Fuad Gbolahan Salami (born 15 April 1991) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as forward for Saudi club Al-Taraf.

Fuad Gbolahan Salami
Personal information
Full name Fuad Gbolahan Salami[1]
Date of birth (1991-04-15) 15 April 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria[2]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Al-Taraf
Number 9
Youth career
Sunshine Stars
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Sunshine Stars
2010–2014 Shooting Stars
2014–2015 Warri Wolves (33)
2015Red Star Belgrade (loan) 0 (0)
2016–2018 KuPS 53 (22)
2018 Irtysh Pavlodar 17 (4)
2019 Al-Qaisumah 17 (8)
2020–2021 Najran 11 (3)
2021 Ohod 11 (1)
2022–2023 Al-Nasiriya
2023– Al-Taraf
International career
2009 Nigeria U-20[3] 1 (0)
2014–2015 Nigeria 13 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 August 2018
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 June 2015

Club career

edit

He started with Sunshine Stars F.C. before moving to Ibadan-based Shooting Stars F.C. In 2010, he was suspended by the league for using threatening language after scoring in a league game against his old team.[4] He joined Warri Wolves ahead of the 2014 season, and with ten games left was second in scoring with 13 league goals.

Red Star Belgrade

edit

In January 2015, Salami transferred to Serbian side Red Star Belgrade by signing a loan deal for remainder of the season, with an option for permanent deal.[5] He returned to Warri less than two months later when Red Star was having financial problems.[6]

Irtysh Pavlodar

edit

On 25 January 2018 Salami signed for Irtysh Pavlodar.[7] On 9 August 2018, Salami left Irtysh Pavlodar by mutual consent.[8]

International career

edit

Salami was part of the Nigeria national under-20 football team at the 2009 African Youth Championship. Then, he was part of the Nigeria national under-23 football team during their failed attempt to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. In January 2014, coach Stephen Keshi, invited him to be a part of the Nigeria national football team for the 2014 African Nations Championship.[9] He scored the only goal for the Home-based Eagles in their opening 2–1 loss to Mali.

He was called into the squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification[10] and scored a late goal as a substitute against Congo, but Nigeria lost 3–2 at home. His form earned him a start in the next game away to South Africa.

International goals

edit
Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.[11]
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 January 2014 Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa   Mali 1–2 1–2 2014 African Nations Championship
2. 6 September 2014 U.J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar, Nigeria   Congo 2–3 2–3 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3. 17 October 2015 Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, Nigeria   Burkina Faso 2–0 2–0 2016 African Nations Championship qualification

Honours

edit

Club

edit
  • Warri Wolves: Nigerian Premier Football League: runners-up 2014/2015

Individual

edit
  • Nigerian Premier League Top Scorer (1): 2014-2015[12]

References

edit
  1. ^ "GBOLAHAN SALAMI". WEST AFRICAN FOOTBALL. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Cybereagles • View topic - Salami: Slave contract and all ...A Must read". forum.cybereagles.com.
  3. ^ "G. Salami". soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Naija Football 247: NPL suspends Shooting Stars striker, Gbolahan Salami". naijafootball247.com. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  5. ^ Preokret - Salami potpisao za Zvezdu! at Večernje novosti, 17-1-2015 (in Serbian)
  6. ^ "Broke Red Star Belgrade ensures Gbolahan Salami's return to Warri Wolves | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  7. ^ ИРТЫШ ОФИЦИАЛЬНО ЗАКЛЮЧИЛ КОНТРАКТ С НИГЕРИЙСКИМ ФОРВАРДОМ.. fcirtysh.kz (in Russian). FC Irtysh Pavlodar. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  8. ^ ОФИЦИАЛЬНО: САЛАМИ ПОКИНУЛ ФК ИРТЫШ. fcirtysh.kz (in Russian). FC Irtysh Pavlodar. 9 August 2018. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Nigeria announce 23-man CHAN squad -(goal.com)". Goal.com. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Salami Attributes Eagles' Call Up To Hard Work". Newspot Nigeria. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Salami, Gbolahan". National Football Teams. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Gbolahan Salami emerges top scorer in Nigerian Premier League". Premium Times Nigeria. 16 November 2015.