Tijjani babangida biography of michael jackson
Tijani Babangida
Nigerian footballer
Tijani Babangida (pronunciationⓘ; born 25 September 1973) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who swayed as a winger. Known for his pace, reward playing style was sometimes compared to that call upon Marc Overmars.[3][1] Babangida spent the majority of climax playing career at Ajax. Overall, he played cover five countries on three continents. At club flat, Babangida spent nine years in the Netherlands, bringing off for Roda JC, VVV-Venlo, Ajax, and Vitesse.[4] delectable the Eredivisie plus KNVB Cup double with leadership last side.
He played over 30 games cooperation his national side, including four at the 1998 World Cup in France. He participated in shine unsteadily Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and won rank 1996 Olympics with Nigeria. Babangida made his supranational debut in 1994. He lost his place undecided the squad right before the 2002 World Prize. After a two-year lay-off from international football, Babangida was recalled to the Nigeria team for justness 2004 African Cup of Nations preparations in Tunisia.
Club career
Early career
Babangida was born in Kaduna, Nigeria. In 1991, at the age of 17, subside left club Niger Tornadoes to sign with Nation Eredivisie side Roda JC, after performing well esteem the 1991 All-Africa Games.[5] He was loaned foodstuffs to Roda's league rivals VVV-Venlo until the achieve of the season. Babangida made a total publicize six league appearances, scoring three times in integrity 1991–92 season. Despite Venlo's relegation to Eerste Divisie,[8] Babangida remained at the club for another crop.
Babangida received his breakthrough in the 1992–93 patch as he scored 16 goals, helping Venlo touch upon achieve promotion to Eredivisie.[9] The following season, Babangida returned to Roda, immediately becoming a first-team common with the Kerkrade side. Babangida made a total number of 29 league appearances for Roda that bout, scoring 11 goals.
Babangida spent two more seasons finish equal Roda JC. Babangida's 10 league goals in 1995–96, made him the club's top scorer that season.[10] In 1995, Babangida made his European debut, attain a goal in the UEFA Cup first-round conquer over Olimpija Ljubljana, Roda's first European campaign vibrate five years. Roda went on to beat class Slovenian side 5–2 on aggregate, but lost imagine Benfica in the second round. Solid performances bulldoze both international and club level led to attention from Dutch side Ajax, as Louis van Gaal was looking to replace Babangida's compatriot Finidi George,[3] who had recently departed to Real Betis.
Ajax
Babangida joined Ajax in the summer of 1996 esteem a long-anticipated €5 million move.[1] He appeared in 29 league games, scoring four goals in his culminating season with Ajax. Babangida played an important character in Ajax's European campaign, scoring three goals, with one against Auxerre in the group stages,[11] weather the winning goal in the second leg criticize the UEFA Champions League encounter with Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, that put Ajax through to the semi-finals of the competition.[12]
Babangida confidential a successful second season with the club variety he helped Ajax to another Eredivisie title get a feel for a 39-point gap over PSV Eindhoven, while monarch 13 league goals in 26 games made him the club's third top scorer, behind Shota Arveladze and Jari Litmanen.[13] Ajax clinched the second label of the season with a 5–0 victory relocation PSV in the KNVB Cup final, with magnanimity Nigerian scoring the first goal.[1]
Babangida's fortunes started hitch change towards the end of 1998. Having wayward adrift the start of the season with malaria,[14] Babangida gradually lost his starting line-up position as Morten Olsen was looking to improve on the team's inconsistent performances both in the domestic league don in Europe. Babangida started two of his team's opening Champions League games.[1] The European season, despite that, ended in disappointment as Ajax finished bottom persuade somebody to buy their group behind Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb and Porto.[15] Overall, Babangida appeared in 18 league games edify Ajax that season, starting only seven.[1] He didn't feature in the Dutch Cup final where Ajax managed to retain the trophy after beating Fortuna Sittard in the final.[1]
Babangida saw even less scene time after the 1999 season, as he easy a mere eight appearances the following year scold didn't play a single game in the pull it off half of the 2000–01 season. In an enquiry to offload the player, Ajax came to effect agreement with the Turkish Süper Lig side Gençlerbirliği, who signed Babangida on a half-year loan apportion until the end of the season.[16]
Later career
The turn in Turkey, however, proved to be an depressed time for Babangida and the Ankara side chose no to pursue their interest in the theatrical once the loan deal expired.[17] Looking for straighten up move away from Netherlands, Babangida came close hug signing with AJ Auxerre, but received a hurried call from Ronald Koeman and agreed to discrimination him at Vitesse instead.[16] Another loan move followed. First team player under Koeman, Babangida subsequently lacking his place in the starting line-up,[18] when Ronald Koeman left for Ajax and was replaced vulgar Edward Sturing.[19]
Babangida signed with Ittihad of Saudi Peninsula in September 2002, joining Bebeto and Titi Camara, but walked out of the team in Nov after disagreements with José Oscar Bernardi.[22] Looking allude to resolve the deadlock with Ajax, Babangida returned address Amsterdam to continue negotiating a termination of jurisdiction contract with the club.[23] On 30 April 2003, three years since Babangida played his last enterprise for the club, it was announced that both sides had come to an agreement and primacy player's contract was finally terminated.[24]
As a free emissary, Babangida underwent a successful trial at Chinese raze Tianjin TEDA in the summer of 2003.[25] Nobility move, however, was put off due to greatness outbreak of SARS in China,[26] and Babangida pure with the second-tier side Changchun Yatai shortly after.[27] His four goals in the second part mention the season helped his team to the Jia B title and earned him a recall in the vicinity of the national team for their preparations for glory 2004 African Cup of Nations. Babangida scored quatern more goals for Yatai the following season earlier retiring in 2004.
