Daniel Amokachi

Daniel Amokachi

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Owefin Amokachi
Date of birth	(1972-12-30) 30 December 1972
Place of birth	Kaduna, Nigeria
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1990	Ranchers Bees	?	(?)
1990–1994	Club Brugge	81	(35)
1994–1996	Everton	43	(10)
1996–1999	Beşiktaş	77	(19)
2002	Colorado Rapids	0	(0)
2005	Nasarawa United	?	(?)
International career
1990–1999	Nigeria	44	(13)
Managerial career
2006	Nasarawa United
2007	Nigeria (Assistant coach)
2008	Enyimba
2008–2014	Nigeria (Assistant Coach)
2014–2015	Nigeria (Interim)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Daniel Owefin Amokachi (born 30 December 1972 in Kaduna) is a Nigerian former professional footballer of Idoma descent and former assistant manager of the Nigeria national football team.

As a player he was a striker from 1989 until 2005, starting his career with Ranchers Bees before earning notability by playing outside his native country with Premier League side Everton, as well as Club Brugge and Beşiktaş before initially finishing his career in the United States with Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids. He returned to Nigeria in 2005 to briefly play for Nasarawa United, who he went on to manage before moving on to Enyimba. He is now in his second spell as assistant manager of Nigeria.

Playing career

Amokachi, nicknamed "The Bull" was discovered while playing for Ranchers Bee 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 ($4,700,000).

He went on to win the FA Cup with Everton in 1995, famously infuriating manager Joe Royle by bringing himself on as a substitute then proceeding to score two goals in the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur. He appeared in the final only briefly, late on, as a substitute but is remembered fondly for his beret wearing celebrations.

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 Paul Rideout and Duncan Ferguson were firmly established as Everton's two strikers at this 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.

International

Olympic medal record
Representing Nigeria
Men's Football
	1996 Atlanta	Team Competition

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 game, but struggled with knee problems thereafter. 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 as 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.

Managerial career

Amokachi managed Nigerian club Nasarawa United F.C. 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, also being assistant manager to Stephen Keshi.

Statistics

Club performance			League
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals
Belgium			League
1990/91	Brugge	First Division	3	0
1991/92			26	12
1992/93			23	9
1993/94			28	14
1994/95			1	0
England			League
1994/95	Everton	Premier League	18	4
1995/96			25	6
Turkey			League
1996/97	Beşiktaş	First League	30	7
1997/98			27	8
1998/99			20	4
Country	Belgium		81	35
	England		43	10
	Turkey		77	19
Total			201	64

Nigeria national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1990	7	1
1991	4	1
1992	1	1
1993	4	2
1994	12	2
1995	5	2
1996	1	2
1997	5	2
1998	4	0
1999	1	0
Total	44	13

International goals

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Scored
1	18 August 1990	Lagos, Nigeria	Togo	3-0	1992 African Cup of Nations qualifier	1
2	27 April 1991	Lagos, Nigeria	Benin	3-0	1992 African Cup of Nations qualifier	1
3	29 August 1992	Lagos, Nigeria	Uganda	2-0	1994 African Cup of Nations qualifier	1
4	13 July 1993	Lagos, Nigeria	Algeria	4-1	1994 World Cup qualifier	1
5	25 September 1993	Lagos, Nigeria	Ivory Coast	4-1	1994 World Cup qualifier	1
6	21 June 1994	Dallas, United States	Bulgaria	3-0	1994 World Cup	1
7	30 June 1994	Boston, United States	Greece	2-0	1994 World Cup	1
8	6 January 1995	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Japan	3-0	1995 Intercontinental Cup	1
9	13 January 1995	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Mexico	1-1	1995 Intercontinental Cup	1
10, 11	9 November 1997	Lagos, Nigeria	Burkina Faso	2-0	1998 World Cup qualifier	2
12, 13	5 April 1997	Lagos, Nigeria	Guinea	2-1	1998 World Cup qualifier	2