I learnt barbing — Super Eagles new boy Akinsanmiro reveals Plan B

Nigerian midfielder Ebenezer Akinsanmiro has revealed that he picked up barbering skills, intending to fall back on hair cutting as a profession had his football career not panned out. 

The 21-year-old has been on a steady rise in the past few years. He earned a move to Champions League finalists from Remo Stars in 2023, and has since had loan spells at Sampdoria, and this season, Pisa. 

His performance for Pisa in the Serie A this season has earned him his maiden Super Eagles call-up, and he will be part of Eric Chelle's set-up for the AFCON. 

Amid the recent advancement he made in his career by bagging a Super Eagles call-up, in a recent interview, the midfielder shared a story from when the path forward was unclear. 

He revealed that he learnt to cut hair when he feared that he might not make it as a professional footballer, and how his family stood as a support system when he was filled with doubt. 

“There was a time I doubted football because it’s not something where you’re 100 per cent sure you’ll make it. So I decided to learn barbering. I stopped playing football for some months, even years,” he said.

“The people around me—my dad and my brothers. They all played football when they were younger, and my dad also played.”

Speaking specifically about the Super Eagles call-up, he said that the announcement came as a dream come true.

“It has been my dream for a very long time. I’ve tried to play for the national team since the U-17 and U-20 levels. There were times I felt maybe I wasn’t good enough. But I kept pushing and told myself that if I continued to give my best, one day I would get the chance to play for my country.”