{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Mathematical 7","provider_url":"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7","title":"Rangers International FC \u2013 more than a Football Club - Mathematical 7","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"fIDc8XnSib\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/rangers-international-fc-more-than-a-football-club\/\">Rangers International FC \u2013 more than a Football Club<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/rangers-international-fc-more-than-a-football-club\/embed\/#?secret=fIDc8XnSib\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Rangers International FC \u2013 more than a Football Club&#8221; &#8212; Mathematical 7\" data-secret=\"fIDc8XnSib\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Enugu_Rangers.jpg","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"description":"Last week I received an avalanche of reactions to what I wrote about my team and team mates in Shooting Stars International Football Club in 1976, when, as a key member of that team, we became the first club in Nigeria to win a continental Club championship \u2013 the Africa Cup-Winners Cup.Writing that piece gave me also the pleasure of reliving a truly momentous period in my life.Even my brother, Femi Adesina, a Senior Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria, sent me an SMS reminding me that he was right there with us in the team, and on a daily basis, as a young boy in 1976, when Shooting Stars FC camped in their country home that doubled as a guest house in Ipetumodu, close to Ile Ife.I remember him very well because since he was all around me for a while asking me questions, or just hanging around in apparent awe. We have maintained a great relationship since then and still stay in touch with one another.One person also wrote to me and told me (rather happily but shockingly) that, contrary to what I wrote about Rasaki Fadare, the goalkeeper had not joined Shooting Stars at the time from Water Corporation, and that he is alive and well, and is still living in Ibadan, Thank God!I sincerely apologise to Rasaki and to the public for the misinformation. I am consoled by the belief amongst the Yoruba that when a person is rumoured not to be alive, they, indeed, go on to live to a ripe old age. I pray that Rasaki lives to a ripe old one hundred, and even more, and in good health and prosperity.Otherwise, the story of Shooting Stars elicits nostalgic feelings about another club, whose success and rivalry drove Nigeria\u2019s football development during that period that has now brought the country\u2019s football to global attention.Without Shooting Stars and the contest with Rangers, with both teams metamorphosing into their tribal movements, football may have had to wait a little bit longer before attaining the present status, standard and followership that it has.\u00a0 In the summer of last year, over 300 Nigerians, mostly of Igbo descent, many of them ex-Rangers International Players spanning several generations since the formation of the club in 1970, assembled in Houston, Texas, for an event funded mainly by a Rangers International Patron, Benson Ejindu, to celebrate the 40thanniversary of the victory of the great club in 1977, exactly one year after Shooting Stars had set the pace in the same continental championship.I was probably the only \u2018outsider\u2019 that was invited to the event. I was actually invited as the Guest Speaker, to come, tell and re-live my experiences during that period playing against Rangers International, particularly in those two epic semi-final encounters in Lagos and Kaduna in 1977 that almost caused the start of a tribal war in Nigeria.\u00a0 Such was the depth of the rivalry between the two international football movements (for that\u2019s what they really were \u2013 movements of the Igbo and Yoruba tribal groups all over the world). It defined Nigerian football in those years."}