Uchenna Kizito Okafor , often shortened to Uche Okafor (8 August 1967 – 6 January 2011) was 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 ...

who played as a defender. He made 34 international appearances for the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Okafor's club career took him to many countries before he settled in the USA. Okafor was drafted to Kansas City Wizards in the ninth round of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft, and played there for five seasons before retiring after the 2000 season.

International career

Okafor played every match when Nigeria won the

1994 African Cup of Nations The 1994 African Cup of Nations was the 19th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Tunisia, who replaced original hosts Zaire. Just as in 1992, the field of twelve teams was ...

, but sustained an ankle injury shortly thereafter. He was part of the squad to the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

but did not get any playing time. He played one out of their four games in the 1998 World Cup, though, as well as at the 1988 Olympics.

Post-playing career

Okafor coached for the Associated Soccer Group, a member of the North Texas Soccer Association. He was head coach for the 91 Gold Central boys team and the 93 HP Central boys team who play in the Plano Premier Select Soccer league. Okafor was a regular pundit on African football on

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's coverage and their '' PressPass'' programme.

Death

Okafor's body was discovered by his wife in January 2011 shortly after he returned home from dropping off his daughter in school in their house in Little Elm, a town about 30 miles northwest of Dallas. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office said that he hanged himself in an upstairs hallway. Okafor's family rejected the suicide ruling of the Little Elm Police Department, suspecting foul play. Kent Babb, reporter for the Kansas City Star, published an in-depth analysis of Uche's death on 19 May 2012.

Honours

Kansas City Wizards *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

* Supporters' Shield: 2000

References

External links

Uche Okafor
Nigerian Players * {{DEFAULTSORT:Okafor, Uche 1967 births 2011 suicides People from Owerri People from Little Elm, Texas Association football central defenders Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers Africa Cup of Nations-winning players 1988 African Cup of Nations players 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players K.R.C. Mechelen players Hannover 96 players U.D. Leiria players Maccabi Ironi Ashdod F.C. players S.C. Farense players Sporting Kansas City players Igbo sportspeople Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate footballers in Israel Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Suicides by hanging in Texas Nigerian emigrants to the United States Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars ACB Lagos F.C. players Sportspeople from Imo State