Major League Soccer star, Fanendo Adi, has caught the eye of Premier League side, Crystal Palace, with his impressive performances for Portland Timbers.
The 25-year-old recently won the Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month award.
To celebrate this feat, Qed.ng highlight nine interesting facts about the 6-foot-4 striker.
- Humble beginning
Adi was born on October 10, 1990. He grew up poor in a village in Benue State, Nigeria, where he developed his love for soccer.
- Early football career
He started his youth football career in Nigeria with Lagos Islanders and Union Bank before he made a European switch in 2009 to As Trecin in Slovakia, where he had a double stint (2009-2011/ 2012-2013), scoring a total of 28 goals in 61 appearances.
- Globetrotter
Adi is only 25 years old, but he has already played for six different foreign clubs, namely As Trecin (Slovakia), Metalurh Donestk (Ukraine), Dinamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Tavriya Simferopol (Ukraine), Copenhagen (Denmark) and presently with Portland Timbers.
- Hobbies
He loves playing basketball, tennis or just hanging out with friends, when he is not playing football.
- Favourite meal
His favourite is egusi soup (a traditional Nigeria soup) with pounded yam.
- International scene
Despite gaining two appearances for Nigeria U23 in 2011, Adi is yet to make his senior debut for the Super Eagles, but earned his first ever senior call-up in the recent 2017 AFCON qualifiers against Egypt in March.
- Record breaker
Adi has scored a club record of 36 goals in 79 appearances for Timbers and has scored a total of 119 career goals in 170 club appearances.
- Honours
He won the MLS Cup with Portland Timbers in 2015.
- Still in School
Adi has been enrolled in college classes since joining Portland Timbers in 2014. He feels education is paramount.
