Garba Lawal, a retired Super Eagles midfielder and a renowned footballer, recently shared his remarkable experiences in his football career with TANA AIYEJINA.
“My football career started when Julius Berger signed me as a teenager in 1991,” said Lawal. He played for Berger for three seasons and then moved to Esperance of Tunis.
“My time in Esperance from November 1994 to 1996, after winning the Olympics, was a great experience. Winning the Olympics was the defining moment,” expressed Lawal.
Lawal continued his career in Roda JC in Holland, where he played for seven years. “I enjoyed playing football there, because if you are in Holland, and you don’t know how to play football, I don’t think you can learn football anywhere,” he said.
In the Super Eagles, Lawal played with distinguished players such as Austin Okocha, Finidi George, Daniel Amokachi, Taribo West, Uche Okechukwu, Celestine Babayaro, Tijani Babangida, Victor Ikpeba, Mutiu Adepoju, Nwankwo Kanu, Julius Aghahowa, Joseph Yobo, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, John Utaka, and Ifeanyi Udeze.
When asked what sets apart the Super Eagles of his time from the current team, Lawal said, “That time, there was so much competition in every department. There were four or five players each, so there was no guarantee of playing the next game.”
During his time in the national team, there were media reports of a mafia dictating to the coach which player to invite to the camp. However, Lawal denied such claims. He believes that the discipline of the team was worth noting: “Sometimes, I played left-back, sometimes I played No.7 in attack, and sometimes I played as a holding midfielder, anywhere we had problems.”
When asked about his best career moment, he replied, “The best moment I will always remember is when our team won the Olympics, then playing at the World Cup, then the Nations Cup, those are the great moments.”
About the Olympics, Lawal revealed that preparations were tough due to financial difficulties. “We had to wash our dirty kits and spread them outside. There was a time the hotel staff said, ‘we don’t want to see African clothes outside here. if you wash, you have to spread them in your bathroom,’ and we said, ‘it’s okay, we are sorry.’”
When asked about the current state of Nigerian football, Lawal feels that it is challenging for the national team to excel in today’s game. However, he believes that social media could be distracting the younger generation.
Overall, Garba Lawal’s career journey and experience in football will always be celebrated, and his achievements remain an inspiration for many aspiring athletes in Nigeria.
