Julius Aghahowa
![]() Aghahowa with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2010 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Julius Efosa Aghahowa | ||
Date of birth | 12 February 1982 | ||
Place of birth | Benin City, Nigeria | ||
Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
Police Machines | |||
Bendel Insurance | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1998–1999 | Bendel Insurance | ||
1999–2000 | Espérance | ||
2000–2007 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 89 | (32) |
2001 | → Shakhtar-2 Donetsk | 3 | (0) |
2007–2008 | Wigan Athletic | 20 | (0) |
2008–2009 | Kayserispor | 29 | (6) |
2009–2012 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 10 | (1) |
2010–2011 | → Sevastopol (loan) | 10 | (1) |
Total | 161 | (40) | |
International career | |||
2000–2007 | Nigeria | 32 | (14) |
2000 | Nigeria Olympic | 4 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Julius Efosa Aghahowa (born 12 February 1982) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Aghahowa played in Ukraine, England and Turkey during his career. Known for his pace and acrobatic goal celebrations, he performed six consecutive backflips after scoring a goal against Sweden at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[1]
Club career
[edit]Early career
[edit]Born in Benin City, Aghahowa began his career with the Police Machines, a local police team, and went on to Bendel Insurance. He signed for Danish lower division team Herning Fremad before the 1999 African Youth Championship, but performed so well there that he wanted to play for a bigger club. He ended up with the Tunisian champions, Espérance, when he procured a contract with the Tunisians which predated the Herning Fremad contract.[2]
Shakhtar Donetsk
[edit]In the middle of the 2000–01 season, Aghahowa transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk, who soon won the Ukrainian league championship. Aghahowa won the game for Shakhtar in the 2006 Ukrainian Championship against Dynamo Kyiv, heading the winner in extra-time, and was named man of the match. His performance in the final has been widely seen as the "saving grace" of his career at Shakhtar, with his future at the club looking bleak earlier in the season. After playing over six years for Shakhtar Donetsk, Aghahowa left for Wigan Athletic.
Wigan Athletic
[edit]His work permit was passed and on 30 January 2007, he signed for Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee,[3] playing his first Premiership match for them against Portsmouth on 3 February.[4] Aghahowa did not score for Wigan in one and a half years and on 20 June 2008, he signed for Kayserispor.[5]
Return to Shakhtar Donetsk
[edit]On 4 July 2009, Shakhtar Donetsk signed Aghahowa on a free transfer after he was released by Kayserispor. He had already played for Shakhtar from 2000 to 2007[6] and declared a great desire to play for his old club. However, he could not find himself as a regular starter and was loaned out to Sevastopol at the beginning of the 2010–11 season. He was released at the end of the 2011–12 season, announcing his retirement from the game in April 2013.[7]
International career
[edit]Aghahowa played 32 matches and scored 14 goals for the Nigeria national team, including their only goal at the 2002 World Cup against Sweden. He became Nigeria's top goalscorer at the 2002 African Nations Cup. He also played at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | Ref. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Shakhtar Donetsk | 2000–01 | Vyshcha Liha | 8 | 7 | 2 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 10 | 8 | |||
2001–02 | 17 | 7 | 2 | 1 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 25 | 10 | |||||
2002–03 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 17 | 3 | |||||
2003–04 | 17 | 6 | 6 | 2 | – | 4 | 2 | – | 27 | 10 | |||||
2004–05 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 3 | – | 13 | 5 | – | 33 | 16 | |||||
2005–06 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 5 | 0 | – | 20 | 1 | |||||
2006–07 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | 7 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 18 | 3 | ||||
Total | 89 | 32 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 150 | 51 | – | ||
Wigan Athletic | 2006–07 | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 0 | [8] | ||
2007–08 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | [8] | ||||
Total | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | – | ||
Kayserispor | 2008–09 | Süper Lig | 29 | 6 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 34 | 6 | [8] | ||
Shakhtar Donetsk | 2009–10 | Ukrainian Premier League | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 18 | 1 | [8] | |
2010–11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | [8] | |||
2011–12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | [8] | |||
Total | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 1 | – | ||
Sevastopol (loan) | 2010–11 | Ukrainian Premier League | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 10 | 1 | [8] | |||
Career total | 158 | 40 | 29 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 233 | 59 | – |
- ^ One appearance in Ukrainian Super Cup
- ^ One appearance in UEFA Super Cup
International
[edit]National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Nigeria | 2000 | 4 | 3 |
2001 | 5 | 2 | |
2002 | 12 | 7 | |
2003 | 0 | 0 | |
2004 | 5 | 1 | |
2005 | 2 | 1 | |
2006 | 3 | 0 | |
2007 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 32 | 14 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Nigeria Olympic | 2000 | 4 | 1 |
Total | 4 | 1 |
- Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Aghahowa goal.
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 February 2000 | National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria | ![]() | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2000 African Cup of Nations | [10] |
2 | 7 February 2000 | National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria | ![]() | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2000 African Cup of Nations | [11] |
3 | 2–1 | ||||||
4 | 1 July 2001 | Al-Merrikh Stadium, Omdurman, Sudan | ![]() | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | [12] |
5 | 7 October 2001 | St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, England | ![]() | 2–2 | 2–2 | Friendly | [13] |
6 | 21 January 2002 | Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 African Cup of Nations | [14] |
7 | 28 January 2002 | Stade Baréma Bocoum, Mopti, Mali | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 African Cup of Nations | [15] |
8 | 7 February 2002 | Stade Amary Daou, Ségou, Mali | ![]() | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2002 African Cup of Nations | [16] |
9 | 14 April 2002 | Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, Scotland | ![]() | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly | [17] |
10 | 2–1 | ||||||
11 | 16 May 2002 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly | [18] |
12 | 7 June 2002 | Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe, Japan | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup | [19] |
13 | 5 September 2004 | National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe | ![]() | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [20] |
14 | 26 March 2005 | Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, Nigeria | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [21] |
- Scores and results list Nigeria Olympic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Aghahowa goal.
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 September 2000 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia | ![]() | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2000 Summer Olympics | [22] |
Honours
[edit]Espérance
Shakhtar Donetsk
- Ukrainian Premier League: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010
- Ukrainian Cup: 2002, 2004
References
[edit]- ^ Hattenstone, Simon. "Bravo Bernardo, from duffer to dubber". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
- ^ Lars Bøgeskov, "Jyder snydt for supertalent", Politiken, 27 August 1999.
- ^ "Aghahowa close to Wigan deal". TeamTALK. 29 January 2007. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
- ^ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
- ^ "Striker Aghahowa makes Wigan exit". BBC Sport. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
- ^ Julius Aghahowa came back to Shakhtar
- ^ Агахова объявил о завершении карьеры. www.ua-football.com (in Ukrainian). ua-football. 14 April 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g Julius Aghahowa at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ "Julius Aghahowa". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ "Nigeria vs. Morocco". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Nigeria vs. Senegal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Sudan vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Nigeria vs. Japan". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Algeria vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Liberia vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Nigeria vs. Senegal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Scotland vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Ireland vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Sweden vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Zimbabwe vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Nigeria vs. Gabon". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Games of the XXVII. Olympiad". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
External links
[edit]- Julius Aghahowa at Soccerbase
- Nigerian Players
- Time for Aghahowa to stop blowing hot and cold
- Julius Aghahowa at UAF and archived FFU page (in Ukrainian)