Emeka Ezeugo (born 16 December 1965) is a Nigerian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He debuted as a professional footballer for Indian club

East Bengal FC East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

, has also represented the Nigeria national team in the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. He last managed Abia Warriors FC as a football coach.

Club career

Ezeugo was born in Aba. He played professionally for clubs in five different continents during a 15-year playing career after starting his career at

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. He started for another Bangladeshi club,

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muham ...

, towards the end of the 1980s. He then moved to the Danish League with middle of the table club

Lyngby BK Lyngby Boldklub () is a Danish professional football club founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion in Kongens Lyngby, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, a northern suburb of Copenhagen. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby FC. The clu ...

and prospered so much that he made it to the Nigerian national team for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. He came to India for a short spell in 1997 to play a few matches for

Mohun Bagan AC Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

International career

Ezeugo first played for the Nigeria national team at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea. Nicknamed "Emmy", he obtained 11 caps for the national team between 1992 and 1994, and was a member of the team that competed at the

Coaching career

Ezeugo holds a US Soccer Federation coaching license and a KNVB Netherlands international license. Ezeugo has an envious coaching record over the past seven years, as he successfully completed his transition from player to coach that included a stint as the head coach at CoT NYs

Borough of Manhattan Community College The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is a public community college in New York City. Founded in 1963 as part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, BMCC grants associate degrees in a wide variety of vocational, busines ...

in 2002. In 2003 coached the

Deportivo Municipal Club Centro Deportivo Municipal, commonly known as Deportivo Municipal, is a Peruvian football club based in Lima, Peru. They are among Peru's most recognizable clubs and enjoy considerable popularity. The bulk of their success was won a few ye ...

, Lima for two seasons before coming back to the United States, on 15 August 2005 was named as the new men's soccer coach at

New York City College of Technology The New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is a public college in New York City. Founded in 1946, it is the City University of New York's college of technology. History City Tech was founded in 1946 as The New York State Institute of ...

, here was between 2008. Ezeuga spent summers 2004 to 2006 coaching at Camp Chateaugay, a summer camp located in New York's

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...

for kids ages 7 to 15. On 19 April 2008, he returned to India and signed a contract as head coach by his former club

Churchill Brothers SC Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually parti ...

on 5 September 2008 was released from his contract. He was then the chief coach of

Heartland Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization i ...

, a position he assumed less than a month ago. On 31 October 2013, he was named the head coach of the newly promoted

Nigeria Premier League The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the Nigerian football league system, for the Nigerian club-football championships. The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwindl ...

team Abia Warriors.

Personal life

Emeka's brother Valentine Ezuego, a former footballer in India, recommended the former Nigerian World Cupper to Churchill Bros patron

Churchill Alemao Churchill Braz Alemao (born 16 May 1949) is a former Chief Minister and former MP of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He was the MLA of Benaulim constituency in the state of Goa. Political career Alemao was chief minister of Goa for a brief peri ...

Conversion

In February 2012, while he was coach of Mohammedan Sporting Club of Bangladesh, he converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Honours

Individual

* Nehru Centenary Club Cup – Taj Bengal Trophy for player of the tournament: 1990

References

External links