Haruna Babangida

Haruna Babangida
Personal information
Full name	Haruna Babangida
Date of birth	1 October 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth	Kaduna, Nigeria
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Youth career
	Shooting Stars
1995–1997	Ajax
1997–1998	Barcelona
Senior career*
Years	Team
1998–2004	Barcelona B
2002–2003	→ Terrassa (loan)
2004	→ Cádiz (loan)
2004–2005	Metalurh Donetsk
2005–2007	Olympiacos
2007–2009	Apollon Limassol
2009	Kuban Krasnodar
2010	Mainz 05 II
2010	Mainz 05
2011	Vitesse Arnhem
2012	Kapfenberger SV
2015	Mosta
Total
International career
2003	Nigeria
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Haruna Babangida (pronunciation^ⓘ; born 1 October 1982) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a winger.

Babangida is the eighth of ten brothers; he is the younger brother of Tijani Babangida and Ibrahim Babangida.

Club career

Early career

Born in Kaduna, Haruna Babangida started his youth career at Shooting Stars, before signing for Ajax at the age of 13. He was snapped up by Barcelona a year later. In 1998, aged 15, Babangida made his first-team debut for the Catalan club in a pre-season friendly against AGOVV Apeldoorn, becoming the second youngest ever player to feature for Barcelona. However, he did not make the breakthrough and in 2002–03 was loaned to second division side Terrassa, before spending the following season playing for Barcelona B and Cádiz (in the second half).^[1]

Metalurh Donetsk then took him to Ukraine on a permanent basis.

Greece and Cyprus

In 2005, Olympiacos signed Babangida on a three-year contract after he impressed in a pre-season tournament in Spain.^[2]

In the first season, he played 25 league appearances and started 11 times for the double-winners. He rarely scored, but scored his first UEFA Champions League goal at home against Lyon, in the third minute, but the match ended as a 1–4 loss.^[3]

On 25 May 2007, Olympiacos officially released Haruna Babangida.

He made his debut for Apollon Limassol on 1 September 2007 against rival team AEL Limassol, where he scored two goals in an eventual 4–3 win.

Mainz 05

On 14 June 2010, he signed a one-year contract for Mainz 05 with an option to extend the contract for two more years.^[4] On 26 June 2010, he scored his first goal against Panathinaikos. The half season that was less than successful for Babangida, with only a single appearance in the Bundesliga. In December of that year, Mainz released him.^[5]

Vitesse

On 12 January 2011, he joined Vitesse as a testplayer and on 16 January he signed a contract until the end of the season.

International career

He made his debut for Nigeria on 20 August 2003, in a friendly match which Nigeria lost 0–3 to Japan in Tokyo.

Club statistics

Source:^[6]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Europe		Total
2002–03	Terrassa	Segunda División	38	5					–	–
2003–04	Cádiz	Segunda División	14	0					–	–
Ukraine			League		Ukrainian Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2004–05	Metalurh Donetsk	Premier League	8	2					0	0
2005–06	Metalurh Donetsk	Premier League	2	0					0	0
Greece			League		Greek Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2005–06	Olympiacos	Alpha Ethniki	25	2					6	1
2006–07	Olympiacos	Super League	8	1					2	0
Cyprus			League		Cypriot Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2007–08	Apollon Limassol	First Division	23	9					–	–
2008–09	Apollon Limassol	First Division	31	9					–	–
Russia			League		Russian Cup		Premier League Cup		Europe		Total
2009	Kuban Krasnodar	Premier League	14	1					–	–
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		DFB Ligapokal		Europe		Total
2010–11	Mainz	Bundesliga	1	0					–	–
Country	Spain		52	5
	Ukraine		10	2
	Greece		33	3
	Cyprus		54	18
	Russia		14	1
	Germany		1	0
Total			163	29

Nigeria national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2003	1	0
Total	1	0

Honours

Olympiacos

Greek Championship: 2005–2006, 2006–2007

References

^ "Haruna Babangida: Im dritten Anlauf bei Mainz 05" (in German). 1. FSV Mainz 05. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
^ "Babangida wins over Olympiacos". UEFA.com. 18 August 2005. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
^ "UEFA Champions League". uefa.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2009.
^ "Haruna Babangida: Im dritten Anlauf bei Mainz 05" (in German). 1. FSV Mainz 05. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
^ "Tuchel schrumpft wohl 05-Kader" [Tuchel plans to shrink 05-squad] (in German). Sport 1. 21 December 2010. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
^ Haruna Babangida at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

Haruna Babangida at BDFutbol
Haruna Babangida – FIFA competition record (archived)
cadistas1910.com profile Archived 6 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
Haruna Babangida at Soccerway

[1] "Haruna Babangida: Im dritten Anlauf bei Mainz 05" (in German). 1. FSV Mainz 05. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.

[2] "Babangida wins over Olympiacos". UEFA.com. 18 August 2005. Retrieved 15 February 2008.

[3] "UEFA Champions League". uefa.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2009.

[4] "Haruna Babangida: Im dritten Anlauf bei Mainz 05" (in German). 1. FSV Mainz 05. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.

[5] "Tuchel schrumpft wohl 05-Kader" [Tuchel plans to shrink 05-squad] (in German). Sport 1. 21 December 2010. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.

[6] Haruna Babangida at National-Football-Teams.com

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