 Aghahowa with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Julius Efosa Aghahowa | ||
| Date of birth | 12 February 1982 | ||
| 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) |
| 2001 | → Shakhtar-2 Donetsk | 3 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Wigan Athletic | 20 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Kayserispor | 29 | (6) |
| 2009–2012 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 10 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | → Sevastopol (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| Total | 161 | (40) | |
| International career | |||
| 2000–2007 | Nigeria | 32 | (14) |
| 2000 | Nigeria Olympic | 4 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
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 FIFA World Cup.[1]
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]
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.
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]
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]
Aghahowa played 32 matches and scored 14 goals for the Nigeria 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.
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 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 | 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 | 0 | 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 | – | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 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 | |
Espérance
Shakhtar Donetsk
