Ugochukwu John Ogu (born 20 April 1988) is a Nigerian 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 plays 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 ...

for Israeli club Maccabi Jaffa and the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Early career

Ogu began playing football at the youth departments of Akwa Starlets,

Akwa United Akwa United Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first division of Nigerian football. The Godswill Akpabio International Stadium is the club's home stadium. ...

and the Flying Sports Academy. On 23 September 2006, he began his senior career in Slovenia when he signed with Drava Ptuj from the

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football league system. ...

. In his four-year stint, Ogu scored eight goals in 97 appearances.

In Portugal

In the summer of 2010, Ogu moved to

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese club, located in the city of Lisbon, more precisely in the parish of Alcântara. It was founded on 18 September 1942 due to the merger of two clubs of Alcântara (Carcavelinhos Football Club) and Santo ...

, which then played in the

Terceira Divisão The Terceira Divisão Portuguesa (in English: ''Portuguese Third Division'') was a football league in Portugal, situated at the fourth level of the Portuguese football league system. The Third Division was initially the third level of the Portugue ...

in Portugal. After six months, he moved to neighboring Spain and signed for

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

, but played only in Almería B of the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. In November 2011 Ogu returned to Portugal and joined

Leiria Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...

, but at the end of the season the team dropped to the

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 ...

. In July 2012, Ogu moved to Académica from

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

. Ogu scored his first goal in the third round of the

Portuguese Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

against

Ponte da Barca Ponte da Barca (; ) is a municipality in the district of Viana do Castelo (district), Viana do Castelo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 12,061, in an area of 182.11 km2. The present Mayor is Augusto Manuel Dos Reis Marinho, elected by ...

. He scored his first league goal against

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

in a decisive win that ensured the team remain in the top division. All in all, Ogu played two years at Académica and scored one goal in 27 league appearances.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

In the 2014–15 season, Ogu arrived in Israel and on 2 September 2014 made his debut in

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The cl ...

in a 0–0 draw against

Maccabi Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. ( he, מכבי פתח תקווה) (Full name: "Maccabi Avshalom Ironi Petah Tikva F.C., ) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. It is part of the Maccabi World Union for international Jewish spo ...

in the

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League ( Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga Leumit. Fro ...

. On 7 September, he signed a four-year contract with Hapoel Be'er Sheva. Five days later, he made his debut in the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

when he opened the team against

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jeru ...

Vasermil Stadium The Arthur Vasermil Municipal Stadium was a football stadium in Be’er Sheva, Israel. The stadium was designed as an open bowl (though a small part of one side was covered). At one stage it had a running track that was later bricked over. In its ...

and on 29 November scored his first goal in Hapoel Be'er Sheva in a 4–0 home win over

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל מכבי נתניה, ''Football Club Maccabi Netanya'') is an Israeli football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. Afte ...

. In the first season of the team, and at the end of the season reached the finals of the

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...

, losing to

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. In the 2015–16 season he competed with Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

qualifying and even scored a goal against

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of the Swiss football league system, following relegation from the Swiss Super League in the ...

from the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

, but the team was eliminated in both games. Later in the season he scored four goals and assisted five, was part of the team's winning the

State Championship New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

and was among the candidates for the title of footballer of the season. Entering the 2016–17 season, Ogu was ranked on

Walla In American radio, film, television, and video games, walla is a sound effect imitating the murmur of a crowd in the background. A group of actors brought together in the post-production stage of film production to create this murmur is known as ...

Sports web site as the number 1 footballer in Israel by 60 sports journalists and professionals. On 11 August 2016, Ogu won the

Israel Super Cup The Israel Super Cup, also known as the Champion of Champions ( he, אלוף האלופים, Aluf HaAlufim), is an Israeli association football club competition played as a single match between the winner of the latest Israeli top league champion ...

with Hapoel Be'er Sheva after winning 4–2 against

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

. Later on, he faced the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

qualifying team and reached the playoff stage in which he was eliminated against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, and as a result fell to the UEFA Europa League stage. On 28 December, Ogu and Hapoel Be'er Sheva won the Toto Cup after a 4–1 win over

Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל עירוני קרית שמונה) known as Ironi Kiryat Shmona is an Israeli football club based in Kiryat Shmona. The club is a current member of the Israeli Pr ...

in the final game. On 29 April 2017, Ogu scored the winning goal in the championship game against Maccabi Tel Aviv helping Hapoel Be'er Sheva to win the league championship for the second time in a row.

Al-Adalah

In January 2020, Ogu signed for Al-Adalah on a six-month contract. He left the club having made seven appearances.

Hapoel Nof HaGalil F.C.

On 2 February 2022, Ogu returned to Israel to join newly promoted club H. Nof HaGalil until the end of the season.

Maccabi Jaffa

On 30 May 2022, signed for Maccabi Jaffa.

International career

In March 2013, Ogu was called up to the Nigerian national side for a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier. He debuted against

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in a 1–1 draw, where he was used as a substitute to replace an injured

Victor Moses Victor Moses (born 12 December 1990) is a Nigerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger on either flank for Russian club FC Spartak Moscow, Spartak Moscow. He has also been deployed as a wing-bac ...

. On 31 May, Ogu scored his first international goal against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in a

friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

which took place at the

Reliant Stadium NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. On 9 June, Nigerian coach

Stephen Keshi Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (23 January 1962 – 7 June 2016) was a Nigerian football player and manager. During his playing career, Keshi played as a defender and earned 60 caps for the Nigeria national team, making him the nation's second-most ...

selected Ogu as one of 23 players to participate in the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...

. On 18 March 2015, he was called up with 27 other players for the proposed friendly matches against

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and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. In May 2018 he was named to Nigeria's preliminary 30-man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia. He was included in the 23-man squad to AFCON 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ogu goal.''

Honours

Club

Hapoel Beer Sheva *

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

: 2016–17

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogu, John 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Lagos Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers Nigerian expatriate footballers Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Israeli Premier League players Saudi Professional League players Dakkada F.C. players NK Drava Ptuj players Atlético Clube de Portugal players UD Almería B players U.D. Leiria players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Al-Adalah FC players Hapoel Nof HaGalil F.C. players Maccabi Jaffa F.C. players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Expatriate footballers in Slovenia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate footballers in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Israel Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia