Tijjani Babangida

Infobox Football biography
playername= Tijjani Babangida
fullname = Tijjani Babangida
height = 1.69 m
nickname = "TJ", "Baba", "Okada".
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1973|9|25
cityofbirth = Kaduna
countryofbirth = Nigeria
current club = Retired
clubnumber = -
position = Winger
years = 1990
1991-1993
1994-1996
1997-2001
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2005
clubs = Niger Tornadoes
VVV Venlo
Roda
Ajax
→Gençlerbirliği (loan)
Vitesse
Al-Ittihad
Tianjin Taida
Changchun Yatai| caps(goals) =
34 (19)
78 (26)
77 (20)
12 (2)
14 (1)
5 0(0)
9 0(4)
20 (4)
nationalyears = 1994–2002
nationalteam = Nigeria
nationalcaps(goals) = 40 (5)
date=last update February 5, 2007

Tijjani Babangida (born September 25, 1973 in Kaduna) is a former football winger from Nigeria. He played 40 international matches and scored 5 goals for Nigeria, and played at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in the process scoring one of the goals of the tournament with a thunderous volley from the right side. He also won the Olympic gold medal in 1996.

Babangida came to the Netherlands at the age of seventeen, and was signed by Roda JC. After spending one and a half season on loan to VVV Venlo, Babangida played for Roda and became one of their most celebrated players. He was signed by giants Ajax Amsterdam. He started off brightly at the Amsterdam club and scored a total of 13 league goals, playing on the wing, in his second season. However, he gradually lost his place in the first team, halfway through his third season at Ajax and was loaned out to the Turkcell Süper Lig side Gençlerbirliği, for the 2000-2001 season. The following season, Tijjani Babangida, looking for a move away from the Netherlands, came very close to signing with AJ Auxerre, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/1651809.stm BBC SPORT | FOOTBALL | Babangida optimistic ] ] but, at the very last moment, received a call from Ronald Koeman and agreed to join him at Vitesse Arnhem. First team player under Koeman, Babangida subsequently lost his place in the starting line-up, when Ronald Koeman left for Ajax Amsterdam and was replaced by Edward Sturing. [ [http://www.vitesseplanet.com/index.php?page=20 ::: Vitesseplanet.Com ::: ] ] Having been omitted from the 2002 FIFA World Cup squad, along with some other veteran players, such as Sunday Oliseh and Finidi George, in 2002 he signed a six-month loan deal with Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, but he walked out of the team in November after disagreements with the coach, who wanted him to play at the right back position. Babangida then moved to China, where he had a very successful first season and was even called up to join the Nigeria national football team during their preparations for the 2004 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia; Babangida, however, failed to make the final squad. After two years in China, Babangida announced his retirement from football.

Upon his retirement from professional football, Babangida has been working as a football agent. [http://www.kickoffnigeria.com/stories/story6757.html]

Two of his nine brothers, Ibrahim Babangida and Haruna Babangida, are also professional footballers.

References

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070314084724/http://www.nigerianplayers.com/player.asp?pID=161 Nigerian Players profile]