Julius Aghahowa

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Julius Aghahowa
Julius Aghahowa.jpeg
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*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1998–1999 Bendel Insurance
1999–2000 Espérance
2000–2007 Shakhtar Donetsk 89 (32)
2001Shakhtar-2 Donetsk 3 (0)
2007–2008 Wigan Athletic 20 (0)
2008–2009 Kayserispor 29 (6)
2009–2012 Shakhtar Donetsk 10 (1)
2010–2011Sevastopol (loan) 10 (1)
Total161(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.

Contents

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

Early career

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

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

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

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

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

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalRef.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Shakhtar Donetsk 2000–01 Vyshcha Liha 872100108
2001–02 17721622510
2002–03 1014131173
2003–04 17662422710
2004–05 158531353316
2005–06 1302150201
2006–07 9310701 [lower-alpha 1] 0183
Total89322290038101015051
Wigan Athletic 2006–07 Premier League 60000060 [8]
2007–08 1400000140 [8]
Total20000000000200
Kayserispor 2008–09 Süper Lig 2964010346 [8]
Shakhtar Donetsk 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League 9130501 [lower-alpha 2] 0181 [8]
2010–11 1000000010 [8]
2011–12 0000000000 [8]
Total10130005010191
Sevastopol (loan) 2010–11 Ukrainian Premier League10100101 [8]
Career total158402990043103023359
  1. One appearance in Ukrainian Super Cup
  2. One appearance in UEFA Super Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year [9]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 200043
200152
2002127
200300
200451
200521
200630
200710
Total3214
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria Olympic 200041
Total41
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.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef.
13 February 2000 National Stadium, Lagos, NigeriaFlag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 2–02–0 2000 African Cup of Nations [10]
27 February 2000National Stadium, Lagos, NigeriaFlag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1–12–12000 African Cup of Nations [11]
32–1
41 July 2001 Al-Merrikh Stadium, Omdurman, SudanFlag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 3–04–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification [12]
57 October 2001 St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, EnglandFlag of Japan.svg  Japan 2–22–2 Friendly [13]
621 January 2002 Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, MaliFlag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1–01–0 2002 African Cup of Nations [14]
728 January 2002 Stade Baréma Bocoum, Mopti, MaliFlag of Liberia.svg  Liberia 1–01–02002 African Cup of Nations [15]
87 February 2002 Stade Amary Daou, Ségou, MaliFlag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1–11–22002 African Cup of Nations [16]
914 April 2002 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, ScotlandFlag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 1–12–1Friendly [17]
102–1
1116 May 2002 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of IrelandFlag of Ireland.svg  Republic of Ireland 1–02–1Friendly [18]
127 June 2002 Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe, JapanFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1–01–2 2002 FIFA World Cup [19]
135 September 2004 National Sports Stadium, Harare, ZimbabweFlag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 1–03–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification [20]
1426 March 2005 Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, NigeriaFlag of Gabon.svg  Gabon 1–02–02006 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.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef.
116 September 2000 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, AustraliaFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 2–03–2 2000 Summer Olympics [22]

Honours

Espérance

Shakhtar Donetsk

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References

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  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.
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