Peter Rufai (born 24 August 1963) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

. He competed professionally in Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, in a senior career that lasted 20 years. Rufai represented

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, ...

in two

World Cups 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 name is ...

and as many

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 ...

tournaments.

Club career

Born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Rufai started his career in his country, playing with Stationery Stores F.C. and Femo Scorpions. He moved to

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

in 1986, with

AS Dragons FC de l'Ouémé The Association Sportive Dragons FC de l'Ouémé, known as Dragons de l'Ouémé, is a Beninese professional football (soccer), football club based in the town of Porto-Novo. They play in the Beninese first division, the Benin Premier League. Ach ...

. At a more professional level Rufai spent six years in Belgium, with K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen and K.S.K. Beveren, although he appeared sparingly. In the 1993–94 season he played 12 matches for Dutch neighbours

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

, which finished 12th in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

. In 1994, Rufai started a Portuguese adventure with

S.C. Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional association football, football club based in Faro, Portugal, Faro in the Faro District, district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club ha ...

. In his first year, he was instrumental as the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

side only conceded 38 goals in 34 matches,

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

to the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

for the first time ever. His solid performances earned him a transfer to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, but he struggled to start for lowly

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

during his stay, in an eventual relegation. However, Rufai signed with established

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

the ensuing summer, backing up another African,

Jacques Songo'o Jacques Celestin Songo'o (born 17 March 1964) is a Cameroonian former professional football goalkeeper who is the current goalkeeping coach of the Cameroon national team. He spent the vast majority of his professional career in France and Spa ...

, for two seasons – this included keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in a January 1998 home win against

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

(1–0) as the

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian was suspended.Deportivo archives
/ref> He then returned to Portugal for one final year, with modest Gil Vicente FC, also being second-choice. Rufai returned to Spain in 2003, settling in the country and opening a goalkeeper's school.

International career

Rufai earned 65

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

and represented the nation at two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

as their first-choice goalkeeper and also helped the ''Super Eagles'' win the

1994 African Cup of Nations The 1994 African Cup of Nations, known as the Nescafé 1994 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 19th edition of the African Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organised by the Con ...

in Tunisia. On 24 July 1993, during a CAN qualifying match against

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, Rufai scored a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in a 6–0 home win.

International goals

Personal life

Rufai was the son of a tribal king in the region of Idimu. In early 1998, as his father died, he was allowed by his club (Deportivo) to return to Nigeria to discuss the succession, but turned down the status for himself. Rufai's oldest son, Senbaty, 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 ...

, having tried for Sunshine Stars F.C. in the

Nigeria Premier League The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) (formerly the Nigeria Professional Football League) is the highest level of club football in Nigerian football league system. The Nigerian Premier League has suffered like many others, from the financ ...

.‘Nigerian League Is Physical’ – Amine
PM News, 13 March 2009

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rufai, Peter 1963 births Living people Footballers from Lagos Nigerian men's footballers Yoruba sportspeople Men's association football goalkeepers Nigeria Professional Football League players AS Dragons FC de l'Ouémé players Belgian Pro League players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players K.S.K. Beveren players Eredivisie players Go Ahead Eagles players Primeira Liga players S.C. Farense players Gil Vicente F.C. players La Liga players Hércules CF players Deportivo de La Coruña players Nigeria men's international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1988 African Cup of Nations players 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1995 King Fahd Cup players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Benin Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Benin Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain 20th-century Nigerian sportsmen