Mudashiru Babatunde "Muda" Lawal (8 June 1954 – 6 July 1991) was a Nigerian

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for both club and country.

Club career

He worked as an automobile mechanic before his football talents were discovered, and made his national team debut in 1975. The same year, he joined Shooting Stars F.C. of

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

, where he would play for many years. In 1976, he helped the club to their first continental title, winning the African Cup Winners Cup – the first Nigerian team to do so. In 1985 the club side was disbanded by a military governor. Muda returned to the side four seasons later as an assistant coach/player.

International career

Muda made his international debut in 1975, and won 86 caps and scored 12 goals for his country; he holds the record of being the only player on the continent to have appeared at five consecutive Nations' Cup finals (1976–1984). Lawal helped Nigeria to its first African Nations Cup title, at the

1980 African Nations Cup The 1980 African Cup of Nations was the 12th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, football championship of Africa (Confederation of African Football, CAF). It was hosted by Nigeria. Just like in 1978 African Cup of Natio ...

. The team also competed at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

the same year. Lawal played his last international match on 18 August 1985, when Nigeria lost to

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

in the 1986 African Cup of Nations qualifier.

Death

Lawal died at his home in 1991. The Ashero Stadium in his hometown Abeokuta was renamed the Mudashiru Lawal Stadium after him upon his death.

Honours

Nigeria *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

; runner-up:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

References

External links

* * 1954 births 1991 deaths Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Olympic footballers for Nigeria Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Nigeria men's international footballers 1976 African Cup of Nations players 1978 African Cup of Nations players 1980 African Cup of Nations players 1982 African Cup of Nations players 1984 African Cup of Nations players Shooting Stars S.C. players Sportspeople from Abeokuta Footballers from Ogun State Yoruba sportspeople Men's association football midfielders Abiola Babes F.C. players African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games silver medalists in football Footballers at the 1978 All-Africa Games 20th-century Nigerian sportsmen {{Nigeria-footy-midfielder-stub