Elderson Echiéjilé

Elderson Uwa Echiéjilé (born 20 January 1988) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a left back.

Elderson Echiéjilé
Personal information
Full name Elderson Uwa Echiéjilé[1]
Date of birth (1988-01-20) 20 January 1988[2]
Place of birth Benin City, Nigeria[2]
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Left back
Youth career
Pepsi Football Academy
2001–2004 Wikki Tourists
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2007 Bendel Insurance 35 (0)
2007–2010 Rennes 19 (0)
2010–2014 Braga 73 (5)
2012 Braga B 1 (0)
2014 Monaco B 1 (0)
2014–2018 Monaco 37 (1)
2016–2017 → Standard Liège (loan) 6 (0)
2017 → Sporting Gijón (loan) 3 (1)
2017–2018 → Sivasspor (loan) 7 (0)
2018 → Cercle Brugge (loan) 2 (0)
2019 HJK 5 (2)
National team‡
2007 Nigeria U20 8 (1)
2009– Nigeria 59 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:31, 13 July 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 June 2018

He began his career at Bendel Insurance and moved to Europe in 2007, joining Rennes where he was mainly a reserve. He spent four seasons in Portugal's top flight with Braga, before returning to France to join Monaco in 2014.

A full international for Nigeria since 2009, Echiéjilé played at two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning the 2013 edition, and also played in two World Cups.[3]

Club career

Rennes

Born in Benin City, Echiéjilé began his senior career at Bendel Insurance FC. In August 2007 he was sold to Stade Rennais F.C. in France, playing his first Ligue 1 game on 23 December in a 0–0 draw at Toulouse FC.

During his spell with the club, however, he appeared mostly for the reserve team.[4]

Braga

On 16 June 2010, Echiéjilé signed for S.C. Braga from Portugal for €2.5 million, on a four-year contract.[5] He scored on his official debut for the club, netting from a corner kick in a 3–0 home win against Celtic for the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League (4–2 on aggregate).[6]

Echiéjilé played his first game in the Primeira Liga on 13 August 2010, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 home victory over Portimonense SC.[7] He was an unused substitute in the 2011 UEFA Europa League Final, lost 0–1 to compatriots FC Porto at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin;[8] additionally, he scored four goals in 26 matches in his second year, helping the Minho side finish in third position.

Monaco

On 17 January 2014, Echiéjilé returned to France and its top flight after penning a four-and-a-half-year deal with AS Monaco FC.[9] He scored his first goal for the team on 31 October, opening a 1–1 home draw with Stade de Reims.[10]

On 31 August 2016, Echiéjilé moved to Belgian club Standard Liège on a season-long loan.[11] Late into the following transfer window, he left for Spain with Sporting de Gijón also in a temporary deal.[12]

Echiejilé continued to serve loans until his departure, representing Sivasspor and Cercle Brugge K.S.V. in the process.[13]

HJK

In March 2019, Echiejilé signed for Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi of the Finnish Veikkausliiga.[14] On 28 June, both parties agreed to terminate the contract by mutual consent.[15]

International career

Echiéjilé was a member of the Nigerian under-20 team at the 2007 FIFA World Cup in Canada, playing five matches and scoring once. Having made his debut for the senior side in 2009, he was picked for the following year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa, appearing in two group stage matches in an eventual group stage exit.[16]

Echiéjilé was called up to Nigeria's 23-man squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations,[17] scoring the first in a 4–1 semi-final defeat of Mali[18] as the nation went on to win the tournament. Also that year he was selected for the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil,[19] scoring in the group stage opener against Tahiti.[20]

Echiéjilé was included in Stephen Keshi's list for the 2014 World Cup, but sustained an injury in a warm-up game against Greece[21] and was replaced by Ejike Uzoenyi. In June 2018, he was named in the 23-man squad for the upcoming edition of the FIFA World Cup in Russia,[22] but was left out of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[23]

Career statistics

International
As of match played 6 June 2018[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 200940
201090
201130
201230
2013182
201460
201540
201650
201750
201820
Total592
As of 17 June 2013 (Nigeria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Echiéjilé goal)[25]
List of international goals scored by Elderson Echiéjilé
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.6 February 2013Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa Mali1–04–12013 Africa Cup of Nations
2.17 June 2013Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil Tahiti6–16–12013 FIFA Confederations Cup

Honours

Club

Braga

International

Nigeria

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  2. "Elderson" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  3. Mamrud, Roberto. "Uwa Elderson Echiejile – International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  4. "Elderson Echiejile" (in French). Stade Rennais Online. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  5. "Il Braga si assicura Echiéjilé" [Braga secure Echéjilé] (in Italian). UEFA. 16 June 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  6. "Braga bow leaves Celtic reeling". UEFA. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  7. "Sp. Braga 3–1 Portimonense" (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  8. Atkin, John (18 May 2011). "Falcao heads Porto to Europa League glory". UEFA. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  9. Okeleji, Oluwashina (17 January 2014). "Nigeria defender Elderson Echiejile joins Monaco". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  10. "Ligue 1: Monaco held 1–1 by Reims and miss chance to return to top four". Sky Sports. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  11. "Elderson Uwa Echiéjilé rejoint Les Rouches" [Elderson Uwa Echiéjilé joins The Reds] (in French). Standard Liège. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  12. "Elderson cedido por el Mónaco hasta final de temporada" [Elderson loaned by Monaco until the end of the season] (in Spanish). Sporting Gijón. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  13. Genuardi, Ignazio (31 January 2018). "L1 – Monaco: Elderson Echiejile prêté au Cercle Bruges [exclu365]" [L1 – Monaco: Elderson Echiejile loaned to Cercle Brugge [exclu365]] (in French). Mercato 365. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  14. Okeleji, Oluwashina (10 March 2019). "Elderson Echiejile: Veteran Nigerian defender joins HJK Helsinki". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  15. Taiwo, Taiye (30 June 2019). "Finnish club HJK Helsinki part ways with Elderson Echiejile after three months". Goal. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  16. Elderson Echiéjilé – FIFA competition record
  17. Okeleji, Oluwashina (10 January 2013). "Nations Cup 2013: Nigeria pick six locally-based players". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  18. Fottrell, Stephen (6 February 2013). "Mali 1–4 Nigeria". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  19. "Nigeria to take new-look squad to Confederations Cup". BBC Sport. 9 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  20. "Nigeria ease to victory as Tahiti win friends". FIFA. 17 June 2013. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  21. "Nigeria's Elderson Echijiele out with injury". BBC Sport. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  22. "Super Eagles drop Aina, Agu from World Cup squad". ESPN. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  23. Oludare, Shina (14 May 2019). "Afcon: Ogenyi Onazi & Elderson Echiejile left out of Nigeria's provisional squad". Goal. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  24. Elderson Echiéjilé at National-Football-Teams.com
  25. "U. Echiejile – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  26. "Braga derrota FC Porto e vence a Taça da Liga" [Braga defeat FC Porto and win League Cup]. Sol (in Portuguese). 13 April 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  27. Hughes, Ian (10 February 2013). "Africa Cup of Nations 2013 final: Nigeria 1–0 Burkina Faso". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
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