Spain and FC Porto starlet Samu Aghehowa has appreciated the role his Nigerian mother played in his development as a professional footballer, Afrosport reports.
Edith Aghehowa left Nigeria for Spain in search of a better life and gave birth to Samu in the city of Melilla just off the coastal border with Morocco.
The 20-year-old’s football career began in Andalusia with Sevilla, Nervion and Granada at youth level before making his senior debut with the latter and scoring in his only league appearance in a 3-1 defeat at Atletico Madrid on the opening day of the 2023-24 La Liga season.
Atleti instantly purchased the then-19-year-old before he was shipped out on loan to Alaves and ultimately sold to FC Porto this summer.
Samu has set Liga Portugal on fire with eight goals in as many games and 12 goals in 13 games in all competitions.
All these handed him a first Spain call-up for the UEFA Nations League ties against Denmark and Switzerland, and in honour of his mother, opted to drop his father’s name Omorodion and adopt his mother’s maiden name Aghehowa.
“I’m living the dream, sometimes I still can’t believe it,” Samu reflects on his Spain call up on the RFEF website. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity and, above all, I’m eager to learn and to help the team in any way I can.
“They gave me the news and, to be honest, I was very happy. I couldn’t believe it. Above all, I was very excited when I remembered all the moments I have gone through to get here, all the efforts. I am very happy.
“Before I called her [his mother], they had already told her. She started crying, I’m very happy for her too. I always say that everything I do, I do it for her, I am very proud of what I am doing and to be able to give it to her.”
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We share Samu Aghehowa’s dream first day with the @SEFutbol squad.
Exciting moments where he proudly reminds us of all that his mother went through to provide him with a better life.
βΉοΈ https://t.co/x9g2tAC3AH#VamosEspaΓ±a | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/rCQOI4d0TP
β Spanish Football (@SpainIsFootball) November 13, 2024
Speaking on the journey his mother made in raising him, Samu Aghehowa said: “She suffered a lot, all the way from her country to Spain so that my brother and I could have a much better life. A lot of suffering, many hours… I get emotional when I think of that story.
“Everything I do, as I say, I do it for her. She is the most important woman in my life, she has helped me at all times. She plays a fundamental role, she is the pillar of my life, without her I don’t know what I would do.”
He added: “Everything I achieve, every achievement, I value it all the more. Often, when things don’t work out, you tend to forget what you’re achieving. But you have to have that humility and remember the bad moments, and be grateful to all the people who have helped you to achieve what I’m achieving.”
Samu was an unused substitute in Spain’s 2-1 win away at Denmark on Friday night. He will hope to earn his first international cap when La Roja play Switzerland in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Monday.
