A former Nigerian international, Wilfred Agbonavbare has died at the age
of 48. He died on Tuesday in Spain after a battle with cancer. His
death came days after his former club in Spain, Rayo Vallecano and some
of his friends raised some money for his surgery.
He was part of the Super Eagles winning team that clinched the African Cup of Nations held in 1994 in Tunisia.
It has been gathered that, Wilfred breathed his last at Príncipe de Asturias
Hospital, Alcalá de Henares, in Madrid, the Spanish capital. About
21,106.90 Euros (over N4.5m) was raised for him by his former club in a
fund raising tagged FuerzaWilfred (Wilfred Force).
A percentage of
the money was intended to convey his children from Nigeria to Spain to
be with him during the operation, but this could not be achieved on time
before his death because of some paperwork and bureaucratic conditions.
The
deceased started his football career at the New Nigeria Bank before
moving on to Brentford FC in England. He was a local hero with Rayo from
1990 to 1996 before moving on to sign for Écija Balompie in 1997.
Things
went awry for him after he spent his life savings on his wife, who was
diagnosed with cancer. However, the woman died in 2011 and he had to
take to courier services and carrying bags at the airport to survive.
When he could not make ends meet because of his health conditions, his children were sent back to Nigeria.
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