# Abiodun Agunbiade

Abiodun Agunbiade (born 2 January 1983) is a Nigerian former football player. He was a pacey and highly skillful dribbling midfielder that usually played on the right wing.

## Club career

Abiodun Agunbiade was born on 2 January 1983 in Zaria, Nigeria, starting to play football in 1998 at Plateau United with whom he won the 1999 Nigeria Federation Cup.
He went to play for Sporting Braga, making his Primeira Liga debut on 19 May 2001 when coach Manuel Cajuda sent him on the field at half-time in order to replace Boher Samson in a 1–0 away loss in front of Farense. In his following game, Abiodun scored his first goal in a 5–3 home loss with Leiria. In the following two seasons he appeared regularly for Braga, scoring two more goals, one when he opened the score in a 1–1 with Benfica in March 2002 and the second in a 2–2 with Moreirense played in February 2003. Over the course of three seasons, he made a total of 52 Primeira Liga appearances with three goals scored for Braga, also during this period he played 50 games and scored 18 goals for Braga's B squad in the third league.
After spending one season at Naval in the Portuguese second league, Abiodun went to play for Romanian side, Național București, making his Liga I debut under coach Cosmin Olăroiu on 31 July 2004 in a 2–1 home win over FC Brașov. In the following round he scored his first goal in the league when he opened the score in a 4–1 away win over Politehnica Timișoara. In the following season he scored two goals in two away wins over against Gloria Bistrița and Argeș Pitești, also reaching the Cupa României final where coach Cristiano Bergodi used him all the minutes in the 1–0 loss in front of Rapid București.
Between the summer of 2006 and February 2007, Abiodun and teammate Wayne Srhoj didn't play a single official game, as they claimed their contract with Național had run out at the end of the 2005–06 season. After seven months of controversial court hearings and delays, the final decision favored the players who then signed with Politehnica Timișoara. In his first season with Poli he reached the Cupa României final, being used all the minutes by coach Valentin Velcea in the 2–0 loss in front of Rapid București. In the following season he appeared regularly for the team, also scoring three goals in three league victories against Gloria Bistrița, Pandurii Târgu Jiu and in the West derby with UTA Arad. In his last season spent at Timișoara, the team finished runner-up in the league and in the Cupa României but this time coach Velcea did not use him in the final, also he made his first and only appearance in European competitions, playing in a 2–1 home loss in front of Partizan Belgrade from the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round. In 2009 he signed with Internațional Curtea de Argeș where on 16 March 2010 he played his last Liga I match in a 2–1 away win over FC Brașov, having a total of 103 appearances with six goals scored in the competition.
In 2010 he went to play for Northern Cyprus side, Çetinkaya Türk with whom he won the Northern Cyprus Cup in 2011. Afterwards, Abiodun returned to Portugal, spending the last three seasons of his career in the third league, representing Merelinense and CD Celeirós.

## International career

Abiodun Agunbiade played one friendly match for Nigeria on 16 November 2005 when coach Daniel Amokachi used him as a starter in a 3–0 loss against Romania.

## Honours

Plateau United
* Nigeria Federation Cup: 1999
Național București
* Cupa României runner-up: 2005–06
Politehnica Timișoara
* Liga I runner-up: 2008–09
* Cupa României runner-up: 2006–07, 2008–09
Çetinkaya Türk
* Northern Cyprus Cup: 2011