Kevin John Ufuoma Akpoguma (born 19 April 1995) is a 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 le ...

who plays as a centre back for Bundesliga club

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 1899 ...

. Born in Germany, Akpoguma was a youth international for Germany but switched and represents the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Akpoguma spent the 2016–17 season on loan at

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side Fortuna Düsseldorf. On 21 April 2017, towards the end of the season, he collided with FC St. Pauli's Bernd Nehrig in a league match. Both players were hospitalised with Akpoguma suffering a broken neck. Akpoguma made his first appearance in the Bundesliga the following season on 22 October 2017, replacing

Stefan Posch Stefan Posch (; born 14 May 1997) is an Austrian footballer who plays as a defender for club Bologna, on loan from 1899 Hoffenheim. He also represents the Austria national team. Club career On 1 September 2022, Posch joined Serie A club Bolog ...

at half-time in

's 1–1 draw with VfL Wolfsburg. Four days later, he made his first start for the club, in a 1–0 away to Werder Bremen in the second round of the DFB-Pokal.

International career

Born to a German mother and a Nigerian father, Kevin Akpoguma is eligible to play for Germany and Nigeria. He has represented Germany at youth level, playing for the U16, U17, U18, U19, U20, and U21 teams. He was the captain of the German U-20 National, helping the team reach the quarterfinals of the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

in New Zealand. In October 2018 he stated that he was open to playing to Nigeria. On 21 September 2020, Nigeria national team coach Gernot Rohr stated that Akpoguma has switched allegiance to play for the Nigeria national team. On 28 September he confirmed reports that he has decided to play for the Nigeria national team. Akpoguma made his debut with the Nigeria national team in a friendly 1–0 loss over Algeria on 9 October 2020.

References

External links

* * * 1995 births Living people People from Neustadt an der Weinstraße Citizens of Nigeria through descent Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers German footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Germany youth international footballers Nigerian people of German descent German sportspeople of Nigerian descent Karlsruher SC players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Hannover 96 players 3. Liga players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Association football central defenders Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate {{Germany-footy-defender-1990s-stub