Football
Dami Ugbane, Special to ESPN 6y

Brian Idowu & five Nigerians to score on their debut

Brian Idowu became the latest Nigeria international to score on his debut when he found the net in Tuesday's 4-2 victory over Argentina in Krasnodar, but which other Super Eagles also marked their first appearance with a goal?

Here are five players to have achieved the feat before the 25-year-old FC Amkar Perm defender.

Julius Aghahowa made the Nigeria squad for the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations as an uncapped 17-year-old.

The then-Esperance forward was highly rated heading into the competition based on his exploits at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship and the CAF Champions League the previous year.

He duly lived up to expectations when he was introduced as a substitute in the final group game against Morocco, repaying the faith of coaches with the winner and celebrating with his customary flipping celebration.

Femi Opabunmi: Teenage starlet Opabunmi had his major breakthrough with the silver medal-winning Golden Eaglets team at the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Cup and, as a 17-year-old, was named in a provisional squad by coach Adegboyega Onigbinde ahead of the 2002 World Cup.

He did not disappoint, netting on his international debut in a friendly against Kenya in May 2002.

That landmark moment appeared to have convinced the veteran coach that the youngster was ready for the World Cup, and he made the Super Eagles 23-man team, becoming the third youngest player to feature at the World Cup, at just 17 years and three months.

Obafemi Martins was one of world football's most exciting teenage stars when he finally made his long-awaited Super Eagles debut in a friendly against Ireland in May 2004, an occasion which coincided with Nigeria's Democracy Day celebrations.

The Inter Milan forward demonstrated that he was more than ready to make a mark in the international arena when he scored his first of 18 international strikes, a tally which puts him fifth in Nigeria's all-time scoring charts.

Stephen Ayo Makinwa: Nigeria football fans eagerly awaited Makinwa's debut after his form in Italian football, and he was eventually handed a start against South Africa in the 2004 Nelson Mandela Challenge in Johannesburg.

The striker, who would go on to play for Lazio, netted the Super Eagles' only goal in an eventual 2-1 loss, the first defeat suffered by the national side against Bafana Bafana.

Makinwa would go on to score just once more for the national side.

Ekigho Ehiosun: Warri Wolves striker Ehiosun transferred his terrific club form into the national team only a few days after netting a hat-trick in an NPFL game.

The match against Sierra Leone, which marked Samson Siasia's managerial bow with the national side, was also Ehiosun's debut as he came off the bench to replace injured Emmanuel Emenike.

He'd soon doubled the Eagles' lead with a well-struck shot, but has never truly built on this strong opening to his international career.

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