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Julius Aghahowa
Julius Aghahowa.jpeg
Aghahowa with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2010
Personal information
Full name Julius Efosa Aghahowa
Date of birth (1982-02-12) 12 February 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth Benin City, Nigeria
Height 1.79 m
Playing position 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)
National team
2000–2007 Nigeria 32 (14)
2000 Nigeria Olympic 4 (1)
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Julius Efosa Aghahowa (born 12 February 1982) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Aghahowa played in Ukraine, England and Turkey during his career. Known for his pace and acrobatic goal celebrations, he performed six consecutive backflips after scoring a goal against Sweden at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

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 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.

Shakhtar Donetsk

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 was 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.

Wigan Athletic

His work permit was passed and on 30 January 2007, he signed for Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee, playing his first Premiership match for them against Portsmouth on 3 February. Aghahowa did not score for Wigan in one and a half years and on 20 June 2008, he signed for Kayserispor.

Return to Shakhtar Donetsk

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 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 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.

International career

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.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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 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
2007–08 14 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
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
Shakhtar Donetsk 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League 9 1 3 0 5 0 1 0 18 1
2010–11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2011–12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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
Career total 158 40 29 9 0 0 43 10 3 0 233 59

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
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

Honours

Espérance

Shakhtar Donetsk

See also

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