Gabriel Imuetinyan Agbonlahor better known as Gabriel Agbonlahor is a professional footballer, who was born on October 13, 1986 in Erdington, England. Owing to his descent from a Nigerian-Scottish couple, he gains eligibility to play for the two nations.
Gabriel Agbonlahor began his international football career with the Nigerian Under-20 team. He soon turned down the Nigerian opportunity and decided to play for England. On October 6, 2006, Gabriel Agbonlahor played as a substitute for England Under-21 against Germany. After a year, in September 2007, he played for England Under-21 against Montenegro and netted a goal for his nation in their 3-0 victory. He was present in the England squad but did not get a chance to play in May/June 2008 when his team won 2 friendly matches (one against the United States and the other against Trinidad and Tobago).
Known for his quickness while handling the ball, his talent was recognized by the Aston Villa youth club. The training he got and the matches he played for Aston Villa honed his football skills. Of the 18 matches he played in the 2002-2003 season for the academy, this brilliant striker scored 9 goals. Gabriel Agbonlahor played well in the following season (2003-2004) and scored 35 goals in 29 games. He played for his team when they became the runners-up in the FA Youth Cup (2003-2004). Being a consistent player fetched him the chance to play as a reserve, in the 2004-2005 season. Utilizing this opportunity, Gabriel Agbonlahor proved his potential and scored 18 goals in 22 games. He set a youth record by scoring 62 goals in 71 appearances for the Aston Villa youth club.
In 2005, playing for Aston Villa, he exhibited his unique football techniques, which won him the ‘Player of the Series’ (2005) award and his team won the ‘Winners of the International Football Challenge’. His hat-trick against Manchester United Reserves helped Aston Villa Reserves to win the match (3-0). Gabriel Agbonlahor captained his team in the HKFC Philips Lighting International Soccer Sevens (2006), he got the “Player of the Tournament” award but his team were the runners-up after losing to Urawa Red Diamonds in the final match.
In October 2005, Gabriel Agbonlahor was loaned to Sheffield Wednesday, and he played his first match as a senior team member. Completing his loan spell, he scored his first Premiership goal in his debut for Aston Villa on March 18, 2006, against Everton. In the 2006-2007 season, Gabriel Agbonlahor scored for Aston Villa in its 2-0 victory against Charlton Athletic. His goal helped Aston Villa to draw (1-1) against Chelsea on September 30, 2006. At the Walkers Stadium, his team defeated Leicester City (3-2); Gabriel Agbonlahor contributed one goal in that match.
On August 15, 2008, Gabriel Agbonlahor signed a new four-deal with his home club, Aston Villa. In the opening game of the 2008-2009 season, he scored a hat-trick against Manchester United at Villa Park. Aston Villa won the match 4-2 and he was named “Man of the Match” for scoring the goals in an interval of seven minutes.
As an Aston Villa player, Gabriel Agbonlahor has won the “Young Player of the Season” and “Player’s Young Player of the Season” for 2 consecutive years (2006-2007 and 2007-2008). He was also the “Top Goalscorer” of the 2006-2007 season and won the ‘Player of the Month’ November in the 2007-08 season.
