The 24-year-old fulfilled a childhood dream playing in the Premier League with Arsenal, but he’s incredibly proud of a beautiful moment in the colours of Nigeria.
Alex Iwobi picked his crucial goal for Nigeria against Zambia at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium back in 2017 as the happiest moment for him on the football pitch.
The former Arsenal star dumped England to follow in the footsteps of his uncle – Austin Okocha – in playing for the Super Eagles, earning his first cap on 8 October 2015, in a 2–0 friendly defeat to DR Congo in Visé, Belgium.
He has since become one of coach Gernot Rohr’s most trusted men, appearing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 African Cup of Nations.
It was the Everton midfielder who scored the only goal that secured a 1-0 win that sent the three-time African champions to the former tournament in Russia.
Far above scoring for Arsenal in last year’s UEFA Cup final and becoming Nigeria’s most expensive player while moving to Everton, Iwobi rates that goalscoring moment in the green-and-white kit as the happiest of them all.
“I’ve had a lot of happy moments in my career, but for me, I will say when I scored against Zambia to send my national team to the World Cup because my parents were there,” Iwobi told Soccer Bible in an Instagram Live.
“That’s a special moment; I almost shed a tear on the pitch.”
Iwobi has represented Nigeria 40 times and has scored seven goals.