Nigerian Footballer, Sani Kaita Celebrates His 31st Birthday

Sani Haruna Kaita (born 2 May 1986, in Kano, Nigeria) is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays for JS Hercules. Club career A hardworking combative midfielder, he joined Sparta in the 2005/2006 season from Kano Pillars FC. Kaita moved to AS Monaco FC in September 2008. He left on 13 January 2009 and joined FC Kuban Krasnodar on loan through 31 December 2009. On 25 August 2009, Lokomotiv Moscow signed the Nigerian midfielder on loan from Monaco until December. On 25 February 2010 Alania Vladikavkaz signed the midfielder on loan. On 31 May 2010 FC Metalist Kharkiv signed Kaita on loan. On the last day of the 2011 winter transfer window, Kaita moved to Greek Superleague side Iraklis on a six-month loan deal. In April 2014, Kaita was back in Nigeria training with Enyimba F.C. He made his debut against Sharks F.C. on May 7 and spent a three-month loan with the Aba side. The loan was part of the League Management Company's elite initiative for foreign based professionals. He signed for Ifeanyi Ubah in the Nigeria premier league for the season 2015, but played only few matches for the team. In 2016, he joined a Finnish club JS Hercules which is coached by his former national team coach Daniel Amokachi. International career A midfielder, Kaita caught the eye of Sparta when playing all 7 matches for Nigeria U-20 at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands. He is also a member of the senior Nigeria national football team making his debut in a 3–0 friendly loss against Romania in November 2005. He was sent off in a match against Greece on 17 June 2010, in their second 2010 FIFA World Cup match for kicking Vasilis Torosidis after Torosidis motioned as if to throw the ball at Kaita. This makes him the first Nigerian player to be sent off in a World Cup match. Greece went on to score their first World Cup goals, and win their first ever match in the World Cup. Sani Kaita was inundated with death threats from within Nigeria.