Nigeria ranks among one of the highest exporter of footballers abroad, but very few are goalkeepers hence seeing a Nigerian shot stopper in a foreign team feels like different from the norm, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.
We pick five of the goalkeepers who are pushing to cement their spot at their respective teams, and bring to an end the concept of not believing in goalkeepers coming from the West African country.
1. Victor Egboh – Signed from Nigeria by Spanish second division side Real Oviedo. A positive spell on loan helped the 21 year old to be a part of the first team who are pushing for promotion to the LaLiga. He is presently the third choice goalkeeper of the first team.
2. Chijioke Aniagboso – It has taken a while for the goalkeeper who was in goal for the Nigeria U20 team at the last world cup to find his feet in Europe. He moved to fellow Ukrainian side Chornomorets in the summer from Polissya, and already made his top flight debut in the 1-1 draw against LNZ . Now firmly established as the second choice of the team.
3. Joshua Oluwayemi – The 23 year old former Tottenham Hotspur youth prospect now plays in Australia for top division side Wellington. He was a part of the Nigerian team largely made up of players from the domestic league who played against Mexico in a friendly game three year ago.
Since his move to Australia he has played in 8 consecutive league games. Holding onto his position as the first choice goalkeeper of the team.
4. Hassan Muhammed – Not many Nigerian footballers start their career from the Gulf region, but that is where 18 year old Hassan is pushing to be the first choice of Qatari side Al Ain. Already he has made the step up to the main team from the U19 within a space of just three months.
5. Ajia Yakub – 19 year old Yakub is enjoying his breakthrough season in Europe with Serbian side Novi Pazar. He made the step up from the U19 to the first team, where he made four consecutive starts from the 23rd of November to 15th of December.
His brief run as the first choice of the team was halted when he conceded seven goals against league giants Red Star. He was dropped to the bench for the 3-1 win away to Mladost last weekend.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
