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Daniel is a Nigerian footballer who plays for the South African Kaizer Chiefs as a goalkeeper.
He was born in Nnewi on the 3rd of August 1986 to Mr. and Mrs. Akpeyi.
Daniel is a major Goalkeeper with Kaizer Chiefs and has been able to perform quite impressively with his club.
Family and Career
source: Mynigeria.com
Daniel started his football career in Gabros international FC, and in 2005 he was promoted to the club’s first team.
However in 2007, he joined Nasarawa United FC and was the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
In 2010 Daniel moved to Heartland St during their campaign for CAF Champions League and was also chosen as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
In February 2014, Daniel was reported to have moved to Warri Wolves, Heartland league rivals, but Heartlands put out a statement denying the news and claimed they couldn’t sell their best goalkeeper.
In March, Daniel finally moved to Warri Wolves.
He joined Chippa in 2015 with a two-year deal, and in 2020 he joined the South African Kaizer Chiefs with a two-year deal.
After joining the South African Kaizer Chiefs in 2020, fans from social media were talking about who should become the club’s first-choice goalkeeper between Daniel Akpeyi and Itumeleng Khune, who were both goalkeepers at the club.
Daniel addresses the issue by stating that he is very close to all the goalkeepers in his club as they are always trying to motivate each other, and he does not understand why some people want to put him and Khune against each other.
The address, in a way, calmed the issue from the media for a while.
Daniel’s time with Kaizer Chiefs was extremely impactful, and he continued to have playtime with the club.
However, things almost went uphill after he suffered a concussion in August 2020 due to a collision with an opponent.
The injury forced him to the bench so he could get medical treatment due to the extent of the injury.
The injury ensured more playing time for Khune, and as expected, Kaizer fans on social media again started deliberating on who should be the club’s choice goalie.
Many media cited Ikpeyi’s health condition as a blessing in disguise for the club to explore Khune.
They stated that the South African-born goalkeeper had not disappointed and, as such, should be made the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Daniel, as usual, addressed the rumor by claiming he was unbothered about the controversy and there is no rivalry between himself and Khune.
He stated the fight for team first choice goalie position is a healthy competition between the two of them and that he saw his colleague as a brother and nothing less.
He also stated that he was looking to recover, which was the most important to him right now.
Daniel’s International Career
Daniel was part of the Under-20 Nigerian team that went for the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.
He was also part of the 22-man squad that went for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
However, Daniel did not feature in any of the two tournaments as he was a reserve goalkeeper to the first-choice goalie at that time.
In 2013 Daniel lost his mother, Mrs. Caroline Akpeyi, to a brief illness at age 57, and that affected his career a little before he eventually bounced back.
In 2014 he was selected to be part of the 23-man squad to be used as a back-up goalkeeper in place of Chigozie Agbim in the African Nations championship.
He was also selected to be part of the 30 provisional squads to play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
In 2015 Daniel was part of the Nigerian team that played in a friendly match against South Africa.
He was used as a replacement for Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama who was injured before the friendly.
Daniel performed impressively and even saved a penalty that won him the man-of-the-match award.
In 2016 he was chosen to be part of the Summer Olympics, and in 2018, he was selected as part of the preliminary 30-man squad to represent Nigeria in the FIFA World Cup held in Russia.
In 2019 Daniel was part of the final 23-man listed from the Nigerian team to play in the African Cup of Nations, where he kept two clean sheets for his team.
Daniel’s impressive international performance continued, and he cemented his place between the sticks again and was part of the star performers in Nigerian victory against Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions.
However, he conceded two goals at the beginning of the match after a horror start by the team.
However, a deserved comeback ensured that Nigeria ended the game with a 3-2 victory.
He was the goalkeeper against Algeria for the Semi-final showdown between Nigeria and Algeria.
The team succumbed to defeat following Manchester City star Riyad Marhez’s stoppage-time freekick to end their campaign.
Nigeria, however, won the third position playoff to emerge as the third-best team of the competition.
Daniel Akpeyi’s Foundation
Daniel is the founder of the Daniel Akpeyi children empowerment Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 2020.
The foundation’s goal is to provide quality education for the less privileged children in Africa. During the worldwide Covid 19 lockdown.
Daniel used the organization to provide food for many people in Gauteng, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Wife, Cars, And Houses
In December 2016, Daniel married his longtime sweetheart Emmanuella Elbert Kalu.
The couple had their first child Prince Jason Akpeyi in Port Elizabeth in July 2018.
Daniel has the following cars in his garage; Hyundai Elantra, Range Rover, and a Mercedes Benz.
In April 2020, Daniel took to his social media accounts on Instagram to post a picture of a white two-story building alongside a caption “one of the blessings of the year.”
There were so much congratulatory messages from other footballers and fans, which further confirmed that the property belonged to the footballer.
Salary, Market Value, And Net Worth
Daniel is quite wealthy as he earns 2.4 million South African rands with his team annually.
He also has a market value of 650,000 euros and is estimated to have a net worth of 300,000 dollars.
This article was updated 1 week ago