Victor Ikpeba, former Super Eagles
forward and 1997 African Footballer of The Year, tells’TANA AIYEJINA in
his palatial home in Ikeja, Lagos, spoke about his childhood, European sojourn and
his stint with the national teams. Ikpeba, who lost his wife, Atinuke, in 2000,
also opens the lid on his plans for a future partner
How did you start playing football?
I was born in Benin City, though my
father is an Isoko man in present day Delta State. I grew up with my dad’s
mother, who is from Benin City, in Sapele. I was not up to two years when I
started staying with her. My mother is actually Yoruba, but not many people
know this. I am the first of three boys. I lost my dad when I was very young,
so whenever I was on holidays, I visited my uncle, an Air Force officer, in
Benin City, meaning my childhood was spent in Benin and Sapele. Between age
four and five, I was already playing rubber balls in the neigbourhood with my
friends. Out there then, you had over 20 people staying in one compound.
Sport was in me and I am sure I took after my dad because I saw a lot of his
pictures as a footballer. I come from a military background, though I wouldn’t
say I am from a rich family. But my early childhood was sports and education; I
was involved in school sports. I attended Crowder Primary School and Okpe
Grammar School in Sapele before I came to stay with my uncle in Lagos and then
got admission into Yaba College of Technology. Actually, it was not easy. I
used the opportunity to play for Eko Holiday Inn, then they were in the LAFA
League and Golden Eaglets before moving ahead. It was difficult for my uncle to
accept me playing football because he was afraid if I got injured, it will be
all over; he felt that I might not be 100 per cent fit in doing whatever I
wanted to do in life. There was really no money in football then. Our heroes
who played the game in the 70s and 80s for Nigeria didn’t make money. They only
had the passion for the game. I think that passion for the game drove me on.
How did you receive the news when
coach Sebastine Brodericks-Imasuen invited you to the Golden Eaglets?
When I was invited to the Eaglets in
1988, I told myself there was no going back. I believed in my qualities and I
did well to be selected for the final squad for the U-17 World Cup in Scotland
out of hundreds of young kids. And it did change my life. We had a decent
tournament and when the door opened to go abroad came, I felt my life was going
to change and it did change.
What was your initial experience in
Belgium?
I was privileged and lucky to have
gone to a club like Liege, they had a fantastic structure. Not all clubs adopt
that set-up; it was one of the oldest clubs in Belgium. Liege manager Robert
Waseige knew that I was talented but he equally knew that it was not going to
be easy for a 16-year-old to stay alone in a hotel; you would not be able to
concentrate on what you were brought in for. So they took me to a Belgian
family, whom I stayed with for two years to learn their language and life. My
eating habits changed and I couldn’t eat my favourite pounded yam anymore. I
always said Belgium was going to be a stepping stone for me and I really worked
hard. They say when you are in Rome, you behave like a Roman. So I adapted to
the culture. I was the only black player they had then but the old players
accepted and helped me. The two years were helpful and I had to give credit to
the family who helped me out. We still kept in touch when I played in other
European countries. I think our young players have to learn from this. It was a
good step for me and it was not surprising that after years there, I moved on
to Monaco.
At such a young age, how were you
able to manage the fame and money at the time?
I was never crazy about being famous.
People asked, ‘how is he (Ikpeba) going to cope playing for a big club like
Monaco?’ But I had my wife with me, we married very early and it was good as I
had stability at home. That really helped me because if I was alone, it would
have been a little bit difficult. I would probably have done things people
didn’t expect from me. For that I am always very grateful to her. We were
always together. I was popular but having a woman at home made me put my feet
on the ground and I did my job.
You had an automatic promotion from
the Eaglets to the Super Eagles. How did you make it?
After I played for the Eaglets in
1989, I couldn’t play for the Flying Eagles in 1991 because Nigeria had issues
with FIFA over age discrepancies of some players. But (Clemens)Westerhof and
Bonfrere Jo monitored me and I was invited to the national team in 1991, just
two years after I played for the U-17. I was part of the team to Senegal
92 and I played just one game, the third-place match against Cameroon and we
won. It was a learning curve for me. That was the beginning of my senior
national team career. It’s one of those moments of my life I will never forget.
After making your debut in 1992, you
were tipped as one of the stars to shine at the 1994 Nations Cup and World Cup,
but you ended up playing fringe roles for the team. What happened?
There were a lot of problems that I
don’t really want to dwell on anymore because I am a forward looking person. At
a point, I couldn’t see eye-to-eye with Westerhof but I still give him the
respect he deserves because he gave me my chance in the national team. I saw
him sometime back and I greeted him and we exchanged pleasantries. People say I
am stubborn but I don’t think I am. I have a strong character though. That’s
life for you. Honestly, everybody in the 1994 squad was good. That you couldn’t
take away.
Did you witness anything like a mafia
or cabal in the Eagles, as alleged by some other players of your generation?
I wouldn’t really call it the mafia.
