Oka Nikolov

Oka Nikolov is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany, as a goalkeeper. At nearly 17 he joined Eintracht Frankfurt\'s youth system, going on to remain with the club until his retirement. Nikolov started his senior career as backup, first to Uli Stein and then Andreas Kopke. After the latter left the team in June 1996 following the team\'s relegation from the Bundesliga he became first-choice. In the following years Nikolov was relatively played in every season, being an undisputed starter in five of those but only appearing once in the 2004–05 campaign as the Eagles achieved promotion from the second division. In January 2010, it was announced that the 35-year-old Nikolov would not renew his contract with Eintracht that was due to expire in the summer, but he eventually signed a new deal until 2012, and later until 2013. He spent his entire career with Eintracht Frankfurt, appearing in 413 official games over the course of 13 Bundesliga seasons. Nikolov chose to represent the country of his ancestors, going on to win five caps for Macedonia in four years.