P.M. News (Lagos)
Lanre Olaleye
9 May 2002
Lagos — Super Eagles stand-in captain, Wilson Oruma, may have forced himself into coach Adegboye Onigbinde's World Cup plans after taking a big risk that nearly claimed his life in last Saturday's international friendly against the Harambee Stars of Kenya.
Oruma, who was a last minute inclusion into the Super Eagles squad to the Nations Cup in Mali under former coach, Amodu Shuaibu, missed the first two friendlies under Coach Onigbinde, prompting fears that the former Golden Eaglets captain may have been ruled out of the Super Eagles World Cup team.
Onigbinde did not only give Oruma that chance to prove his mettle against Kenya, but also place an enormous responsibility on the former Servette midfielder by giving him the honour to captain the team. P.M.Sport, however, scooped that the FC Sochaux playmaker led the team to battle despite being seriously sick.
Investigations revealed that prior to the match, Oruma was battling with fever but secretly hid his ill health from the technical crew for fear of being dropped from the match against Kenya, knowing full well that his dream of making the World Cup team rested on his performance against Kenya.
But unknown to many, the midfielder stretched himself to the limit in an attempt to impress and capped his effort with a glorious goal in the 3-0 routing of the Kenyans.
Unfortunately, the sickness took a severe toll on Oruma after the match as he became pale and weak. His condition, however, became worse during the reception held for the team at O'Jez Night Club last Saturday as the erstwhile Golden Eaglets attacker vomitted on two occasions during a chat with P.M.Sport.
Oruma, however, declared that the risk has been a worthy one, stating that his goal has helped to erase the sad memory of the Nations Cup in which he missed a crucial penalty that gave Senegal a 2-1 victory against the Super Eagles in the semi-final.
"After the goal, I kissed my shirt to show Nigerians that I can give them all I've got to ensure the team excels at critical periods", he said.
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