Actually this is one of the tales been told while growing up as a kid, that there was a match been played between Nigeria and India where the India national team thrashed Nigeria 99-1, some will even say it is 90-0 depend on the version of the story been told.

Source

I have never seen anyone in Nigeria who doesn't hold on to this fact that this match is one of the reason why India national team didn't participate in any international football competition like World Cup because the world football governing body(FIFA) placed a ban on them for using magic in that particular encounter.

It sounds crazy though, the question is this; is it possible to use magic to play football? No! But it is a sweet lie we have to accept because we can't question the authority of the story teller then. It may be our Uncle, Father, Mother, Aunty or any Elders from the society, since it is a sin in this part of the world to question the authority of your senior one's. You only listen and don't say anything while they talk.

A certain death story was also attached to it which makes it real to us then, we were been told that Samuel Okwaraji, a Nigeria professional footballer lost his life in that particular match because the India were changing the ball to different things like Lion, Stone and all other harmful objects. The story heard it that Samuel Okwaraji die because he kick the ball which later turn to stone to score Nigeria only goal in the match after the India team had score 99 goals.

Okwaraji

Even if there is any match that has taken place between Nigeria and India before, many of us were yet to be born then and it is not a period where we have access to Google and all other search engines to confirm if actually the story is real or not.

Though it is true that Samuel Okwaraji lost his life during a football match but not against India national team, It was confirmed that Samuel Okwaraji lost his life during a FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Angola. Okwaraji collapsed and died of cognitive heart failure in the 77 minutes of the game.

This is the most sweetest lie been told as a kid while growing up and it is of different version, while some people say it is a friendly match organized by Nigeria Military Governor to celebrate the end of Nigeria-Biafra war, some say it is a qualifier match for world cup and that is the major reason India didn't participate in world cup again.

Only God knows who come up with this story and cooked it to the extent that no part of the country didn't have their own version of it. Well in every lie been told, there is always an element of truth. What is the element of truth in this story? The only element of truth in the story is the death of Samuel Okwaraji and it is not against India.

Some Myths

  1. India defeated Nigeria 99-1.
  2. Samuel Okwaraji lost his life in the match.
  3. Reason why India never participate in the world cup.
  4. Ball change to Lion, stone and all other harmful objects.
  5. If Nigeria can score a goal in the match, they will be the winner.
  6. India use magic during the game.

The only reason why India didn't appear at the world cup level is because they have failed to qualify for the tournament since they qualified for in 1950 and failed to show up in the competition due to some reason which is well known to them.

Do you have your own version of this story? Drop it in the comment box.

I hope you find this post interesting and educating, until then, I remain my humble self @Oxygen02. Thanks For Reading👍