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 40)
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)
2007–2008 Wigan Athletic 20 (0)
2008–2009 Kayserispor 29 (6)
2009–2012 Shakhtar Donetsk 10 (1)
2010–2011 → Sevastopol (loan) 10 (1)
Total 158 (40)
National team
2000–2007 Nigeria 32 (14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Julius Efosa Aghahowa (born 12 February 1982) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was known for his pace and his back-flips when he scored goals. Aghahowa became the first foreign national outside the former Soviet Union, who was among the best scorers in the Ukrainian Premier League 2000–01 season.

Aghahowa played in Ukraine, England and Turkey during his career. Famous for his acrobatic goal celebrations, he performed six consecutive perfect backflips after scoring a goal against Sweden at the 2002 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 Aghahowa 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 being 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 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 PFC 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 Nigerian 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
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 - - 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 - - - - 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 - - 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. ^ 1 match in Ukrainian Super Cup
  2. ^ 1 match in UEFA Super Cup

International[]

Source:[9]
Nigeria national team
Year Apps Goals
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

Honours[]

Espérance

Shakhtar Donetsk

References[]

  1. ^ "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.

External links[]

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