Oboabona’s Dinamo Batumi crash out of Europa League following Hapoel Be'er Sheva loss

Godfrey Oboabona played from start to finish as Dinamo Batumi went out of the Europa League at the first hurdle after a 3-0 loss by Hapoel Be'er Sheva on Thursday.

Prior to the single-leg clash, the Nigeria defender, speaking with Goal, forecast that the Georgian side could be the surprise package in Europe’s second-tier tournament.

“Hapoel Be'er Sheva are a very strong team but they are a team just as we are, and we have to try to make it as difficult for them as possible with what we have,” he said. “We have a much-improved team, we are getting stronger and we are blessed with good players too.

"I’m certain that we’re going to have chances which we hope to make use of. All things being equal, we should triumph," he added. “Watch out for us, we can be the Europa League’s surprise package because in football everything is possible.”

Ultimately, however, Hapoel took a comfortable 2-0 first-half lead via Josue and a Mamuka Kobakhidze own goal, before the former added his second of the evening to book the Israel outfit’s place in the next round.

This was the third time Batumi made it into the Europa League first qualifying round but have never gone beyond that stage, doing likewise in 2015-16 and 2017-18. The Georgian outfit made it to this round having finished second in the Erovnuli Liga, five points clear of the country’s most successful side Dinamo Tbilisi.

Oboabona joined Batumi in February of this year after a previous spell with Croatian side HNK Gorica. The 29-year old has also played for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli.

His most active spells have come first in his home country with Sunshine Stars between 2010 and 2013, before spending the next four years with Rizepor in Tukey where he made 114 appearances, scoring five goals and providing two assists.

Oboabona is widely remembered for being part of the Nigeria squad that won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa by seeing off Burkina Faso in the final. He played every minute of the tournament and also featured at the 2013 Confederation Cup and 2014 World Cup, both held in Brazil.