Former Nigerian goalkeeper Joseph Dosu has revealed he narrowly escaped death in a road accident in Lagos on Wednesday, 2 October.
Dosu, a key member of the Atlanta 1996 Olympic gold-winning team, on Friday shared his ordeal on Facebook: “To God be the glory, another death escape by Grace and Mercy of God… I and my friend SM were at Enyo filling station after Ojodu Berger bus stop, to get fuel… when this MACK TRUCK with registration number LND 470 XX, fully loaded with IRON, left the road and crushed my car.”
This near-death experience is not Dosu’s first brush with tragedy. His promising football career was cut short by a serious car accident in 1997, which left him almost paralyzed.
After the 1996 Olympics, Dosu signed with Serie A club Reggiana but never made an impact due to his career-ending injury. He was just 23.
In an interview with Vanguard newspaper, he recalled the 1997 accident that ended his career: “What happened was that just after we played against Kenya… I felt I should see my family… I was driving to see them along Ikorodu Road at about 8 p.m. I did not know how it happened, all I know was that the vehicle veered off the road, and I was seriously injured. I give God the glory that I am alive today despite being on crutches.”
Despite the tragedies that has punctuated his life journey, Dosu Joseph’s football achievements are impressive.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigerian FA Cup in 1996, keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United.
As the only home-based player in Nigeria’s 1996 Olympic team, Joseph became the first-choice goalkeeper despite being the least experienced.
He played three more international games for Nigeria, including a 2-0 win against Burkina Faso in the November 1996 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The friendly against Morocco in December 1996, where he kept another clean sheet, and the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kenya in January 1997.
The match against Kenya was his last game for the Super Eagles.
Dosu presently runs a football club he named after himself.
The club competed in the recent 1XBET Cup.
