AFCON 2013: Super Eagles Player Profile – Elderson Uwa Echejile

By Arinze Ude

Uwa burst onto the Nigerian football scene as a precarious talent, making his debut for Bendel Insurance at 16-years old in 2004. The left back was born in Benin City on January 20 1988 and represented Nigeria at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Canada, playing five times and scoring once. This effort earned him a transfer to French club, Stade Rennais. He’s currently on the books of Portuguese club, Sporting Braga, whom he scored for, directly from a corner kick during his debut in a UEFA Champions League qualifier against Celtic. Echejile was named as back up to Taye Taiwo in Nigeria’s 2010 World Cup squad but ended up playing two games in the group stage as Nigeria failed to make it past the group stage. He’s played every minute of the 2013 African Cup of Nations so far, scoring a diving header against Mali in the semi-final. He has formed a solid back line along with Efe Ambrose, Godfrey Oboabona and Kenneth Omeruo. He needs to bring his A-game to the party in order to neutralise the threat of Artisade Banse, Alain Traore and Jonathan Pitroipa when Nigeria tackles Burkina Faso in the final on Sunday.