Josephine Chiwendu Chukwunonye (born 19 March 1992) 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 defender for Swedish

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

club Kungsbacka DFF and the Nigeria women's national team. She previously played for Nigerian domestic side

Rivers Angels Rivers Angels F.C. (formerly Larry Angels F.C.) is a Nigerian football club based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. They play in the Nigeria Women Premier League, the top flight division in the female soccer league system. History The club wa ...

for seven years, and for

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

Club career

After seven years playing for

in the

Nigerian Women's Championship The NWFL Premiership (formerly Nigeria Women Premier League) is the top-level league for women's association football in Nigeria. It is the women's equivalent of the men's league, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). The Nigeria Wome ...

, in June 2015 it was announced Chukwunonye was joining the

side

. She was signed at the same time as

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

international

Hayley Raso Hayley Emma Raso (born 5 September 1994) is an Australian soccer player, who plays as a winger for Manchester City in the in the FA Women's Super League and the Australian national team. Her previous team was Everton, from whom she was rel ...

, with the announcement coming the day before the

Nigeria women's national football team The Nigeria national women's football team, nicknamed the Super Falcons, represents Nigeria in international women's football and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation. The team is by far Africa's most successful international women ...

played Australia in the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

. Chukwunonye said at the time, "I am excited to join the Washington Spirit family; it's a thing of joy and a dream come true for me, I love playing with great players like

Crystal Dunn Crystal Alyssia Soubrier (; born July 3, 1992) is an American soccer player for the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, and the United States ...

, who I faced in the U20 World Cup in 2012. I am excited to work with coach Parsons because I know he will bring out the best in me." Chukwunonye was the second Nigerian international in the squad, joining

Francisca Ordega Francisca Ordega (born 19 October 1993) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for CSKA Moscow in the Russian Women's Football Championship. She represents Nigeria women's national football team (Super Falcons) at both th ...

. After playing two games for the team, she was released in December 2015. In March 2016, both Chukwynonye and fellow Nigerian international Ngozi Okobi were signed by Swedish side

Vittsjö GIK Vittsjö Gymnastik- och Idrottsklubb is a football club from Vittsjö, Sweden. They play in the highest level of women's soccer leagues in Sweden, the Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OB ...

. They had previously played together in the squad of the Washington Spirit, and on their move to Vittsjö GIK, they joined with two further Nigerian internationals,

Nkem Ezurike Nkemjika Natalie Ezurike (born March 19, 1992) is a Canadian soccer player. She plays as a forward for the Canada women's national soccer team and Israeli club ASA Tel Aviv. Early life Ezurike was born in Halifax, Nova scotia, and attended Sackv ...

and

Ifeoma Dieke Ifeoma Nnenna Dieke (born 25 February 1981) is an American-born Scottish Association football, football Defender (association football), defender, currently playing for Apollon Ladies F.C. of the Cypriot First Division (women), Cypriot First Div ...

. Chukwynonye said "I am excited to join the Vittsjo family; it's a thing of joy and a dream come true for me, I am eager to prove myself and give my very best to propel the club to glory".

International career

Chukwunonye has represented

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

on junior levels at the

2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is the first women's football U-17 World Cup in FIFA history. It was held in New Zealand from 28 October to 16 November 2008. It is the officially recognized world championship for women's under-17 national ...

and 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. At senior level she was part of Nigeria's squads in the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

tournaments of

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and 2015 as well as the

African Women's Championship The Women's Africa Cup of Nations, also called the TotalEnergies Women's Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons and abbreviated to WAFCON, is an international women's football competition held every two years and sanctioned by the Confe ...

in the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

editions, winning the tournament three times (

and

).and 2018 Africa women’s championship (winner)ref>

Honours

International

; Nigeria *

(2):

Club

; Rivers Angels *

(1): 2010 *

Nigerian Women's Cup The AITEO Cup (formerly Women Challenge Cup and Federations Cup) is a cup competition in Nigeria. Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt have won the most titles. The tournament along with Nigeria Women Premier League are the two recognized competition f ...

(5): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

References

External links

* * Rivers Angels F.C. players 1992 births Living people Nigeria women's international footballers Women's association football defenders 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Nigerian women's footballers National Women's Soccer League players Washington Spirit players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players Vittsjö GIK players Damallsvenskan players Kungsbacka DFF players Nigerian expatriate women's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Osun Babes F.C. players {{Nigeria-women-footy-bio-stub