Abu Abolaji Azeez (born 31 May 1994) is a Nigerian beach soccer player. He plays as a forward for

Nigerian Professional Football League The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the Nigerian football league system, for the Nigerian club-football championships. The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwindl ...

club side

Warri Wolves F.C. Warri Wolves FC (formerly called NPA FC) is a Nigerian football club formerly run by the Nigeria Port Authority. Prior to 2003 the club was based in Warri, Delta State, but moved to Lagos after promotion to the Nigerian Premier League in 2003. ...

and for the

Nigeria national beach soccer team The Nigerian national beach soccer team represents Nigeria in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation, the governing body for football in Nigeria. Competitive record World Cup record Afr ...

Early life

Abu Azeez grew up in

Ojo Ojo may refer to: * Ōjō, a Japanese Buddhist term referring to rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha *Ojo, a curious red bear cub who has a wild imagination and is good friends with Treelo on '' Bear in the Big Blue House'' * ''Ojo'' (co ...

part of

Lagos Lagos ( Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 f ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

with parents who made education a priority for him. He had a strong love for football but could only watch his friends join and represent school teams as his father didn't approve of him joining them. Unfortunately, he had to wait till his dad died in 2005 before he could join a team. He got his first pair of boot with his father's gratuity.

Club career

Abu joined amateur football team, Owibeseb FC in 2006 and spent three years with them before joining

Bridge F.C. Bridge Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Lagos that was founded in the mid-1970s. As a result of an association with the Julius Berger construction company, the club was known as Julius Berger Football Club until 2010. The cl ...

in 2009. He turned professional in 2013 when he signed for

side,

Kwara United F.C. Kwara United Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Ilorin. They play in the top division in Nigerian football, the Nigeria Professional football League after promotion in 2017 from the Nigeria National League. Their home stadium is t ...

He spent a year with the Ilorin-based club before he was signed by

In 2016, he made the switch to

Enyimba FC Enyimba Football Club or simply known as Enyimba, is a Nigerian football club based in the city of Aba which plays in the Nigerian Professional Football League. Their name means ''People's Elephant'' in Igbo language and is also the nickname us ...

of Aba but once again he moved to

Shooting stars sports club of ibadan Shooting Stars Sports Club (often nicknamed 3SC or ''Oluyole Warriors'') is a Nigerian professional football club based in Ibadan. History The club was one of the founders of the Nigerian Premier League in 1972, when they were called ''WNDC Ib ...

the following year after a trial with Turkish club

Samsunspor Samsunspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Samsun. The club was formed through a merger of five clubs: 19 Mayıs, Akınspor, Fener Gençlik, Samsunspor, and Samsunspor Galatasaray. After one year back in the western part of Nigeria, Azeez moved back to the east, signing for the

Enugu Rangers Rangers International Football Club, commonly known as Enugu Rangers, is a Nigerian professional association football team. They are based in Enugu and play their home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Enugu Rangers are one of the three olde ...

. He played one season with the Flying Antelopes before he joined Remo Stars F.C. With Remo Stars dropping to the

Nigeria National League The Nigerian National League (formerly known as ''National Division 1'') is the second tier of club football in Nigeria. History From 1997-2011, the league has been split into 1A for Northern teams and 1B for southern teams. The top two f ...

in 2019, Azeez returned to Warri Wolves for a second stint and has been an important member of the team this season.

International career

Abu Azeez made his debut for

at the

2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The 2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, governed by FIFA. Overall, this was the 15th edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the '' Beach Soccer World Championships' ...

in Dubai where he scored twice as Nigeria crashed out in the group stages. He became a vital member of the team from after that tournament and won his first trophy with the team in 2011 at the Copa Lagos. In 2016, while he was still with

Enyimba Aba is a city in the southeast of Nigeria and the commercial center of Abia State. Upon the creation of Abia state in 1991, Aba was divided into two local government areas namely; Aba South and Aba North. Aba south is the main city centre and ...

, Azeez announced that he was retiring from international beach football so he could focus regular football. He, however, returned to the team later that year to help the West African to a second-place finish at the

2016 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations The 2016 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations, also known as the 2016 CAF Beach Soccer Championship, was a beach soccer tournament which took place in Lagos, Nigeria in December, to determine the best beach soccer nation in Africa and doubles as ...

which was hosted in Nigeria. Azeez named

's captain in 2019, a year after he became the first and only Nigeria

Beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various comp ...

player to reach a century of goals.

Player profile

A versatile forward player, Azeez is capable of playing on either wing or through the middle as a centre forward. He is very powerful, with skill and pace to support. while ostensibly right-footed, he is able to hit the ball well with his left foot. He is one of the most popular stars of the Nigeria professional football league.

Honours and achievements

Nigeria *

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the ''Beach Soccer World Champio ...

**Quarterfinals: 2011 *BSWW Tour - Copa Lagos **Winners: 2011, 2012, 2013 **Runners-up: 2019 *

Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations The Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations (BSAFCON) is the main championship for beach soccer in Africa, contested between senior men's national teams who are members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It is the sport's version of the bet ...

**Runners-up: 2011, 2016,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

**Third-place:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

**Fourth-place:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

Warri Wolves *

2015 Nigeria Professional Football League The 2015 Nigeria Professional Football League (referred to as the Nigerian Glo premier league for sponsorship reasons) is the 44th season of the Nigeria Premier League, the top Nigerian professional league for association football clubs, since its ...

: 2nd Place Individual * MTN Lagos Street Soccer **MVP: 2010 *

Beach Soccer Worldwide Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) is the organisation responsible for the founding and growth of association football's derivative sport of beach soccer. The founding partners of BSWW codified the rules of beach soccer in 1992, with BSWW as it is know ...

**Ambassador: Since 2017 **Top 50 best

players 2017 *BSWW Tour - Copa Lagos **MVP: 2011, 2012, 2017 *

**Top scorer:

African Beach Games The African Beach Games is a continental multi-sport event held among athletes from the Africa. The Games are organised under the governance of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA). The Games were announced by the ANOCA ...

**Top scorer:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azeez, Abu 1994 births Living people Nigerian beach soccer players