Benedict "Ben" Iroha (born 29 November 1969) is a Nigerian former professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

left-back 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 ...

left 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 ...

Career

Iroha started his career in Nigeria, scoring the first ever goal in the newly professional Nigerian league in 1990 for

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 ...

, who went on to win the league that year. Iroha was originally 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 ...

before national coach

Clemens Westerhof Clemens Westerhof (born 3 May 1940) is a Dutch football manager, who has worked in various football positions on the African continent since 1989. He is most noted for his success with the Nigerian national team. Under Westerhof, the Super ...

converted him to play left back. His club career in Europe was largely unsuccessful, and Iroha was allocated to San Jose Clash in 1996. Iroha ended up playing in the inaugural MLS match against D.C. United, and is credited with the league's first-ever assist. The next season, he was traded to

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

, where he won the league title but was dropped to comply with salary restrictions. He entered negotiations with the team to re-sign his contract, but they were halted after Iroha was called up to the World Cup squad for Nigeria. After a move to Spanish side

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...

in 1997, he moved to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

in December 1998, playing ten games for the Hertfordshire side. A problem with

bunion A bunion, also known as hallux valgus, is a deformity of the joint connecting the big toe to the foot. The big toe often bends towards the other toes and the joint becomes red and painful. The onset of bunions is typically gradual. Complicatio ...

s forced him to the sidelines, and he retired in March 2000.

International career

Playing for the Nigerian national team, he has featured in the

1994 FIFA 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 ...

and the 1998 FIFA World Cup as well as when they won the

1994 African Nations Cup 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 wa ...

Coaching career

After retiring, he returned to the US to coach in the youth department of

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

. Most recently, he was an assistant with the Nigerian U-17 team that won the 2007

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

and head coach of Nigeria's Dolphins FC. Iroha is on the staff of Heartland of Owerri.

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iroha, Ben 1969 births Living people People from Aba, Abia Nigerian footballers Association football defenders Nigeria international footballers Africa Cup of Nations-winning players 1990 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 Eredivisie players La Liga players Major League Soccer players Bendel Insurance F.C. players Heartland F.C. players ASEC Mimosas players SBV Vitesse players San Jose Earthquakes players D.C. United players Elche CF players Watford F.C. players Nigerian football managers Dolphin F.C. (Nigeria) managers Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ivory Coast Expatriate footballers in Ivory Coast