The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Taiwo Awoniyi

  • Dream Team to parade Awoniyi, five others at Korea tourney

    Dream Team to parade Awoniyi, five others at Korea tourney

    Six foreign-based professionals led by FSV Frankfurt striker, Taiwo Awoniyi have confirmed they will be available for Nigeria’s Olympic team at this month’s invitational tournament in South Korea.

    Other foreign –based players that had confirmed their participation in the tournament  are – Imoh Ezekiel, Sodiq Popoola (Belgium),  Azubuike Okechukwu (Turkey), Ajayi Junior (Tunisia) and Usman Mohammed (Portugal), africanFootball.com reports.

    Hosts Korea, Honduras and Denmark are the other teams taking part in the competition.

  • CAF U-23 championship: Awoniyi out of Senegal match

    CAF U-23 championship: Awoniyi out of Senegal match

    Germany-based striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, has been ruled out of Wednesday’s CAF U-23 championship semi-final against hosts Senegal in Dakar because of injury.

    The match, which will decide one of the tickets for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil, will kick off at 4:00pm Nigerian time at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in Dakar, with Nigeria also missing suspended skipper Azubuike Okechukwu and injured Stanley Dimgba.

    The Olympic Team Coach, Samson Siasia, disclosed that Awoniyi has now added to the team’s injury woes.

    “Two important players are out and (Taiwo) Awoniyi is also injured,” Siasia told africanFootball.com.

     

  • CAF tourney: Osimhen gets Dream Team’s no 9 shirt

    CAF tourney: Osimhen gets Dream Team’s no 9 shirt

    The FIFA U-17 World Cup hotshot, Victor Osimhen, will wear the Number 9 shirt for the Dream Team at the CAF U-23 championship starting in Senegal, Saturday.

    Osimhen, who is replacing Isaac Success in the Olympic Team, also wore the No 9 shirt for the Golden Eaglets at the U-17 World Cup in Chile, africanFootball.com reports.

    Skipper Azubuike Okechukwu, who is based in Turkey, will maintain his number 14, jersey,  while Taiwo Awoniyi keeps the No 18 shirt, which he worn for the Flying Eagles at the African Youth Championship in Senegal in March.

  • Awoniyi makes FSV Frankfurt debut

    Awoniyi makes FSV Frankfurt debut

    Nigeria youth international, Taiwo Awoniyi, debuted for German Bundesliga 2 side FSV Frankfurt on Friday in a friendly against Bundesliga side Mainz 05.

    The Liverpool striker, who is on a season-long loan at the German team, played for 44 minutes after he entered as a 46th minute substitute for Yann Rollin in a game which ended 1-1, africanFootball.com reports.

    Awoniyi, according to the report, played well and was denied a goal in the 75th minute after good work.

    He set up a team mate who flicked the ball over the bar in the 82nd minute​.

    FSV head coach Tomas Oral was happy with the team’s display.

    “It was a good test. It was important that all the players were used, and we stay in rhythm,” Oral said.

  • Awoniyi joins Liverpool

    Awoniyi joins Liverpool

    … Loaned to FSV Frankfurt

    Dream Team VI striker, Taiwo Awoniyi has joined English Premier League side, Liverpool, from Imperial Academy.

    The 18-year-old forward who was part of the Flying Eagles squad to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand has been sent on loan to Bundesliga side, FSV Frankfurt, Goal reports.

    “This is the biggest club in the world and I’m privileged to be here,” Goal quoted Awoniyi as saying on Liverpoolfc.com.

    “I’ll try to develop myself very well so that when I come back to Liverpool I’ll be able to add value to the team.

    “When I’m in the red shirt, I will always give my very best to make the fans happy,” he concluded.

    He will hope to get regular playing time at the Bundesliga 2 side managed by Tomas Oral.

  • Awoniyi moves closer to Liverpool switch

    Awoniyi moves closer to Liverpool switch

    Dream Team VI striker, Taiwo Awoniyi , has moved closer to signing for Liverpool as he is expected to fly out to England this week for a medical.

    Awoniyi’s trip to England means he is not likely to feature in next month’s All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville, africanFootball.com reports.

    “He will leave this week for England to sign his contract with Liverpool and that is why he is not here training with us for the All Africa Games,” the U-23 teeam spokesman, Timi Ebikagboro, told africanFootball.com.

    Awoniyi, who turned 18 earlier this month, is expected to sign a long-term deal with Liverpool and will be loaned out to a club outside the United Kingdom.

    He has being chased by several top European clubs including AS Monaco, FC Porto and Red Bull Salzburg.

    He has featured for Nigeria at U-17, U-20 and U-23 categories.

  • Liverpool chase Taiwo Awoniyi

    Liverpool chase Taiwo Awoniyi

    The Reds have reportedly expressed an interest in signing Nigerian youth-team international Taiwo Awoniyi, who currently plays for Imperial Academy in his nation of birth.

