Tijani Babangida facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Tijani Babangida

Personal information
Date of birth	(1973-09-25) 25 September 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth	Kaduna, Nigeria
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Youth career
	Arewa Textiles
	Niger Tornadoes
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1996	Roda JC	78	(26)
1991–1993	→ VVV-Venlo (loan)	34	(19)
1996–2003	Ajax	77	(20)
2000–2001	→ Gençlerbirliği (loan)	12	(2)
2001–2002	→ Vitesse (loan)	14	(1)
2002–2003	→ Ittihad (loan)	5	(0)
2003–2004	Changchun Yatai	29	(8)
Total		249	(76)
International career
1994–2004	Nigeria	36	(5)
Medal record Representing  Nigeria Men's Football Gold 1996 Atlanta Team Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Tijani Babangida (born 25 September 1973) is a former professional football player from Nigeria. He was known for being a very fast winger. People sometimes compared his playing style to that of another famous player, Marc Overmars.

Babangida played most of his career with Ajax in the Netherlands. He played in five different countries across three continents. In the Netherlands, he spent nine years playing for teams like Roda JC, VVV-Venlo, Ajax, and Vitesse. With Ajax, he won the Eredivisie league title and the KNVB Cup (a major football cup).

He also played over 30 games for the Nigerian national team. This included four games at the 1998 World Cup in France. He also played in two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. A big highlight was winning the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics with Nigeria. Babangida first played for his country in 1994.

Tijani Babangida's Club Career

Starting His Football Journey

Tijani Babangida was born in Kaduna, Nigeria. When he was 17, in 1991, he left his local club, Niger Tornadoes. He then signed with a Dutch team called Roda JC. This happened after he played very well at the 1991 All-Africa Games.

Roda JC loaned him to another team, VVV-Venlo, for the rest of that season. Babangida played six league games and scored three goals in the 1991–92 season. Even though Venlo's team moved down to a lower league, Babangida stayed with them for another year.

Breaking Through in Dutch Football

Babangida really started to shine in the 1992–93 season. He scored 16 goals, which helped Venlo get promoted back to the top league, the Eredivisie. The next season, Babangida went back to Roda JC. He quickly became a regular player for the team from Kerkrade. That season, Babangida played in 29 league games for Roda and scored 11 goals.

He stayed at Roda JC for two more seasons. In the 1995–96 season, Babangida scored 10 league goals. This made him the top scorer for his club that year. In 1995, Babangida played his first European club game. He scored a goal in the UEFA Cup against Olimpija Ljubljana. Roda won that match, but later lost to Benfica. His strong performances for both his club and country caught the eye of the big Dutch club, Ajax. Their coach, Louis van Gaal, wanted him to replace another Nigerian player, Finidi George.

Playing for Ajax

Babangida joined Ajax in the summer of 1996. In his first season with Ajax, he played in 29 league games and scored four goals. He was also important in Ajax's European games, scoring three goals. One of these was a winning goal against Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Champions League. This goal helped Ajax reach the semi-finals.

His second season with Ajax was very successful. He helped Ajax win another Eredivisie title. They were 39 points ahead of their rivals, PSV Eindhoven. Babangida scored 13 league goals in 26 games, making him the third-highest scorer for the club. Ajax also won the KNVB Cup that season, beating PSV 5–0 in the final. Babangida scored the first goal in that match.

However, things started to change for Babangida in late 1998. He missed the start of the season because of malaria. He slowly lost his spot in the starting team. The European season was also disappointing for Ajax. Babangida played in 18 league games that season, but only started seven of them. He did not play in the Dutch Cup final, which Ajax won again.

Babangida played even less after 1999. He only appeared in eight games the next year. He did not play any games in the first half of the 2000–01 season. Ajax decided to loan him out to a Turkish team called Gençlerbirliği for half a year.

