Chidozie Awaziem
Awaziem with Nigeria in 2017
Personal information
Full name Chidozie Collins Awaziem[1]
Date of birth (1997-01-01) 1 January 1997 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth Enugu, Nigeria[2]
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Boavista
Number 5
Youth career
2011–2014 El-Kanemi Warriors
2014–2015 Porto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2019 Porto B 62 (2)
2016–2021 Porto 10 (0)
2017–2018 → Nantes (loan) 22 (1)
2019 → Çaykur Rizespor (loan) 16 (0)
2019–2020 → Leganés (loan) 26 (0)
2020–2021 → Boavista (loan) 27 (0)
2021– Boavista 17 (0)
2021–2022 → Alanyaspor (loan) 18 (1)
2022–2023 → Hajduk Split (loan) 28 (5)
International career‡
2017– Nigeria 30 (1)
Medal record
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place 2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:40, 16 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:40, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

Chidozie Collins Awaziem // ⓘ(born 1 January 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Primeira Liga club Boavista.

Club career

Porto

Born in Enugu, Awaziem joined FC Porto from Portugal in 2014, where he spent his last year as a junior and won the corresponding league title.[3] His senior debut was made with the B team in the Segunda Liga.[4]

On 27 January 2016, aged 19, Awaziem appeared in his first competitive game with the main squad, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 away loss against C.D. Feirense in the Taça da Liga.[5][6] His maiden appearance in the Primeira Liga took place on 12 February, as he again started in a 2–1 win at S.L. Benfica due to an injury crisis to the defensive sector.[7][8]

Awaziem was loaned to French club FC Nantes for the 2017–18 season.[9] His first match in Ligue 1 took place on 6 August 2017, when he came on as a 74th-minute substitute in a 3–0 defeat away to Lille OSC.[10]

In January 2019, Awaziem joined Çaykur Rizespor on loan until the end of the campaign.[11] On 15 August, in the same situation, he moved to CD Leganés.[12]

Boavista

Still owned by Porto, Awaziem signed a temporary deal with Boavista F.C. – also in Portugal and the city of Porto – ahead of 2020–21, with the obligation of a permanent four-year contract on 30 June 2021.[13] He returned to the Turkish Süper Lig on 8 September that year, being loaned to Alanyaspor.[14]

On 1 August 2022, Awaziem was loaned to HNK Hajduk Split with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.[15]

International career

Aged 19, Awaziem was called up by Nigeria for friendlies against Mali and Luxembourg, on 27 and 31 May 2016.[16] He made his senior debut on 1 June 2017, starting in a 3–0 win over Togo in Paris in another exhibition game.[17]

Awaziem was included in Gernot Rohr's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia,[18] being an unused player as the tournament ended in group stage exit. He was also picked for the 2019[19] and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 22 October 2023[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Porto B 2015–16 LigaPro 24 2 — — — 24 2
2016–17 LigaPro 35 0 — — — 35 0
2018–19 LigaPro 3 0 — — — 3 0
Total 62 2 — — — 62 2
Porto 2015–16 Primeira Liga 10 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 13 1
2016–17 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2018–19 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 1 0 1[c] 0 2 0
Total 10 0 2 1 2 0 1 0 15 1
Nantes (loan) 2017–18 Ligue 1 22 1 0 0 1 0 — 23 1
Çaykur Rizespor (loan) 2018–19 Süper Lig 16 0 0 0 — — 16 0
Leganés (loan) 2019–20 La Liga 26 0 3 0 — — 29 0
Boavista (loan) 2020–21 Primeira Liga 27 0 2 0 — — 29 0
Boavista 2021–22 Primeira Liga 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 0
2023–24 Primeira Liga 8 0 1 0 1 0 — 10 0
Total 38 0 3 0 1 0 — 42 0
Alanyaspor (loan) 2021–22 Süper Lig 18 1 4 0 — — 22 1
Hajduk Split (loan) 2022–23 Croatian Football League 28 5 4 0 — 4[d] 0 36 5
Career total 220 9 16 1 4 0 5 0 245 10
  1. ^ Includes Taça de Portugal, Copa del Rey, Turkish Cup and Croatian Football Cup
  2. ^ Includes Taça da Liga and Coupe de la Ligue
  3. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  4. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 8 January 2024[22]
Nigeria
Year Apps Goals
2017 2 0
2018 3 1
2019 12 0
2020 2 0
2021 7 0
2022 2 0
2023 1 0
2024 1 0
Total 30 1

