Reuben Shalu Gabriel (born 25 September 1990) 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

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

Club career

Nigeria

Gabriel was born in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern Nige ...

. In his country he played for Kaduna United FC, Enyimba International F.C. and Kano Pillars FC. In October 2012, Gabriel was named both the Player of the Year and the National Team Player of the Year at the 2012 League Bloggers Awards (LBA), held in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

Kilmarnock

On 2 April 2013, Gabriel joined Scottish Premier League side Kilmarnock as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut for his new team on 29 November, in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

where he conceded a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

in a 2–5 away defeat. In November 2013, Reuben demanded to leave Kilmarnock in the January 2014 window. He was released in January, after the club accepted his request.

Waasland-Beveren

In January 2014, Reuben went on trial with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. However, nothing came of it, and he joined

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

side

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amat ...

on a one-and-a-half-year contract late in the month.

Al-Ain

On 3 September 2021, Gabriel joined

Al-Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...

International career

Gabriel made his debut for

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 ...

in March 2010, in a 5–2 win against the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Previously, he was a member of the national B-team that won the

2010 WAFU Nations Cup The 2010 WAFU Nations Cup was the first edition of the WAFU Nations Cup, an association football tournament organised by the West African Football Union. The tournament was also held in 2002, but that edition was cancelled due to the civil war in ...

. Reuben scored his first international on 9 June 2012, netting the opener in an eventual 1–1 away draw against

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He was called to the 23-man squad for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

, being an unused player as the Super Eagles won the tournament in South Africa. Reuben was also selected to the 2014 World Cup by coach

Stephen Keshi Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (23 January 1962 – 7 June 2016) was a Nigerian football player and manager. During his playing career, Keshi played as a defender and earned 60 caps for the Nigeria national team, making him the nation's second-most ...

. He made his debut in the tournament on 30 June, replacing injured Ogenyi Onazi in the 59th minute of an eventual 0–2 loss to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

for the round-of-16.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabriel, Reuben 1990 births Living people Footballers from Kaduna Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Nigeria Professional Football League players Kaduna United F.C. players Enyimba F.C. players Kano Pillars F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Kilmarnock F.C. players Belgian Pro League players S.K. Beveren players Primeira Liga players Saudi First Division League players Saudi Pro League players Boavista F.C. players Slovak First Football League players AS Trenčín players Veikkausliiga players Najran SC players Abha Club players Al-Fayha FC players Al-Ain FC (Saudi Arabia) players Kuopion Palloseura players Nigeria men's international footballers 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium