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| Thompson Oliha |
The Nigeria Football Federation has expressed deep shock and sorrow at
news of the death of former Super Eagles’ midfield ace, Thompson
Oliha.
Oliha, 44, died in a private hospital in Ilorin, Kwara State capital
on Sunday morning, after complaining of malaria. He was said to have
been on the bench while Kwara Football Academy, where he worked as a
coach, played a Malian team on
Saturday.
General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Barrister Musa
Amadu, lamented the player’s sudden demise on Sunday.
“This is a tragedy of huge proportions. Oliha was one of the best
midfielders to have played for Nigeria. His comments and analyses on
Nigeria football over the years have been quite informed and useful.
“The Nigeria Football Federation and the entire Nigeria football
family mourn Oliha’s passing. He was certainly one of the nation’s
greats and acquitted himself brilliantly in the national colours. Now,
we have lost another member of the Golden Generation, following the
deaths of Uche Okafor and Rashidi Yekini.”
Thompson Oliha featured for a couple of the country’s leading clubs in
his days, such as Iwuanyanwu Nationale FC and Bendel Insurance FC,
before joining up with Africa Sports of Cote d’Ivoire, after which he
featured for Ironi Ashdod FC in Israel and later Antalyaspor FC in
Turkey.
He first played for the senior national team in a 1988 Olympic Games
qualifying match against Algeria in Annaba in January 1988, and then
became a fixture in the team at the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations finals
in Algeria.
He was a member of the renown Golden Generation, which qualified
Nigeria for her first-ever FIFA World Cup finals, won the Africa Cup
of Nations for Nigeria in Tunisia in 1994 and then reached the Round
of 16 at the FIFA World Cup finals in USA the same year.
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