One year ago before the first set of players were called up to the Nigeria U20 team by coach Paul Aigbogun not many have heard of Enyimba central defender Valentine Ozornwafor.
Ozornwafor has however been on the books of Enyimba for two seasons but was yet to play a game for the Nigeria Professional Football team in the league or cup as many believed he is too young to get a look in.
Aigbogun who scouted the central defender months before he turned 17 in a friendly game in Port Hacourt didn’t hesitate to call him to his U20 team upon his appointment as coach.
The left footed defender quickly established himself as one of the mainstay of the team. A feat he capped with a near perfect performance for the U20 team of Nigeria at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Niger Republic.
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His performance earned him a spot in the BEST XI of the tournament and also a chance to train with the senior national team of Nigeria with coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr impressed by his performance at the U20 AFCON.
He trained with the Nigerian team before their final AFCON 2019 Qualifiers tie against Seychelles but didn’t make the bench for the game before he was asked by Rohr to drop a level to the U23s and help them in their quest to overturn a 0-2 deficit suffered in the first leg of their Africa U23 Cup of Nations Qualifiers against Libya.
Yesterday his combination with Chidozie Awaziem played a big role in sending the Nigerian team through to the next round of qualifiers further completing his rise from an unknown player to one who has now spent time with three different national team of Nigeria in a space of one year.