Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh (born 14 September 1974) is a Nigerian football manager and former player. In his active playing career he played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. Physical yet technically gifted, he played for top European clubs including

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

and Juventus. He is widely regarded as one of the best African midfielders of all time.

Playing career

Oliseh played 63 international matches and scored three goals for

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and played at the Football World Cups of

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. Oliseh also participated in the Olympic gold medal winning team of 1996. Oliseh was voted Africa's third best footballer in 1998 by CAF. He is mostly remembered for scoring the winning goal in the group stage match against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the 1998 World Cup, as Nigeria prevailed 3–2. A throw-in deep in the Spanish half was headed clear by

Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He is the current sporting director of Liga MX club C.D. Guadalajara. He won five L ...

– Oliseh ran and fired an explosive shot from 25 yards and took Spanish

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Andoni Zubizarreta Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta (, ; born 23 October 1961) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. The all-time most capped player for the Spain national team for several years, he played with individual and team su ...

completely by surprise. Despite captaining Nigeria during the

2002 African Cup of Nations The 2002 African Cup of Nations was the 23rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Mali. Just like in 2000, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. C ...

, Oliseh was omitted from his country's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

squad later that year for disciplinary reasons. After missing out on World Cup selection, Oliseh retired from international football in June 2002 for having led the team as they demanded unpaid allowances and dues owed to be paid. In March 2004, Oliseh was sacked by

after head butting teammate

Vahid Hashemian Vahid Hashemian Korbekandi ( fa, وحيد هاشميان; born 21 July 1976) is an Iranian football coach and former player who works as assistant coach to Dragan Skočić at Iran national team. He played as a forward, spending most of his ca ...

while on loan at

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seasons in the Bundeslig ...

allegedly over racial remarks. In January 2006, at the age of 31, Oliseh retired from professional football after playing a half season for Belgian First Division A top club

K.R.C. Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk, Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four cham ...

Managerial career

Oliseh started his coaching career in Belgium with youth teams in the Belgian 3rd Division Verviers, notably the Under 19 team. Graduated to the first team as chief coach season 2008–09 Verviers. During the 2014–15 season, he was appointed as the Chief Coach and Club Manager of RCS VISE Belgium 3rd Division. In 2015–16, was appointed by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) the National Team Chief Coach of Nigeria (Super Eagles of Nigeria) where he made an impressive statistic of; 14 Games (Only 2 losses) 19 Goals scored, 6 conceded. He qualified Nigeria to the CHAN tournament in Rwanda, qualified Nigeria to the Group phase of the 2018 world cup Qualifiers and on his first game as Chief Coach of Nigeria in an AFCON qualifier managed a draw in Tanzania. He resigned as Nigeria's national coach at about 2:28am on 26 February 2016 exactly a month to the team's encounter with the Pharaohs of Egypt in the AFCON qualifiers. He was barely 8 months into his stay as manager due to contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages and benefits to his players, Asst. Coaches and himself. On 27 December 2016, it was announced that Oliseh had been appointed as the new manager of

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

. He was fired on 14 February 2018, and claimed the reason he was fired was because he refused to participate in illegal activities at the club. After two years without a club, in March 2020, Oliseh stated that he had turned down "two jobs from Belgian clubs", but that he waited for the right offer. In June 2022, he was appointed as the new head coach of German club SV 19 Straelen. In August 2022, after just two months in charge, he quit his position after the team suffered five losses in five games.

Style of play

Although Oliseh essentially played as a defensive midfielder throughout his career, Jonathan Wilson noted in a 2013 article for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' that he was an early example of a more creative interpreter of this role, who focussed more on ball retention and passing rather than solely looking to win back possession.

Personal life

His younger brothers, Azubuike and Egutu, are also professional footballers; another brother is Churchill Oliseh and his nephew is

Sekou Oliseh Sekou Jabateh Oliseh (born 5 June 1990) is a Liberian professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Liberian side LISCR. Early and personal life Born in Monrovia, Liberia, Oliseh was adopted by Nigerian former professional footballe ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Ajax *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

: 1997–98 * KNVB Cup: 1997–98, 1998–99 Juventus * UEFA Intertoto Cup:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

Borussia Dortmund *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

: 2001–02 *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

runner-up: 2001–02 Nigeria U23 *

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

: 1996 Nigeria * African Cup of Nations:

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations The Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, also called the AFC Asia/Africa Challenge Cup, was an intercontinental football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between repr ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliseh, Sunday 1974 births Living people Nigerian emigrants to Belgium Sportspeople from Delta State Nigerian footballers Association football defenders Nigeria international footballers Bundesliga players Eredivisie players Serie A players Belgian First Division A players RFC Liège players A.C. Reggiana 1919 players 1. FC Köln players AFC Ajax players Juventus F.C. players Borussia Dortmund players VfL Bochum players K.R.C. Genk players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1994 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Nigeria Olympic gold medalists for Nigeria Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Nigerian football managers Nigeria national football team managers Fortuna Sittard managers R.C.S. Verviétois managers Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands