Like father, like son: The Aiyenugba goalkeeping dynasty

Former Super Eagles goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba is still playing after having a fruitful career in goalkeeping in Israel and Nigeria. He is currently working to help his son Daniel, who is just starting out, surpass him.

Dele Aiyenugba, a former Super Eagles goalkeeper who currently plays for Kwara United, gave our correspondent his son’s phone number, with the name “Dan Goalie,” on it.

It was expected that Aiyenugba would either type the number out by memory or that the contact’s name would be “Daniel Aiyenugba,” “Daniel,” or—even more predictably—”My Son.”

The reason Aiyenugba tagged him “Dan Goalie” was that “aside from being my son, that’s the way I see him.”

“I view him as a mentee or a young colleague in the same line of work as me. Although it doesn’t change the fact that he is my son, it only strengthens our relationship.

In Nigerian football, Aiyenugba doesn’t require an introduction after a 25-year career.

Aiyenugba moved to Israel in 2007 after spending six years with Enyimba in the Nigerian league, where he won four NPFL championships in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007, two CAF Champions League titles in 2003 and 2004, two CAF Super Cups in 2004 and 2005, two FA Cup victories in 2005, and two CAF Champions League titles in 2003 and 2004.

Before returning to Nigeria in 2020 to join local league team Kwara United, where he currently plays, he made a total of 402 appearances for Bnei Yehuda (294), Hapoel Ashkelon (62), Hapoel Iksal (34), and Hapoel Afula (13).

In recognition of his recent contributions to Enyimba, the team presented him with a jersey plaque prior to an NPFL match between Enyimba and Kwara United in Aba in January.

It’s about time the 39-year-old stopped playing goalkeeper after more than 20 years or shared the spotlight with his 14-year-old son, Daniel, who has recently gained notoriety after assisting Remo Stars’ youth team, Beyond Limits FC, get promoted from the Nationwide League One, Nigeria’s third division, to the Nigeria National League, the second division.

As Beyond Limit defeated First Bank FC 4-1 to earn promotion to the NNL, the proud father was present among the spectators in Osogbo, Osun State. Daniel was playing goal for Beyond Limit.

Daniel was excellent and made some great saves for his team. He is bravely assuming the big gloves from me, and I’m a proud father for it. After watching the pivotal playoff game in Osogbo, Aiyenugba stated, “With his display, I’m very confident he has a bright future ahead of him.

Football players have had their sons follow similar paths before, including Aiyenugba. Numerous football legends from around the world have sons who are currently active in the sport. Although there aren’t many well-known goalkeepers, Aiyenugba might soon be taken seriously.

The former goalkeeper for Denmark and Manchester United, Peter Schmeichel, who won five Premier League championships, three FA Cups, and the UEFA Champions League with the Red Devils in eight years, is a prime example. Additionally, Schmeichel was a member of the legendary Denmark team that won the 1992 European Championship.

His son Kasper Schmeichel also enjoyed success in the Premier League and was a member of the Leicester team that shocked everyone by taking home the EPL trophy in 2016. In 2021, he also led Denmark to the semifinals of the European Championship, where they were narrowly defeated by England in extra time. He also won the FA Cup with the Foxes that year.

Son of former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina is a seasoned goalie who has won a European Cup.

The son of former Dutch international and Manchester United legend Edwin van Der Sar in The Netherlands is Joe Van Der Sar.

Joe, who is 25 years old, is also eagerly awaiting his big break in order to catch up to and surpass the heights and accomplishments of his father as a keeper.

Although the Dosus in Nigeria are a brotherhood line of goalkeepers, they are still examples. Along with Joseph Dosu, who won the gold medal at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, his younger brothers Abbas and John were goalkeepers as well as their older brother David. The renowned Patrick and Emmanuel Okala brothers, who both represented Nigeria internationally, came before them.

When it comes to Aiyenugba, one of the similarities between father and son is how young they were when they first started playing football. While his father’s records indicate that he started playing amateur goalkeeping with Kwara Stars in 1998, when he was 15 years old, Daniel first made headlines in 2021, when he was 12 years old.

After winning the Ramat Cup in Kano’s goalkeeper category, this happened.