International goals

As of match played 3 June 2018 (Nigeria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Awaziem goal)[22]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 8 September 2018 Stade Linité, Victoria, Seychelles  Seychelles 2–0 3–0 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Porto B

Porto

Hajduk

Nigeria

References

  1. ^ a b "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Chidozie Awaziem". Eurosport. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Dragões são campeões nacionais de Sub-19" [Dragons are Under-19 national champions] (in Portuguese). Porto Canal. 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Chidozie: o menino lançado às feras num Clássico faz 22 anos" [Chidozie: the kid thrown to the wolves in a Classic turns 22] (in Portuguese). FC Porto. 1 January 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Eight reserves called for the match against Feirense". FC Porto. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  6. ^ Pires, Sérgio (27 January 2016). "TL: Feirense-FC Porto, 2–0 (crónica)" [LC: Feirense-FC Porto, 2–0 (match report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Chidozie e Indi são os únicos centrais para a Luz" [Chidozie and Indi are the only stoppers for the Luz]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 11 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Benfica 1–2 FC Porto". ESPN FC. 12 February 2016. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  9. ^ "Nigerian Awaziem joins Nantes". ESPN. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  10. ^ Vadeevaloo, Teddy (6 August 2017). "Ce qu'il faut retenir" [These were the highlights]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Chidozie Collins Awaziem Çaykur Rizespor'da" [Chidozie Collins Awaziem to Çaykur Rizespor] (in Turkish). Çaykur Rizespor. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  12. ^ Martín, Javier (15 August 2019). "El Leganés hace oficial la cesión de Awaziem para blindar su zaga" [Leganés make Awaziem loan official to shield back sector]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Boavista garante Chidozie junto do FC Porto" [Boavista confirm Chidozie at FC Porto]. Record (in Portuguese). 5 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  14. ^ "OFICIAL: Boavista empresta Chidozie ao Alanyaspor" [OFFICIAL: Boavista loan Chidozie to Alanyaspor] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Dobro došao: Chidozie Awaziem novi je stoper Hajduka!" [Welcome: Chidozie Awaziem is Hajduk's new stopper!] (in Croatian). Hajduk Split. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Yusuf invites 26 players for Mali, Luxembourg". Nigeria Football Federation. 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  17. ^ Okpara, Christian (2 June 2017). "Musa fires brace as Eagles hammer Togo 3–0". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  18. ^ Udoh, Colin (3 June 2018). "Super Eagles drop Aina, Agu from World Cup squad". ESPN. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  19. ^ "Nigeria: Super Eagles' team list for Afcon 2019". AllAfrica. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  20. ^ Oludare, Shina (17 January 2022). "Afcon 2021 squads: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon & every official tournament squad list". Goal. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  21. ^ Chidozie Awaziem at Soccerway
  22. ^ a b Chidozie Awaziem at National-Football-Teams.com
  23. ^ "FC Porto B é Campeão da II Liga" [FC Porto B are II League champions] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  24. ^ "FC Porto conquista Supertaça pela 21.ª vez" [FC Porto conquer Supercup for the 21st time] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  25. ^ Casaca, Manuel (10 June 2023). "Hajduk faz esforço para ter Chidozie" [Hajduk make a run for Chidozie]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  26. ^ Stevens, Rob (11 February 2024). "Nigeria 1–2 Ivory Coast". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

External links

Boavista F.C. – current squad
Nigeria squads
Categories