The Nigeria Professional Football League 2023 season kickstarts this Sunday.
The biggest stars in the league are set to return to action in what promises to be another exciting, action-packed campaign. However there are many other players in their respective teams looking to standout this season. We take a look at one of them in this Players To Watch piece.
Nelson Abiam (Wikki Tourists): Center-back
Nelson Abiam is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a center-back for Nigerian topflight club, Wikki Tourists.
In terms of his playing position, Nelson Abiam is predominantly deployed as a central defender, but has also been used at right-back and in a central or defensive midfield role by his coaches. He is outstanding for his anticipation, intelligence and pace, as well as his technical skills, calmness, passing ability, elegance on the ball, and confidence when in possession, which enables him to break down attacks and subsequently play the ball out or start offensive plays from the back.
Abiam is one aggressive, quick, physically strong, and tenacious center-back known for his work-rate and hard-tackling style of play; due to his physique, he is also a big threat to his opponents during aerial balls especially on set-pieces.
He scored nine goals in his first season at Wikki Tourists and most of them were things of beauty with 90% of his goals coming from a direct freekick.
Abiam is a Nigerian defender that is never scared to hit the turf with the aim of making a tackle. It’s his no-nonsense nature that has helped Wikki Tourists’ backline in recent times. His ability to read the game is simply amazing and he has a high tackling ratio in the Nigeria Professional Football League.
