Michael Emenalo had not realised at the time, but as he sat on a plastic chair outside the drug testing room in Massachusetts’ Foxborough Stadium in June 1994 - still in his kit, and totally exhausted - Diego Maradona was trying to tell him something.

Maradona, who had also been selected for doping control, wanted to change shirts with his midfield opponent who, aged 28, and not a Nigeria regular, had just played one of the games of his life against Argentina. Emenalo was still lost in his thoughts and never realised. He passed his drugs test; Maradona tested positive for ephedrine, was sent home from the 1994 World Cup finals in disgrace and never played for Argentina again. That sweaty blue and white shirt would have been his last national team jersey, and quite a memento.

A small lesson in taking your opportunity in football wherever it arises, and one heeded by Emenalo after his playing days were finished, when he had a call from Avram Grant, one of his many former managers, to come to Chelsea in 2007 to be part of the Israeli’s backroom staff. Grant did not make it beyond the end of the 2007-2008 season but Emenalo stayed and has fulfilled a number of roles, a rare island of stability in a club that changes so much so often.