| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elderson Uwa Echiéjilé[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1988-01-20)20 January 1988 (age 37)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Benin City, Nigeria[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Left-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Pepsi Football Academy | |||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Wikki Tourists | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | Bendel Insurance | 35 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | Rennes | 19 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2014 | Braga | 73 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Braga B | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Monaco B | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Monaco | 37 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | →Standard Liège (loan) | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | →Sporting Gijón (loan) | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | →Sivasspor (loan) | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | →Cercle Brugge (loan) | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | HJK | 5 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 189 | (9) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Nigeria U20 | 8 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2018 | Nigeria | 59 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Elderson Uwa EchiéjiléMON (born 20 January 1988) is a Nigerian former professionalfootballer who played as aleft-back forNigeria national team from 2009 until 2018.
He began his career atBendel Insurance and moved to Europe in 2007, joiningRennes where he was mainly a reserve. He spent four seasons in Portugal'sPrimeira Liga withBraga before returning to the FrenchLigue 1 in 2014 to joinMonaco, being loaned several times until he was release four years later.
A full international forNigeria since 2009, Echiéjilé played in twoAfrica Cup of Nations tournaments, winning the2013 edition. He was also part of the squads at twoWorld Cups.[3]
Born inBenin City, Echiéjilé began his senior career atBendel Insurance FC. In August 2007 he was sold toStade Rennais F.C. in France, playing his firstLigue 1 game on 23 December in a 0–0 draw atToulouse FC.[4]
During his spell with the club, however, he appeared mostly for thereserve team.[5]
On 16 June 2010, Echiéjilé signed forS.C. Braga from Portugal for€2.5 million, on a four-year contract.[6] He scored on his official debut for the club, netting from acorner kick in a 3–0 home win againstCeltic in thequalifying rounds of theUEFA Champions League (4–2 on aggregate).[7]
Echiéjilé played his first game in thePrimeira Liga on 13 August 2010, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 home victory overPortimonense SC.[8] He was an unusedsubstitute in the2011 UEFA Europa League Final, lost 1–0 to compatriotsFC Porto at theAviva Stadium inDublin.[9] Additionally, he scored four league goals in 26 matches in hissecond year, helping theMinho side finish third.[10][11]
On 17 January 2014, Echiéjilé returned to the French top flight after penning a four-and-a-half-year deal withAS Monaco FC.[12] He scored his first goal for the team on 31 October, opening a 1–1 home draw withStade de Reims.[13]
On 31 August 2016, Echiéjilé moved to Belgian clubStandard Liège on aseason-long loan.[14] Late into the followingtransfer window, he left for Spain withSporting de Gijón also in a temporary deal.[15]
Echiejilé continued to serve loans until his departure, representingSivasspor andCercle Brugge K.S.V. in the process.[16]
In March 2019, Echiejilé signed withHelsingin Jalkapalloklubi of the FinnishVeikkausliiga.[17] On 28 June, both parties agreed to terminate the contract by mutual consent.[18]
Echiéjilé was a member of theNigerian under-20 team at the2007 FIFA World Cup in Canada, playing five matches and scoring once for the quarter-finalists.[19][20] Having made his debut forthe senior side in 2009, he was picked forthe following year'sFIFA World Cup in South Africa, appearing twice in an eventual group stage exit.[21][22]
Echiéjilé was called up to Nigeria's 23-man squad for the2013 Africa Cup of Nations,[23] scoring the first in a 4–1 semi-final defeat ofMali[24] as the nation went on to win the tournament.[25] Alsothat year he was selected for theFIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil,[26] scoring in the opener againstTahiti.[27]
Echiéjilé was included inStephen Keshi's list for the2014 World Cup, but sustained an injury in a warm-up game againstGreece and was replaced byEjike Uzoenyi.[28] In June 2018, he was named in the 23-man squad forthe upcoming edition of theFIFA World Cup in Russia,[29] but was left out of the2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[30]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2009 | 4 | 0 |
| 2010 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 18 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 59 | 2 |
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 6 February 2013 | Moses Mabhida Stadium,Durban, South Africa |  Mali | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2013 Africa Cup of Nations[24] |
| 2. | 17 June 2013 | Mineirão,Belo Horizonte, Brazil |  Tahiti | 6–1 | 6–1 | 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup[27] |
Braga
Nigeria
Orders
Member of theOrder of the Niger[33]
Nigeria squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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