Chidozie Awaziem

Chidozie Collins Awaziem // (listen)(born 1 January 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Croatian club Hajduk Split on loan from Boavista.

Chidozie Awaziem
Awaziem with Nigeria in 2017
Personal information
Full name Chidozie Collins Awaziem[1]
Date of birth (1997-01-01) 1 January 1997[2]
Place of birth Enugu, Nigeria[2]
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Hajduk Split
(on loan from Boavista)
Number 25
Youth career
2011–2014 El-Kanemi Warriors
2014–2015 Porto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2019 Porto B 62 (2)
2016–2021 Porto 10 (0)
2017–2018 → Nantes (loan) 22 (1)
2019 → Çaykur Rizespor (loan) 16 (0)
2019–2020 → Leganés (loan) 26 (0)
2020–2021 → Boavista (loan) 27 (0)
2021– Boavista 3 (0)
2021–2022 → Alanyaspor (loan) 18 (1)
2022– → Hajduk Split (loan) 26 (5)
International career‡
2017– Nigeria 28 (1)
Honours
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:59, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 June 2022

Club career

Porto

Born in Enugu, Awaziem joined FC Porto from Portugal in 2014, where he spent his last year as a junior and won the corresponding league title.[3] His senior debut was made with the B team in the Segunda Liga.[4]

On 27 January 2016, aged 19, Awaziem appeared in his first competitive game with the main squad, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 away loss against C.D. Feirense in the Taça da Liga.[5][6] His maiden appearance in the Primeira Liga took place on 12 February, as he again started in a 2–1 win at S.L. Benfica due to an injury crisis to the defensive sector.[7][8]

Awaziem was loaned to French club FC Nantes for the 2017–18 season.[9] His first match in Ligue 1 took place on 6 August 2017, when he came on as a 74th-minute substitute in a 3–0 defeat away to Lille OSC.[10]

In January 2019, Awaziem joined Çaykur Rizespor on loan until the end of the campaign.[11] On 15 August, in the same situation, he moved to CD Leganés.[12]

Boavista

Still owned by Porto, Awaziem signed a temporary deal with Boavista F.C. – also in Portugal and the city of Porto – ahead of 2020–21, with the obligation of a permanent four-year contract on 30 June 2021.[13] He returned to the Turkish Süper Lig on 8 September 2021, being loaned to Alanyaspor.[14]

On 1 August 2022, Awaziem was loaned to HNK Hajduk Split with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.[15]

International career

Aged 19, Awaziem was called up by Nigeria for friendlies against Mali and Luxembourg, on 27 and 31 May 2016.[16] He made his senior debut on 1 June 2017, starting in a 3–0 win over Togo in Paris in another exhibition game.[17]

Awaziem was included in Gernot Rohr's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia,[18] being an unused player as the tournament ended in group stage exit. He was also picked for the 2019[19] and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.[20]

Career statistics

International
As of match played 2 June 2022[21]
Nigeria
YearAppsGoals
201720
201831
2019120
202020
202170
202220
Total281

International goals
As of 8 September 2018 (Nigeria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Awaziem goal)[21]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.8 September 2018Stade Linité, Victoria, Seychelles Seychelles2–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Porto

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. "Chidozie Awaziem". Eurosport. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  3. "Dragões são campeões nacionais de Sub-19" [Dragons are Under-19 national champions] (in Portuguese). Porto Canal. 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  4. "Chidozie: o menino lançado às feras num Clássico faz 22 anos" [Chidozie: the kid thrown to the wolves in a Classic turns 22] (in Portuguese). FC Porto. 1 January 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  5. "Eight reserves called for the match against Feirense". FC Porto. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  6. Pires, Sérgio (27 January 2016). "TL: Feirense-FC Porto, 2–0 (crónica)" [LC: Feirense-FC Porto, 2–0 (match report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  7. "Chidozie e Indi são os únicos centrais para a Luz" [Chidozie and Indi are the only stoppers for the Luz]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 11 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  8. "Benfica 1–2 FC Porto". ESPN FC. 12 February 2016. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  9. "Nigerian Awaziem joins Nantes". ESPN. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  10. Vadeevaloo, Teddy (6 August 2017). "Ce qu'il faut retenir" [These were the highlights]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  11. "Chidozie Collins Awaziem Çaykur Rizespor'da" [Chidozie Collins Awaziem to Çaykur Rizespor] (in Turkish). Çaykur Rizespor. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  12. Martín, Javier (15 August 2019). "El Leganés hace oficial la cesión de Awaziem para blindar su zaga" [Leganés make Awaziem loan official to shield back sector]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  13. "Boavista garante Chidozie junto do FC Porto" [Boavista confirm Chidozie at FC Porto]. Record (in Portuguese). 5 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  14. "OFICIAL: Boavista empresta Chidozie ao Alanyaspor" [OFFICIAL: Boavista loan Chidozie to Alanyaspor] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  15. "Dobro došao: Chidozie Awaziem novi je stoper Hajduka!" [Welcome: Chidozie Awaziem is Hadjuk's new stopper!] (in Croatian). Hajduk Split. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  16. "Yusuf invites 26 players for Mali, Luxembourg". Nigeria Football Federation. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  17. Okpara, Christian (2 June 2017). "Musa fires brace as Eagles hammer Togo 3–0". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  18. Udoh, Colin (3 June 2018). "Super Eagles drop Aina, Agu from World Cup squad". ESPN. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  19. "Nigeria: Super Eagles' team list for Afcon 2019". AllAfrica. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  20. Oludare, Shina (17 January 2022). "Afcon 2021 squads: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon & every official tournament squad list". Goal. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  21. Chidozie Awaziem at National-Football-Teams.com
  22. "FC Porto conquista Supertaça pela 21.ª vez" [FC Porto conquer Supercup for the 21st time] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
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