Barcelona Academy is well known and respected globally for the quality of players they produce,that quality is what played a role in Nigeria U-23 coach Samson Siasia handing invitation to a Nigerian who is presently on the team’s book.
Godswill Elohor Ekpolo was named among the foreign base professional for Nigeria’s U-23 team friendly games against Brazil, owngoalnigeria.com bring to you five facts you should know about the 20 year old.
1. He was born in Benin City, Edo state,Nigeria but moved to Spain with his family when he was six.
2. He joined Barcelona team at the age of 9 and played for their U-11 team where he played with his present teammate in the B team Sergi Samper.
3. Elohor is a full back, comfortable either on the right or left of defense but his versatility has also seen him play in Midfield or in the attack from wide areas.
4. Despite been a defender he is known and well respected for his goal scoring abilities from his right full back role where he is also respected for his knack to create chances for his teammates.
5. He has trained seven times with the main team since he came to the club.
6. The Nigerian was among the club’s captains when they won the league and UEFA youth league at U-18 level two years ago.
7. He is eligible to play for Spain but he has long pledged his allegiance to Nigeria where visa and club commitment issues stopped him from the AFCON U-23 championship in Senegal.
8. He missed the entirety of last season with an injury shortly after signing his first professional contract with the Blaugrana.
9. This season he has 19 appearances for the B team who were last season relegated to the third division in Spain.
10. So far only 5 players in the B team have more appearances than him.
