Ramon Azeez

Ramon Azeez

Personal information
Full name	Ramon Olamilekan Azeez [1]
Date of birth	(1992-12-12) 12 December 1992 (age 31) [1]
Place of birth	Abuja, Nigeria [1]
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) [1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Future Pro Academy
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2016	Almería B	78	(7)
2012–2017	Almería	71	(4)
2017–2019	Lugo	49	(2)
2019–2021	Granada	40	(2)
2021	→ Cartagena (loan)	16	(0)
International career
2009	Nigeria U17	7	(1)
2011–2012	Nigeria U20	9	(1)
2014–2019	Nigeria	6	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 May 2021

Ramon Olamilekan Azeez (born 12 December 1992) is a Nigerian footballer who played as a central midfielder.

He spent the vast majority of his professional career in Spain, starting at Almería B. In La Liga, he appeared for the first team of that club and Granada.

An international since 2014, Azeez represented Nigeria at the 2014 World Cup.

Club career

Almería

Born in Abuja, Azeez began playing football in the Future Pro Academy. In 2010 he agreed a move to UD Almería in Spain, but had to wait until July 2011 to complete the transfer. ^[2]

On 17 August 2012, after one full season with the reserves in the Segunda División B, Azeez made his debut with the first team: he came on as a substitute for Javier Casquero in the 55th minute of an away fixture against FC Barcelona Atlètic in the Segunda División (5–4 win), but was himself replaced after just ten minutes after being booked and, according to manager Javi Gracia, risking a subsequent sending off. ^[3]

Azeez was definitely promoted to the Andalusians' main squad on 28 June 2013, with the club having just promoted to La Liga. ^[4] He made his debut in the competition on 30 August, playing 23 minutes of the 2–2 home draw with Elche CF. ^[5]

On 21 December 2013, Azeez scored his first professional goal, the game's only in a win at Real Betis. ^[6] He repeated the feat in the second meeting between the two sides, scoring in the 94th minute for a 3–2 victory at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos. ^[7]

Azeez featured sparingly during the 2014–15 campaign, as Almería suffered relegation. In June 2015 he requested a transfer, ^[8] and after failing to sign a professional contract he was demoted back to the reserves in August. ^[9]

On 26 January 2016, Azeez returned to the main squad, seriously threatened with relegation, after agreeing to a professional deal. ^[10]

Lugo and Granada

On 13 July 2017, free agent Azeez signed with CD Lugo also of the Spanish second tier. ^[11] On 1 February 2019, he joined Granada CF of the same league on a three-and-a-half-year contract. ^[12]

On 21 September 2019, Azeez headed home from close range following an Antonio Puertas cross, in the first minute of a 2–0 home win over defending champions FC Barcelona. ^[13] In February 2021, he was loaned to FC Cartagena until the end of the second-division season. ^[14]

International career

Azeez appeared with the Nigeria under-17's at the 2009 FIFA World Cup, and was a regular in a team that finished runners-up. ^[15] Two years later, also as a starter, he participated in the U-20 World Cup. ^[2]

On 3 February 2014, Azeez was called up to the full side for a friendly with Mexico. ^{[16] [17]} He made his debut on 5 March, playing the second half of the 0–0 draw at Georgia Dome. ^[18]

Azeez was named in the provisional 30-man squad ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup on 6 May. ^[19] He was included in Stephen Keshi's final list for the tournament, ^[20] and made his debut on 16 June by starting in a 0–0 draw against Iran. ^[21]

In September 2019, Azeez was recalled to the national team after five years. ^[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 18 May 2021 ^[23]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Almería B	2011–12	Segunda División B	28	2	—		—		28	2
	2012–13	Segunda División B	31	3	—		—		31	3
	2015–16	Segunda División B	19	2	—		—		19	2
	Total		78	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Almería	2012–13	Segunda División	2	0	2	0	—		4	0
	2013–14	La Liga	30	2	2	0	—		32	2
	2014–15	La Liga	14	0	3	0	—		17	0
	2015–16	Segunda División	3	0	0	0	—		3	0
	2016–17	Segunda División	22	2	0	0	—		22	2
	Total		71	4	7	0	0	0	78	4
Lugo	2017–18	Segunda División	37	2	2	0	—		39	2
	2018–19	Segunda División	12	0	3	0	—		15	0
	Total		49	2	5	0	0	0	54	2
Granada	2018–19	Segunda División	13	0	0	0	—		13	0
	2019–20	La Liga	25	2	4	0	—		29	2
	2020–21	La Liga	2	0	2	0	—		4	0
	2021–22	La Liga	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		40	2	6	0	0	0	46	2
Cartagena (loan)	2020–21	Segunda División	16	0	0	0	—		16	0
Career total			254	15	18	0	0	0	272	15

