On 17 March 2001, a gangly 16-year-old Nigerian sat at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in a formal coat, jeans and canvas shoes. He was taking a flight to Mumbai and then planned to go to Goa in a bus. His heart was heavy after he had lost his father a few days back, his mind nervous with what he would find in India and his bag stuffed with football apparel.
At the immigration desk, he said: "My uncle has a business in India, so I'm going there to learn." He had the relevant paperwork, so it wasn't a big issue. Blindly, he got on a flight to a country which left him dazed: "When I got to Mumbai, I asked myself: What am I doing here?"
File picture of Omagbemi dudu. Sportzpics
Six years later, he would leave the country as one of the most celebrated foreigners to have played in Indian football — having scored 73 goals in 89 appearances for Sporting Club de Goa. Stints in Poland, Finland and Hungary followed before he returned to India — for more I-League and Indian Super League action.
Last year, he was with FC Pune City. This time, after being overlooked initially, he joined FC Goa mid-season and announced his arrival with a hat-trick against Mumbai City in a 7-0 demolition earlier in the season.
Before foreigners like Elano and Stiven Mendoza and Florent Malouda came to India, there was Dudu Omagbemi.
And this is his incredible story.
Leaving Nigeria
Young Dudu was always out on the street playing football: "I love the streets. That's where I learnt. Three-a-sides, five-a-sides and seven-a-sides. My father always used to tell me to get out of there and train on a proper field," Dudu told Firstpost.
Dudu doesn't have a rags-to-riches story. It's rather one of risk, adventure and the drive to make it big. His father used to work with an oil company and later on a ship — and 'would spend a lot of money' on the family and the education of his children. Until one day, he fell unconscious and never came back.
"He knew something would happen because he would drop hints all the time. When are you going abroad? When will you become professional? What do you want to become? I always thought he knew something would happen, and then it did," Dudu said.
"He was really strict. I used to get whacked for indiscipline but I miss his presence and guidance."
Dudu's academy had a connect with India and decided to send him abroad. It was going to be Istanbul in Turkey first, but then Goa in India also sounded exciting. So Dudu packed his bags and left. He had no idea what was in store for him.
Finding his feet in India
"I lied," Dudu admits, mentioning how he promised two teams that he would play in a tournament in Nigeria for them, despite having an early morning flight to India the very next day. Sadly, somebody did see him make a run for it at 0630 in the morning — however, it's something he can laugh about now.
"'Am I still alive or what?' I thought to myself when I reached India. My mind was in Goa, and when I got there the person who I was supposed to meet — Godspower Chibelis — had left for Kerala. I thought, 'No way!',"
Unbelievaby, Dudu then took a bus to Bengaluru and from there to Kerala. "Everyone was giving me these strange looks. I got into a rickshaw when I reached Kerala and I told the driver, 'Take me to the place where they play football'."
In times like these, Dudu thought about calling his mother and saying that he wanted to go back home: "Mom would say you're not coming back home. There's no father so you have to struggle." And these were calls made from landlines, on someone else's number, where his mother had to run to from the Dudu household to answer.
Dudu knocked on the door of a fellow African player Okey Irasmus at 4 am in the morning a few days after landing in India — where the massive but groggy player opened the door and welcomed him.
"The first thing he said was India is not a place for young players. That I should come back. But he took me to a place where all the African players stayed."
This is the pool of players from which Dudu made a mark. He was randomly picked by an agent from this group for a seven-a-side match and scored six goals in his first appearance. "The crowds went crazy when they saw this small boy score and attack like that. I put on my shoes — they were Pumas — and I was someone else immediately."
"Godspower found me there by chance. When he saw me, he thought I was Subair Muritala Ali, another Nigerian player who was supposed to arrive in India around the same time. But when he found out it was me, he asked me how much I was getting paid, and it turned out I was being cheated. He took me to Calicut first."
Six months later, Dudu felt like going back home during the rainy season. However, his friend Peter Chidi convinced him to go for a trial in Goa.
Goa glories
"When I first landed in Goa, I walked into the Sports Authority of Goa and said I want a team — it was like that — and then a man took me on a scooter to Mapusa and Sporting had just finished the game."
Dudu couldn't make a mark on his first trip to Goa, but would return to the same place to become the top-scorer in the now defunct National Football League.
"The second time, I had trials at clubs in Goa and I did really well in pre-season so they (Sporting) said they would sign me."
There were some issues with international transfers but they sorted it out with 'some money'. However, Dudu got kicking in India professionally.
This is where he also became incredibly street-smart, and after being exploited early in his career in India, he's so immersed in the culture now that it's hard to fool Dudu. Gone are the days when taxi drivers would drive him round and round just so they could charge him extra. Now he calls himself the first African in Goa to have an Indian driving license.
He also spews a string of Indian cuss words: "Oh I understand them all. Ch*tiya,bokach*da... all of them," he says before actually going on to list a dozen more.
Loan spells to Dempo and Salgaocar also followed before he got the call-up from Europe.
Finland, Hungary and Poland
Dudu won the Polish Championship — the Ekstraklasa (with Wisla Krakow), the Hungarian National Championship and the Hungarian Super Cup (with Debreceni) and the Finnish League Cup (with FC Honka) as well. For seven years, Dudu stayed away from India — but these were fruitful years.
He met a Finnish girl who is now his fiancée and studies in Scotland. "She keeps asking me to get back to studies," he smiles.
He's a resident of the country as well and talks candidly about life in a nation which sees months of round-the-clock sunlight and then darkness for an almost equal time.
"When it gets boring, I like watching movies. That's my favourite pastime. I wanted to buy a house there but it was too expensive. Even the BMW I have was gifted to me by my girlfriend's father and I can't wait to buy one myself."
Dudu has recently taken to watching South Indian comedy films with subtitles but his favourite movie remains Baghbaan.
On his European adventures, Dudu banged in 46 goals in 163 appearances in all competitions.
Madness of Africa in India
"Indians and Africans are the same. They play loud music, adjust to different cultures and learn languages quickly. It was easy for me to adjust in India because I was playing against big guys in Nigeria when I was very young. Also, in Africa, you lose, they may kill you... it's not like that here," Dudu says.
He was one of those African players who made their way to India in a big influx which happened a dozen years ago. Chidi Odeh, Ranti Martins, Junior Obagbemiro and Odafe Okolie are some of the names, from Nigeria only. But Dudu really made a mark in terms of being a typical African striker — strong, fast, good in the air and most importantly, prolific.
He has become a household name having played with the top Goa clubs and the two Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. He has become so international that even though he misses Nigeria, it's hard to see him every go back permanently.
"I settled my brother in Europe as well, and when I go back to Nigeria — I don't remember when I last went — my mum asks me to go back saying that my lifestyle has completely changed," he says.
He's got 106 goals including the six in the ISL — and at 30, he's got a few years ahead of him. But he's not just prolific striker now — Dudu has also assumed the role of ice-breaker-in-chief at any club. FC Goa's Thongkhosiem Haokip has three goals in the ISLso far but never speaks. Dudu was made his roommate and Haokip has suddenly started cracking jokes and abusing in Konkani as well.
"I like to be happy. I am always laughing. I think that's how most of us in Africa are. Whatever we go through, at the end of the day, I am laughing and find happiness somewhere."
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