Saliu Popoola


Saliu Popoola is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Moroccan club Wydad Fès. He is also a Nigeria national [football team|Nigerian international].
Measuring only 1.57 m, he was considered, in 2015, to be the third smallest professional player in the world. With the Nigeria U23 team, he won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Career

Popoola joined FC Metz]Metz in August 2012, after a successful trial with the team. He would play for the reserves in the CFA. The following season, he made two appearances in the Coupe de France, but none in Ligue 2 where the Metz first team played.
In lack of playing time, he was sent on a two-season loan to Belgian club Seraing |Seraing] for two seasons, until June 2016. With a height of only 1.57 m, he was then the smallest professional player playing in Belgium. With Seraing, he made 51 appearances in the Belgian second division, scoring 4 goals. Most notably, he scored a brace against Heist on 29 November 2015, which proved to be the key to the 5–2 win.
In September 2016, having still not made a league appearance for the Metz first-team, he terminated his contract with the club by mutual consent.

Honours

Nigeria U23