Patrick Olusegun Odegbami (born 27 August 1952), often shortened as Segun Odegbami, is a Nigerian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Early life

Odegbami was born on 27 August 1952 in Lagos, Nigeria to Jacob Adebola Odegbami (1911–2003) and Beatrice Bintu Abeke Odegbami (née Olotu) (1921–2018), one of their seven children. His father was an older half-brother of Nigerian author

Amos Tutuola Amos Tutuola (20 June 1920 – 8 June 1997) was a Nigerian writer who wrote books based in part on Yoruba folk-tales. Early history Amos Olatubosun Tutuola Odegbami was born on 20 June 1920, in Wasinmi, a village just a few miles outside o ...

. Odegbami was brought up in the northern city of Jos,

Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...

along with many other members of his extended family.

Playing career

Odegbami won 46 caps and scored 23 goals for the Nigeria national team which he guided to its first

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

title at the 1980 tournament in his homeland. Nicknamed ''Mathematical'', he was famous for his skill on the ball, speed and precision of his crosses from the right wing. He played for IICC Shooting Stars of

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

his entire career, from 1970 to 1984. His last game was the 1984 African Champions Cup final defeat to Zamalek of Egypt. The original source of the nickname "Mathematical" was because Segun Odegbami attended and graduated from Nigeria's premier technical institution; The Polytechnic, Ibadan where he studied Engineering.

Post-playing career

In 2007 Odegbami appeared on Nigerian Who Wants To Be A Millionaire hosted by Frank Edoho. He played a game for charity with Zebrudaya and donated his winnings to ''The Little Saints’ Orphanage'' on the Strong Tower Mission. In September 2015, Odegbami stated his intention to run for FIFA presidency. In June 2022, he launched a radio station called Eagles 7 Sports Radio 103.7 FM in Nigeria.

Personal life

Odegbami has a daughter who sings under the name

May7ven May Odegbami, known professionally as May7ven, is a Nigerian-born singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, actress, model and entrepreneur. Life May7ven was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. Her father is the former footballer Segun Odegbami. She debuted ...

. His two other brothers were also involved with football at other levels. His older brother Dele Odegbami played football in the old Western Region for his school (Ebenezer Grammar School, Abeokuta), the West Academicals, his university, UNN Nsukka, and briefly for Stationery Stores football club of Lagos. His other brother, Wole Odegbami, is also a former national team player, playing on the Nigerian national team for 11 years. He is a columnist in Nigeria.

Honours

Shooting Stars *

Nigerian Premier League The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the Nigerian football league system, for the Nigerian club-football championships. The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwindl ...

: 1976, 1980, 1983 *

Nigerian FA Cup The AITEO Cup (a.k.a. Challenge Cup, sometimes shortened to Fed Cup), is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states + 1 FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Nig ...

: 1977, 1979 *

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

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 ...

Nigeria *

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

: Silver medal

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Individual *

goalscorer: 1978, 1980 (with

Khaled Labied Khaled is a male Arabic name, and may refer to: People * Khaled Azhari (born 1966), Egyptian politician * Khaled Chehab (1886–1978), Lebanese politician * Khaled (musician), an Algerian Raï musician * DJ Khaled, a Palestinian-American DJ Surna ...

) with 3 goals *

Team of the Tournament: 1980

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odegbami, Segun 1952 births Living people Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Association football forwards Nigerian footballers Yoruba sportspeople Nigeria international footballers Sportspeople from Abeokuta Shooting Stars S.C. players 1978 African Cup of Nations players 1980 African Cup of Nations players The Polytechnic, Ibadan alumni African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1978 All-Africa Games 20th-century Nigerian people