Written by Ori Martins
Just like Ubanwa Jonathan, Sam Anozie was one of the players who played for both Spartans and Iwuanyawu Nationale.
Anozie who missed the 1985 Flying Eagles team for the FIFA U – 20 World Cup Finals by whiskers, was a formidable defender.
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He was Nationale captain, and injury forced him to an early retirement; he emerged as the secretary of the team eventually.
In a tribute to the late proprietor of Nationale, Chief (Engr) Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, Anozie made it clear that the Iwuanyawu experience was an everlasting memory. We thank God and we commend Iwuanyawu.
“To begin with, Chief Iwuanyawu, on the advice of Prince Lemmy Akakem, who was the chairman, and Sir Uche Ejimofor, the team manager who later became the general manager, got one of the best coaches in the country then, Willy Bazuaye”, Anozie opened up.
He added, ” Furthermore, Iwuanyawu sent us to Brazil on a tour of more than one month. It was another fantastic experience. And let me not forget, Iwuanyawu Nationale were made up of some of the local players drawn from Sharks of Port Harcourt, now Rivers United, Rangers, ACB of Lagos, New Nigeria Bank of Benin, Rovers of Calabar, and so on”.
Anozie, who is a scion of Owerri Nchise, said Iwuanyawu Nationale’s first season was in 1986, and they were nicknamed Naze Warriors/ Naze Millionaires (because Iwuanyawu developed a camp for the team in Naze just as the players were counting in millions.
The erstwhile timeless defender revealed that Iwuanyawu instantly became a brand and a nightmare to all other clubs.
“Nationale were an attractive brand as well as the agony of many other teams in the Premier League. Based on that we finished second on the table. That gave us the ticket to represent Nigeria in the WAFU competition the following year – 1987.
“The 1988 season was very memorable in many respects. It was our year of CAF Champions League outing and we played to the final, losing gallantly to Setif of Algeria in a most dubious fashion.
Again, in our game against Tonnere Kalala of Cameroon, there was a dangerous player known as George Weah of Liberia.
Despite defeating Kalala 2- 0 in Owerri, our Greece coach, Teophanis Dimitris, turned to Akakem and said: ‘That boy, Weah, dangerous’. We heard him but never took him seriously.
“In Cameroon, Weah cancelled the two goals in quick succession, but the tie ended 3 – 2, and we qualified.
Then, there was the Ivory Coast challenge. After seeing off Asec Mimosa in Owerri, 2-0, we were confident it was going to be an easy ride to the next round, but Dimitris had other thoughts.
“To everyone’s shock, Dimitris had suddenly converted Law Ukegbu into the right back position. It caused a commotion in the dressing- room.
Akakem shouted while Ejimofor kicked. But Dimitris stood his ground with a threat to wit: ‘No Law at right back, I stay here, you (pointing at Akakem and Ejimofor) take the team to stadium’. Both men, in anger, allowed the foreign technical adviser to have his way.
“Within 15 minutes of the game, all of us realized why Dimitris converted Ukegbu to the right back position.
The Asec Mimosa lead striker was a brutal air express! In more than four attempts, it was Ukegbu who headed out of danger in what were goal-bound balls. It was after the encounter that Dimitris stood, carrying his head high. We won.
“Let me tell you another very interesting story. Mike Obi was an attacker. Dimitris converted him to the left-back position.
It was amazing that from that position, Obi was the second-highest goal scorer. Had Dimitris also converted Benjamin Nzeako to a midfielder, he might have been the greatest footballer the Nigerian league has ever produced.
All the football skills of Zidane, Okocha, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi were displayed by Nzeako.
“I must confess that Chief Iwuanyawu used football to empower youths across the country. He loved us, and we worked to keep him happy.
We were crowned Premier League champions five times in 1987 (formerly Leventis but the club defunct after winning the title and we took over the winning slot), 1988, ’89, 90, and 1993.
“We also won the Federation Cup in 1988. It was also in 1988 that we almost finished the season. We lost only one game – we lost against Ranchers Bees.
It was Ayo Ogunalana’s free kick and Edward Ansah was caught napping. And I cannot forget the 1994 plane crash. May their souls continue to rest in peace.
