Samuel Okon

Last updated
Samuel Okon
Personal information
Full name Samuel Godwin Okon
Date of birth (1996-12-15) 15 December 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 El-kanemi Warriors
Number 33
Youth career
2013–2015 Greater Tomorrow Academy
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2015–2018 Akwa United
2019 Dinamo Vranje 2 (0)
2019– Bayelsa united
International career‡
Nigeria U-17 7 (2)
2015 Nigeria U-20
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 July 2019
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 July 2019

Samuel Godwin Okon (born on 15 December 1996 [1] ) is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Nigerian side El-kanemi Warriors. A left-back who can also play in center of the defense, he made his name when he became 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup champion with Nigeria. [2]

Contents

Club career

Born in Lagos, [3] Okon is a product of the Greater Tomorrow Academy where he plays until 2014. [3] In 2015, having already made his name in Nigerian team that won the U-17 World Cup a year earlier, he joins Akwa United F.C., a side which was at that time growing in ambitions. [4] He will play with the Promisse keepers a total of 4 seasons. [3] Immediately upon his arrival, Akwa wins his first ever title, the 2015 Nigerian FA Cup. To give the title an even greater dimension, the Federation Cup achievement results in their continental qualification, and to crown it all up, Akwa inaugurates its new home stadium. However, enthusiasm wasn't enough to succeed in their continental debut at the 2016 CAF Confederation Cup, their inexperience made them unable to overcome the first stage, however, that made the club focus domestically, where their investment paid off surprisingly well, making them conquer their first Nigeria Super Cup, and further winning the Nigerian Super Four. Next season marked the 7th consecutive season of Akwa in Nigerian top-flight, giving the club, and subsequently Okon and other key players, becoming regular members of Nigerian league elite. Akwa won their second FA Cup, and finished 6th in 2017 Nigeria Professional Football League thus making a new qualification for continental championships. This time, despite making them go through a series of dramatic qualifiers, they managed to get to the third round, the last before the group stage, and, as characteristic for the Promise keepers, a dramatic round was played, only that this time, Sudanese Al-Hilal went through on away goals advantage, leaving Akwa out of continental competitions. However, just as it had happened 2 seasons ago, disappointment on continental level made the team seek revenge at national competitions, and that resulted in Akwa show-off domestically, finishing 2018 Nigeria Professional Football League with their best result ever, 2nd place just 2 points behind champions Lobi Stars F.C. Somuel Godwin Okon takes part of a highly intense half-a-decade period in which a recently promoted Nigerian top-flight club far from the spot-lights, becomes a real title contender and a force to be seriously considered.

It is in this environment that Okon considers his period at the club may have ended and tries new challenges. In the winter-break of the 2018–19 Serbian SuperLiga, Okon makes his move to Europe by signing with Serbian top-flight side FK Dinamo Vranje. [3] At same transfer-window he is joined by another African, Senegalese Seydou Bocar Seck. Dinamo Vranje was relegated at the end of the season, and Okon left the club having made 2 appearances in the 2018–19 Serbian SuperLiga. [2]

International career

Okon was the captain [5] of the Nigerian team that won gold in style at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Undefeated, and with a scoring difference of 26:5, Okon was undisputed starter, having played all minutes of all 7 games in the tournament, and even scored on two occasions. [2]

Okon was then part of the Nigeria national under-20 football team that won the 2015 African U-20 Championship. [6] [7] The tournament qualified automatically Nigeria for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup being played later that year, however, Okon was among the players left out compared to the players that won the African title months earlier. [8]

Honours

Club

Akwa United

National team

Nigeria U-17
Nigeria U-20

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FK Javor Ivanjica</span> Serbian football club

FK Javor Ivanjica is a professional football club based in Ivanjica, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian SuperLiga, the top tier of the national league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akwa United F.C.</span> Nigerian football club

Akwa United Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first division of Nigerian football. The Godswill Akpabio International Stadium is the club's home stadium. In the 2020/21 season they were crowned champions of the league for the first time in their history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FK Dinamo Vranje</span> Serbian football club

FK Dinamo Vranje is a football club based in Vranje, Serbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FK Proleter Novi Sad</span> Serbian football club

FK Proleter Novi Sad was a football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia. They competed in the Serbian SuperLiga for four seasons between 2018 and 2022, before merging with RFK Novi Sad 1921.

Omega Alamadine Roberts is a Liberian professional footballer who plays as a center back for Serbian club Radnički Kovin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Adiyiah</span> Ghanaian professional footballer

Dominic Adiyiah is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bassey Akpan</span> Nigerian footballer

Bassey Abobo Akpan is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for NPFL club, Kano Pillars.

Ognjen Vranješ is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serbian SuperLiga club Čukarički.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed El Monir</span> Libyan footballer (born 1992)

Mohamed El-Monir Abdessalam, also known as Mohamed El Monir, is a Libyan professional footballer who plays for Libyan Premier League club Al-Ahli Tripoli and the Libya national team as a defender or midfielder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asisat Oshoala</span> Nigerian footballer

Asisat Lamina OshoalaMON is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for NWSL club Bay FC and the Nigeria women's national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest African female footballers of all time and one of the best in the world, she is one of the most celebrated African female footballers of all time, having won African Women's Footballer of the Year a record six times.

Samuel Emem Eduok is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a winger and striker for Croatian club Hajduk Split.

Andrija Majdevac is a Serbian footballer who plays as a forward for Hungarian club Debrecen.

Ngozi Ebere is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a defender for Norwegian club Arna-Bjørnar, and internationally for the Nigeria women's national team. She was a member of the Rivers Angels who won the Nigerian domestic double in 2014, and the Nigerian national women's team who won the 2014 African Women's Championship.

Filip Bainović is a Serbian footballer who plays for Spartak Trnava as a midfielder.

Zakaria Isa Suraka is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a forward for FK Rudar Pljevlja.

Nikola Stojanović is a former Macedonian football defender. He played on many positions in defense, or as a defensive midfielder.

Elizabeth Addo is a Ghanaian football forward who have played for Saudi Women's Premier League club Al Hilal. She is also the captain of the Ghana women's national football team.

The 2018–19 Serbian SuperLiga was the thirteenth season of the Serbian SuperLiga since its establishment. Red Star was the defending champions from the previous season.

Seydou Bocar Seck is a Senegalese football defender who plays for FK Dinamo Vranje in the Serbian First League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Nya</span> Nigerian footballer

Denis Nya is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for NPFL club, Akwa United.

References

  1. ↑ Samuel Okon at FK Finamo Vranje official website, retrieved 13-7-2019
  2. 1 2 3 4 Samuel Okon at Soccerway
  3. 1 2 3 4 Samuel Godwin Okon at srbijafudbal.com (in Serbian)
  4. ↑ Akwa United sign ex-U20 star, Samuel Okon by Kolade Oni, at goal.com, 3-8-2015, retrieved 19-1-2020
  5. ↑ Samuel Godwin Okon: 1996 - Nigeria at Andrea Bracco, 31-10-2013, retrieved 13-7-2019 (in Italian)
  6. ↑ Samuel Okon at zerozero.pt
  7. ↑ NIGERIA NAME FINAL AYC SQUAD at africanfootball.com, 26-2-2015, retrieved 13-7-2019
  8. ↑ Man City duo named in Nigeria U-20 World Cup squad at BBC.com, 16-5-2015, retrieved 13-7-2019
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.