International

Nigeria [24]
Year	Apps	Goals
2014	4	0
2019	1	0
Total	5	0

Honours

Nigeria U20

• U-20 Africa Cup of Nations: 2011

Nigeria U17

• FIFA U-17 World Cup runner-up: 2009 ^[15]

Individual

• FIFA U-17 World Cup Bronze Ball: 2009

References

1. Ramon Azeez at WorldFootball.net
2. Ramon Azeez sigue mostrando un excelente nivel en el Mundial sub-20 con Nigeria (Ramon Azeez keeps showing excellent level at the under-20 World Cup with Nigeria); Ideal, 12 August 2011 (in Spanish)
3. Festival goleador para abrir la Liga Adelante (Goalscoring party to open Liga Adelante); Marca, 17 August 2012 (in Spanish)
4. Dieciséis jugadores tienen actualmente contrato en vigor con la primera plantilla de la UD Almería (Sixteen players currently on contract with UD Almería's first team) Archived 1 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine ; UD Almería, 28 June 2013 (in Spanish)
5. Almeria denied first win Archived 10 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine ; ESPN FC, 17 August 2013
6. Azeez effort enough for Almeria Archived 3 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine ; ESPN FC, 21 December 2013
7. El Almería nunca se rinde (Almería never surrender); Marca, 4 May 2014 (in Spanish)
8. Azeez pide al club que escuche ofertas (Azeez asks the club to listen to offers); Mundo Deportivo, 16 June 2015 (in Spanish)
9. El club baja a Azeez al filial y Sergi piensa en José Ángel (The club demotes Azeez to the reserves and Sergi thinks of José Ángel); Diario AS, 10 August 2015 (in Spanish)
10. Ramón Azeez vuelve al primer equipo (Ramón Azeez returns to the first team); Marca, 26 January 2016 (in Spanish)
11. El Lugo ficha a Ramón Azeez (Lugo sign Ramón Azeez); La Voz de Galicia, 13 July 2017 (in Spanish)
12. Lamelas, Rafael (1 February 2019). "El Granada ficha a Azeez 'in extremis'" [Granada sign Azeez 'in extremis'] (in Spanish). Ideal. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
13. "Granada stun Barcelona to go top despite Lionel Messi's rescue effort". The Guardian. 21 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
14. Oludare, Shina (2 February 2021). "Ramon Azeez: Granada midfielder loaned to FC Cartagena". Goal . Retrieved 2 February 2021.
15. Audu, Samm (15 November 2009). "Switzerland U-17 1–0 Nigeria U-17: New comers Switzerland upstage Nigeria to win FIFA U-17 World Cup". Goal. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
16. Azeez, convocado por la selección absoluta de Nigeria (Azeez, called up by Nigeria's full team) Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine ; UD Almería, 3 February 2014 (in Spanish)
17. Okeleji, Oluwashina (10 February 2014). "Uncapped trio called up by Nigeria". BBC Sport . Retrieved 11 February 2014.
18. "Nigeria cancel out Mexico again". MTN Football. 6 March 2014. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
19. Okeleji, Oluwashina (6 May 2014). "World Cup 2014: Peter Odemwingie in provisional Nigeria squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
20. Okeleji, Oluwashina (3 June 2014). "World Cup 2014: Nosa Igiebor cut from Nigeria squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
21. "Goals dry up as Iran, Nigeria draw". FIFA. 16 June 2014. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
22. Okeleji, Oluwashina (26 September 2019). "Ramon Azeez: Granada's 'faith and belief' leads to Nigeria recall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
23. Ramon Azeez at Soccerway
24. "R. Azeez – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 October 2017.

External links

• Ramon Azeez at BDFutbol
• Ramon Azeez at Futbolme (in Spanish)
• Ramon Azeez at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ramon Azeez – FIFA competition record (archived)