From free-kicks and spot kicks he was as deadly as Ronaldo, Beckam and Lionel Messi.Įvery coach complained about his attitude to training and individualism, but none faulted his genius in front of goal. His shots at goal were always measured, deliberate and deadly accurate.
His body swerves were mesmerising and beautiful to watch. This is no exaggeration, but Ara was a dribbling and goalscoring machine. In all my life watching players dribble with the ball, not even Ronaldinho, or Jay Jay Okocha, two of the greatest exponents of the art of dribbling, compare to Ara. Yet, few coaches could let him out of their team because whenever he got the ball on the field to play, he never wasted it.
He was not your text-book team player, and a nightmare for coaches that did not know how to use him. He had an excuse not to do physical or tactical training. He avoided training sessions and would always be the last to appear on the training ground. He exercised as if he was being punished. Tunde was the most reluctant genius I knew. I don’t think Tunde loved football in the same breath as did Muda Lawal, or Rashidi Yekini who would almost go to bed with their balls by their side, trained for endless hours, and would chase after every ball when they lost it. He would leave defenders for dead on their feet with his lightening acceleration off the ball from a stand-still position. Tunde, on the ball, could go past any defender with a body swerve delivered from a distance. Many who knew his father swore Tunde inherited most of his skills that were out of this world from his old man. He was nonchalant to every part of training sessions except when taking shots at goal, or bending balls beyond the goalkeepers.
He was always at the rear of his jogging colleagues during warm ups. His fine athletic frame, tall and gangly, contrasted with everything he did. At training sessions, Tunde stood out like a sore thumb. The first time I physically saw him was in the Western Academicals.Īs a result of his reputation, I started observing him. He even played briefly for Water Corporation FC, the closest and fiercest rivals of Shooting Stars FC shortly after I joined the team. Tunde mesmerised opposing defenders everywhere he played in Ibadan then. So, stories abound of how his father would take out bets with friends about how and when, during a match, that his son would score a goal. His father had coached and taught him the art of dribbling. Tunde had both a reputation and a followership.
He had been mesmerising as a student of Olivet’s High School, Oyo, Aiyetoro Comprehensive High School and, Federal Government College, Ibadan. He was a member of that extremely talented Western Academicals football team that included Taiwo Ogunjobi, Chris Okoro, Best Ogedegbe, and so on.Īt the time, Tunde’s story was all over the Ibadan football circuit. I never got to meet his father, but I met the son when various sports teams were assembled and camped in preparation for the 1975 National Sports Festival. He was lanky, over 6 ft tall, with slightly bowed legs, handsome, with darting eyes and a happy smile plastered on his face. Tunde was a carbon copy of his father as I was told by those that knew both of them. His first son, Tunde, was one of those he coached. After spending many years in the UK, he returned to Nigeria and started to coach secondary school students in various schools in Western Nigeria and some clubs.