Haruna Babangida facts for kids
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Haruna Babangida | ||
| Date of birth | 1 October 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Kaduna, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.66 m | ||
| Playing position | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Shooting Stars | |||
| 1995–1997 | Ajax | ||
| 1997–1998 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998–2004 | Barcelona B | 130 | (46) |
| 2002–2003 | → Terrassa (loan) | 38 | (5) |
| 2004 | → Cádiz (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Metalurh Donetsk | 10 | (2) |
| 2005–2007 | Olympiacos | 33 | (5) |
| 2007–2009 | Apollon Limassol | 54 | (18) |
| 2009 | Kuban Krasnodar | 14 | (1) |
| 2010 | Mainz 05 II | 2 | (2) |
| 2010 | Mainz 05 | 1 | (0) |
| 2011 | Vitesse Arnhem | 7 | (1) |
| 2012 | Kapfenberger SV | 24 | (2) |
| 2015 | Mosta | 11 | (4) |
| Total | 318 | (82) | |
| National team | |||
| 2003 | Nigeria | 1 | (0) |
|
|||
Haruna Babangida (born 1 October 1982) is a former professional footballer from Nigeria. He played as a winger, which is a player who mostly runs down the sides of the field.
Haruna is one of ten brothers. His older brothers, Tijani Babangida and Ibrahim Babangida, were also professional footballers.
Contents
Haruna Babangida: A Football Star
His Early Life and Football Journey
Haruna Babangida was born in Kaduna, Nigeria. He started his football journey at a youth club called Shooting Stars. When he was just 13 years old, he moved to Europe to join Ajax, a famous club in the Netherlands.
A year later, at 14, he was signed by Barcelona in Spain. This was a huge step for such a young player! In 1998, when he was 15, Haruna played his first game for Barcelona's main team. It was a friendly match before the season started. This made him one of the youngest players ever to play for Barcelona.
However, it was tough for him to get a regular spot in the main team. So, in 2002, he was loaned to Terrassa, another Spanish team in the second division. A loan means a player temporarily plays for another club. After that, he played for Barcelona's reserve team (Barcelona B) and then for Cádiz.
Later, he moved to Ukraine to play for Metalurh Donetsk.
Playing for Big Clubs in Europe
In 2005, Haruna joined Olympiacos, a very big club in Greece. He signed a three-year contract. In his first season, he played 25 league games and helped his team win both the league and the cup. He also scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League, which is a big European competition. This goal was against Lyon.
In 2007, he left Olympiacos and moved to Cyprus to play for Apollon Limassol. He had a great start, scoring two goals in his first game!
Later, in 2009, he played for Kuban Krasnodar in Russia. In 2010, he signed with Mainz 05 in Germany. He played only one game for their main team before leaving. In 2011, he joined Vitesse in the Netherlands for a short time. He also played for Kapfenberger SV in Austria and Mosta in Malta.
Playing for Nigeria
Haruna Babangida also played for his home country, Nigeria. He made his first and only appearance for the Nigerian national team on 20 August 2003. It was a friendly match against Japan in Tokyo. Nigeria lost that game 0–3.
What He Won
Haruna Babangida won some important titles during his career, especially with Olympiacos.
Olympiacos
- Greek Championship: 2005–2006, 2006–2007
See also
In Spanish: Haruna Babangida para niños
