Former Super Eagles midfield star Sunday Oliseh is further expanding his range of talents with the upcoming launch of his new book, “Audacity To Refuse” which is slated for release on April 21.
The book is a collection of Oliseh’s 16-year football journey and details the everyday life of the professional athlete.
Oliseh wrote: “From the outside, the world only gets to see the professional footballer’s glamour moments and the seemingly easy lifestyle that comes with it. But the tough realities, extreme challenges, and sometimes near-death experiences that they have to live with day in, day out, will shock you.”
“Audacity to Refuse” traces the legendary Sunday Oliseh’s untold inside story from being a young footballer in Nigeria to starring for some of Europe’s greatest clubs. The book shares Oliseh’s rise to world-wide fame while dealing with innumerable trials and tribulations.
It is the story of a treasured sports icon who journeyed from childhood poverty to winning the Olympic gold medal for his fatherland, and multiple other trophies for clubs and country.
In the fascinating autobiography, Oliseh guides the reader through his time spent playing for top renowned football clubs, challenging notions of racism, confronting corruption in football administration in his country and gaining both respect and criticism for refusing to accept limitations placed before minorities.
Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh (born 14 September 1974) is a Nigerian football manager and former player. In his active playing career, he played as a midfielder.
A physical yet technically gifted defensive midfielder, Oliseh played for world-famous clubs such as AFC Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus F.C.
Oliseh played 63 international matches and scored three goals for Nigeria, and played at the Football World Cups of 1994 and 1998. Oliseh was a part of the AFCON-winning Super Eagles at Tunisia in 1994 as well as the USA ’94 team which qualified Nigeria for her first-ever FIFA World Cup appearance. He also won Olympic gold – Africa’s first in football – with Nigeria in 1996.
Sunday Oliseh was voted Africa’s third-best footballer in 1998 by CAF.
He is mostly remembered for scoring the winning goal in the group stage match against Spain in the 1998 World Cup, as Nigeria prevailed 3–2. A throw-in deep in the Spanish half was headed clear by Fernando Hierro – Oliseh ran and fired an explosive shot from 25 yards and took Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta completely by surprise. Despite captaining Nigeria during the 2002 African Cup of Nations, Oliseh was omitted from his country’s World Cup squad later that year for disciplinary reasons. After missing out on World Cup selection, Oliseh retired from international football in June 2002 for having led the team as they demanded unpaid allowances and dues owed them.
In March 2004, Oliseh was sacked by Borussia Dortmund after head butting teammate Vahid Hashemian while on loan at VfL Bochum allegedly over racial remarks. In January 2006, at the age of 31, Oliseh retired from professional football after playing a half-season for Belgian top club K.R.C. Genk.