Alfred Effiong (born 29 November 1984) is a professional footballer who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Maltese club

Marsaxlokk Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional fishing village in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishermen and history. As at March 2014, the village had a population of 3,534. The ...

. Born in Nigeria, he represents the Malta national team.

Club career

On 28 June 2011, Effiong scored on his European debut for

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

, netting the second in a 3–0 away win over Sammarinese club Tre Fiori in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

first qualifying round first leg.

International career

Born in Nigeria, Effiong moved to Malta in 2005 and married a local in 2010. In 2014, his club president, Redeno Apap, asked if he would apply for a

Maltese passport The Maltese passport ( mt, passaport Malti) is a passport that is issued to citizens of Malta. Every Maltese citizen is also a Commonwealth citizen and citizen of the European Union. The passport, along with the national identity card, allows fo ...

, which was granted in March 2015. Later that month, national coach Pietro Ghedin was searching for a new striker after the suspension of

Michael Mifsud Michael Mifsud (born 17 April 1981) is a Maltese professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Maltese Premier League side Mosta F.C., Mosta. He scored 42 goals in 143 games for the Malta ...

. Effiong made his senior international debut for

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

on 25 March, replacing Jean Paul Farrugia in the 60th minute of a 0–2 friendly defeat against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

at the

Mikheil Meskhi Stadium The Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, also known as the Lokomotivi Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia named after the famous Georgian international footballer, Mikheil Meskhi (1937–1991). It is used mostly for football matches, and o ...

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. On 8 June, he came on for Andrew Cohen in the 60th minute of a home friendly against

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, and 20 minutes later scored his first international goal to seal a 2–0 victory. He scored his second national goal in a 1–1 draw against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

in August 2016. His third goal came from a header against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in Malta's 5–1 home defeat in a World Cup qualifier on 4 September 2016.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Malta's goal tally first.''

Honours

;Valletta *

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...

: 2011–12 *

Maltese Super Cup The Maltese Super Cup is an annual super cup tie held in Malta between the champions of the previous Maltese Premier League season and the holders of the Maltese FA Trophy. In the event that the Premier League champion also won the FA Trophy, the ...

: 2011 ;Balzan * FA Trophy winner in May 2019

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Effiong, Alfred 1984 births Living people Men's association football forwards People with acquired Maltese citizenship Maltese footballers Malta men's international footballers Nigerian footballers Nigerian emigrants to Malta Negeri Sembilan FC players Balzan F.C. players Qormi F.C. players Marsaxlokk F.C. players Valletta F.C. players Maltese Premier League players Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Malta Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Malta