Excellent Football Club of Ughelli honored former Super Eagles midfield maestro Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji, who died 32 years ago, by playing a tribute match Thursday (today) at the Ughelli Township Stadium Ughelli Delta State.
Okwaraji collapsed and died of congestive heart failure in the 77th minute of a World Cup qualification match against Angola at the Lagos National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos State on 12 August 1989.
The match in Ughelli was played between the current Excellent Football Club senior side and the Excellent Football Academy U-17 team preparing to take part in the 2021 Tournoi International de Football Koumassi TIK K tournament in Abidjan Ivory Coast which starts on September 4.
CEO of Excellent Football Club Mr. Onome James revealed after the memorial match that the Late Samuel Okwaraji did enough to be remembered by the football family in Nigeria
“Late Samuel Okwaraji was and is still a model, especially for the younger ones. A man who was able to achieve within a very short time what he achieved on and off the field.”
“He was a professional footballer who played internationally for Nigeria at the Nations Cup and the Olympics. He was also a qualified lawyer who had a master’s in international law from the Pontifical Lateran University of Rome.”
“A true hero worthy to be remembered in a very big way by the football family in Nigeria. May his soul continue to rest in perfect peace and lets us keep on remembering his family in our prayers.”
Former Nigeria U-17 Junior International Akpor Simon Akpomedaye was voted the “Most valuable player (MVP) of the late Samuel Okwaraji memorial football match
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