| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1973-09-25)25 September 1973 (age 52) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kaduna, Nigeria | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[1][2] | |||||||||||||
| Position | Winger | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Arewa Textiles | ||||||||||||||
| Niger Tornadoes | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1991–1996 | Roda JC | 78 | (26) | |||||||||||
| 1991–1993 | →VVV-Venlo (loan) | 34 | (19) | |||||||||||
| 1996–2003 | Ajax | 77 | (20) | |||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | →Gençlerbirliği (loan) | 12 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | →Vitesse (loan) | 14 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | →Ittihad (loan) | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Changchun Yatai | 29 | (8) | |||||||||||
| Total | 249 | (76) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–2004 | Nigeria | 36 | (5) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Tijani Babangida (pronunciationⓘ; born 25 September 1973) is a Nigerian former professionalfootballer who played as awinger. Known for his pace, his playing style was sometimes compared to that ofMarc Overmars.[3][1] Babangida spent the majority of his playing career atAjax. Overall, he played in five countries on three continents. At club level, Babangida spent nine years in the Netherlands, playing forRoda JC,VVV-Venlo, Ajax, andVitesse.[4] winning theEredivisie plusKNVB Cup double with the last side.
He played over 30 games for his national side, including four at the1998 World Cup in France. He participated in twoAfrica Cup of Nations tournaments and won the 1996 Olympics with Nigeria. Babangida made his international debut in 1994. He lost his place in the squad right before the2002 World Cup. After a two-year lay-off from international football, Babangida was recalled to the Nigeria team for the2004 African Cup of Nations preparations in Tunisia.
Babangida was born inKaduna, Nigeria. In 1991, at the age of 17, he left clubNiger Tornadoes to sign with DutchEredivisie sideRoda JC, after performing well at the1991 All-Africa Games.[5] He was loaned out to Roda's league rivalsVVV-Venlo until the end of the season.[6] Babangida made a total of six league appearances, scoring three times in the 1991–92 season.[7] Despite Venlo's relegation toEerste Divisie,[8] Babangida remained at the club for another year.
Babangida received his breakthrough in the 1992–93 season as he scored 16 goals, helping Venlo to achieve promotion to Eredivisie.[7][9] The following season, Babangida returned to Roda, immediately becoming a first-team regular with theKerkrade side. Babangida made a total of 29 league appearances for Roda that season, scoring 11 goals.[7]
Babangida spent two more seasons at Roda JC. Babangida's 10 league goals in 1995–96, made him the club's top scorer that season.[10] In 1995, Babangida made his European debut, scoring a goal in theUEFA Cup first-round win overOlimpija Ljubljana, Roda's first European campaign in five years. Roda went on to beat the Slovenian side 5–2 on aggregate, but lost toBenfica in the second round. Solid performances at both international and club level led to interest from Dutch side Ajax, asLouis van Gaal was looking to replace Babangida's compatriotFinidi George,[3] who had recently departed toReal Betis.
Babangida joined Ajax in the summer of 1996 in a long-anticipated €5 million move.[1] He appeared in 29 league games, scoring four goals in his first season with Ajax.[7] Babangida played an important role in Ajax's European campaign, scoring three goals, including one againstAuxerre in the group stages,[11] and the winning goal in the second leg of theUEFA Champions League encounter withAtlético Madrid at theVicente Calderón Stadium, that put Ajax through to the semi-finals of the competition.[12]
Babangida had a successful second season with the club as he helped Ajax to another Eredivisie title with a 39-point gap overPSV Eindhoven, while his 13 league goals in 26 games made him the club's third top scorer, behindShota Arveladze andJari Litmanen.[13] Ajax clinched the second title of the season with a 5–0 victory overPSV in theKNVB Cup final, with the Nigerian scoring the first goal.[1]
Babangida's fortunes started to change towards the end of 1998. Having missed the start of the season with malaria,[14] Babangida gradually lost his starting line-up position asMorten Olsen was looking to improve on the team's inconsistent performances both in the domestic league and in Europe. Babangida started two of his team's openingChampions League games.[1] The European season, however, ended in disappointment as Ajax finished bottom of their group behindOlympiacos,Dinamo Zagreb andPorto.[15] Overall, Babangida appeared in 18 league games for Ajax that season, starting only seven.[1] He didn't feature in theDutch Cup final where Ajax managed to retain the trophy after beatingFortuna Sittard in the final.[1]
Babangida saw even less playing time after the 1999 season, as he made a mere eight appearances the following year and didn't play a single game in the first half of the2000–01 season.[7] In an attempt to offload the player, Ajax came to an agreement with the TurkishSüper Lig sideGençlerbirliği, who signed Babangida on a half-year loan deal until the end of the season.[16]
The spell in Turkey, however, proved to be an unhappy time for Babangida and theAnkara side chose no to pursue their interest in the player once the loan deal expired.[17] Looking for a move away from Netherlands, Babangida came close to signing withAJ Auxerre, but received a last-minute call fromRonald Koeman and agreed to join him atVitesse instead.[16] Another loan move followed. First team player under Koeman, Babangida subsequently lost his place in the starting line-up,[18] when Ronald Koeman left for Ajax and was replaced byEdward Sturing.[19]
