Stephen Makinwa

Football player infobox
playername = Stephen Makinwa


fullname = Stephen Ayodele Makinwa
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|7|26
height = Height|m=1.86
cityofbirth = Lagos
countryofbirth = Nigeria
currentclub = S.S. Lazio
clubnumber = 27
position = Striker
youthyears = ?-2000
youthclubs = FC Ebedei
years = 2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008
2008-
clubs = Reggiana Conegliano (loan) Como (co-ownership) Reggiana Genoa Como (loan) Modena (loan) Genoa Atalanta (co-ownership) Palermo Lazio (co-ownership) Reggina (loan)
Lazio
caps(goals) = 8 (2) 0 (0) 29 (6) 21 (6) 17 (1) 18 (6) 17 (6) 23 (5) 25 (3) 9 (0)
0 (0)
nationalyears = 2004–
nationalteam = Nigeria
nationalcaps(goals) = 15 (2)
pcupdate = March 25, 2007
ntupdate = 2005

Stephen Ayodele Makinwa (born 26 July 1983 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian football striker, who currently plays for Italian Serie A side Lazio and the Nigerian national team.

Career

Early career

Discovered in 2000 by Reggiana while playing for Nigerian local side FC Ebedei alogside his childhood friends and teammates, Ifeanyi Emeghara and Obafemi Martins, Makinwa started his Italian football experience moving on loan to Serie D team Conegliano.

In 2001 he moved to Serie B team Como squad, as Como bought 50% of the rights to the player, however, Makinwa did not play any games for the team.

In 2002 he was back to Reggiana, in Serie C1, but the following season he was again in Como, but now as a regular. Como bought the remainder of the 50% ownership rights from Reggiana and sold him to Genoa in 2003. In January 2004 Makinwa was loaned to Modena and made his debut in Serie A.

Palermo

During the 2005 summer market, despite rumours of interest in the player from Internazionale, Makinwa joined Palermo in a €7.5m bid. Makinwa only remained at Palermo for a season, however he showed enough promise to suggest that he could develop into a quality Serie A player, scoring 5 goals in 23 league matches as Palermo qualified for Europe.

Lazio

He then went to S.S. Lazio in summer 2006, on a co-ownership deal for €3.3m, being reunited with Delio Rossi, his former coach at Atalanta. In summer 2007, he was fully contracted by Lazio, following a blind auction between the biancocelesti and Palermo. Lazio made a big of €6.7m for his contract.

In 2007-08, Makinwa got his first experience of the UEFA Champions League, failing to score as Lazio crashed out in the group stages. Following six months of unconvincing performances, Lazio sent him on loan to relegation battlers Reggina, but he still did not find the net, ending the season without a goal to his name.

International career

Makinwa plays for the Nigerian national team, having won 15 caps since making his debut in 2004.

Makinwa played for Nigeria in the 2006 African Cup of Nations when they finished third. Two years on, he played in the side which again failed to win, losing at the 2008 African Cup of Nations to Ghana.

Both Makinwa and his national team mate Obafemi Martins, are known for celebrating goals by making several consecutive somersaults.

Trivia

His name, Ayodele, means "Joy has come home". [ [http://www.nigerian.name/w/index.php?title=Ayodele Meaning of Ayodele in Nigerian.name] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.nigerianplayers.com/player.asp?pID=311 nigerianplayers.com]

Persondata
NAME= Makinwa, Stephen Ayodele
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Makinwa, Stephen
SHORT DESCRIPTION=footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1983-7-26
PLACE OF BIRTH= Lagos , Nigeria
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=