Former Super Eagles striker, Julius Efosa Aghahowa has gained a special birthday message from Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), as the soccer governing body rehashed some of his glory days in the national team.
Sports247.ng learnt that the NFF felt duty bound to honour the former fiery striker, who made top marks in the Nigerian league with Bendel Insurance, from where he was invited to the Flying Eagles in 1999.
The former police officer went on to star for Esperance of Tunisia, from where he moved to Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine, and even had a short stint with Wigan Athletic in England, before moving to Turkey.
Born February 12, 1982, ‘Aggie’ was known for his pace up front and he loved execute back-flips when he scored, of which did six consecutive rolls after scoring a goal against Sweden at the 2002 World Cup.
Aghahowa began his career with Police Machine of Benin City, before moving to Bendel Insurance.
He signed for Herning Fremad of Denmark before the 1999 African Youth Championship, but performed so well there that he wanted to play for a bigger club, and ended up with Espérance.
In the middle of the 2000/01 season, Aghahowa transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk, who soon won the Ukrainian Premier League championship.
On 30 January, 2007, he signed for Wigan and played his first English Premier League match against Portsmouth on 3 February.
Aghahowa did not score a single goal for Wigan in one and half years and on 20 June, 2008, he signed for Kayserispor of Turkey.
On 4 July, 2009, Aghahowa rejoined Donetsk on a free transfer after he was released by Kayserispor, but he could not get a regular shirt and was loaned to Sevastopol at the beginning of the 2010/11 season.
He was released at the end of the 2011/12 season, but announced his retirement in April 2013.
For the Eagles, Aghahowa played 32 matches and scored 14 goals, one of which was against Sweden, Nigeria’s only goal at the 2002 World Cup.
He played at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and became Nigeria’s top goals scorer at the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations in Mali.
In their special message on Tuesday, the NFF recalled how the former player won the nickname ‘Agha-Wonder,’ because of his fiery up front, in the hunt for goals with the Eagles.
The NFF stated: “Happy birthday to former @NGSuperEagles forward, Julius Aghahowa. Thank you for the memories.
“What other adjectives were used to describe Aghahowa back then? like Agha-WONDER!? Share with us on his day.”
