Femi Opabunmi (born 3 March 1985) is a Nigerian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

Opabunmi studied at Methodist High School Ibadan and played for the Methodist High School Ibadan Old Boys. He played for a few clubs, including Shooting Stars FC,

Grasshoppers Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional multisports club based in Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hoppers''. The oldest and b ...

(Switzerland),

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...

in Israel, and

Chamois Niortais Chamois Niortais Football Club (; often referred to as ''Les Chamois'', Chamois Niortais, or simply Niort) are a French association football club based in the commune of Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwest ...

in France. He retired from football in 2006 due to serious

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

. He is now totally blind in the right eye. Opabunmi is now the Head Coach of a Football academy in

Iwo, Osun State Iwo is a city in Osun State, Nigeria. The Iwo people, like all other people of the Yoruba kingdom, are said to have originated from Ile-Ife, where they migrated sometime in the 11th century according to Alademomi kenyon and Prince Adelegan Ad ...

, Alamu Football Academy, the first free football academy which is set to participate in the Nigerian Premier league.

International career

Opabunmi scored a goal to help Nigeria win the African U-17 Championships in 2001. With Collins Osunwa out with injury he became Nigeria's key player at

2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Championship 2001, the ninth edition of the tournament, was held from 13 to 30 September 2001 in the cities of Trinidad and Tobago; in Port of Spain, Malabar in Arima, Marabella in San Fernando, Couva, and Bacolet in Scarbo ...

where he scored a hat-trick against Australia and won him the Silver Shoe as second highest goalscorer and also the Bronze Ball as third best player in the tournament, helping Nigeria to reach the final where they lost to France. He attracted attention from clubs such as Manchester United, Lyon and Celta Vigo. He played for

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and made his debut in 2002 against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

scoring the second goal in a 3-0 win. He was a participant at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

playing against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the last group stage match becoming the 3rd youngest player to ever play in the World Cup finals after

Norman Whiteside Norman Whiteside (born 7 May 1965) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Whiteside began his career at Manchester United, signing professional forms in 1982 at the age of 17 and quickly be ...

and

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

. Thereafter, he was a starter in Nigeria's next match after the World Cup in the

2004 African Cup of Nations qualification Qualification for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Qualified teams * * * * (qualified as holders) * * * * * * * * * * * (qualified as hosts) * Qualifying round Of the 52 nations, only Somalia didn't take part, Cameroon qualified as holders a ...

against

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and played for the Super Eagles in two more occasions in 2003.

References

External links

* Living people 1985 births Yoruba sportspeople 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen Nigerian men's footballers Footballers from Lagos Men's association football wingers Nigeria men's international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players Swiss Super League players Israeli Premier League players Ligue 2 players Shooting Stars S.C. players Grasshopper Club Zurich players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Chamois Niortais FC players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France {{Nigeria-footy-midfielder-stub