Rabiu Afolabi

Born in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria, Afolabi started his football career at NEPA Lagos.

Standard Liège and Napoli loan

Afolabi soon left his home country by moving to Belgium to Standard Liège after impressing at the 1997 Meridian Cup. Once he made a move to Belgium, Afolabi immediately fell in love with the style of play. In the 1997–98 season, he played in three matches in the Eerste Klasse, of which two in the first team. Standard, however, played a poor season and finished 9th place in the table. In the next season he played in 26 league games, scored a goal and with Liège finishing in sixth place in the league. Standard has also played in the final of Cup of Belgium, losing 3–1 to Lierse In the 1999–2000 season, Standard finished fifth place; Afolabi made 24 appearances scoring 1 goal. Having become a regular player at Standard Liège, Afolabi signed for Serie A side Napoli on loan ahead of the 2000–01 season. At Napoli, he failed to break into the first team, in part due to injuries. When fit, he played in the club's reserves. After half a season in Italy, he returned to Liège. After the 2001–02 season he was named the best defender in Belgium, Standard finished fifth. The next season was not as successful: Afolabi played only 14 league matches, Standard completed the season in the 7th position.

Austria Wien

In 2003, Afolabi decided to move to an Austrian club Austria Wien on a free transfer. He made his debut for the club in the Austrian Supercup,…

Afolabi played a vital role for Nigeria in the 1999 African Youth Championship, coming from defence to score the two goals against Cameroon in the semi-final. Nigeria eventually finished second in the tournament after losing 0–1 to the hosts, Ghana, in the final. He then captained the Nigerian under-20 team in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria. On 17 June 2000, Afolabi made his full international debut for Nigeria in a 2002 World Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone. He was part of the Nigeria squads at the 2002 and 2010 World Cups.

Afolabi is a central defender, who is good aerially and has a thunderous shot. He can play as a fullback or defensive midfielder as well.