To some elites, he was known for his versatility as a skillful midfielder who played for the country at local and international levels while some other sections of Nigerians see him as a super hero likened to the ones in fictional folktales.
Children born in the 70’s and 80’s have heard various stories about how he unleashes a bullet of a shot with his magical left foot which was how he got his nickname “Thunder”.
1. His short killed a goalkeeper by tearing his stomach into the net Owing to his powerful shots as his trademark, many believed it when the story was told that the former Queens Park Rangers player rifled in a shot that forced its way through an unnamed goalkeeper’s stomach and hit the back of the net whereby leaving the keeper dead.
2. His shot broke a goalkeeper’s hand and also tore the net While playing in England in the 50’s, the former Kano Pillars coach broke two different goalkeeper’s hands on separate occasions after he unleashed his trademark power-driver.
If the tenacity of the shot of the former national team coach could pierce through the stomach of a human being then tearing the net of a goal post is nothing close to that in comparisons.
While playing for Ibadan based Thunder X1, the force of Thunder Balogun’s shot tore the net as he scored a goal during a match. His son also attested to this claim in the same interview.
“Another two occasions are when his shot broke a goal keeper’s hand in England and the other when his shot tore the net in Ibadan stadium,” he said.
A story of such magnitude never left anybody in doubt about the capabilities of the Nigerian sensation which ironically never had a video clip as evidence to prove.
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