Oluwatimilehin Lawrence Adeniyi was most probably the biggest winner on Saturday night at Estadio Olympico when the Golden Eagles staged a dramatic comeback to beat Hungary 4-2 in their opening 2019 U17 World Cup.
On February 28, he broke the Fibula of his left leg in a test game with the Eaglets.
Three days later, ‘Timi’ cried his eyes out as he saw off his teammates for a pre-U17 AFCON tournament in Antalya, Turkey.
He underwent surgery in Abuja and did not kick a ball for three months.
A London-based agent working with him simply took to his heels thereafter.
But on a great night of victory Saturday ‘Timi’ completed his own personal comeback when he surged forward to score Nigeria’s third goal in the 81st minute just moments after Usman Ibrahim had restored parity with a thunderbolt of a header off a corner.
“God is great. It’s only He who could have made this possible,” declared an excited IB Sports Dreams of Abuja technical director Nnamdi Onuigbo.
“It is just magical.”
‘Timi’ began his hard road to recovery in mid-June with the help of devoted Eaglets medical team.
The Ilorin-born defender was told by the doctors he may even miss out on the World Cup in Brazil.
“All of us around him came together to encourage him that he could defy this diagnosis,” Onuigbo told SCORENigeria
“He was still in pains when the team resumed training camp in Abuja for the World Cup in August.
“But the coaches and the medical team managed him well.
“All this time, the message was for him to be positive, have a positive energy. He did not need to be too hard on himself and even his family would understand that he gave everything to make them proud.
“And when he started playing again, it was important to let him know he wasn’t competing with anyone. He only needed to be back 100%.
“That did his confidence a world of good.”
His rehabilitation also included a special diet packed with fruits and supplements to quicken his comeback.
The stars had first smiled on ‘Double Engine’ at the U17 AFCON zonal qualifiers in Niger in September 2018, when captain and the preferred rightback Suleman Abacha was dropped at the tournament venue after he did not pass the age test.
He will go on to score against Cote d’Ivoire, provide several assists and will long be remembered for a last-minute goalline clearance in the final to deny perennial rivals Ghana from picking the only ticket to the U17 AFCON in Tanzania.
And now his luck is shining again in the land of modern-day football.
