Onyekachi Okonkwo

Tico

Personal information
Full name	Onyekachi Donatus Okonkwo
Date of birth	May 13, 1982 (1982-05-13) (age 29)
Place of birth	Aba, Nigeria
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Alkharitiyat
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
-2004	Enyimba	?	(?)
2004-2007	Orlando Pirates	43	(3)
2007-2010	FC Zurich	62	(2)
2010-	Alkharitiyat
National team‡
2006-2008	Nigeria	9	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of July 2009

Onyekachi Donatus Okonkwo or Simply Tico (born 13 May 1982 in Aba, Nigeria) is a Nigerian football (soccer) midfielder. His name, Onyekachi, means "Who is greater than his godly guarding?".^[1]

Club career

Okonkwo was a member of Enyimba's winning side in the 2003 MTN CAF Champions League and 2004 MTN CAF Champions League finals.

During his two-year stay in South Africa he was arguably one of the club's most influential players even scoring the decisive goal against his former club Enyimba to lead the Johannesbrg-based club to the 2006 MTN CAF Champions League semifinals.

At the same time he had a huge record of ill-discipline and unsporting behaviour. In August 2006, during a Telkom Charity Cup match against Bloemfontein Celtic, Okonkwo was red-carded but refused to leave the pitch and threatened to beat up referee Daniel Bennett and had to be hauled off the pitch by his team-mates. He also went AWOL on several occasions to attend trials at European clubs.

Okonkwo caused a stir in Europe by signing a pre-contract agreement with German side FC Koln only to leave the club a week later to sign a four-year deal at Swiss side FC Zurich saying that he had only ever agreed to a one week trial at the German team. Despite FC Koln's sporting director Klaus Horstmann threatening to take the matter to Fifa in order for him to fulfil his obligations to his side, Okonkwo says he did not breach any rules in moving to Switzerland. He joined Alkharitiyat in the summer of 2010

International

He won his first international cap for Nigeria in an AFCON qualifier against Lesotho in October 2006.

Award

swiss super league 2008/2009

References

1. ^ Meaning of Onyekachi in Nigerian.name

External links

• National Football Teams

Persondata
Name	Okonkwo, Onyekachi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 May 1982
Place of birth	Aba, Nigeria
Date of death
Place of death