Uche Kalu (born 16 May 1986) 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 ...

football player who plays for

Altyn Asyr FK Football Club Altyn Asyr ( tk, link=no, Altyn Asyr futbol kluby), also known as Altyn Asyr Ashgabat or simply Altyn Asyr, which translates to "Golden Century", is a Turkmen football club based in Ashgabat. Founded in 2008, the club competes in t ...

in the Turkmenistan Higher League. He is not related to former Enyimba teammate Henry Uche nor fellow Nigeria international and India-based midfielder Kalu Uche.

Career

In 2007, he was named as "Most Valuable Player" in the Nigerian Premier League after joining

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 an ...

from second-level team Bussdor United F.C. He however struggled with injuries the next few years. After a failed transfer attempt to Botola team

Wydad Casablanca Wydad Athletic Club ( ar, نادي الوداد الرياضي, ) commonly referred to as Wydad AC and known as Wydad, or simply as WAC, is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca. Wydad AC is best known for its professional football team that ...

in February 2012, he rejoined Enyimba. He moved to Turkish second-tier team

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Rize. The club play in the TFF First League. The club was founded on May 19, 1953, with green-yellow as club colours, but later changed to blue-green. Since 1990, the team ...

in August 2012, and had a goal and assist in his debut. In January 2014, Uche Kalu joined

Adanaspor Adanaspor is a Turkish professional football club based in Adana, currently performing at the TFF First League. The club is founded in 1954 by the middle-class merchants and artisans in response to the alienation within city's then most popular c ...

on a loan deal. In January 2015, Kalu went on trial with

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

side

FC Tobol FC Tobol ( kk, Тобыл футбол клубы, Tobyl Futbol Kluby) is a Kazakh professional football club based at the Central Stadium in Kostanay. They have been members of the Kazakhstan Premier League since its foundation in 1992. The ...

, signing a year-long contract with the club on 6 February 2015. Kalu returned to

in January 2016, signing a one and half year contract. On 24 April 2016 Adanaspor guaranteed to play in the first tier of Turkish football after 12 years. Kalu Uche played a very pig part in this success story. In August 2019, Niger Uche Kalu and Kenya Peter Opiyo signed a contract with

FC Altyn Asyr Football Club Altyn Asyr ( tk, link=no, Altyn Asyr futbol kluby), also known as Altyn Asyr Ashgabat or simply Altyn Asyr, which translates to "Golden Century", is a Turkmen football club based in Ashgabat. Founded in 2008, the club competes in t ...

from

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. This is the first foreign footballer in the history of the club and the first legionnaire in the

2019 Ýokary Liga The 2019 Turkmenistan Higher League (Ýokary Liga) season was the 27th season Turkmenistan's professional football league, the highest football league competition in Turkmenistan. Altyn Asyr defended their championship, winning the Higher League ...

season.

International career

He was a member of the Nigeria B team that won the

2010 WAFU Nations Cup The 2010 WAFU Nations Cup was the first edition of the WAFU Nations Cup, an association football tournament organised by the West African Football Union. The tournament was also held in 2002, but that edition was cancelled due to the civil war in ...

. His regained form saw him called up by Nigeria 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 ...

in 2012. He made his senior debut in the Eagles' 0-0 tie against

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in January 2012. He scored his first goal in a friendly later that year against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalu, Uche 1986 births Living people Nigerian footballers Footballers from Lagos Men's association football forwards Enyimba F.C. players Çaykur Rizespor footballers Adanaspor footballers FC Tobol players Gaziantep F.K. footballers Al-Markhiya SC players Süper Lig players TFF First League players Kazakhstan Premier League players Nigeria men's international footballers Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkmenistan Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Kazakhstan Expatriate footballers in Turkmenistan Bussdor United F.C. players