A lot of passionate Nigerian football fans are familiar with Europe’s biggest elite club competition, the UEFA Champions League. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights when there are match fixtures for the competition, football fans all over the world keep their eyes glued to their television set in anticipation of tough encounters between top European clubs. However, what most people do not know is that a Nigerian, Daniel Amokachi, scored the first goal recorded in the history of the competition.
Popularly referred to as “The Bull”, Amokachi scored the first goal of the UEFA Champions League while playing for Belgian side, Club Brugge, in 1992, after the competition was renamed from the European Champions Club’s Cup.
Amokachi’s decent performance at the 17th edition of the African Cup of Nations which was hosted in Algeria, 1992, prompted the Belgian club to sign him, and he did not fail to prove his mettle especially scoring the first goal of the competition against Russian giants, CSKA Moscow, on November 25, 1992. His goal would go on to decide the game as it ended 1-0. The Bull has described the moment he scored the goal as his finest while playing for Brugge.
My finest moment (at the club) would have to be my goal in the Champions League against CSKA Moscow. That goal brought me my fame, really, as it was the very first goal in the history of the Champions League… I won’t easily forget the fans. I came from Africa, hadn’t proven anything yet, but I was immediately accepted by everyone. These are great memories to have.
Amokachi
The forward would go on to form part of Nigeria’s football golden generation, winning the 1994 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia. He was also part of the glorious 1996 Nigerian Olympic football team in Atlanta, USA.
Sources:
Hotsports TV
Goal
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