Efe Ambrose

Early career

Ambrose started his professional career at Kaduna United in 2006 and two years later, he was loaned to Bayelsa United for the 2008–09 season but remained with Kaduna United after helping them win promotion.

FC Ashdod

Ambrose joined Israeli Premier League club FC Ashdod in June 2010 and left in 2012.

Celtic

Ambrose joined Scottish Premier League club Celtic on the summer 2012 transfer deadline day, signing a three-year contract. After joining the club, Ambrose praised his new teammates at Celtic for helping him settle down in Glasgow quickly. Ambrose also revealed he studied British football in order to join Celtic by watching both Scottish Premier League and English Premier League games on TV upon hearing about Celtic's interest in him. Ambrose made his debut on 22 September 2012 as a substitute for Celtic captain Scott Brown against Dundee in the Scottish Premier League, a 2–0 victory. He made his full début against Raith Rovers in the Scottish League Cup, in a 4–1 victory. He scored his first goal for Celtic in a 5–0 win over St Mirren on 20 October 2012, celebrating the goal with a quadruple somersault. Ambrose went on to make his Champions League debut for Celtic, where he played 90 minutes in a 3–2 win over Spartak Moscow. On 4 November 2012, Ambrose headed in an own goal, in a 2–2 draw against Dundee United. After the match, Ambrose said he let himself down and felt that he could have cleared the ball away. On 7 November 2012,…

Ambrose was a member of the Nigeria national under-20 football team at 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. He later represented Nigeria U-23 and played two games at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He was called up to Nigeria's 23-man squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. In the Africa Cup of Nations, Ambrose played five out of six games for Nigeria, playing in the right-back position, including the final which he started. After the tournament, Ambrose was named in the 2013 African Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament. Ambrose says winning the Africa Cup of Nations was his biggest achievement and one of the greatest moments of his life. He was selected for Nigeria's squad at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Ambrose has not been selected since 2016, due to him losing his place at Celtic. He played regularly for Hibernian during the 2017–18 season, but was not recalled for the 2018 FIFA World Cup squad. This decision was criticized by former Nigeria manager Samson Siasia, who felt that Ambrose's experience would have been useful.

Ambrose often played as a defensive midfielder for the Nigeria national football team and can also play as a centre back or right back, doing so in the Israeli Premier League at FC Ashdod. A ball playing centre-half, Efe is known for his composure in possession. He normally performs a somersault after scoring a goal.

Club

As of 2 October 2021

International appearances

As of match played 29 March 2016

International goals

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.