Uche Innocent Nwofor (born 17 September 1991) is a Nigerian

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 le ...

who plays as a striker. He is currently

unattached In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Club career

Born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, Nwofor began his career with Power United also called Anambra Pillars F.C. He left in summer 2009 to go on loan to Nigerian premier league side Shooting Stars F.C. where he played for one season before joining

Enugu Rangers Rangers International Football Club, commonly known as Enugu Rangers, is a Nigerian professional association football team. They are based in Enugu and play their home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Enugu Rangers are one of the three olde ...

. Nwofor signed with

VVV Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following ...

in August 2011, On 11 September 2011, Nwofor announced his arrival by scoring on his debut for Venlo in a 3–3 home draw with

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

in the Dutch top-flight on Sunday. In his first season, he scored 4 goals in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

. On 30 August 2013, Nwofor joined

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

on a season-loan move. On 12 September 2014, Nwofor joined

Lierse S.K. Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six Be ...

on a free transfer, signing a one-year contract.

International career

In April 2011 Nwofor represented Nigeria under-20 team where he netted four goals in five games to finish highest goal scorer of the 2011 African Youth Championship as Nigeria won a sixth continental title in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

and he was named the Goal.com star of the week in the tournament. In August 2011 Nwofor represented

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 ...

in the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

in Colombia. He was an instant hit, coming of the bench to score two goals in 6 minutes against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, Nigeria was subsequently knocked out by France in the quarter-finals in a 3–2 thriller. Nwofor earned his first full-international cap for the Super Eagles on 3 March 2010 in a friendly game against the

Congo DR national football team The DR Congo national football team, recognised by FIFA as Congo DR (formerly known as Zaire, alternatively known as Congo-Kinshasa), represents the Democratic Republic of the Congo in men's international football and it is controlled by the Co ...

. He was also instrumental when Nigeria's B team beat

Republic of Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Republic of Dahomey, Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burki ...

4–0 in the

WAFU Nations Cup The WAFU Nations Cup (also known as the WAFU Cup of Nations or simply the WAFU Cup) is an association football competition that is contested by representative teams of the West African Football Union. History A trophy was commissioned by President ...

. In July 2013, Nwofor was called up by the Nigerian national team for an international friendly match against South Africa in Durban on 14 August. The punch 18 July 2013 He scored 2 goals in the 49th and 68th minutes as Nigeria won the match 2–0. In the first of Nigeria's World Cup warm-up matches of 2014, Nwofor scored a last-minute equaliser to spare Nigeria's blushes against an in-form

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The match ended 2–2. Nwofor made the World Cup roster when it was announced three days later.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nwofor, Uche 1991 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's international footballers Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Nigerian expatriate men's footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players Shooting Stars S.C. players VVV-Venlo players SC Heerenveen players Lierse S.K. players Boavista F.C. players AS Trenčín players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Algeria Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Algeria Footballers from Lagos Anambra Pillars F.C. players