From Boavista to MLS: Defender Awaziem’s ​​move to Cincinnati is official

Official

Chidozie Awaziem chooses MLS. Today, the defender’s move from Boavista to Cincinnati. Here’s the release: “FC Cincinnati has acquired defender Chidozie Awaziem (pronounced: Chi-DOE-zee ah-wah-ZEE-um) from Boavista FC of the Portuguese Primeira Liga via transfer, the club announced today. The Orange and Blue have signed Awaziem through 2025, with options for 2026 and 2027. Awaziem will join the club’s roster and become eligible pending receipt of his P-1 visa.

Awaziem, 27, has made almost 300 professional appearances across Europe since signing for Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto in 2015, making his first-team debut in January 2016.

In the 2023/24 season with Boavista FC, Awaziem made 27 appearances (25 starts) for his club, despite missing spells with the Nigeria national team for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations.

Awaziem joined Boavista at the age of 23 ahead of the 2020/21 season from FC Porto. He was loaned to Turkish Süper Lig club Alanyaspor in the 2021/22 season and to Croatian First League side Hajduk Split in 2022/23. He scored a career-high five goals for Hajduk Split and helped the club lift the Croatian Football Cup, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 clean sheet win in the final against Šibenik.

Before joining Boavista, where he made 59 appearances in three seasons, he made 15 first-team appearances for FC Porto in three seasons, including a UEFA Champions League group stage appearance in December 2018, coming on as a substitute in a 3-2 win at Galatasaray.

While at Porto, he was loaned to French Ligue 1 side FC Nantes in 2017/18, Turkish Süper Lig side Çaykur Rizespor in 2019, and Spanish La Liga club CD Leganés later that season. He scored 10 goals and added seven assists in his nine-year professional career.

Internationally, seven of Awaziem’s ​​33 caps have come in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. He started six matches in the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, as Nigeria finished third in the competition. His only international goal came in an AFCON 2019 qualifier, on 8 September 2018 in Seychelles, in a 3-0 win.