    According to the Liverpool Echo, the Reds have jumped to the front of the queue for the player’s signature, a queue which also includes the likes of Monaco and FC Porto.

    Awoniyi, a 17-year-old striker, shot to prominence by helping his country win the Under-17 World Cup two years ago, scoring four goals in the competition to lead his side to victory.

    Despite his tender age, Awoniyi has more recently progressed to Nigeria’s Under-20 team, and scored two goals on debut. The Echo state that he’s now weighing up his options ahead of his 18th birthday, after which he would be permitted to move abroad.

    His agent, intriguingly, is former Wolves, Stoke and Hull midfielder Seyi Olofinjana – suggesting he could well be open to a move to England, should one become available.

    Liverpool have already moved to strengthen their academy side this summer, bringing in Bobby Adekanye and Brooks Lennon among others, and perhaps Awoniyi could prove to be the next such addition.

  • Garba tips Awoniyi, Iheanacho Sokari to shine at WYC

    Garba tips Awoniyi, Iheanacho Sokari to shine at WYC

    Taiwo Awoniyi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Kingsley Sokari and Moses Simon are the players Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba has picked to shine at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which begins next week.

    Awoniyi’s goals helped the Flying Eagles to win the African Youth Championship in March, Iheanacho is firing again after injury, while Enyimba midfielder Sokari has broken into the first team and Moses Simon proved his worth by clinching the Belgian league championship with Gent.

    “Right from the qualifiers, Taiwo Awoniyi has been very consistent and he has improved match after match. He is a player who gets into a scoring position better than any other player,” africanFootball.com quoted Garba as saying in an interview.

    “I believe if he stayed calm, he will be one player who will do very, very well at the World Cup.

    “There are some others like Kelechi Iheanacho, who was the best player at the last U-17 World Cup. If he was free of injury, he will hit very big as well.

    “There is also Kingsley Sokari. If he listened very well and works very hard too, he will have a great World Cup.

    “You cannot forget a player like Moses Simon, who has been fantastic in Belgium, he will be great.”

    Garba is upbeat about the quality running through the Flying Eagles that he predicted the team to produce both the best player and top scorer at the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

    “I believe the best player and highest scorer (of the World Cup) will come from my team,” he tipped.

  • Update: Iheanacho, Success, Moses, make Flying Eagles’ WYC squad

    Update: Iheanacho, Success, Moses, make Flying Eagles’ WYC squad

    Flying Eagles Coach, Manu Garba, on Friday released his 21-man squad for the FIFA U-20 World Cup starting this month in New Zealand.

    The list included Musa Muhammed, Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi and Granada forward Isaac Success, Goal reports.

    The squad:

    Goalkeepers: Joshua Enaholo (MFM FC); Dele Alampasu (Football College Academy); Olorunleke Ojo (Giwa FC).

    Defenders: Musa Muhammed (FC Heart Academy); Mustapha Abdullahi (Spotlight FC); Zaharaddeen Bello (Dabo Babes Academy); Wilfred Ndidi (KRC Genk, Belgium); Izu Omego (Apapa Golden Stars); Chidiebere Nwakali (Manchester City, England).

    Midfielders: Akinjide Idowu (Nigeria Young Academy); Ifeanyi Ifeanyi (Water FC); Kingsley Sokari (Enyimba FC); Ifeanyi Mathew (El-Kanemi Warriors); Musa Yahaya (Tottenham FC, England); Bernard Bulbwa (Esperance ST, Tunisia); Godwin Saviour (FC Sports) .

    Forwards: Taiwo Awoniyi (Imperial Academy); Chidera Ezeh (FC Porto, Portugal); Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City, England); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Success Isaac (Granada FC, Spain).

  • Flying Eagles defeat Hoffenheim U23 in friendly

    Flying Eagles defeat Hoffenheim U23 in friendly

    A second half hat-trick from Taiwo Awoniyi helped the Flying Eagles to a 5-2 friendly victory over Hoffenheim’s U23 side on Tuesday, sl10.ng reports.

    Saviour Godwin opened the scoring for the African champions early in the match, but the Germans leveled up after some poor defending from the Nigerians.

    Chidera Ezeh restored Nigeria’s lead later in the first half, but the Germans  restored parity again as both teams went into the half time break level at 2-2.

    The second half got off to a slow start but the introduction of Nigeria U20 top striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, changed the complexion of the game.

    He was introduced with 35 minutes left to play and the gangling forward proved his rating as one of Nigeria hottest teenage prospects was no fluke by firing a hat-trick to secure a comprehensive victory for Nigeria.

    Despite the heavy scoreline, Coach Manu Garba was unhappy that his boys let in two goals and committed errors that could hurt the team at the tournament proper.

    “We deserve to win base on our performance but there is still room for improvement going forward. We got it right, but we made some mistake in defending,” he told sl10.ng.

    The match was arranged to fine tune the team for this month’s World Youth Championship in New Zealand.