ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) 鈥� Former Nigeria forward Michael Eneramo died after collapsing on the field during a friendly game on Friday.
The 40-year-old Eneramo 鈥渁ppeared to have suffered cardiac arrest five minutes into the second half of the said friendly match,鈥� the Nigerian Football Federation said, citing early reports.
Eneramo played the whole first half of the game in Ungwan Yelwa, Kaduna, on Friday morning.
鈥淭his is devastating. I am short of words at this moment,鈥� NFF general secretary Mohammed Sanusi said.
Eneramo made 10 appearances for Nigeria after turning down the opportunity to play for Tunisia, where he enjoyed a prolific club career and considered accepting citizenship.
He was nicknamed 鈥淭he Tank鈥� by fans of Esp茅rance Sportive de Tunis, which he helped to 鈥渁 number of silverwares,鈥� the NFF said. He also played in Turkey for Sivasspor, Be艧ikta艧 and Ba艧ak艧ehir among others.
Eneramo made his Nigeria debut against Jamaica in a friendly in February 2009, then scored his first international goal against Ireland in the next game three months later, also a friendly.
___
AP soccer:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
