Abubaker Nasir, famously known as Abuki in his native Ethiopia, officially joined Sundowns at the beginning of 2022/23 season from Ethiopian Premier League side, Ethiopian Coffee.
Nasir rose to fame in his country for his eye for goals. But it was as a dribbling wizard that Abuki’ skills made him a crowd favorite. The Ethiopian has already represented his country 21 times, scoring 5 goals, and has participated at AFCON, AFCON qualifiers, and World Cup qualifiers.
Abuki’s transfer to Sundowns was the biggest in the history of Ethiopian football. His quality has earned him a great level of respect among Sundowns fans, and they have never missed an opportunity to enquire about his availability and lack thereof, after every round of fixtures.
Geographically, Ethiopia is just above the Equatorial line, meaning in his case, he comes from a country that is always experiencing hot weather. According to sources close to the player, his biggest challenge at Sundowns so far has been acclimatising to the South African weather. Though, in some instances, muscle injuries were reported, but it has since been revealed that Nasir is struggling to cope with the South African weather!
With striker Peter Shalulile out with an injury, Sundowns will be sweating around the clock to help Nasir become available for selection, post the world cup in Qatar. It remains to be seen if the Ethiopian international can fight off this situation, and be available regularly after the world cup, in a star-studded Sundowns team.
With 3 goals after 4 matches in all competitions, Nasir will be disappointed that he has not played much for Sundowns, but will be hoping he finds himself back in the team for CAFCL group stages, and second round of fixtures including the Nedbank Cup.