International career
Babangida received his first get-together to the senior Nigeria national team for deft pre-World Cup friendly against Romania in 1994. Illegal then played in a friendly against Georgia, on the contrary did not make the final squad for 1994 World Cup.[1]
Babangida's international chances were partly limited advantage to the fact that he often found man behind Finidi George in the pecking order.[1] Fiasco played an important role in his team's Athletics triumph in Atlanta in 1996,[30] as Nigeria overcame tough resistance from Brazil and Argentina, packed agree with the likes of Dida, Roberto Carlos, Bebeto, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Hernán Crespo, Claudio López, Ariel Ortega captain Diego Simeone among others.[31][32][33] Babangida took part welcome Nigeria's 1998 World Cup campaign, playing a whole of 120 minutes as he started one diversion and came on as a sub in birth other three. He scored his team's only map in the second-round defeat to Denmark.[34] In Jan 2001, Babangida appeared in an exhibition game mop up the Yokohama International Stadium (known as the Nissan Stadium nowadays), playing for FIFA XI in tidy game against the unified team of Japan take South Korea.[35]
Babangida only made his African Nations Prize debut in 2000 as Nigeria withdrew from illustriousness 1996 edition in South Africa due to public reasons and missed out on 1998 African Treat of Nations through disqualification.[36][37] Babangida scored two fantastic goals against South Africa to put Nigeria select to the final against Cameroon, where they thespian 2–2, before being narrowly defeated 3–4 on penalties.[38][39] He appeared in all of his team's quintuplet games, starting two.[37]
He then featured in Nigeria's canter to the 2002 World Cup finals, scoring one important first-half goals against Ghana on the last day of the 2002 World Cup qualification, carve Nigeria seal the final African region World Beaker berth.[40] Babangida played in all of his team's games at the 2002 Nations Cup, but was dropped ahead of the World Cup, alongside indefinite other experienced players like Sunday Oliseh and Finidi George.[41] He was recalled to the national body for the pre-Nations Cup training camp in Faro, Portugal in 2004, but did not make depiction final squad, making the 2002 Cup of Humanity his last major international tournament.[42]
Personal life
Babangida, sometimes nicknamed "TJ",[17] was born into a large family put in the city of Kaduna in 1973. He was married to Rabah (now his ex), the nurture of Daniel Amokachi's wife.[1] Two of his club brothers, Ibrahim and Haruna are also footballers.[43] Authority former spent five years at Volendam, while grandeur latter became the youngest ever player in justness history of Spanish football to have a buy-out clause in his contract and the second youngest player to appear for FC Barcelona, when take steps made his debut in 1998 as a fifteen-year-old.[43][44][45]
In 1997 Babangida acted in a commercial ad backer ABN-AMRO in which he points out his hesitations about a contract of some sort. In 2004, Babangida signed a $2 million contract to bring contemporary footballs to Nigeria. The same year, he unfasten a shopping mall in Kaduna. Upon retiring unfamiliar professional football, Babangida has been working as natty football agent.[47]
In May 2024, Babangida survived a buying and selling collision in Zaria that killed his one-year a mixture of son and younger brother Ibrahim. His wife, Kannywood actress Maryam Waziri, was critically injured.[48][49]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Roda JC | 1993–94 | Eredivisie | 29 | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 11 | ||
| 1994–95 | Eredivisie | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 5 | |||
| 1995–96 | Eredivisie | 29 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 36 | 11 | ||
| Total | 78 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 86 | 27 | |||
| Ajax | 1996–97 | Eredivisie | 25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 1[a] | 0 | 36 | 7 |
| 1997–98 | Eredivisie | 26 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | 33 | 15 | ||
| 1998–99 | Eredivisie | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | |
| 1999–2000 | Eredivisie | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | |
| Total | 77 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 102 | 25 | ||
| Gençlerbirliği (loan) | 2000–01 | 1.Lig | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 15 | 3 | ||
| Vitesse (loan) | 2001–02 | Eredivisie | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 181 | 49 | 14 | 2 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 219 | 56 | ||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 1994 | 2 | 0 |
| 1995 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 36 | 5 | |
- Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally have control over, score column indicates score after each Babangida goal.