Godwin Odiye (born 17 April 1956) is a former

Nigeria international Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender.

Life

Odiye was born in Lagos in April 1956 to the family of Jonah and Cecilia Odiye. He attended St Paul's School, Ebute Metta, Eko Boys and then attended St Finbarr's, Akoka. He played football at both his primary and secondary schools. At St Finbarrs, he started out as a left-half back. In 1975, he was called to play for a junior team called the Nigerian Academicals. The team beat Ghana in 1975 giving Odiye attention among scouts. Odiye began playing club football in Nigeria for third division league side, Nestle and later National Bank of Lagos. While playing for National Bank, Odiye also worked with the bank as a clerk. He worked in the morning and trained in the evening. In 1978, Odiye was recruited by University of San Francisco to play collegiate soccer. Odiye moved to the United States to attend college and after graduating in 1983, he played for a local semi-professional club Greek-American A.C. which he would help win the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1994 U.S. Open Cup The 1994 U.S. Open Cup was the 81st edition of the soccer tournament to crown the national champion of the United States. This was the last tournament before the reintroduction of professional teams with A-League teams taking part in 1995 and MLS t ...

. Odiye made several appearances for the senior Nigeria national football team, including FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, and played at the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and

1980 African Cup of Nations The 1980 African Cup of Nations was the 12th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Nigeria. Just like in 1978, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Nigeria won ...

finals. He is well known for scoring an own goal in a

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

qualifying match against Tunisia. In September 2003, Godwin began working at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, CA as a teacher of a Recreation, Health, & Fitness class.

References

External links

*
Bio at College-Prep.org
1956 births Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Living people Nigerian footballers Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigeria international footballers 1976 African Cup of Nations players 1980 African Cup of Nations players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States San Francisco Dons men's soccer players San Francisco Greek-American A.C. players Association football defenders African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1978 All-Africa Games {{Nigeria-footy-defender-stub