Chidozie Collins Awaziem (born 1 January 1997) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Croatian club Hajduk Split on loan from Boavista.

Club career

Porto

Born in Enugu, Awaziem joined FC Porto from Portugal in 2014, where he spent his last year as a junior and won the corresponding league title. His senior debut was made with the B team in the Segunda Liga. On 27 January 2016, aged 19, Awaziem appeared in his first competitive game with the main squad, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 away loss against C.D. Feirense in the Taça da Liga. His maiden appearance in the Primeira Liga took place on 12 February, as he again started in a 2–1 win at

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

due to an injury crisis to the defensive sector. Awaziem was loaned to French club

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a ...

for the 2017–18 season. His first match in Ligue 1 took place on 6 August 2017, when he came on as a 74th-minute substitute in a 3–0 defeat away to Lille OSC. In January 2019, Awaziem joined

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Rize. The club play in the TFF First League. The club was founded on May 19, 1953, with green-yellow as club colours, but later changed to blue-green. Since 1990, the team ...

on loan until the end of the campaign. On 15 August, in the same situation, he moved to CD Leganés.

Boavista

Still owned by Porto, Awaziem signed a temporary deal with Boavista F.C. – also in Portugal and the city of

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

– ahead of 2020–21, with the obligation of a permanent four-year contract on 30 June 2021. He returned to the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

on 8 September 2021, being loaned to

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are played at Kırbıyık Holding Stadium. The most recent club ma ...

. On 1 August 2022, Awaziem was loaned to HNK Hajduk Split with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.

International career

Aged 19, Awaziem was called up by

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

for friendlies against

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, on 27 and 31 May 2016. He made his senior debut on 1 June 2017, starting in a 3–0 win over

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

in Paris in another exhibition game. Awaziem was included in

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of the Nigerian national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, whe ...

's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, being an unused player as the tournament ended in group stage exit. He was also picked for the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

Career statistics

International

International goals

(Nigeria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Awaziem goal)

Honours

Porto *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Awaziem, Chidozie 1997 births Living people Nigerian footballers Footballers from Enugu Association football defenders El-Kanemi Warriors F.C. players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players FC Porto B players FC Porto players Boavista F.C. players Ligue 1 players FC Nantes players Süper Lig players Çaykur Rizespor footballers Alanyaspor footballers La Liga players CD Leganés players Croatian Football League players HNK Hajduk Split players Nigeria international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Croatia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in France Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia