Gift Orban was named Man of the Match after helping Hellas Verona play 1-1 draw with Juventus in the Serie A on Saturday.
Orban, who made his second appearance in the Italian topflight, opened his goals account from the penalty spot to draw his side level.
The Nigeria international converted his spot kick with one minute left to play in the first half.
Portuguese forward Francisco Conceicao had given Juventus the lead in the 19th minute.
Also Read: Orban Will Thrive In Serie A –Onazi
The draw means Hellas Verona are yet to win any fixture after four matches in the Series A this season – recording three draws and one defeat.
They currently occupy 15th place on three points in the league table.
Orban joined Verona on a season-long loan deal from Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim.
In November 2021, Orban was scouted by Stabæk’s Torgeir Bjarmann and Thomas Finstad in Nigeria during a showcase tournament.
He trained with Stabæk during the winter of the 2021–22 season, before returning after his visa expired. Returning to Norway, he signed for Stabæk in late May 2022. The transfer from Nigerian club Bison was a loan with an option to buy.
Orban scored his first goals in cup matches against semi-professional teams Notodden and Gjøvik-Lyn (twice). After this, he became a starting player for Stabæk. His goal against SK Brann was compared to Alanzinho’s time at Stabæk. VG also called him a “striker jewel”.
When Stabæk sold Oliver Valaker Edvardsen in July, the club announced they would spend the money on Orban’s buyout option. The contract tying Orban to Stabæk until the end of 2026 was announced on 3 August.
He became the top scorer in the 2022 Norwegian First Division with 16 goals, alongside Bård Finne. Helping Stabæk win promotion to 2023 Eliteserien, Orban was also named Young Player of the Year in the First Division.
In May 2023, Orban got his first Super Eagles call-up under former coach Jose Peseiro for AFCON 2023 qualifiers but did not feature due to injury.
By James Agberebi
2 Comments
Gift Orban joins the growing list of Nigerian youngsters marking headlines in Europe. Here’s a young man whose football career has taken him across some of the top leagues in Europe from Norway, to Gent in Belgium, France to Hoffenheim in Germany and now currently on loan in Italy where again he’s started to prove his mettle.
I feel Gift’s football qualities at the club level have not been well appreciated and rewarded with a deserving call up by the national team handlers, considering the numbers of new faces that have been introduced into the national team lately.
The petit winger is a speedster with amazing goal scoring qualities. With notable names like Ademola Lookman, Chukwueze and Simon Moses, it will be interesting to have Orban to further increase the competition on the wings. There’s no better time to bring him on than now with AFCON in couple of months. The fans as well as the coach would have the opportunities of seeing what he brings to the team having seen the likes of Ademola, Simon Moses and Chukwueze.
Lately, we’ve seen in defence Benjamin Frederick, Ogbu; Chrisantus Uche in the midfield.
The more the merrier!!!
This is another great player Eric Chelle should embark on for WCQ & AFCON.
Apart from OSIMHEN, his potential and quality of play is far far better than BONIFACE, SADIQ-UMAR,ONUACHU, IHEANACHO