My Olympics Gold Medal was Stolen in Lagos - Coach Amunike Speaks to FIFA

Posted by Odinaka on Wed 09th Mar, 2016 - tori.ng

Newly appointed Flying Eagles coach, Emmanuel Amunike has revealed that his Olympics soccer gold medal from Atlanta'96 has been stolen.

Amuneke displaying his gold medal after his heroic display in Atlanta 1996

Speaking in an interview with FIFA's official website, newly appointed Flying Eagles coach, Emmanuel Amunike has revealed that his Olympics soccer gold medal from Atlanta'96 was stolen in his Lagos home.

The former ‎Golden Eaglets coach who scored the winning goal for the Nigerian team led by Jo Bonfrere in a 3-2 win over Argentina at the Atlanta’96 Olympics to become the first African country to win gold at the Olympics football event, believes Nigeria can repeat the 1996 heroics when the Olympic Men’s Football Tournament kicks off later this year in Rio de Janeiro.

He has also backed former teammate, Samson Siasia to repeat the feat at this year’s Rio Olympics in Brazil. "It is not going to be an easy task, but the coach (Samson Siasia) is experienced. He was in charge when Nigeria won the silver medal in 2008 and also led the team to second at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2005," Amunike stated.

Nigerian team celebrating after the victory in Atlanta

Speaking on how he made a golden memory by scoring the winning goal in 1996 Olympics Atlanta, he said;

"Coming off the bench to score the winning goal was a life-changing moment for me. Two days before the final, our coach, Jo Bonfrere, told me that some people were complaining that I was not playing at my best for the team. But in the match, he told me to stay warmed up and, as fate would have it, I scored the winning goal. So I was happy that when I came on, I contributed my own part to the team.

"Before going to the Olympics, there was an agreement with Barcelona, but I was struggling with injury, so there were doubts about my ability. But after the Olympics, Barcelona picked up their interest again, and I eventually moved there. The impact I made in Atlanta allowed people to see that this guy is a good player and you can count on him.

"Going into the tournament we had the self-belief that if we applied ourselves well we could do something great for ourselves and the country. Don’t forget we had some players who featured for the senior national team at the 1994 World Cup. But beating Brazil boosted our confidence because it was a dramatic match. We were almost out, but we fought and pulled it off."