Super Eagles and Cardiff City left-back, Jamilu Collins, was ecstatic to rekindle with his former coach, Steffen Baumgart in Cardiff’s pre-season friendly against Hamburger SV, Soccernet.ng reports.
Collins joined SC Paderborn in 2017 when they were in the German third tier. The left-back, alongside Baumgart, and the rest of the team, worked their way up from the 3. Liga to the Bundesliga before suffering relegation in the 2019/2020 season.
The pair shared a great relationship during their time at the Home Deluxe Arena, with the Super Eagles defender citing the German as a father figure. Baumgart moved on to FC Koln in 2021 where he coached other Nigerian players like Emmanuel Dennis and Tolu Arokodare.
After a cruciate knee ligament in 2022, Jamilu has set sights on promoting Cardiff to the English Premier League. During their pre-season clash with Baumgart’s new side, Hamburger SV, the Bluebirds cruised to a 3-nil win over the German side with goals from Ollie Tanner, Isaak Davies and Callum Robinson giving Erol Bulut’s men a promising outing ahead of the EFL Championship season.
At the end of the game, Collins was full of joy, hugging his former gaffer, and took to his social media page to share the moment, with the theme – “Papa and Son reunite again.”
🫂 #ExPaderborner Jamilu Collins and Steffen Baumgart reunite in a friendly between Cardiff City and HSV.#SCP07 (📸 collinsjamilu) pic.twitter.com/Ale3jTDpo2
— SC Paderborn 07 – English (@SCPaderbornEN) July 22, 2024
Collins received his first call-up to the Super Eagles for an AFCON qualification match against Seychelles in September 2018. He made his debut days later under former Nigerian coach, Gernot Rohr.