Ugochukwu Michael "Hugo" Enyinnaya (born 8 May 1981) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Career

Enyinnaya started his career with Eagle Cement, where he made his debut at the age of 16. He was then loaned out to

FC Ebedei FC Ebedei is a Nigerian football club based in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State after moving from Lagos in 2001. They currently play in Nigeria Nationwide League, the third tier of Nigerian football. FC Ebedei is also serving as the African football acad ...

, being subsequently signed in the summer of 1998 by

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side

Molenbeek ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, from which it is separated ...

. Noted by Carlo Regalia, scout of then-

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, he was then signed in 1999 by the ''galletti'' in a 200mln ₤ bid, and initially joined the Under-20 ''Primavera'' squad, where he formed a striking partnership with a young

Antonio Cassano Antonio Cassano (; born 12 July 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A talented and technically gifted player, he was usually deployed as a supporting forward, but could also play as an attacking midfield ...

. He marked his Serie A debut on 17 October 1999 in a home match against

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

. On 18 December he was first featured in the starting lineup, together with Cassano, in a home league match against

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

, which ended in a surprising 2–1 win for Bari thanks to goals from Enyinnaya (a 30-meter shot during the 7th minute) and a late winner by Cassano. Enyinnaya later failed to gain a spot in the regular lineup, unlike Cassano. In 2002 he was loaned to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

side

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, where he scored only two goals in 17 matches. He returned to Bari in 2003, but failed to impress, being loaned again, this time to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

, in January 2004. In July 2004 his contract expired, and Enyinnaya subsequently joined

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...

under request by then-chairman

Marek Koźmiński Marek Jan Koźmiński () (born 7 February 1971 in Kraków) is a retired Polish footballer who played as a left-sided defender or midfielder. Career Club He played for clubs such as Hutnik Kraków, Udinese (Italy), Brescia (Italy), AC Ancona (I ...

. Adaptation difficulties however affected his performances, and Enyinnaya played only five times with the Polish side. He then moved to third-tier club

Lechia Zielona Góra Lechia Zielona Góra is a Polish football club located in Zielona Góra, Poland. The team's colors are blue and yellow. In 2012 the club merged with the local academy UKP Zielona Góra, dropping the historic ''Lechia'' name and temporarily compet ...

in 2005 and after that, to

Odra Opole Odra Opole () is a football club based in Opole, Poland, currently playing in the I liga. History Beginnings The history of Odra Opole began on 16 June 1945, when in the Opole Town Hall, a group of sports officials gathered to form a new ...

in 2006. In January 2009 Enyinnaya returned to Italy by accepting an offer from amateur

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football. It is a regional league, composed of 28 divisions divided geographically. All 20 regions are represented by at least one division except for Piedmont and Ao ...

club A.S.D. Anziolavinio. In July 2009 he moved to another

club,

Meda Meda may refer to: Places * Meda de Mouros, a parish in Tábua Municipality, Portugal * Medas, a parish in Gondomar Municipality, Portugal * Meda-Ela, Sri Lanka * Međa (Leskovac), village in the municipality of Leskovac, Serbia * Meda, Lombardy ...

References

Sources

*
Profile at Lega Calcio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enyinnaya, Hugo 1981 births Living people Igbo sportspeople Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Footballers from Warri Dolphin F.C. (Nigeria) players F.C. Ebedei players R.W.D. Molenbeek (1909) players SSC Bari players US Livorno 1915 players Calcio Foggia 1920 players Górnik Zabrze players Lechia Zielona Góra players Odra Opole players AC Meda 1913 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Belgian Pro League players Ekstraklasa players I liga players II liga players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Poland