Many Nigerian fans still remember with glee that July 31, 1996 night, when Nigeria’s U-23 side overcame huge favourites Brazil, who paraded a star-studded side that had Ronaldo de Lima, Rivaldo, Bebeto, Roberto Carlos, Dida amongst others in the semi-finals of that year’s Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA.
In front of 78,587 fans at the Sanford Stadium, Athens, the Nigerians came from 3-1 down to win the tie 4-3 in extra time courtesy of captain Nwankwo Kanu’s Golden Goal.
Many of the fans also remember how Wilson Oruma’s pass from just after the halleway line to Victor Ikpeba erroneously landed on the back of the then Monaco forward’s back, rather than on his path.
Well, no problem. Kanu calmly collected the ball in front of the box, waltzed past his Brazilian marker before firing past Dida, in goal for the South Americans, to fire Nigeria to the final of the Olympics men’s football tournament for the first time ever.
Nigeria went on to beat Argentina 3-2 in the final to claim their first football gold at the global sports showpiece.
Twenty seven years after that triumph, a lot has happened to Oruma, one of the heroes of that historical triumph.
On Friday, a video clip showed the retired midfielder lying helpless on a bed in an unidentified hospital.
In the video, the Olympic gold medalist is on a drip and snoring on his sick bed, while receiving treatment via the urinary catheters.
His ex-teammates also didn’t know Oruma’s ailment or the hospital he is receiving treatment.
“I saw the video as well and I have been trying to find out what really happened to Wilson,” Dosu told Saturday PUNCH.
“Wilson Oruma? Not again,” another of his Atlanta teammate Sunday Oliseh said.
“Its unfortunate. I feel for him and I wish him speedy recovery.”
After a club career in Europe, where he played for the likes of french Ligue 1 sides Lens, Marseille, Sochaux, Guingamp, as well as a stint at Swiss side Servette, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup, Ligue 1 and French Cup, and earning pay to sustain himself and family after life away from football, Oruma’s calculation didn’t go according to plan after he retired from the game.
In 2016, in his bid to start up a new life after retiring from active football, Oruma was reportedly duped of N2bn by a Lagos while trying to invest in the oil and gas sector.
The retired midfielder, who captained the Golden Eaglets to a second triumph at the U-17 World Cup in Japan in 1993, was allegedly swindled by the pastor, who claimed to be in possession of some oil blocks for sale.
According to reports, Oruma invested his entire fortune into the business plan, before he realised he was defrauded.
Ever since, Oruma has been undergone trying times, and reportedly suffered emotional disorder for about two years.
At some point, reports claimed he was battling with insanity, but help came his way courtesy former President of the Nigerian Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, who paid his outstanding hospital bills at that time and relocated him to a better equipped one in his bid to rehabilitate the former Nigeria international.
Pinnick also offered him a role in the Flying Eagles in 2017 and was part of the Nigerian delegation to the 2018 U-20 World Cup.
Life on retirement has not been fair to many of the country’s retired footballers, despite amassing wealth during their playing time.
(Punch)