Julius Aghahowa

Football player infobox
playername= Julius Aghahowa


fullname = Julius Aghahowa
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|2|12|df=y
cityofbirth = Benin City
countryofbirth = Nigeria
height = height|m=1.79
currentclub = Kayserispor
clubnumber =
position = Striker
years = 1995-1999
1999-2000
2000-2007
2007-2008
2008-| clubs = Insurance
Espérance
Shakhtar Donetsk
Wigan Athletic
Kayserispor
caps(goals) =
87 (32)
20 (0)
6 (4)
nationalyears = 1999-
nationalteam = Nigeria
nationalcaps(goals) = 32 (14)
pcupdate = October 6, 2008
ntupdate = 11 March 2008

Julius Aghahowa (born 12 February 1982 in Benin City, Nigeria) is a football striker from Nigeria who currently plays for Kayserispor in the Turkcell Super League as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Aghahowa began his career with the Police Machines, a local police team, and went on to Bendel Insurance FC. 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 contractref|contract.

hakhtar Donetsk

In the middle of the 2000-01 season, Aghahowa transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk, which soon won the Ukrainian league championship. He is famous for his acrobatic goalscoring celebrations.

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.

Wigan

His work permit was passed and on 30 January 2007 he signed for Wigan for an undisclosed fee,cite web
title = Aghahowa close to Wigan deal
url = http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1809_1880189,00.html
publisher = TeamTALK
date = 2007-01-29
accessdate = 2007-01-29] playing his first Premiership match for them against Portsmouth F.C. on February 3. [ cite web|title=Tactical Formation|work=Football-Lineups.com
url=http://www.football-lineups.com/wiki/_match3686.php | accessdate=February 8 | accessyear=2007] Aghahowa didn't score for Wigan in one and half years and on the 20th June 2008 he signed for Turkish club Kayserisporcite web
title = Striker Aghahowa makes Wigan exit
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wigan_athletic/7465399.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2008-06-20
accessdate = 2007-06-20]

International career

Aghahowa has played 32 matches and scored 14 goals for the Nigerian national team, including their only goal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He became Nigeria's top goalscorer at the 2002 African Nations Cup. He also played at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

References

*Lars Bøgeskov, "Jyder snydt for supertalent", Politiken, August 27, 1999

External links

*soccerbase|id=19154|name=Julius Aghahowa
* [http://www.nigerianplayers.com/player.asp?pID=102 Nigerian Players]
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/site/players/index.php?dumpPlayer=653 Football Database]
* [http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/01/28/time_for_aghahowa_to_stop_blow.html Time for Aghahowa to stop blowing hot and cold]