AFCON 2025
Newly-invited Super Eagles midfielder, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, has revealed that he has another skillset aside from playing football.
The Remo Stars Academy (Beyond Limit) product revealed that he is also a professional barber aside bfrom eing a pro footballer.
Akinsanmiro made this known to the public while chatting with the media team of the Nigeria Football Federation on his maiden call-up to the Super Eagles.
He also talked about how he received the news of his invitation to the team, having nursed the dream to play for the country through the youth ranks.
Yeah yeah I know how to barb. You don’t want to barb? Yeah Yeah.
I was not even expecting it to be honest. Like, I’m not expecting anything. So the first… Because our first call up during the qualifier for World Cup, our call-up then got injured. So, when they called me up, when I just saw the invitation, like to be honest, if I call someone who is closer to me, then I start crying. Because it has been my dream for so long. I’ve been trying to play for national team for so long since under 17, under 20. I think then maybe I’m not good enough, you know. But I feel like maybe when I keep on pushing and give all my possible best, maybe one day I’ll be called up to national team.
The 21-year-old Inter Milan midfielder on loan at Pisa in the Italian Serie A said he didn’t watch a lot of football matches while growing up because of financial restrictions. However, he played the sport and was in love with it and was inspired by former Super Eagles captains and AFCON winners, Mikel Obi and Jay-Jay Okocha.
Surprisingly, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro said he stopped playing football for a while but was encouraged to go back to the sport by his family.
What inspire me is people around me like my dad, my brothers, both of them. They play football when they were young and my dad also play football and then I choose to play. But there was a time like I was like football it’s not like it’s not like something in its not as something like is 100% you are you will make it from it know. So I have to learn the work. So I quit football for some months years like this then after let me learn a barbering work like this but my dad my brothers really inspire me to become a football player.
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is one of the five new players Eric Chelle included in his 28-man squad for the competition.
The 21-year-old is a dynamic midfielder who can operate as a deep-line playmaker, a central or a box-to-box midfielder.
