6 days ago
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Talents Calendar
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There isn’t much of a football euphoria in Nigeria. The golden generation around Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, and Ola Aina, like in 2022, missed out on qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. They must now wait four years for what might be their final chance to reach the World Cup. In the shadow of the big names, another young crop of forwards is emerging. At Atalanta, Honest Ahanor plays regularly, and George Ilenikhena scores regularly for Monaco. Another player to watch is Ebenezar Harcourt.
At only 16, the goalkeeper kicked off his career early. At 15, he was the hero at the U20 Africa Cup. In August, he made his debut for the senior national team, and in the fall, he played at the U20 World Cup. Just a few weeks ago, he made his club debut for Sporting Lagos in Nigeria’s second division.
Playing goalkeeper is in his genes; his father, Ifeanyi, was also a goalkeeper and is now a goalkeeper coach at the first division side Enyimba Aba. Now his son is benefiting from his education and is considered one of the up-and-coming talents in African football. At the age of 10, Harcout joined the Sporting Lagos youth academy, and his talent quickly became apparent. His coaches were impressed by his discipline, confidence and goalkeeper skills.
“Harcourt is definitely a player with a great future,” Transfermarkt data scout Nigeria Lyam95 said. “Among his strengths are his wingspan, and he is still growing, his positioning, ability to read the game, and the calmness on the ball. Where he can improve is handling of crosses. Those still cause problems for him.”
The first time he made headlines internationally was at the U20 Africa Cup. In five games, he conceded only twice, and in the quarterfinal penalty shootout, he saved two of Senegal’s attempts to secure his team’s passage to the semifinals. There, Nigeria played well against South Africa, but Harcourt had to come off injured in the 51st minute, and Nigeria would lose 1-0.
Nigeria debut at 15 – A move to Europe to follow for Harcourt
Finishing third was deemed a good result for Nigeria, and Harcourt remained in the headlines. Three months later, national team coach Éric Chelle called to nominate him for the African Nations Championships—a tournament in which only players playing in Africa are allowed to be nominated. Against the Republic of Congo, Harcourt played 90 minutes and recorded a clean sheet.
The hope in Nigeria is that, sooner rather than later, he can challenge Maduka Okoye for the No. 1 spot in the squad of the Super Eagles. Born in Düsseldorf, Okoye made his debut without ever having played a single professional game. After his debut against Brazil, the spotlight was on him, and after playing for Sparta Rotterdam and Watford, he is now a regular starter for Udinese.
Harcourt, too, is supposed to make the jump to Europe as soon as possible. Scouts from Germany, France, and Belgium have already watched the player. A scout, who didn’t want to be named, said the following to the website of the African football federation: “If he makes the right steps in his development, then in the next five years he could become one of the best African goalkeepers.”
From December 1 to 24, we introduce new players from different countries born in 2008 and 2009. Area managers, users, and data scouts come into play as experts throughout the series. You can follow all those players by adding them to your TM watchlist.
