from soccer because they
used black magic in that very game
With the help of common sense (not that it was
absent back then), quick access to information
and the internet, every right thinking Nigerian has
come to realize that such a story should be filled
under “Blatant Lies”.

Why Did This Story Thrive For So Long?
Most people like to pass off this story as true with
the fact that no one has ever seen India in an
International Football Match. Since no one
actually saw India participate in most
international soccer games, this gave a little
credence to the story. India
Another reason this lie could thrive for long was
the fact that credible information was not readily
available at our finger tips. It not like every
Emeka, Audu and Ojo could visit Google in a
matter of minutes and tell our ominous
fabricators that they should stop spreading toxic
lies.
And to be honest we have a tingling feeling that
this lie was concocted by an elder of a community
because, let’s be honest who questions the words
of the elders in Nigeria. Remember, what an adult
sees sitting down a child will never see even if he
consults Google, Siri or Cortana.

The Element of Truth In This Story
On the 12th of August 1989, Nigeria lost Sam
Okwaraji.
Sam Okwaraji was the player rumored to have
lost his life in that game when in truth he died
during a FIFA World Cup qualifying game against
Angola in the 77th minute.
He collapsed and died of cognitive heart failure.
May his soul rest in Perfect Peace. AMEN

So that is the only truthful thing about that story,
the fact that a Nigerian player died during a
football match. That’s it. The match was not
against India, we did not lose the match and as
you must have guessed, and there were no lions
either.

What Is The Deal With India Anyway?
India qualified for the 1950 FIFA world cup as a
result of the withdrawal of their scheduled
opponents. But the Indian football governing
body, the All India Football Federation (AIFF)
decided against going to the world cup, being
unable to understand the importance of the
event at that time.
Some of the Reasons shown by the AIFF included
the cost of travel, lack of practice time, team
selection issued and valuing the Olympics over
the FIFA World cup. It should be noted that FIFA
agreed to bear a major part of the travel
expenses, but it did not really help their decision
making.

Was India Banned For Refusing To Play
Barefoot?
No.
The 1948 London Olympics was India’s first major
international tournament, where a predominantly
barefoot Indian team lost 2 -1 to France.
Following the 1948 Olympics FIFA imposed a rule
banning barefoot play.
The belief that the Indian team refused to play
because they were not allowed to play barefoot is
not entirely true according to the then team
captain who said it was just a story to cover the
disastrous decision of the AFIF.
After the 1950 fiasco, India has never come close
to qualifying for the World Cup.
The reason you do not see India in World Cup
competitions is because they do not qualify

So Does The Indian Team Wear Soccer Boots?
Yes.
In the 1952 Olympics, the Indian team lost 10 – 1
to Yugoslavia (talking about taking a beating). As a
result of this magnanimous defeat the AIFF made
it compulsory for its team members to wear
boots

Is it Possible to win a match with a 99 – 1
match margin?
Yes.

It is absolutely possible to rake 99 – 1 from a
single football match. Let’s take a walk down
memory lane and see how this is even possible.
Now allow us to digress.
The highest scoring soccer game was 149-0!
You’re probably wondering how a soccer team
could be so bad that they let 149 goals be scored,
but the truth is it was a form of protest. The event
occurred in 2002 after a 2-2 draw between rival
teams Stade Olympique de L’emyrne, or SOE, and
AS Adema of Madagascar, which resulted in the
referees awarding a penalty causing SOE to lose
the game.
During a match fixing debacle in Nigeria, the
Feeders scored 72 of their 79-0 victory in 45
minutes of play. Police Machine scored 61 of their
67-0 victory in the second half. At one point, they
scored four goals in a minute.
Arbroath won Bon Accord 36 – 0 in 1885. It held
the largest margin of victory in professional
football where both sides wanted to win.
So, yes, given the “right circumstances”, a team
could actually receive 99 – 1 beating without any
black magic whatsoever.

hmmm