Uchechukwu Alozie “Uche” Okechukwu also known as Deniz Uygar (born 27 September 1967) is 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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. "Uchechukwu" is an

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

name meaning "God´s will". He was also honoured as the foreign player who played in Turkey for the longest period of time (13 years), going on to obtain

Turkish citizenship Turkish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of '' jus sanguinis''. Children who are born to a Turkish mother or a Turkish father (in or out of marriage) are Turkish citizens from birth. The intention to renounce Turkish citi ...

under the name Deniz Uygar. The recipient of nearly 50

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

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 ...

, Okechukwu represented the nation in two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and as many Africa Cup of Nations, winning the latter tournament once.

Club career

Early years and Denmark

Born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

, Okechukwu started his career playing for Flash Flamingoes and

Iwuanyanwu Nationale Heartland Football Club founded as Spartans F.C., later known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale from 1985 to 2006 is a Nigerian football club based in Owerri. The team play their home games at Dan Anyiam Stadium (but currently use the new Okigwe Stadium ...

, winning the 1988 and 1989

Nigeria Premier League The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the Nigerian football league system, for the Nigerian club-football championships. The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwind ...

with the latter. In July 1990 he moved abroad to join Danish club Brøndby IF, being signed by newly appointed coach

Morten Olsen Morten Per Olsen (born 14 August 1949) is a Danish football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championshi ...

alongside teammate Friday Elahor. Soon a part of the starting XI, Okechukwu helped the team win the 1990 and 1991 Danish championship, and was one of the mainstays of the squad that reached the semifinals of the

1990–91 UEFA Cup The 1990–91 UEFA Cup was won by Internazionale on aggregate over Roma. This tournament also marked the return of English clubs after a five-year ban resulting from the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985. However, for this season, only one English ...

; while Elahor was touted by some as the next

Brian Laudrup Brian Laudrup (, born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder, and was regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation. He currently works as a football co ...

, he would soon leave for

Africa Sports Africa Sports d'Abidjan is an Ivorian multi-sports club founded in 1947 and based in Abidjan. The club fields teams in the sports of track and field, handball, basketball and association football, of these the football team is the most promine ...

, while Okechukwu would be named the 1992's Brøndby IF ''Player of the Year''.

Turkey and retirement

After appearing in the

1992 African Cup of Nations The 1992 African Cup of Nations was the 18th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Senegal. The field expanded to twelve teams, split into four groups of three; the top two teams in each ...

, where Nigeria reached the semi-finals, Okechukwu was linked to Turkish side Fenerbahçe SK for half a year, until he was bought in a DKK8 million

transfer deal In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can on ...

in November 1993. At

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, he formed a defensive duo with former Brøndby teammate Jes Høgh, helping the club to its first

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

championship in seven years in 1996. Okechukwu played a further four seasons with Fenerbahçe, repeating league accolades in 2000–01. After nearly 250 official games he moved to fellow league team İstanbulspor AS, returning in 2007 to Nigeria first with Ocean Boys F.C. then with Bayelsa United FC (joining the latter in July 2008, and retiring shortly after, aged 41).

International career

Okechukwu made his debut for the Nigeria national team at the

1990 African Cup of Nations The 1990 African Cup of Nations was the 17th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Algeria. Just like in 1988, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Algeria won ...

tournament, in a 5–1 loss against

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in their opening game. For the remainder of the competition the ''Super Eagles defense did not concede another goal, until they were beaten 1–0 by the same opponent in the final. Altogether, Okechukwu played 47 internationals, winning the CAN in 1994 (2–1 against

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

) and the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He also represented the nation in two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s, helping it progress to two consecutive round-of- 16 contests as he appeared in seven complete matches combined, only missing out in the group stage 3–1 loss to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

due to having collected two

yellow cards Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

. Okechukwu retired after the 1998 edition's 4–1 loss to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, having captained the squad on several occasions from 1996 onwards.

Honours

Iwuanyanwu Nationale *

: 1987–88, 1988–89 Brøndby *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each ye ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

Fenerbahçe * 1.Lig: 1995–96, 2000–01 Nigeria * Africa Cup of Nations:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

* Summer Olympic Games: 1996 Individual * Brøndby Player of the Year: 1992

References

External links

NigerianPlayers profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Okechukwu, Uche 1967 births Living people Naturalized citizens of Turkey Sportspeople from Lagos Nigerian footballers Igbo sportspeople Turkish footballers Turkish people of Nigerian descent Association football defenders Nigeria Professional Football League players Heartland F.C. players Ocean Boys F.C. players Bayelsa United F.C. players Danish Superliga players Brøndby IF players Bendel United F.C. players Süper Lig players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers İstanbulspor footballers Nigeria international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1990 African Cup of Nations players 1992 African Cup of Nations players 1994 African Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Nigeria Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Nigeria Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Turkey Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey