Nigeria is one of the most entertaining football teams in the world and sometime commands the attention of FIFA just like former Dream Team goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph reveals, Softfootball reports.
Dosu was in goal when Nigeria won Olympic Gold at Atlanta in 1996. One of the biggest sporting events in the world and the football event was for the U-23’s with three overaged players allowed and that made the tournament unique.
The goalkeeper claimed when Nigeria defeated Brazil in the Semifinals, he did not know about the golden goal rule, which states that the first team to score during extra time immediately won.
This much he revealed as a guest on the play zone official podcast. He said:
We came back to do 15-15minutes not knowing it was a golden goal. I didn’t know but maybe the rest players knew about it. I didn’t know but (Austin) Okocha knew about it. So, when Kanu (Nwankwo) scored the winning goal, Okocha removed his jersey and threw it to the fans and I ran to him and said, we are still playing. He looked at me and said ‘Ode, match ti tun (fool, the game is over). Beating Brazil goes a long way. And we did not just beat Brazil, we did for FIFA to change the rules of the golden goal.
Nigeria went on to win the final 3-2 against Argentina and that remains the only football gold from the West African giant at the Olympics. Okocha is the uncle of current Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi, who starred at the weekend when Fulham lost 3-2 against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Here is the video of the Dosu interview as shared by Play Zone’s official podcast. Watch below.
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"I didn't know, but Okocha knew about it…"
Nigeria's goalkeeper at the Atlanta '96 Olympics games, Dosu Joseph reveals he didn't know about the golden goal rule. pic.twitter.com/QnORhRwmax
— @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) February 1, 2026Dosu like most fans watched the 35th African Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Nigeria won bronze after beating Egypt in the third-place match via penalties.
