Nottingham Forest striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, has shared a heartwarming testimony of how God helped him throughout the 2022/2023 season through Prophet Joshua Selman the founder of Eternity Network International.
The Super Eagles striker shared how important God has been in his football journey since he chanced upon Prophet Salmon's sermon during his time at Bundesliga side Union Berlin and became a believer.
Awoniyi testified that after joining Nottingham Forest in 2022, he had a tough start to the 2022/2023 season because he became lackadaisical in his service to God.
“I moved to England with my family. The beginning was really tough. I had no idea what was going on. My wife said to me, ‘you don’t pray the way you used to do anymore.’ And that was true," he told the congregation in a video sighted by GhanaWeb.
He narrated that his misfortunes changed when he began to be committed again, and recounted how a sermon and prayers on May 7 helped him to score two goals the next day.
“So, on May 7, I think, Daddy was preaching about the ways of God. The first statement that I heard was that ‘everyone should return to the pattern that they used to praise God.’ That Monday, we had a game in the night, I was on my knees from 6 a.m to 12 noon. That night, that was the easiest game that I have played in my life. And I scored twice.
Awonyini scored a brace in Nottingham Forest's 4-3 win over Southampton to end his seven-game goal drought.
He found his scoring form, scoring six goals in the last four games of the season to help Forest escape relegation.
“My club, which was really struggling for relegation, moved from that zone and stayed in the league. I just want to give all the glory to God.”
On the club's road to surviving relegation, he scored a brace in their two-all draw against Chelsea, he scored the only goal in their vital win over Arsenal which confirmed their escape, and also scored in their one-all draw against Crystal Palace on the final day.
Taiwo Awoniyi ended the season as Nottingham Forest's highest scorer with 11 goals in 30 matches in all competitions.
The player has returned to Nigeria to spend his off-season holidays.
Watch the video below