Onyekachi Donatus Okonkwo (born 13 May 1982 in Aba) is a Nigerian

football 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 ...

Club career

Okonkwo was a member of Enyimba's winning side in the 2003 MTN CAF Champions League and 2004 MTN CAF Champions League finals. During his two-year stay in South Africa he was arguably one of the club's most influential players even scoring the decisive goal against his former club

Enyimba Aba is a city in the southeast of Nigeria and the commercial center of Abia State. Upon the creation of Abia state in 1991, Aba was divided into two local government areas namely; Aba South and Aba North. Aba south is the main city centre and ...

to lead the Johannesburg-based club

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

to the 2006 MTN CAF Champions League semifinals. Okonkwo caused a stir in Europe by signing a pre-contract agreement with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

side

FC Köln FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

only to leave the club a week later to sign a four-year deal at

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

side

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

saying that he had only ever agreed to a one-week trial at the German team. Despite FC Köln's sporting director Klaus Horstmann threatening to take the matter to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

in order for him to fulfil his obligations to his side, Okonkwo says he did not breach any rules in moving to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He joined Qatari side Al Kharitiyath in the summer of 2010. On 26 June 2012 Okonkwo rejoined

and next year, on 12 July 2013, signed with local rivals

Mpumalanga Black Aces Black Aces were a South African football club that played in the Premier Soccer League. Aces usually played their home games in the Mpumalanga province but were based and trained in Johannesburg. History The original club was founded in 1937 by ...

International

He won his first international cap for Nigeria in an

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederat ...

qualifier against

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

in October 2006.

Award

2008-09 Swiss Super League: Champions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okonkwo, Onyekachi 1982 births Living people Igbo sportspeople Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players FC Zürich players Men's association football midfielders Orlando Pirates F.C. players Enyimba F.C. players Al Kharaitiyat SC players Mpumalanga Black Aces F.C. players Mosta F.C. players USD Nuorese Calcio 1930 players Qatar Stars League players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Malta Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy People from Aba, Nigeria