Mutiu Adepoju

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title: "Mutiu Adepoju" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1970-births", "living-people", "footballers-from-ibadan", "yoruba-sportspeople", "nigerian-men's-footballers", "men's-association-football-midfielders", "nigeria-professional-football-league-players", "shooting-stars-s.c.-players", "la-liga-players", "segunda-división-players", "segunda-división-b-players", "tercera-división-players", "real-madrid-castilla-footballers", "racing-de-santander-players", "real-sociedad-footballers", "ud-salamanca-players", "cd-eldense-footballers", "saudi-pro-league-players", "al-ittihad-club-(jeddah)-players", "süper-lig-players", "samsunspor-footballers", "cypriot-first-division-players", "ael-limassol-players", "nigeria-men's-under-20-international-footballers", "nigeria-men's-international-footballers", "1992-african-cup-of-nations-players", "1994-african-cup-of-nations-players", "1994-fifa-world-cup-players", "1995-king-fahd-cup-players", "1998-fifa-world-cup-players", "2000-african-cup-of-nations-players", "2002-fifa-world-cup-players", "africa-cup-of-nations–winning-players", "nigerian-expatriate-men's-footballers", "expatriate-men's-footballers-in-spain", "expatriate-men's-footballers-in-saudi-arabia", "expatriate-men's-footballers-in-turkey", "expatriate-men's-footballers-in-cyprus", "nigerian-expatriate-sportspeople-in-spain", "nigerian-expatriate-sportspeople-in-saudi-arabia", "nigerian-expatriate-sportspeople-in-turkey", "nigerian-expatriate-sportspeople-in-cyprus"] description: "Nigerian footballer (born 1970)" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutiu_Adepoju" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Nigerian footballer (born 1970) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox football biography"]

Field	Value
name	Mutiu Adepoju
image	MutiuAdepoju.JPG
caption	Adepoju playing with Real Madrid veterans
fullname	Mutiu Adepoju
birth_date
birth_place	Ibadan, Nigeria
height	1.80 m
position	Midfielder
youthyears1	1986–1987
youthclubs1	Femo Scorpions
years1	1988
years2	1989
years3	1989–1992
years4	1992–1996
years5	1996–2000
years6	2000–2001
years7	2001–2002
years8	2002–2003
years9	2003–2004
years10	2004–2005
years11	2005–2006
clubs1	Shooting Stars
clubs2	Julius Berger
clubs3	Real Madrid B
clubs4	Racing Santander
clubs5	Real Sociedad
clubs6	Al-Ittihad
clubs7	Salamanca
clubs8	Samsunspor
clubs9	AEL Limassol
clubs10	Eldense
clubs11	Cobeña
caps3	67
caps4	124
caps5	88
caps6	10
caps7	14
caps8	8
caps9	5
goals3	27
goals4	25
goals5	8
goals6	2
goals7	0
goals8	0
goals9	1
nationalyears1	1990–2002
nationalteam1	Nigeria
nationalcaps1	48
nationalgoals1	6
::

| name = Mutiu Adepoju | image = MutiuAdepoju.JPG | caption = Adepoju playing with Real Madrid veterans | fullname = Mutiu Adepoju | birth_date = | birth_place = Ibadan, Nigeria | height = 1.80 m | position = Midfielder | currentclub = | youthyears1 = 1986–1987 | youthclubs1 = Femo Scorpions | years1 = 1988 | years2 = 1989 | years3 = 1989–1992 | years4 = 1992–1996 | years5 = 1996–2000 | years6 = 2000–2001 | years7 = 2001–2002 | years8 = 2002–2003 | years9 = 2003–2004 | years10 = 2004–2005 | years11 = 2005–2006 | clubs1 = Shooting Stars | clubs2 = Julius Berger | clubs3 = Real Madrid B | clubs4 = Racing Santander | clubs5 = Real Sociedad | clubs6 = Al-Ittihad | clubs7 = Salamanca | clubs8 = Samsunspor | clubs9 = AEL Limassol | clubs10 = Eldense | clubs11 = Cobeña | caps1 = | caps2 = | caps3 = 67 | caps4 = 124 | caps5 = 88 | caps6 = 10 | caps7 = 14 | caps8 = 8 | caps9 = 5 | caps10 = | caps11 = | totalcaps = | goals1 = | goals2 = | goals3 = 27 | goals4 = 25 | goals5 = 8 | goals6 = 2 | goals7 = 0 | goals8 = 0 | goals9 = 1 | goals10 = | goals11 = | totalgoals = | nationalyears1 = 1990–2002 | nationalteam1 = Nigeria | nationalcaps1 = 48 | nationalgoals1 = 6 | manageryears1 = | managerclubs1 = Mutiu Adepoju (born 22 December 1970) is a former Nigerian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

He spent most of his career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 175 games and 22 goals over the course of seven seasons and representing mainly Racing de Santander and Real Sociedad.

