Nigeria A Goalkeeper’s Grief: Super Eagles’ Stanley Nwabali Prepares to Bury Both Parents

Super Eagles goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali is set to lay both of his parents to rest in early June following their deaths just months apart. He lost his father in November 2024 and his mother two months later.

• The burial is scheduled for June 6 and 7, 2025.
• Nwabali described the experience as a pain he "would never wish on his worst enemy."
• “It’s a different kind of pain… Thank you for everything,” he wrote in an emotional Instagram post.
• The 27-year-old has been a rising figure in Nigerian football and a standout performer in recent AFCON qualifiers.

Nwabali’s openness about his grief has resonated across the football community. For an athlete often defined by composure and grit, this moment shows the deeply human side of loss and the quiet strength required to face it in public.