Rabiu Afolabi (born 18 April, 1980 in Osogbo, Nigeria) is a Nigerian soccer player. His name, Afolabi, means "Born into wealth". He is a strong and lanky central defender, who is good aerially and has a thunderous shot. He is also very versatile and can play as a fullback or defensive midfielder as well. Dangerous on set pieces.
He left his home country for Belgian outfit Standard Liège after impressing at the 1997 edition of the Meridian Cup.
Played a vital role for Nigeria in the 1999 African Youth Championship, coming from defence to score the two goals against Cameroon in the semi-final. Nigeria eventually finished second in the tournament after losing 0-1 to the hosts, Ghana, in the final. He then captained the Nigerian U-20 team in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria.
He made his full international debut in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone, in June 17, 2000.
He signed for Italian Serie A side SSC Napoli ahead of the 2000-2001 season, but failed to break into the first team, and went back to Belgium before the season was over.
He plays for Nigeria national football team and was a participant at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
References
External links
- Profile at NigerianPlayers.com
- www.rabiuafolabi.com Official Website
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday August 15, 2008 at 10:45:56 PDT (GMT -0700)
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