Super Eagles star named in Super Lig Team of the Week

Super Eagles and Trabzonspor defender Chibuike Nwaiwu has earned a place in SofaScore’s Team of the Week.

Nwaiwu out-performed every defender in the Turkish Super Lig with an impressive display for Trabzonspor in their dominant 3-0 victory over Samsunspor.

The Nigerian centre-back received an 8.5 rating in the weekly selection, more than any other defender in the division.

Nwaiwu scored his first goal of the season and helped his team keep a clean sheet to earn his place among the standout performers as Trabzonspor secured all three points at Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium.

The 23-year-old doubled Trabzonspor’s advantage in the 38th minute, reacting quickly inside the penalty area to turn the ball into the net after Ernest Muçi’s effort was not properly dealt with by the opposing goalkeeper.

Muçi had opened the scoring before Nwaiwu’s goal, while Franculino Dju added a third before half-time to complete the scoring.

Super Eagles' Nwaiwu shines in defensive role

Trabzonspor's clean sheet is significant as the club played more than a half of football with 10 men following Melih Kabasakal’s dismissal in the 43rd minute.

Nwaiwu, already one of the Super Lig's best, played a key part in shutting Samsunspor's attack for 90 minutes. The Super Eagles defender, one of Nigeria's most valuable stars, recorded 15 defensive contributions, won five of his six duels and completed 72 touches during the encounter.

Only Çorum attacker Alexandros Kyziridis (goal and assist, 9.4 rating), Goztepe's Brazilian import Andre Henrique (hat-trick, 9.0 rating) and Trabzonspor midfielder Mustafa Eskihellaç (1 assist, 8.6 rating) had a better Sofascore (per Le Marca Sports) rating than Nwaiwu.

Other outstanding stars in the week's finest eleven lineup include Trabzonspor goalkeeper Andre Onana, Galatasaray captain Abdülkerim Bardakcı and Amed SK ace Dia Saba.

Nwaiwu's excellent showing for Trabzonspor comes just days after he was overlooked for playing time during Nigeria’s recent 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixtures against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.

Although Nwaiwu was included in Eric Chelle’s Super Eagles squad, he did not feature in either match, with the coach preferring the centre-back partnership of Calvin Bassey and Semi Ajayi.

The Super Eagles return to AFCON qualifying action next month with a back-to-back fixtures against Tanzania, who are co-hosts of the 2027 continental championships.