Alfred Effiong

Alfred Effiong (born 29 November 1984) is a Nigeria-born Maltese footballer who plays as a forward for Maltese club Balzan.

Club Career

On 28 June 2011, Effiong scored on his European debut for Valletta, netting the second in a 3–0 away win over Sammarinese club Tre Fiori in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round first leg.

International Career

Born in Nigeria, Effiong moved to Malta in 2005 and married a local in 2010. In 2014, his club president, Redeno Apap, asked if he would apply for a Maltese passport, which was granted in March 2015.

Later that month, national coach Pietro Ghedin was searching for a new striker after the suspension of Michael Mifsud. Effiong made his senior international debut for Malta on 25 March, replacing Jean Paul Farrugia in the 60th minute of a 0–2 friendly defeat against Georgia at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi. On 8 June, he came on for Andrew Cohen in the 60th minute of a home friendly against Lithuania, and 20 minutes later scored his first international goal to seal a 2–0 victory. He scored his second national goal in a 1–1 draw against Estonia in August 2016. His third goal came from a header against Scotland in Malta's 5–1 home defeat in a World Cup qualifier on 4 September 2016.

International goals

Scores and results list Malta's goal tally first.