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Julius Aghahowa

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Julius Aghahowa
Aghahowa with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2010
Personal information
Full name Julius Efosa Aghahowa
Date of birth (1982-02-12) 12 February 1982 (age 42)
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

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Early career

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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 –
  1. ^ One appearance in Ukrainian Super Cup
  2. ^ One appearance in UEFA Super Cup

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[9]
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
Appearances and goals by national team and year
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.
List of international goals scored by Julius Aghahowa
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 3 February 2000 National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria  Morocco 2–0 2–0 2000 African Cup of Nations [10]
2 7 February 2000 National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria  Senegal 1–1 2–1 2000 African Cup of Nations [11]
3 2–1
4 1 July 2001 Al-Merrikh Stadium, Omdurman, Sudan  Sudan 3–0 4–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification [12]
5 7 October 2001 St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, England  Japan 2–2 2–2 Friendly [13]
6 21 January 2002 Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali  Algeria 1–0 1–0 2002 African Cup of Nations [14]
7 28 January 2002 Stade Baréma Bocoum, Mopti, Mali  Liberia 1–0 1–0 2002 African Cup of Nations [15]
8 7 February 2002 Stade Amary Daou, Ségou, Mali  Senegal 1–1 1–2 2002 African Cup of Nations [16]
9 14 April 2002 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, Scotland  Scotland 1–1 2–1 Friendly [17]
10 2–1
11 16 May 2002 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Republic of Ireland 1–0 2–1 Friendly [18]
12 7 June 2002 Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe, Japan  Sweden 1–0 1–2 2002 FIFA World Cup [19]
13 5 September 2004 National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe  Zimbabwe 1–0 3–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification [20]
14 26 March 2005 Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, Nigeria  Gabon 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.
List of international goals scored by Julius Aghahowa
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 16 September 2000 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia  Australia 2–0 3–2 2000 Summer Olympics [22]

Honours

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Espérance

Shakhtar Donetsk

References

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  1. ^ Hattenstone, Simon. "Bravo Bernardo, from duffer to dubber". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  2. ^ Lars Bøgeskov, "Jyder snydt for supertalent", Politiken, 27 August 1999.
  3. ^ "Aghahowa close to Wigan deal". TeamTALK. 29 January 2007. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  4. ^ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
  5. ^ "Striker Aghahowa makes Wigan exit". BBC Sport. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  6. ^ Julius Aghahowa came back to Shakhtar
  7. ^ Агахова объявил о завершении карьеры. www.ua-football.com (in Ukrainian). ua-football. 14 April 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Julius Aghahowa at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Julius Aghahowa". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Nigeria vs. Morocco". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Nigeria vs. Senegal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Sudan vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Nigeria vs. Japan". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Algeria vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Liberia vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Nigeria vs. Senegal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Scotland vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Ireland vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Sweden vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Zimbabwe vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Nigeria vs. Gabon". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Games of the XXVII. Olympiad". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
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