Christian Ogochukwu Ibeagha (born January 10, 1990) is a Nigerian-born American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Career

Youth, College and Amateur

Ibeagha attended Deer Creek High School in

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest cit ...

and spent his entire college career at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. Prior to Duke, he was a Two-time NSCAA Youth All-America selection and a member of the U.S. soccer residency program in 2006 and 2007. In his freshman year, Ibeagha was named to the All-ACC Freshman team after making 16 appearances for Duke in 2007. In 2008, he made 20 appearances and recorded an assist. He was also ranked fourth in the team in minutes played with 1,513. In his junior year, Ibeagha was named to the NSCAA All-South Region third team after making 20 appearances and finishing with a goal and an assist. In his senior season, Ibeagha started the first five games of the season before suffering a season-ending injury. During his time in College, Ibeagha also played in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, spending the 2008 season with

Bradenton Academics IMG Academy Bradenton is an American soccer team based in Bradenton, Florida, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team is associated with IMG Academy and the ...

and the 2009 season with

Cary Clarets North Carolina FC U23 is an American soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded in 2002 as the Raleigh Elite, and the current affiliate of North Carolina FC, a third division club in the United Soccer League. The team plays in ...

. He also spent two seasons with

Carolina Dynamo North Carolina Fusion U-23, formerly known as Carolina Dynamo, is an American soccer team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1993, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The ...

after failing to sign with a professional club.

Professional

On July 26, 2012, Ibeagha signed his first professional contract, joining NASL club

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

. About a week later, Ibeagha made his professional debut in a 2-1 victory over

San Antonio Scorpions FC The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stad ...

. Ibeagha signed with

Bohemians 1905 Bohemians Praha 1905 (previously named FC Bohemians Praha) is a Prague-based football club, which was founded in 1905 as AFK Vršovice. The club won the 1982–83 Czechoslovak First League, its only league championship. Its colours are green a ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in October 2013. In February 2015 he signed with the Faroese club

FC Suðuroy FC Suðuroy is a Faroese football club which was founded in January 2010 and consists currently of the former clubs VB (founded in 1905) and Sumba (founded in 1949), which merged in 2005 to form VB/Sumba. FC Suðuroy's first team in the men's ch ...

on loan. After his release from Bohemians, Ibeagha joined

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

side

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E ...

. On March 3, 2017, Ibeagha signed with NASL side

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

. On January 15, 2018, Ibeagha signed with

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

side

Oklahoma City Energy Oklahoma City Energy Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. History Oklahoma City businessma ...

Personal

Christian's brother,

Sebastien Ibeagha Sebastien Uchechukwu Ibeagha (born January 21, 1992) is a professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. Born in Nigeria, he represented the United States national under-20 team. Career Youth, colle ...

, currently plays for

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

References

External links

Duke University bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibeagha, Christian 1990 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players IMG Academy Bradenton players North Carolina FC U23 players North Carolina Fusion U23 players Puerto Rico Islanders players FC Suðuroy players Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC players North Carolina FC players OKC Energy FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Puerto Rico USL League Two players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players United States men's youth international soccer players Footballers from Port Harcourt Soccer players from Texas Men's association football defenders Nigerian emigrants to the United States USL Championship players