Daniel Amokachi


Daniel Owefin Amokachi is a Nigerian former professional footballer, and former assistant manager of the Nigeria national football team.
He has been a technical director since 2006. With World Cup performances, he was third in the African Footballer of the Year award three times. As a forward, he was known for his speed, technique and physical strength, which earnmed him the nicknames Black Bull and Black Train. Amokachi, who is also very popular and well known in his country, contributed to Nigeria's top two tournaments to the World Cup along with his attack partner Emmanuel Amunike. Amokachi scored the first goal of the UEFA Champions League with Club Brugge on 25 November 1992, beating CSKA Moscow 1–0.

Club career

Amokachi, nicknamed "The Bull", was discovered while playing for Ranchers Bees by Nigerian national team coach Clemens Westerhof, who brought the talented player to the 1990 African Nations Cup, and soon Amokachi moved to play for Club Brugge in Belgium. He competed in the new format of the Champions League, and became the first player to score in the competition, after his goal secured a 1–0 win in the opening match in the group stage against CSKA Moscow. Performing well in Belgium and at the 1994 World Cup, Everton became interested in Amokachi and their manager Mike Walker signed him for a fee of £3,000,000.
He went on to win the FA Cup with Everton in 1995, scoring two goals in the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur after 'substituting himself' into the match while Paul Rideout was receiving treatment. He appeared in the final only briefly, late on, again as a substitute but is remembered fondly for his beret-wearing celebrations afterwards.
He remained at Everton until the end of the 1995–96 season, when he was transferred to Beşiktaş of Turkey for a fee of £1.75million. He had failed to make the impact at Goodison Park that many fans had been hoping for, and had been unable to win a regular place in the first team, as Rideout and Duncan Ferguson were firmly established as Everton's two strikers at that stage. He did, however, stand in for Ferguson while he spent six weeks in prison during the autumn of 1995 for an offence committed in Scotland 18 months earlier.
After leaving Beşiktaş in 1999, his playing career more or less ended. He signed with 1860 Munich, but the contract was cancelled after he failed a medical test. In turn he was rejected by Tranmere Rovers for the same reason. Amokachi trained with French second division side US Créteil, but the deal was hampered by injuries. American MLS team Colorado Rapids signed him in 2002, but seeing he was not fit enough they released him before a single match was played. He went to play in the United Arab Emirates, but was denied again due to his medical condition.

International career

He played many international matches for Nigeria, and was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and 1998 FIFA World Cup and won the 1994 African Nations Cup. He also helped win the Olympic gold medal in 1996, scoring in the Gold Medal game itself against Argentina.
Amokachi sustained an injury just ahead of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, played one match at the tournament, but struggled with knee problems thereafter.

Managerial career

Amokachi managed Nigerian club Nasarawa United and later Enyimba Aba. In April 2007, he quit his role as assistant coach of the Nigeria national team. On 10 April 2008, Amokachi was re-appointed to Nigeria's national team, the Super Eagles, as assistant coach to Shuaibu Amodu, and then as assistant to Stephen Keshi.
In 2015, Amokachi managed Ifeanyi Ubah, resigning after five weeks in the post. In January 2016, he was named as manager of JS Hercules. 4th February 2020, Amokachi was named as Nigeria’s football ambassador by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari.

Career statistics

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentResultCompetitionScored
118 August 1990Lagos, Nigeria3–01992 African Cup of Nations qualifier1
227 April 1991Lagos, Nigeria3–01992 African Cup of Nations qualifier1
329 August 1992Lagos, Nigeria2–01994 African Cup of Nations qualifier1
413 July 1993Lagos, Nigeria4–11994 World Cup qualifier1
525 September 1993Lagos, Nigeria4–11994 World Cup qualifier1
621 June 1994Dallas, United States3–01994 World Cup1
730 June 1994Boston, United States2–01994 World Cup1
86 January 1995Riyadh, Saudi Arabia3–01995 Intercontinental Cup1
913 January 1995Riyadh, Saudi Arabia1–11995 Intercontinental Cup1
10, 119 November 1996Lagos, Nigeria2–01998 World Cup qualifier2
12, 135 April 1997Lagos, Nigeria2–11998 World Cup qualifier2

Honours

Everton
Beşiktaş
Nigeria
Individual
Amokachi is married to a Tunisian woman and has twin sons named Kalim and Nazim who are following their father's footsteps in becoming footballers. Both are currently in the Besiktas youth academy.