Saliu Popoola
Saliu Popoola (born 7 August 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Moroccan club Wydad Fès. He is also a Nigerian international.[2]
![]() Popoola at the 2016 Olympics | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Saliu Popoola Sodiq | ||
Date of birth | 7 August 1994 | ||
Place of birth | Lagos, Nigeria | ||
Height | 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
36 Lions | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2012–2016 | Metz | 0 | (0) |
2014–2016 | → Seraing (loan) | 51 | (4) |
2017–2020 | Ittihad Khemisset | 29 | (1) |
2020– | Wydad Fès | 5 | (0) |
International career | |||
2016 | Nigeria U23 | 5 | (0) |
Medal record | |||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:59, 1 August 2021 (UTC) |
Measuring only 1.57 m, he was considered, in 2015, to be the third smallest professional player in the world.[3] With the Nigeria U23 team, he won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Career
Popoola joined FC Metz in August 2012, after a successful trial with the team. He would play for the reserves in the CFA. The following season, he made two appearances in the Coupe de France, but none in Ligue 2 where the Metz first team played.[4]
In lack of playing time, he was sent on a two-season loan to Belgian club Seraing for two seasons, until June 2016.[4] With a height of only 1.57 m, he was then the smallest professional player playing in Belgium.[5] With Seraing, he made 51 appearances in the Belgian second division, scoring 4 goals.[4] Most notably, he scored a brace against Heist on 29 November 2015, which proved to be the key to the 5–2 win.[6]
In September 2016, having still not made a league appearance for the Metz first-team, he terminated his contract with the club by mutual consent.[7]
References
- Popoola Saliu Archived 26 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
- Oluwashina Okeleji (24 June 2016). "Kelechi Iheanacho included in Nigeria's Olympics squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ""Etre le plus petit joueur en Europe est une fierté"". RTBF Sport (in French). 17 March 2015.
- "Saliu Popoola - Wydad Fès". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- "Seraing United: Saliu Popoola, le plus petit joueur en Belgique!". sudinfo.be (in French). 8 August 2014.
- "RFC Seraing 5-2 Heist - 28 novembre 2015 / Division 2 2015/2016". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- "Popoola Saliu n'honorera pas sa dernière année de contrat". L'Équipe (in French). 20 September 2016.
External links
![](../I/Commons-logo.svg.png.webp)
- Saliu Popoola at Soccerway
- Saliu Popoola at FootballDatabase.eu
- Saliu Popoola Interview