Later Years in Football

His time in Turkey was not very happy, and the Turkish team did not want to keep him after the loan ended. Babangida wanted to leave the Netherlands. He almost signed with a French team, but then Ronald Koeman called him. Babangida decided to join Koeman at Vitesse instead, on another loan. He played regularly under Koeman. But when Koeman left for Ajax, Babangida lost his starting spot.

In September 2002, Babangida signed with Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. He joined other famous players like Bebeto there. But he left the team in November after disagreements with the coach. Babangida went back to Amsterdam to end his contract with Ajax. On 30 April 2003, his contract was finally ended. This was three years after he played his last game for the club.

As a player without a team, Babangida had a successful trial with a Chinese team, Tianjin TEDA. But the move was delayed because of a health issue in China. So, Babangida signed with another Chinese team, Changchun Yatai, which was in a lower league. He scored four goals in the second half of the season. This helped his team win the Jia B title. His good play also led to him being called back to the Nigerian national team. Babangida scored four more goals for Yatai the next season before he retired from football in 2004.

Tijani Babangida's International Career

Playing for Nigeria

Babangida was first called to play for the senior Nigeria national team in 1994. This was for a friendly game before the World Cup. He played in another friendly game, but he did not make the final team for the 1994 World Cup.

Babangida's chances to play for his country were sometimes limited. This was because he often played in the same position as another great player, Finidi George. However, he played a very important part in Nigeria winning the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Nigeria beat strong teams like Brazil and Argentina, who had many famous players.

Babangida also played in Nigeria's 1998 World Cup games. He played a total of 120 minutes, starting one game and coming on as a substitute in three others. He scored Nigeria's only goal in their second-round loss to Denmark. In January 2001, Babangida played in a special game in Japan. He played for a FIFA team against a combined team from Japan and South Korea.

African Cup of Nations Appearances

Babangida made his African Nations Cup debut in 2000. Nigeria had not played in the 1996 tournament for political reasons. They also missed the 1998 tournament because they were disqualified. In 2000, Babangida scored two amazing goals against South Africa. These goals helped Nigeria reach the final against Cameroon. The game ended 2–2, and Nigeria lost 3–4 in a penalty shootout. He played in all five of his team's games, starting two of them.

He then helped Nigeria qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals. He scored two important goals against Ghana on the last day of the qualification games. This helped Nigeria get the final spot for an African team in the World Cup. Babangida played in all of Nigeria's games at the 2002 Nations Cup. However, he was not chosen for the World Cup team, along with other experienced players. He was called back to the national team for training in 2004, but he did not make the final squad. The 2002 Cup of Nations was his last big international tournament.

Tijani Babangida's Personal Life

Tijani Babangida, sometimes called "TJ," was born in Kaduna in 1973. He came from a large family. He was married to Rabah, who is the sister of another famous footballer's wife, Daniel Amokachi. Two of his nine brothers, Ibrahim and Haruna, are also football players. Ibrahim played for five years at Volendam. Haruna became one of the youngest players ever to play for FC Barcelona when he made his debut in 1998 at age fifteen.

In 1997, Babangida appeared in a TV commercial for a bank. In 2004, he signed a contract to bring new footballs to Nigeria. In the same year, he opened a shopping mall in Kaduna. After he stopped playing professional football, Babangida started working as a football agent.

In May 2024, Babangida was involved in a serious traffic accident in Zaria. He recovered from his injuries.

Career Statistics

Club Games and Goals

International Games and Goals

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Babangida goal.

List of international goals scored by Tijani Babangida

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 June 1998	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Denmark	1–4	1–4	1998 World Cup
2	10 February 2000	National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria	South Africa	1–0	2–0	2000 African Cup of Nations
3				2–0
4	29 July 2001	Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, Nigeria	Ghana	2–0	3–0	2002 World Cup qualifier
5				3–0

Tijani Babangida's Achievements

• Summer Olympics: 1996 (Gold Medal)
• Eredivisie: 1997–98
• KNVB Cup: 1997–98, 1998–99
• Turkish Cup: 2000–01
• Jia B: 2003

See also

In Spanish: Tijani Babangida para niños