'People are still angry with me' - Michael Emenalo explains why he forgot to swap shirts with Maradona

Michael Emenalo is one of the most sought after sporting directors in the world as he carved out a reputation as a talent spotter having discovered the likes of Mohamed Salah, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

Emenalo was the sporting director of Chelsea at the height of their Premier League powers, helping them to European and domestic trophies, and is now the director of football of the Saudi Pro League. 

His career has taken him all over the world and he was not a bad player either during his playing days, having represented the Super Eagles at the 1994 World Cup and was part of the squad to the FIFA Confederations Cup forerunner, King Fahd Cup. 

Named on the Nigeria roster as cover for first choice left-back Benedict Iroha,  Emenalo played his first game in the World Cup against a star-studded Argentina team with the legendary Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Claudio Caniggia, Diego Simeone and Fernando Redondo in the starting lineup. 

The talent spotter has revealed that he forgot to swap shirts with Argentina captain Maradona when they ended up in a testing room after the game at Foxboro Stadium.

"I can't believe you just brought that up. I have people who are still angry with me for giving up on that shirt," Emenalo told 
CNN African Voices Playmakers. 

"We were picked up after the game to go in for the drug testing and this is what happened. We were alone in the corridor and waiting to do the business and then drug tested. 

"The great man was there with the shirt in his hand and I'm standing there worried about my performance of the day which didn't go well and losing the match, so I didn't really pay attention.

"Looking back now I can see on his face thinking, 'is this guy for real, you have got his shirt in my hand'. It is who I am, at the time the shirt wasn't a priority and I understood that shirt sold recently for a lot of money."

During Emenalo's time with Chelsea, he oversaw the arrivals of Super Eagles stars Victor Moses and Kenneth Omeruo, and attempted to sign ex-Golden Eaglets sensation Isaac Success.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: theguardian.com

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