Henry Ndubueze Okoroji (born April 12, 1984 in

Ngor Okpala Ngor Okpala is a Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Umuneke Ngor. It has an area of 561 km²; it has a population of 159,932 at the 2006 census. It is a notable place in Imo state because of th ...

) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

footballer who currently plays for Casertana F.C.

Career

After the

1994 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 w ...

a series of Nigerian players were brought to the European top leagues. Okoroji's mentor Prince Ikpe Ekong was one of them as he was signed by Italian club A.C. Reggiana back then coached by

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...

. Ikpe Ekong recommended his club to get their hands on a very talented defender Henry Okoroji. He arrived in 2003 as Prince was already on his way out after battling against the whole Serie A in the court and won.

Fiorentina and Serie A

Henry has played most of his career in the third and fourth level of Italian football. Due to strict non-EU player rules African players have had it hard in Italy. In 2007 however, Henry's skills were noticed by ACF Fiorentina who signed the player on a 1-year contract.Casertana arriva Ndubueze, vicini Olcese e Napoli , SportCasertano.it
/ref> Henry was loaned to Bulgaria, but shortly after his arrival was recalled back to Italy. Therefore, he didn't play any games that season on first level. Later on he was loaned to

Chieti Calcio Società Sportiva Chieti Calcio is an Football in Italy, Italian association football club, based in Chieti, Abruzzo. Currently it plays in Serie D. History Foundation Chieti was founded in 1922 as Calcio Chieti with a capital of 50 cents. ...

before he went back to FC Pro Vasto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okoroji, Henry Living people 1984 births Nigerian footballers ACF Fiorentina players Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Nigerian expatriate footballers A.C. Reggiana 1919 players Vastese Calcio 1902 players Expatriate footballers in Italy PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players Association football defenders S.S. Chieti Calcio players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serie B players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Casertana F.C. players