Sani Kaita

Sani Haruna Kaita (born 2 May 1986) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Sani Kaita
Kaita with Kuban Krasnodar in April 2009
Personal information
Full name Sani Haruna Kaita
Date of birth (1986-05-02) 2 May 1986
Place of birth Kano, Nigeria
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
0000–2003 Kano Pillars
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Kano Pillars
2005–2008 Sparta Rotterdam 22 (0)
2008–2011 Monaco 3 (0)
2009 → Kuban Krasnodar (loan) 17 (0)
2009 → Lokomotiv Moscow (loan) 3 (0)
2010 → Alania Vladikavkaz (loan) 6 (0)
2010 → Metalist Kharkiv (loan) 6 (0)
2011 → Iraklis (loan) 6 (0)
2011–2012 Tavriya Simferopol 7 (0)
2012–2013 Olympiakos Nicosia 2 (0)
2014 Enyimba 1 (1)
2014 Saxan 12 (0)
2015 Ifeanyi Ubah 4 (0)
2016 JS Hercules 7 (0)
2017 Rovaniemen Palloseura 11 (1)
National team‡
2005–2010 Nigeria 22 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 December 2015
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 December 2015

Club career

Kaita was born in Kano, Nigeria. He joined Sparta Rotterdam in the 2005–06 season from Kano Pillars FC. Kaita moved to AS Monaco FC in September 2008.[1]

Kaita left Monaco on 13 January 2009 and joined FC Kuban Krasnodar on loan through 31 December 2009.[2] On 25 August 2009, Lokomotiv Moscow signed the Nigerian midfielder on loan from Monaco until December.[3] On 25 February 2010 Alania Vladikavkaz signed the midfielder on loan.[4] On 31 May 2010 FC Metalist Kharkiv signed Kaita on loan. On the last day of the 2011 winter transfer window, Kaita moved to Greek Superleague side Iraklis on a six-month loan deal.[5]

In April 2014, Kaita was back in Nigeria training with Enyimba F.C.[6] He made his debut against Sharks F.C. on 7 May and spent a three-month loan with the Aba side. The loan was part of the League Management Company's elite initiative for foreign based professionals. He signed for Ifeanyi Ubah in the Nigeria premier league for the season 2015, but played only few matches for the team.

In 2016, he joined a Finnish club, JS Hercules, which was coached by his former national team coach Daniel Amokachi.[7]

For the 2017 season, he was signed by Veikkausliiga team RoPS.[8] He made his debut for the team on 28 January 2017 in a Suomen Cup 3–0 win against HauPa.[9] He scored his first goal on 22 April against Ilves Tampere in the 79th minute, after being brought in three minutes earlier for injured team captain Antti Okkonen.[10][11] At the end of the year he was released after featuring sporadically in the second half of the season. After the season, his signing was publicly called a poor bargain by club president Risto Niva.[12]

International career

Kaita caught the eye of Sparta when playing all seven matches for Nigeria U-20 at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands.[13] He is also a member of the senior Nigeria national football team making his debut in a 3–0 friendly loss against Romania in November 2005.

Kaita was sent off in a match against Greece on 17 June 2010, in their second 2010 FIFA World Cup match for kicking Vasilis Torosidis after Torosidis motioned as if to throw the ball at Kaita.[14] This made him the first Nigerian player to be sent off in a World Cup match. Greece went on to score their first World Cup goals, and win their first match in the World Cup.[15]

Honours

Nigeria

Nigeria under-20

References
  1. Sani Kaita vertrekt naar Monaco Archived 14 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Sparta Rotterdam
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Sani Kaita Joins Osaze At Lokomotiv Archived 31 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Alaniya Add Khomich, Kaita, and Two Strong Bulgarians « Russian Football Now Archived 15 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "IRAKLIS F.C. signed Sani Kaita". Iraklis FC Official site. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  6. Sani Kaita Back In Nigeria With Enyimba International Archived 20 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine 9jafootball.com
  7. "Sani Kaita joins Hercules". JS Hercules official site. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  8. "Sani Kaita ja RoPS sopimukseen kaudesta 2017" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga official site. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  9. "Official match report". Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  10. "Wedstrijd: Ilves - RoPS Rovaniemi" (in Dutch). 22 April 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  11. "RoPS:lle kauden avausvoitto (Ilves-RoPS 0-2)" (in Finnish). 22 April 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  12. "Yleisömäärät olivat RoPS:lle iso pettymys: "Nyt on mietinnän paikka"" (in Finnish). 1 November 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  13. Record at FIFA Tournaments -FIFA
  14. "Nigerian Has Received 1,000 Threats From Soccer Fans; Officials Unclear on Severity". The Sporting Blog. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  15. Norrish, Mike (17 June 2010). "Greece v Nigeria: live". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
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