Ex-Eagles Captain Oliseh Claims Late Coach Erico Cursed Nigerian Team Over 2002 World Cup ‘Betrayal’
Former Super Eagles Captain and midfield stalwart, Sunday Oliseh, has made a startling claim, suggesting that the late national team coach, Joe Erico, placed a curse on the Nigerian football team following the dramatic events surrounding the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
During a recent appearance on the Home Turf Podcast, the 51-year-old former Juventus and Borussia Dortmund player connected the alleged curse to the Super Eagles’ persistent underperformance in major competitions, including their current challenges in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Oliseh recounted that Erico, who served as an assistant coach, felt deeply betrayed by the administration after the team successfully navigated a difficult qualification campaign.
The coaching triumvirate of Erico, Stephen Keshi, and Shuaibu Amodu had taken over when the Eagles trailed Liberia by a five-point margin, a deficit few believed could be overturned.
Their eventual qualification for the tournament was a testament to their dedication. “Coach Erico made it very clear before his death that what they did to us in 2002, he sat down in his room naked and he cursed Nigeria,” Oliseh asserted on the podcast.
He fondly described Erico as a “great man, a lovely, passionate human being,” emphasizing the collective effort that pulled the team from the brink.
“He, Keshi, and Amodu took over when we were five points behind Liberia. Everyone had written us off, but we became united again.”
The former Eagles skipper himself was engulfed in controversy during that period. Despite leading the national side at the 2002 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), Oliseh was famously excluded from the World Cup roster for disciplinary reasons, a decision that prompted his early retirement from international football.
The captaincy mantle was subsequently passed to fellow midfield maestro, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha. Oliseh’s comments have ignited fresh debate among fans and analysts regarding the underlying causes of the Super Eagles’ decades-long struggles to achieve their full potential on the global stage.