It was a hierarchy thing. I didn’t have any problem with that because I was in
the team to learn and benefit from the experience of the older players. In as
much as we need young players in a team, we must realise that experience
counts.
Would you say the good preparation
embarked upon by the Atlanta 1996 U-23 team helped in winning the football gold
medal at that year’s Olympics?
Preparation? It was nothing to write
home about. They said there was no money. At a point, the players used their
credit cards to hire some buses in Tallahassee to take us to training and back
to the hotel. I was a driver of one of the buses. It got so bad that the hotel
staff refused to launder our jerseys. They wanted it to get dry before they
would wash it because of stories of AIDS. I think because we lost 5-1 to Togo
while preparing for the Olympics, nobody gave us a chance but we had
self-belief. We didn’t know if we would win the football gold medal though, but
our target was the semi-final, where probably, we could win the bronze medal.
Can you give us a summary of the
team’s performance on the way to claiming the historic gold, the first by an
African team?
All everybody remembers now is the
gold medal feat achieved in Atlanta but nobody talks about the final qualifiers
against Egypt. The Egyptians needed just a goal at home to scale through after
they lost 3-2 in Nigeria in the first leg. So a lot of new players including me
were brought in to fortify the squad. We held them to a 1-1 draw in Cairo to
progress. It was a very tough game. If we lost that game, we wouldn’t have
qualified. At the Olympics proper, we beat Hungary and Japan but lost to Brazil
in the group stage. However, when we defeated Mexico in the quarter-finals, I
knew we could go all the way because we out-classed them. Against Brazil in the
semi-final, you couldn’t have written us off because we had quality players
like Emmanuel Amuneke, Daniel Amokachi, Taribo West, Uche Okechukwu, Celestine
Babayaro, myself, Nwankwo Kanu, Austin Okocha and several others. Even if
Brazil had the likes of Bebeto and Ronaldo, you couldn’t write us off. Our
players were also playing in the big European leagues. When we were 3-1
down, you would have felt it was over but that is the beauty of football. I got
the second goal and then had a hand in the third. The ball hit me on the back
in front of goal and fell onto Kanu’s path and he made no mistake. We went on to
win through Kanu’s Golden Goal. It’s a moment I will never forget. I was a
regular in the team before the introduction of three over-aged players;
Amokachi, Amuneke and Okechukwu in the team for the Olympics. At Atlanta, I
always came on for Amuneke. After my performance against Brazil, Bonfrere Jo
decided to start me against Argentina in the final. They paraded a great squad
that had the likes of Hernan Crespo and Ariel Ortega. We came back from behind
again to win 3-2, with Amuneke, who replaced me, scoring the winning goal. It
was a euphoric moment.
Despite not playing regularly for the
Eagles, you won the 1997 African Footballer of the Year award. How did you
manage to do it?
I had a very good season at Monaco,
scoring a lot of goals and helping them win the Ligue One title that year. It
was an amazing performance from me throughout that season and even beyond. We
had great players like Jurgen Klinsmann, David Trezeguet and Emmanuel Petit. It
spurred me on and eventually, it was a vindication for me.
During the final of the 2000 Africa
Cup of Nations in Lagos, you scored a penalty in the final against Cameroon
that was ruled out by the ref. Some people feel your negative reaction
influenced the referee’s decision.
Before I talk about the penalty
shoot-out, let me talk about the game itself. Cameroon were in control of the
first half of the final scoring two goals but we came back in the second and
equalised. It was a tough game which went into a penalty shoot-out. The match
was played at night and I couldn’t see clearly if the ball had crossed the goal
line or not. The referee ruled out the goal and I was blamed; that I shouldn’t
have held my head. But we all saw that it went in. Wherever I go all over the
world, the question Nigerians ask me is, “Victor, why did you hold your head
after the penalty against Cameroon?” Nobody remembers again that Kanu also lost
a penalty kick in that game.
On retirement from football, you went
into football punditry. How have you been coping in your new field?
Well, I must give thanks to people
like Brila FM CEO, Larry Izamoje and SuperSport Nigeria General Manager, Felix Awogu. They
were really inspiring. I wrote a column for FourFourTwo magazine and then I analysed the 2010
World Cup on Brila FM and from there, it’s been an interesting
journey. Since I started analysing, the passion has been growing by the day.
Every ex-footballer cannot be a coach.
Can you tell us about your family and
how you have been coping without a woman in your life?
I still feel the death of my wife. She
died from breast cancer in 2000. I tried my best to save her but I couldn’t. If
money could buy health, she would be with me here. Now I have a friend, a
Congolese-French lady, who has two daughters for me. She shuttles between
France and Pointe Noir and she runs a spa. So I have five girls; three from my
late wife. Two of them are in Nigeria, in boarding school. My girlfriend has
been helpful in taking care of all my kids. Coping without a woman has not been
easy but you are going to see something very soon.
So who is the lucky bride and where
is she from?
I will keep that to myself.
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