Godfrey Oboabona

Godfrey Itama Oboabona (born 16 August 1990) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays for Georgian club FC Dinamo Batumi as a centre-back.[3]

Godfrey Oboabona
Obabona with Çaykur Rizespor in 2013
Personal information
Full name Godfrey Itama Oboabona[1]
Date of birth (1990-08-16) 16 August 1990
Place of birth Ondo, Nigeria
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 FC Dinamo Batumi
Number 27
Youth career
2006–2010 Rising Stars
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Sunshine Stars
2013–2017 Çaykur Rizespor 96 (5)
2017–2018 Al-Ahli 9 (0)
2018–2019 Gorica 14 (0)
2020– FC Dinamo Batumi 1 (0)
National team‡
2012–2016 Nigeria 39 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:18, 14 March 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:00, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Club career

Oboabona was born in Ondo City, and began his professional career with local club Sunshine Stars[2] In August 2013, the BBC claimed there was speculation linking him with a move to English side Arsenal, a claim denied by both Oboabona and Sunshine Stars chairman Mike Odoko.[4]

Later that month, he signed a four-year contract with Turkish club Çaykur Rizespor.[5] He described the transfer as a "dream move."[6] In September 2018, Oboabona joined HNK Gorica in the Croatian First Football League.[7][8]

In February 2020 he signed for Georgian club FC Dinamo Batumi.[9]

International career

Oboabona made his international debut for Nigeria in 2012,[2] and has appeared in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.[1] He was called up to Nigeria's 23-man squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.[10]

He was selected for Nigeria's squad at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup,[11] and was named in the provisional squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[12] Oboabona was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[13]

References
  1. Godfrey Oboabona – FIFA competition record
  2. "Godfrey Oboabona". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  3. Godfrey Oboabona at Soccerway. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  4. Oluwashina Okeleji (3 August 2013). "Nigeria defender Oboabona denies Arsenal link and criticising Wenger". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  5. "Oboabona completes move to Rizespor". SuperSport. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  6. Oluwashina Okeleji (23 August 2013). "Godfrey Oboabona delights in 'dream' move to Turkey". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  7. "Godfrey Oboabona joins Croatia top-flight side HNK Gorica". Goal.com. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  8. "Nigerijski reprezentativac novi je igrač Gorice" (in Croatian). HNK Gorica. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  9. "Oboabona: Why I joined aspiring Dinamo Batumi | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  10. Oluwashina Okeleji (10 January 2013). "Nations Cup 2013: Nigeria pick six locally-based players". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  11. "Nigeria to take new-look squad to Confederations Cup". BBC Sport. 9 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  12. "World Cup 2014: Peter Odemwingie in provisional Nigeria squad". BBC Sport. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  13. Oluwashina Okeleji (24 June 2016). "Kelechi Iheanacho included in Nigeria's Olympics squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
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