Interestingly, the young man began playing football as an outfielder.

“I began my career with the Future Stars football team in Ilorin. I had previously played as a striker, so at that point, I began considering switching to goalkeeping. The young Aiyenugba stated, “I played for Future Stars before I joined Kwara Football Academy, where I met my trainer, coach Oluyori.

A smart way to carve out a spot for oneself on a star-studded team could be to switch from being an outfield player to a goalkeeper, especially among young players.

Although Daniel claims he was a very good striker, he was motivated to try goalkeeping after watching videos of his father and seeing him train while he was in Nigeria.

Even today, I continue to watch a lot of video clips of my father. After watching him, too, whenever he returns home during their offseason, he trains with my brother and I in goalkeeping on the same field.

As a result, I occasionally had to pause my game in order to focus on his playing style. That’s how I got interested in goalkeeping and made the decision to do the same,” he said.

His father was aware of Daniel’s intrigue.
“Despite playing as a striker, I think my career played a role in how Daniel developed because I can recall that whenever I returned home for a break, he was also thinking about my routine. Fortunately, he had a teacher, Oluyori, who taught him the fundamentals and is still doing so today, the father said.

Aiyenugba, who played football himself, had to give some thought to Daniel’s decision to become a goalkeeper, though he never opposed his children’s desire to play the sport professionally.

In order to make sure he was prepared, he said, “I asked his coach to keep sending me his clips while I was in Israel. It’s not as simple as a goalkeeper might believe to do his job.

“My father supported me when I first started. He accompanied me to the stadium where I trained and he watched my match, but he wasn’t a goalie. Since I wanted him to enjoy himself as well, it was simple for me to lead the way, according to the former Super Eagles goalkeeper.

Being the son of a Super Eagles goalkeeper with 17 caps and two CAF Champions League championships comes with high expectations.

The young man, however, is not one to be encouraged or under pressure by his last name. According to him, he prefers to move at his own pace.

Like his father, he has extensive experience mitigating penalties.

In the 118th and 119th minutes of games, when it was likely that the game would end in penalties, the older Aiyenugba was usually substituted in for the opposing goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

He wouldn’t let you down either! The shot stopper is still a painful memory for North African teams.

During the U-13 NFF Zenith Future Eagles tournament in 2017, Daniel, who served as North Central’s captain, saved two penalties for his team to help them win the championship.

His father, who is constantly keeping an eye on him, wants him to enjoy the game.

“I love seeing my son get better as a goalkeeper with every game, and it makes me so happy. The goalkeeper for Kwara United was quoted as saying, “The only thing I am expecting from ‘goalie’ is to keep having fun doing his thing, without any pressure, to remain humble, and to pray.

Daniel, who is in SS2, has only recently joined Beyond Limits after being coached by Kwara Football Academy since 2019.

He has been fusing football and academics for about four years, and he knows he must continue doing so no matter how challenging it is.

It was not simple. We train every Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 10am. Then, between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., we attend class. There is also an evening class that meets from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. We have some time in between these times to go to the gym and maintain our fitness. Although we have league games on Saturdays and Sundays, and occasionally we do have friendlies, the young man explained that these days are for resting.

The team, which was made up of schoolboys, completed the NLO campaign with such a rigorous schedule and was one of the eight clubs that was guaranteed promotion to the NNL.

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In six of their games, the Young Aiyenugba started in goal and recorded three shutouts. He mentioned that while studying for school exams, he missed a few games.

According to his father, Daniel is driven to balance school and football, and he has faith that the educational system he has been enrolled in will prepare him for a better future.

The youngster also declared that he plans to study Human Kinetics at the college.

Even for guys who don’t have any football-playing parents, the desire to represent their country at the highest level is always present, barring extenuating circumstances. The young Aiyenugba may not have watched his father in his prime, but he does have video to look at and he feels it is enough to motivate him to work hard in the future in order to play at the highest level of club football and represent Nigeria.

“I’m very proud of my father, not even because he helps me, but because having him around encourages me to get better. Even just thinking about him makes me want to go above and beyond what he did for Nigeria. In addition to playing football at the highest level, I want to represent my nation at all levels.