A Nigeria international for 12 years, Adepoju appeared for the country in three World Cups and as many Africa Cup of Nations.

Club career

Born in Ibadan, Adepoju (also called by his first name in Spain) left Nigeria in 1989 to join Real Madrid, but never made it past their reserves. The 1992–93 season was impressive as he scored 11 Segunda División goals to help Racing de Santander return to La Liga, and he continued to feature regularly for the Cantabrians over the next three years.

Mutiu left for Real Sociedad for 1996–97 but, after a solid first campaign, struggled heavily to hold down a regular place with the Basques. In 2001–02 he represented Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), but quickly returned to Spain where he featured rarely for second division club UD Salamanca.

After two more weak years, in Turkey and Cyprus, Adepoju retired in 2006 in Spain's lower leagues. He subsequently returned to his first team Shooting Stars FC, as general manager.

International career

Adepoju was a member of the Nigeria U20 team that played in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. His brace against the United States (which featured Kasey Keller in goal) in the semi-finals ensured a final against Portugal, a 2–0 defeat.

Adepoju went on to collect 48 caps for the full side, with six goals. He made his debut against Togo in August 1990, but his breakthrough came during the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations, and he helped his nation win the next continental edition.

Adepoju was part of Nigeria's squads for the FIFA World Cups in 1994, 1998 – where he scored in a 3–2 win against Spain– and 2002, although he did not play in the latter tournament.

Career statistics

International

::data[format=table title="Appearances and goals by national team and year{{NFT player|13861|access-date=7 July 2025}}"]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals	Total	48	6
Nigeria	1990	3	0
1991	1	0
1992	7	1
1993	3	0
1994	10	2
1995	5	1
1996	2	0
1997	4	1
1998	6	1
1999	2	0
2000	4	0
2002	1	0
::

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

::data[format=table title="List of international goals scored by Mutiu Adepoju"]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1		Stade de l'Amitié, Dakar, Senegal		1–0	1–2	1992 African Cup of Nations
2		El Menzah Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia		2–0	3–0	1994 African Cup of Nations
3		Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, Nigeria		5–1	5–1	Friendly
4		King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia		2–0	3–0	1995 King Fahd Cup
5		Stade du 4 Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso		1–0	2–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
6		Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France		1–1	3–2	1998 FIFA World Cup
::

References

References

1. "Mutiu, Adepoju Mutiu - Footballer".
2. [https://www.realracingclub.es/club/historia/historia-descenso-a-2b-y-ascenso-a-primera HISTORIA / Cap. 12 Descenso a 2ªB y ascenso a Primera (HISTORY / Ch. 12 Relegation to 2ªB and promotion to ''Primera'')]; at Racing Santander {{in lang. es
3. [https://www.eldiariomontanes.es/deportes/racing/ascenso-inolvidable-20180629113835-nt.html Aquel ascenso inolvidable (That unforgettable promotion)]; [[El Diario Montañés]], 29 June 2018 {{in lang. es
4. [https://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4093/nigerian-football/2012/10/01/3415841/mutiu-adepoju-shooting-stars-will-recruit-only-six-players Mutiu Adepoju: Shooting Stars will recruit only six players]; [[Goal (website). Goal]], 1 October 2012
5. [https://www.rsssf.org/tables/92a.html African Nations Cup 1992]; at [[RSSSF]]
6. [https://www.rsssf.org/tables/94a.html African Nations Cup 1994]; at RSSSF
7. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/soccer/longterm/worldcup98/results/articles/nigeria_spain.htm Nigeria rallies to stun Spain with late goal]; [[The Washington Post]], 13 June 1998
8. {{NFT player. 13861
9. "Ghana vs. Nigeria".
10. "Nigeria vs. Gabon".
11. "Nigeria vs. Georgia".
12. "Nigeria vs. Japan".
13. "Burkina Faso vs. Nigeria".
14. "Spain vs. Nigeria".

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