Fun Facts About Birthday Boy - Azubike Godson Okechukwu

Fun Facts About Birthday Boy - Azubuike Godson Okechukwu

By Gbenga Gboyega

Happy Birthday to Azubuike Okechukwu who turns 26 years old today. 

Azubuike who's famous for winning the Turkish Super Lig on his debut season with Istanbul Baṣakṣehir celebrated his birthday on Wednesday, as a Çaykur Rizespor midfielder, following his €500k winter move from the former on the 12th of January 2023, writes BSNSports.com.ng. 

Recall that Baṣakṣehir announced the signing of the Nigerian defensive midfielder in the summer of 2019 from Pyramids FC in Egypt for a €1.50 million fee, before clinching the Super Lig title from defending champions Galatasaray that same season. 

"Every player wants to win titles. For me to get it this early in my career is huge for me. This is a good feeling that I'm feeling. I'm starting to think I'm a legend already because people start to stay,'you're young, you came in then won the championship.'" Azubike was quoted speaking to Colin Udoh for ESPN in 2020.

In 2018, Azubike suffered a foot injury after completing a move from his first Turkish club Yeni Malatyaspor to Pyramids FC in Egypt, which kept him out for two months. After recovering, he suffered another injury setback which sidelined him for another two weeks. 

But he din't let that experience deter his focus on what he hopes to achieve. 

"If I want to start making excuses or trying to say it was because of injuries, maybe I will start to feel down. So, I don't want to make excuses. I want to start to say 'okay, I'm injured so if I come back I want to do more than the players inside'". 

- Colin Udoh, ESPN

While the football world commensurates with the celebrant, here are some fun facts to know about Azubike Okechukwu who has two assists in twelve games for Çaykur Rizespor. 

1. His first name is Azubike, middle name Godson, and family/surname is Okechukwu, which portrays him to be of Southeastern Nigerian descent. However, he was born in Northern Nigeria according to his profile on soccerway.com

2. Azubike has A Turkish Super Lig title with Istanbul Baṣakṣehir at the club level (2019-20), and a CAF U23 AFCON title with Nigeria's Dream team in Senegal in 2015. He also clinched Bronze with the Dream team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 

3. Okechukwu Azubuike has played in three national leagues - Nigeria's NPFL with Bayelsa United, Egyptian Premier League with Pyramids FC, and the Turkish Super Lig with Yeni Malatyaspor, Çaykur Rizespor, Istanbul Baṣakṣehir, and Sivasspor. 

4. Azubike has featured only once for the Super Eagles of Nigeria under Samsom Siasia as a DM in a 1-0 loss to Egypt during the AFCON Qualifiers in March 2016. He is yet to score an international goal, having starred 16 times for the U23 while featuring five times in the Olympics. 

5. He is represented by Soccer Republic as Player Agent. 

For the 26-year-old to break into the Super Eagles squad, he has the likes of Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, Joseph Aribo, Simon Agu, Alexander Iwobi, Frank Onyeka, amongst others to contend with.