Vienna-born Alaba has a Nigerian father and his mother is from the Philippines. The 25-year-old has been representing Austria since U17s. He made his international debut in 2009 and has scored 12 times in 61 appearances. He will miss out at the 2018 World Cup after Franco Foda’s side failed to secure qualification. At club level, Alaba has enjoyed a trophy-laden career with German powerhouse Bayern Munich, lifting his seventh Bundesliga title at the end of the 2017-18 season, among other honours.
While such successes have not been tasted at the national level, Alaba is one of the most decorated footballers in the country and has been awarded the Austrian Footballer of the Year six times. On June 16, Nigeria start their World Cup campaign against Croatia before games rounding off their Group D fixtures with games against Iceland and Argentina. Gernot Rohr will hope to lead his young side past the Round of 16 which appears to be Nigeria’s best finish [1994 and 2014] at the tournament.
