Legendary Nigerian goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, has sadly passed on at the age of 61, Afrosport reports.
The death of the former Super Eagles shot-stopper was confirmed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Thursday.
“Forever in our hearts, Dodo Mayana,” read a statement on the NFF official X platform. “We mourn the passing of legendary Super Eagles goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, a giant of Nigerian football and a 1994 AFCON champion.
“Your legacy lives on between the sticks and beyond. Rest well, Peter Rufai.”
Rufai, widely proclaimed as Nigeria’s best-ever goalkeeper, was an integral part of the team that won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 1994.
He was also the Super Eagles’ first choice goalkeeper during Nigeria’s maiden World Cup appearance in 1994 in the United States, and represented the nation at the next edition in France in 1998.
Fondly referred to as ‘Dodo Mayana’, he earned over 60 caps for Nigeria and scored his only international goal in a 6-0 home win against Ethiopia in an AFCON qualifying match.
Rufai spent his 20-year career playing for clubs across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
