Brian Idowu
Brian Oladapo Idowu (; born 18 May 1992) is a Nigerian and Russian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Russian club Khimki and the Nigeria national team. Club career. Born in Saint Petersburg to a Nigerian father and a Russian-Nigerian mother, Idowu moved to Owerri, Nigeria at early age, and later moved back to Russia. He made his Russian Premier League debut for FC Amkar Perm on 6 May 2012 in a game against FC Terek Grozny. After a loan spell with Dynamo St Petersburg during the 2013–14 season, Idowu signed a new 3-year  deal with Amkar on 30 June 2014, extending his contract again in February 2017 until the summer of 2020. Lokomotiv Moscow. On 10 July 2018, he signed a 3-year contract with FC Lokomotiv Moscow. Khimki. On 7 August 2020, he joined Khimki on loan for the 2020–21 season. On 7 June 2021, he moved to Khimki on a permanent basis, signing a 2-year contract with an additional 1-year extension option. International career. In November 2017, Idowu was called up to the Nigerian national team for their friendly against Argentina in Krasnodar on 14 November 2017. Idowu made  his debut against Argentina on 14 November, coming on as a half-time substitute for Ola Aina, and scoring Nigeria's third goal in a 4-2 win. In May 2018 he was named in Nigeria's preliminary 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Personal life. Idowu's father is Nigerian and his mother is half-Russian, half-Nigerian. He was born and raised in St. Petersburg, except for a period when he was aged 3 to 6 when he lived in Owerri, Nigeria. Idowu speaks perfect Russian and acted as a makeshift translator of  the Nigerian national team at news conference ahead of a fixture in Krasnodar in November 2017.