Gabriel Agbonlahor

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Gabriel Agbonlahor
Personal information
Date of birth October 13, 1986 (age 20)
Place of birth    Flag of England Erdington, Birmingham, England
Height ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Nickname Road Runner
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Aston Villa
Number 15
Youth clubs
1994-2005 Aston Villa
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2005-present
2005
2005
Aston Villa
Watford (loan)
Sheffield Wednesday (loan)
39 (6)
02 (0)
08 (0)   
National team2
2006- England U21 03 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 12:53, 25 March 2007 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 12:53, 25 March 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Gabriel Agbonlahor (born October 13, 1986 in Birmingham) is an English Under-21 striker of half Nigerian and half Scottish descent due to his Nigerian father and Scottish mother. Agbonlahor currently plays for English football club Aston Villa and is a product of the club's youth system who also played in the losing FA Youth Cup final team of 2004.

[edit] Club career

Agbonlahor is widely regarded as a player of some potential and much of this was built up during loan spells at Watford and Sheffield Wednesday. Although he failed to score a goal at either club his pace and skill were becoming apparent.

During the 2005-06 season Agbonlahor had been averaging a goal a game for the reserves, with a goalscoring record of 11 (2) appearances and 13 goals for Aston Villa.

Playing for Aston Villa youths in the 2006 HKFC Philips Lighting International Soccer Sevens, he was named "Player of the Tournament" as Villa finished Runners-Up to Urawa Red Diamonds.

He made a good impression for Aston Villa's youth squad in 2005 at an U-20 tournament in Adelaide, Australia called the International Soccer Challenge. Working up front with another promising young forward Shane Paul he scored several goals as Villa won the tournament. Agbonlahor was given his Premiership debut soon after that against Everton. He scored on his Premiership debut for Aston Villa against Everton at Goodison Park on 18 March 2006.

Other notable contributions in the Premier League include coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 win over Birmingham City on 16 April 2006, in a game that effectively ended the Blues' hopes of avoiding relegation. Also, on September 30, 2006 Agbonlahor scored a crucial equaliser against Premiership champions Chelsea for Villa just before half-time, nodding in Liam Ridgewell's astute glancing header to earn Villa a hard-earned 1-1 draw.

In 5 pre-season games of the 2006-2007 season Agbonlahor netted 4 goals in 5 games for Aston Villa. After netting a quick double salvo against Walsall F.C. (the first a near-post header, the latter a close range finish) in a 5-0 victory. Agbonlahor also netted in the second match of Aston Villa's tour, with a rocket of a strike against NEC Nijmegen, which turned out to be a mere consolation, in a 2-1 victory for the home team.

[edit] International career

On 20 September 2006, Agbonlahor was pencilled in as a player in the Nigeria U-20 team for the match against Rwanda. However, as of 24 September 2006, he is still deliberating whether to commit his international future to the England or Nigeria team. On 28 September 2006, Agbonlahor received his first call-up to the England U21 squad and won his first U21 cap as a substitute against Germany U21s on October 6, 2006.

He is thought to be the or one of the fastest players on the earth.

[edit] External links


Aston Villa F.C. - Current Squad

1 Sørensen | 2 Delaney | 3 Samuel | 4 Mellberg | 5 Laursen | 6 Barry | 8 McCann | 9 Ángel | 10 Carew | 11 Petrov | 12 Davis | 13 Taylor | 15 Agbonlahor | 16 Bouma | 17 Young | 18 Hughes | 19 Ridgewell | 20 Sutton | 21 Cahill | 22 Moore | 23 Berger | 24 Bardsley | 25 Olejnik | 26 Gardner | 27 Osbourne | 28 Maloney | 29 O'Halloran | Manager: O'Neill