Former Nigerian international Mutiu Adepoju who appeared in three World Cups and as many Africa Cup of Nations has revealed why his nicknames centered around his ‘unbreakable’ head.
Mutiu who started his footballing journey from a tender age played for CRIN FC where his dad was an employee at the time. He later starred for Femo Scorpion FC and joined 3SC when Femo was disbanded.
The inspiring midfielder left Nigeria in 1989 to join Real Madrid where he teamed up with fellow countrymen like Chris Ohenhen and Dimeji Lawal.
The 1992–93 season was impressive as he scored 11 Segunda División goals to help Racing de Santander return to La Liga, and he continued to feature regularly for the Cantabrians the next three years.
We have heard of different nicknames in football such as ‘Dodomayana’, ‘Thunder’, ‘Hammer’, ‘The Baby-Faced Assassin’, Chicarito and so on.
While chatting with Family United By Football FUBF, a renowned Soccer Platform, Adepoju, a former junior and senior international who had 48 caps informed how he was named a coconut head before his new found and lasting nickname ‘Headmaster’.
“Scoring with my head is one of the selling points of my career. I have scored so many goals via the head and some people have analysed that l probably scored more goals with head than the leg, well l can’t really say.
“This didn’t just come, it started when I was very small and I noticed the ability and talents, l nurtured it and perfect it and it worked for me.
“When l was in primary school my team mates called me coconut head. I used to take advantage of it as well in any competitive game and worked harder,” he told FUBF.
Adepoju who later played in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Cyprus before calling time on his football career was later nicknamed the ‘headmaster’ by a renowned sport editor Mumeni Alao.
