Maccabi Haifa summer signing Ubong Ekpai is closing in on a loan move to Czech Republic outfit Slovan Liberec after scoring the winning goal in his first friendly for the team few hours after arriving Austria where they are camped.
Ekpai shunned a host of Israeli clubs chasing his signature after Maccabi Haifa made him available on loan opting for a move to the Czech side who are campaigning in the Europa league although talks are still underway.
However the forward showed Slovan Liberec the quality that brought about an uproar when he was snubbed by Nigeria Olympic coach in his 35 man preliminary list for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Famed for scoring Nigeria’s winner against Brazil in a 1-0 win for the U-23s against their South America counterparts, he re-enacted same scoring the winner in the 60th minute against Austria’s Blau Weiss Linz.
*Daniel Martins
