The death of former Nigeria international goalkeeper Peter Rufai at the age of 61 has been confirmed by Radio Nigeria and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
It was reported that he died after a brief illness at his residence in Lagos, where he has been since his retirement from football.
Winner of the 1994 AFCON with the Super Eagles and also a veteran of two world cups in 1994 and 1998 respectively, he was the first Nigerian goalkeeper to play abroad when he moved to Dragons of Benin Republic.
He later had stints in Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain before his retirement in 2000, bringing an end to his career which lasted over 20 years.
Rufai was the son of a tribal king in the region of Idimu. In early 1998, as his father died, he was allowed by his club (Deportivo) to return to Nigeria to discuss the succession, but turned down the status for himself.
