Udochukwu Nwoko (born 15 October 1984) is a retired 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 last played for

Cypriot Third Division The Cypriot Third Division (Greek: Πρωτάθλημα Γ΄ Κατηγορίας) is the third tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Each year, the top finishing teams of the league are promoted to th ...

side

MEAP Nisou MEAP Pera Choriou Nisou ( el, ΜΕΑΠ Πέρα Χωριού Νήσου; short for Μικτή Ερυθρού Αστέρα Προόδου Πέρα Χωριού Νήσου, Mikti Erithrou Astera Proodou, "Selected team of Erithros Asteras and Prood ...

as a

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 ...

. Born in Nigeria, he represented the Malta national team.

Playing career

Born in

Abia Abia or ABIA may refer to: ABIA * Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, in Austin, Texas, United States * Australian Book Industry Awards, national literary and industry awards People * Abia (name) * Abia (mythology), the nursemaid of Glenus ...

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 ...

, Nwoko moved to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

at the age of 14 in the hope that it could one day lead him to one of the top leagues in Europe. He started his career at Hibernians. His main break came during the 2002–03 season, where he made 16 appearances for the club, but failed to find the net. He then moved to Xewkija Tigers of the

Gozo Football League The Gozo Football League is a football competition for clubs on the Maltese island of Gozo, in the Mediterranean Sea. The league is run by the Gozo Football Association and currently has 14 teams split into two divisions, the First Division ( ...

in 2004, and transformed into a predator in front of goal. Nwoko hit 18 goals in just 25 appearances, and became one of the hottest prospects in Maltese football. Following the successful spell with Xewkija Tigers, Nwoko found himself back in the

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...

joining

Mosta Mosta ( mt, Il-Mosta) is a small but densely populated city in the Northern Region of Malta. The most prominent building in Mosta is the Rotunda, a large basilica built by its parishioners' volunteer labour. It features the world's 3rd largest ...

for the 2005–06 season. He made 27 appearances and scored 10 goals for the club, but it wasn't enough to save the club, and they were relegated by the difference of a point. Despite the relegation, Nwoko's form hadn't gone unnoticed and was re-signed by his first club Hibernians for the 2006–07 season, getting another chance to play in the Maltese Premier League. He made 17 appearances with the club and scored 5 goal. He then moved on loan to fellow Maltese Premier League side

Marsaxlokk Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional fishing village in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishermen and history. As at March 2014, the village had a population of 3,534. The ...

for the remainder of 2007. He made 18 appearances, and score 3 goals; he did however finish the season as a part of the 2006–07 championship-winning squad and won his first ever Maltese Premier League. In 2007, he moved to Portuguese club

Leixões The Port of Leixões ( pt, Porto de Leixões, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city i ...

, where he marked his debut with a goal against giants Benfica. He was linked to a £1.25m transfer to the Premiership club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in January 2008, but an unfortunate injury at the short transfer window stopped the transfer. . Nwoko recently terminated his contract with Portuguese club Leixoes. He signed a short contract with a Brazilian top league club, on 21 March 2009 Clube Náutico Capibaribe in Brazil. In summer 2009, he signed for Panthrakikos F.C. in the Greek Super League, and left at the end of the season when the club was relegated. In January 2010, he signed for Doxa Katokopia in the Cypriot First Division, staying there for just 6 months before in June 2010, he signed for Pas Hamedan in the Iran Pro League. He signed for

Floriana Floriana ( mt, Il-Furjana or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the South Eastern Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014. Floriana i ...

in January 2013. On 27 June 2014 he signed with Gudja United. After one season with Gudja he signed a one-year contract with St. George's on 15 July 2015. On 17 March 2017 Udo signed with

MFK Topvar Topoľčany MFK Topvar Topoľčany is a Slovak football team, based in the town of Topoľčany. The club was founded in 1912. Current squad Notable players Had international caps for their respective countries. Playe ...

from the 3. Liga in Slovakia. He won 8 caps and scored 1 goal.

International career

Nwoko was called up by

for the first time ahead of a

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifying matches against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

on 13 October 2007 and also played at home to

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

four days later. He was available for selection after being granted Maltese citizenship in August 2007.

Honours

(1): ** 2006–07

References

External links