Babangida signed withIttihad of Saudi Arabia in September 2002, joiningBebeto andTiti Camara, but walked out of the team in November after disagreements withJosé Oscar Bernardi.[20][21][22] Looking to resolve the deadlock with Ajax, Babangida returned to Amsterdam to continue negotiating a termination of his contract with the club.[23] On 30 April 2003, three years since Babangida played his last game for the club, it was announced that both sides had come to an agreement and the player's contract was finally terminated.[24]
As afree agent, Babangida underwent a successful trial at Chinese sideTianjin TEDA in the summer of 2003.[25] The move, however, was put off due to the outbreak ofSARS in China,[26] and Babangida signed with the second-tier sideChangchun Yatai shortly after.[27] His four goals in the second part of the season helped his team to theJia B title and earned him a recall to the national team for their preparations for the2004 African Cup of Nations.[28] Babangida scored four more goals for Yatai the following season before retiring in 2004.[29]
Babangida received his first call-up to the seniorNigeria national team for a pre-World Cup friendly againstRomania in 1994. He then played in a friendly againstGeorgia, but did not make the final squad for1994 World Cup.[1]
Babangida's international chances were partly limited due to the fact that he often found himself behindFinidi George in the pecking order.[1] He played an important role in his team'sOlympic triumph inAtlanta in 1996,[30] as Nigeria overcame tough resistance fromBrazil andArgentina, packed with the likes ofDida,Roberto Carlos,Bebeto,Ronaldo,Rivaldo,Hernán Crespo,Claudio López,Ariel Ortega andDiego Simeone among others.[31][32][33] Babangida took part in Nigeria's1998 World Cup campaign, playing a total of 120 minutes as he started one game and came on as a sub in the other three. He scored his team's only goal in the second-round defeat toDenmark.[34] In January 2001, Babangida appeared in anexhibition game at theYokohama International Stadium (known as the Nissan Stadium nowadays), playing for FIFA XI in a game against the unified team ofJapan andSouth Korea.[35]
Babangida only made hisAfrican Nations Cup debut in 2000 as Nigeria withdrew from the1996 edition inSouth Africa due to political reasons and missed out on1998 African Cup of Nations through disqualification.[36][37] Babangida scored two spectacular goals againstSouth Africa to put Nigeria through to the final againstCameroon, where they drew 2–2, before being narrowly defeated 3–4 on penalties.[38][39] He appeared in all of his team's five games, starting two.[37]
He then featured in Nigeria's run to the2002 World Cup finals, scoring two important first-half goals againstGhana on the final day of the2002 World Cup qualification, helping Nigeria seal the final African region World Cup berth.[40] Babangida played in all of his team's games at the2002 Nations Cup, but was dropped ahead of the World Cup, alongside several other experienced players likeSunday Oliseh andFinidi George.[41] He was recalled to the national team for the pre-Nations Cup training camp inFaro, Portugal in 2004, but did not make the final squad, making the 2002 Cup of Nations his last major international tournament.[42]
Babangida, sometimes nicknamed "TJ",[17] was born into a large family in the city ofKaduna in 1973. He was married to Rabah (now his ex), the sister ofDaniel Amokachi's wife.[1] Two of his nine brothers,Ibrahim andHaruna are also footballers.[43] The former spent five years atVolendam, while the latter became the youngest ever player in the history of Spanish football to have a buy-out clause in his contract and the second youngest player to appear forFC Barcelona, when he made his debut in 1998 as a fifteen-year-old.[43][44][45]
In 1997 Babangida acted in a commercial ad for ABN-AMRO in which he points out his hesitations about a contract of some sort. In 2004, Babangida signed a $2 million contract to bring new footballs to Nigeria.[46] The same year, he opened a shopping mall in Kaduna.[46] Upon retiring from professional football, Babangida has been working as afootball agent.[47]
In May 2024, Babangida survived a traffic collision inZaria that killed his one-year old son and younger brother Ibrahim. His wife,Kannywood actress Maryam Waziri, was critically injured.[48][49]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Roda JC | 1993–94 | Eredivisie | 29 | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 11 | ||
| 1994–95 | Eredivisie | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 5 | |||
| 1995–96 | Eredivisie | 29 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 36 | 11 | ||
| Total | 78 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 86 | 27 | |||
| Ajax | 1996–97 | Eredivisie | 25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 1[a] | 0 | 36 | 7 |
| 1997–98 | Eredivisie | 26 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | 33 | 15 | ||
| 1998–99 | Eredivisie | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | |
| 1999–2000 | Eredivisie | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | |
| Total | 77 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 102 | 25 | ||
| Gençlerbirliği (loan) | 2000–01 | 1.Lig | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 15 | 3 | ||
| Vitesse (loan) | 2001–02 | Eredivisie | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 181 | 49 | 14 | 2 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 219 | 56 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 1994 | 2 | 0 |
| 1995 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 36 | 5 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 June 1998 | Stade de France,Saint-Denis, France |  Denmark | 1–4 | 1–4 | 1998 World Cup |
| 2 | 10 February 2000 | National Stadium,Lagos, Nigeria |  South Africa | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2000 African Cup of Nations |
| 3 | 2–0 | |||||
| 4 | 29 July 2001 | Liberation Stadium,Port Harcourt, Nigeria |  Ghana | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2002 World Cup qualifier |
| 5 | 3–0 |
Nigeria squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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