Uche Okechukwu

Uche Okechukwu

Personal information
Full name	Uche Alozie Okechukwu
Date of birth	September 27, 1967 (1967-09-27) (age 44)
Place of birth	Lagos, Nigeria
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1987	Flash Flamingoes
1988–1990	Iwuanyanwu Nationale
1990–1993	Brøndby	61	(10)
1993–2002	Fenerbahçe	191	(19)
2002–2006	İstanbulspor	75	(8)
2007–2008	Ocean Boys
2008–2009	Bayelsa United
National team
1990–1998	Nigeria	71	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Nigeria
Men's Football
Gold	1996 Atlanta	Team Competition

Uche Alozie Okechukwu (born 27 September 1967), known as Uche for short, is a retired Nigerian footballer who played as a central defender.

"Uche" is a nickname for the Igbo name "Uchechukwu" (meaning "God´s will").^[1] He was also honored as the foreign player who played in Turkey for the longest period of time (13 years), going on to obtain Turkish citizenship under the name Deniz Uygar.^[2]

Club career

Born in Lagos, Uche started his career playing for Flash Flamingoes and Iwuanyanwu Nationale, winning the 1988 and 1989 Nigerian Premier League with the latter.

In July 1990, he moved abroad to join Danish club Brøndby IF, being signed by newly appointed club coach Morten Olsen alongside teammate Friday Elahor. Soon a part of the first team setup, Uche helped the club win the 1990 and 1991 Danish championship, and was one of the mainstays of the Brøndby team that reached the semifinals of the 1990–91 UEFA Cup. While Elahor was touted by some as the next Brian Laudrup, he would soon leave the club for Africa Sports, while Okechukwu would be named the 1992's Brøndby IF Player of the Year.

After appearing in the 1992 African Cup of Nations, where Nigeria reached the semi-finals, Uche was chased by Turkish club Fenerbahçe for half a year, until he was bought in a DKK 8 million transfer deal in November 1993. At Fenerbahçe, he formed a defensive duo with former Brøndby teammate Jes Høgh, helping the club to its first national championship in seven years, in 1995–96.

He played a further four seasons with Fenerbahçe, repeating league accolades in 2000–01. After nine seasons and nearly 250 official games for the club, Uche moved to fellow league side İstanbulspor AS, returning in 2007 to Nigeria, first with Ocean Boys F.C. then with Bayelsa United FC (joining the latter in July 2008, and retiring shortly after, aged 41).

International career

Okechukwu made his debut for the Nigerian national team at the 1990 African Cup of Nations tournament, when Nigeria lost 1–5 to Algeria in their opening game. For the remainder of the competition, the Nigerian defense did not concede another goal, until they were beaten 0–1 by Algeria in the final.

Altogether, he played 71 international matches, winning the CAN in 1994 (2–1 against Zambia) and the 1996 Summer Olympics. He also represented the nation in two FIFA World Cups, helping it progress to two consecutive round of 16 contests (as he appeared in seven full matches combined, only missing out in the group stage 1–3 loss to Paraguay, due to having collected two yellow cards).

Uche retired after the 1998 edition's 1–4 loss to Denmark, having captained the squad on several occasions from 1996 onwards.

Honours

Club

• Nigerian League: 1987–88, 1988–89
• Danish League: 1990, 1991
• Turkish League: 1995–96, 2000–01

Country

• Africa Cup of Nations: 1994
• Summer Olympic Games: 1996

Individual

• Brøndby Player of the Year: 1992

References

1. ^ Name meaning at Nigerian.name
2. ^ Uche Okechukwu (Deniz Uygar) ve jübilesi (Uche Okechukwu (Deniz Uygar) retires); Unifeb Forums (Turkish)

External links

• NigerianPlayers profile
• Uche Okechukwu at National-Football-Teams.com

Preceded by Peter Rufai

Nigeria Captain 1994–1998

Succeeded by Sunday Oliseh

Persondata
Name	Okechukwu, Uche
Alternative names	Uche
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	27 September 1967
Place of birth	Lagos, Nigeria
Date of death
Place of death