Sunday Oliseh Biography and Net Worth

Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh popularly known as Sunday Oliseh is a famous Nigerian football player, investor, entrepreneur and a philanthropist. He has been described as a legend in the game of football and one of the greatest and most skillful football players of all time and also one of the most successful footballers in Africa. He is currently married with beautiful kids and was the former head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Sunday Oliseh was born on 14th September 1974 in Abavo, a small town in Delta State in the south southern part of Nigeria. He is currently 43 years old. He played as a defensive midfielder for the Super Eagles of Nigeria until his retirement from active football in 2006. He was the former manager of the Nigerian national team (Super Eagles) until he resigned his appointment after several battles with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in 2016.

Sunday Oliseh played for world-famous clubs such as AFC Ajax, Dortmund and Juventus F.C before retiring from playing international football. He has physical ability and was a technically gifted defensive midfielder. He was one of the most gifted and most skillful playmaker in the Nigerian Super Eagles national team during his time on the pitch.

Sunday Oliseh has played over 63 international matches and scored over three goals in Nigeria. He played at the FIFA World Cup in 1994 and 1998 respectively. In 1996, Sunday Oliseh participated in the Olympic Gold Medal winning team. In 1998, Sunday Oliseh was voted as the Africa’s 3rd Best Footballer by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

He is mostly remembered for scoring the winning goal in the group stage match against Spain in the 1998 World Cup, as Nigeria defeated Spain with a 3–2 victory. A throw-in deep in the Spanish half was headed clear by Fernando Hierro, while Sunday Oliseh ran and fired an explosive shot from 25 yards and took Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta completely by surprise.

In 2002, Sunday Oliseh was omitted from his country’s World Cup squad later that year for disciplinary reasons despite captaining Nigeria Super Eagles during the 2002 African Cup of Nations. After missing out on World Cup selection, Sunday Oliseh retired from international football in June 2002. After resigning, he demanded for his unpaid allowances and dues owed to be paid.

In March 2004, Sunday Oliseh was sacked by the management of Borussia Dortmund (his club) after head butting his fellow teammate Vahid Hashemian while on loan at VfL Bochum over racial statements and remarks. 

In January 2006, at the age of 31 years old, Sunday Oliseh retired from international and professional football after playing a half season for Belgian club K.R.C Genk. In 2008, Sunday Oliseh started his coaching career in Belgium with youth teams in the Belgian 3rd Division Verviers, notably the under 19 team. He was later promoted to the rank of chief coach in 2009.

During the 2014–2015 seasons, Sunday Oliseh was appointed as the Chief Coach and Club Manager of RCS VISE Belgium 3rd Division. In 2015–2016 seasons, Sunday Oliseh was appointed by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) as the Chief Coach of the Nigerian National Team (Super Eagles) where he made an impressive statistic of 14 Games, with only 2 losses, 19 Goals scored and 6 conceded.

Sunday Oliseh managerial skills qualified Nigeria to the CHAN tournament in Rwanda. His managerial skills also qualified Nigeria to the group phase of the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers and on his first game as Chief Coach of Nigerian Super Eagles in an AFCON qualifier match, he managed a draw in Tanzania.

Unfortunately, on 26th February 2016, Sunday Oliseh resigned as Super Eagles of Nigeria head coach, after the Super Eagles of Nigeria were brutally defeated by Egypt in the AFCON qualifying match. Sunday Oliseh lasted only 8 months as Super Eagles head coach before resigning due to contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages and benefits to his players by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

On 27th December 2016, it was announced that Sunday Oliseh had been appointed as the new manager of Fortuna Sittard. Unfortunately, he was fired on 14th February 2018. During an interview with the media, he claimed that the reason he was fired was because he refused to participate in illegal activities at the club.

Sunday Oliseh has younger brothers named Azubuike and Egutu, who are both international professional footballers. He also has another brother who is not a footballer named Churchill Oliseh and a nephew named Sekou Oliseh. Sunday Oliseh in the cause of his career as an international footballer has won several awards and honors. In 1996, he won the Olympic Gold Medal.

Sunday Oliseh is currently one of the richest and most influential football player in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $15 million.

Austine Ikeru
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