It took Nigeria 35 years to lift the CAF Champions League which was known as the Africa Cup for Champion Clubs until 1997. Stationery Stores started the chase in 1968. Rangers, Shooting Stars and Iwuanyanwu got so near, their nearly did not kill any bird. Ibrahim Sunday captained Asante Kotoko of Kumasi to glory in 1970.
Enyimba broke the Nigerian jinx in 2003 and went further to win again in 2004. Twice the People’s Elephant became African Super Cup champions. Sunday had won the First African Super Cup as a coach in 1992. He also won the CAF Champions Cup [League] as a coach in 1983. When the WAFU Cup was grabbed for keeps for the first time, his hands were there.
It sounds funny that a man from Kano should bear Ibrahim Sunday. I asked him at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan in 1992 and his response was snappy and affirmative.
“I am Nigerian, from Kano” he said. ” My origins are clear and not in doubt but I was born and grew up in Ghana”.
The Porcupines were African champions in 1970 and on the way to the title, they confronted Super Stores of Nigeria who were making a second appearance. Sunday was a member of the Black Stars squad to the African Nations Cup in 1970. Ghana lost in the grand finale to hosts Sudan. The Ghanaians had also lost in the grand finale to Democratic Republic of Congo in 1968.
Ibrahim Sunday lost in two Africa Nations Cup grand finale, 1968 and 1970 respectively. One remarkable thing was that in the respective semifinals, he scored. And those goals came against Cote d’Ivoire. Another Nigerian, Amusa Gbadamosi, who won the Nations Cup in 1965 with Ganiyu Salami, lost the trophy in 1968 playing alongside Sunday.
Sunday and Gbadamosi were at the Mexico ’68 Olympics Games as Black Stars. Salami had switched allegiance and played for Nigeria. The man who led Ghana to Mexico, and Sudan ’70, Heinz Marotzke would also manage the Green Eagles later.
Voted African Footballer of the Year in 1971, Sunday took part in the Munich ’72 Olympic Games. It was therefore no surprise that he left Kotoko for Bundesliga side, Werder Bremen, in July 1975, thus becoming the first African to play in the German top flight. That was long before Anthony Yeboah, Tony Baffoe, Ali Ibrahim and Abedi Pele played in Germany.
The move to Europe did not favour the midfielder who also played for Osterholz-Scharmbeesk as from 1977 before retiring in 1981. For a player who spent 10 seasons with the Porcupines between 1966 and 1975, his place was guaranteed. Sunday returned to Kumasi to coach Kotoko. It was another success story.
In 1983, he won the Champions [Cup] League as coach thus boosting his credentials as continental champion, as coach and player. At this time, Nigeria was nowhere around cup glory. Enugu Rangers were humiliated home and away in the early round by unknown Fisheries of Sierra Leone. One player, Andrew Hooper, scored both lone goals that sent the Flying Antelopes packing.
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In 1991, Sunday was coach of Africa Sports, Abidjan. In the WAFU Cup final second leg, Lobi Stars of Makurdi, under Bernard Ogbe, scored first. The hosts came back to life and made it 2-1. The Ivorian team became the first to win the Eyadema Cup for keeps having succeeded in 1985 and 1986 respectively after New Nigerian Bank of Benin.
NNB were champions in 1983 and 1984,and remained unbeaten in that competition, ready to keep the trophy for good in 1985 when Shooting Stars were disqualified by the West African Football Union [WAFU] following their quarter finals game with Africa Sports. NNB were forced to withdraw by the NFA which did not welcome the disqualification of Shooting. Nigeria stayed away from the competition the following year that was how Calabar Rovers lost the opportunity to go international.
Africa Sports moved up in 1992 with Sunday still in charge. There were three other Nigerians with him. Gabriel Okolosi, Thompson Oliha and Friday Elaho had relocated to Cote D’Ivoire. All were in the team that beat Vital’o Burundi to become Africa Winners Cup Champions. Okolosi finished as the competition’s leading scorer wit eight goals. Oliha scored thrice.
The Ivorians went higher. On January 10, 1993 they became the first to lift the African Super Cup. After a 2-2 draw with Wydad Athletic Casablanca[WAC], Africa Sports relied on 5-3 penalties to emerge victorious. Ibrahim Sunday had another gold around his neck.
Nigeria was nowhere to be found except in the West African sub Region. Insurance got the WAFU Cup in 1993. They did it again in 1994 and again in 1995. That made the Insurers the first to win three times consecutively, a feat that was denied fellow Benin side NNB in 1985. By 2010, Nigeria had won the Eyadema Cup nine times thanks to Rancher Bees, 1989, Shooting, 1998 and Sharks, 2010.
Rangers had lost in the finals to AS Police of Senegal in 1980[ played early 1980]. Sharks also lost in the final the following year. It was in the process that their coach, Carl ‘Gentleman’ O’Dwyer, a former national team goalkeeper died in a car crash.
After Ibrahim, other Nigerians won the CAF Champions [Cup] League playing in other countries. In 1993, Emmanuel Amuneke did it with Zamalek, Egypt who also won the African Super Cup. Zamalek beat Stationery Stores on the way. Willy Okpara also won with Orlando Pirates of South Africa in 1995. The Buccaneers stopped BCC Lions of Gboko.
In 1998, John Zaki and Sam Abouo Dominique were part of the ASEC Mimosas side that won. The former was born in Cote D’Ivoire but hails from Ogoja in Cross River State. He also won the Africa Nations Cup with the Elephants in 2002.
In what appears to be a reversal of names, there is one Sunday Ibrahim, who also lived in Europe. Born In Ibadan on December 20,1980, he played for Nigerdock and Eagle Cement before joining Wislaw Krakow, Poland. This Sunday also played in China for Chengdu Wuniu and in Norway for Stromsgodset.
Ibrahim Sunday was born on July 22, 1944 in Koforidua. He also managed Abuakwa Susubiribi, Ashanti Goldfields and FC 105, Libreville, Gabon.