Not so many people are aware about a certain 26 year old Nigerian named Oladapo Afolayan who is at the center of the title push of St. Pauli in the German Bundesliga 2, which will see them get automatic promotion to the Bundesliga.
The winger has scored ten competitive goals for St. Pauli since January 2023 when he joined the team from English side Bolton Wanderers. In all of the nine games he scored were won.
“I heard about it, but I frankly have no explanation for it. When I left Bolton my goal was to score important goals for my team that really meant something. Of course, I’m even happier to score goals that also lead to victories”, he said.
He has been a revelation since joining the team and over the weekend he showed his usefulness with a brace in their top of the table clash with Holstein Kiel. A game which they won 4-2 to extend their lead over the second place team to six points.
The brace took his goal count for the season to six in the league with two assists as well. Much to the delight of his coach Fabian Hürzeler who was instrumental in the decision to sign the forward who has been deployed on either flanks this season.
“Dapo brings flexibility into our attack. He dribbles well, often tries to get one-on-one, has really good passing, he can cross well and has very good timing. He is very sturdy and uses his body well”, the coach said upon his signing in January 2023.
Born in London to Nigerian parents, he spent some part of his teenage years in Canada where he started his football career. However it was at Bolton Wanderers that he really got going firing them to promotion with 14 goals to emerge as the club’s top scorer and Player of the year. In the process he was nicknamed the new Okocha.
Austine Okocha was a former captain of Bolton and also the senior national team of Nigeria and Dapo in appreciation of being compared to the legend celebrated one of his goals against AFC Wimbledon in the same manner Okocha used to during his playing days.
His next step will likely be in the German Bundesliga and probably a senior national team chance and he feels he is more inclined to playing for Nigeria than England. That sentiment was made known to us by a source who brought our attention to his exploits this season.
” Yes it is his dream and he will jump at the chance to wear the Super Eagles shirt. But at the moment it’s promotion to the Bundesliga that is the main thing on his mind. We will see how that (playing for Super Eagles) will work out in the future”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
