Victor Nsofor Obinna (born 25 March 1987) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Obinna in

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 ...

, literally means "father's heart". He played for

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

in Italy's

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

, having played regularly in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

with the club until their relegation in 2007. He made his full international debut 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 ...

at the 2006 African Cup of Nations, scoring once in three appearances as his side were eliminated in the semi-finals.

Club career

Early career

Obinna played for Nigerian clubs Plateau United and Kwara United, he went on trials with Italian clubs

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

and Juventus before signing with Brazilian club

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonat ...

, but international clearance problems meant that the transfer was never finalised.World Cup Profile: Victor Obinna Nsofor – Nigeria
goal.com, 1 May 2010 He rejoined Enyimba to take part in their domestic league campaign and CAF Champions League defence.

Chievo

Obinna was signed by Italian club

on a five-year contract in July 2005. But also reported that Chievo formed an agreement with Internazionale that Obinna first registered as Chievo player in order to use the non-EU registration quota of Chievo, like Júlio César in the 2004–05 season. Then he would be call back to Inter. In his first season with Chievo, Obinna scored six goals in 26 games, including a goal on his

debut against

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

in a 1–0 win, 11 September 2005. In the first months of the 2006 season, Obinna was suspended for having signed a contract with both Internacional and Chievo in 2005. Chievo were relegated at the end of the 2006–07 season, casting some doubt over Obinna's future; the club chose to keep Obinna in the squad to help gain promotion back to Serie A. On 4 October 2007, Obinna was involved in a car accident on his way home from training in which he swerved away from a vehicle that had tried to overtake him around a bend. He escaped with only a few cuts and

bruise A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur close ...

s. The car flipped several times and was heavily damaged. He lost consciousness and was taken to hospital. The accident occurred only a few hundred yards away from where former

player Jason Mayélé was killed in a car accident in 2002.

Internazionale

In the summer of 2008, Obinna moved back to Inter for a €1.2 million transfer fee in a three-year contract. English club Everton attempted to immediately sign him on loan, but were unable to secure a work permit for the player. Obinna's first goal for Inter came on 19 October in a 4–0 win over Roma. Internazionale coach José Mourinho described Obinna as one of Inter's best talents for the future.

Málaga

On 26 August 2009, Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

side Málaga signed Obinna on a season-long loan. He scored his first goal for the Andalusian club on 4 October in 1–1 a draw against Xerez, a match in which he was also sent off.

West Ham United

On 27 August 2010, Obinna signed for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on a season-long loan with the option of a permanent deal in 2011. He made his debut for West Ham on 11 September in a 3–1 home defeat to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He scored his first goal for West Ham in a 2–1 win against Sunderland in the third round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

at the Stadium of Light on 21 September 2010. He scored his first league goal in 3–1 win against Wigan Athletic on 27 November 2010. He continued the fine form with four assists in a 4–0 win against Manchester United on 30 November 2010, automatically booking a first League Cup semi-final for 20 years. Obinna was sent off during West Ham's semi-final, first leg match on 11 January 2011 against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

for an off the ball challenge on Sebastian Larsson with West Ham having conceded an equaliser just minutes earlier. On 30 January, Obinna scored a hat-trick in a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

4th round tie against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, leading West Ham to a 3–2 victory. He followed that up three days later with two goals as West Ham beat Blackpool 3–1 at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 19 June 2011, Obinna signed a four-year deal with

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

on a free transfer.

MSV Duisburg

Obinna joined MSV Duisburg on 9 September 2015 for the 2015–16 season.

Darmstadt

He joined SV Darmstadt on 5 August 2016. He was released on 31 January 2017.

Cape Town City

In September 2017, Obinna signed for

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

side

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

. At the time of signing, the club were managed by former West Ham teammate

Benni McCarthy Benedict Saul "Benni" McCarthy (born 12 November 1977) is a South African coach and former footballer who is a first-team coach at Manchester United. He previously worked as head coach of South African Premier Division team AmaZulu. A former f ...

International career

Obinna was a member of the U-20 Flying Eagles that won the gold in Benin in the African Youth Tournament in 2005 he was called up to the

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

senior squad at the 2006 African Cup of Nations, scoring once before his side's semifinal elimination. In August 2008, he was named amongst Nigeria's squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Obinna scored Nigeria's first goal in a 2–1 win against Japan the "Dream Team IV" winning goal in the final group match against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

,"Dream Team" face up to criticism
BBC Sport, 14 August 2008 ensuring that Nigeria qualified for the quarter-finals. Nigeria were drawn against Ivory Coast who they beat 2–0, with Obinna scoring a penalty and setting up Peter Odemwingie for the other goal. He later captained the Nigerian team when they beat

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

4–1 in the semi-final match, before losing to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the final.

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Source:

Honours

Chievo *

: 2007–08 Internazionale *

: 2008–09 Nigeria U23 * Summer Olympics runner-up:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Nigeria * Africa Cup of Nations third place: 2010

References

External links

* * * *
Player profile – Victor Obinna
Premier League {{DEFAULTSORT:Obinna, Victor Living people 1988 births Igbo sportspeople Sportspeople from Jos Association football forwards Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain A.C. ChievoVerona players Inter Milan players Málaga CF players Serie A players Serie B players La Liga players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Nigeria Kwara United F.C. players Olympic silver medalists for Nigeria 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players Plateau United F.C. players 2010 FIFA World Cup players West Ham United F.C. players Premier League players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players MSV Duisburg players SV Darmstadt 98 players Cape Town City F.C. (2016) players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Olympic medalists in football Expatriate footballers in Russia Russian Premier League players Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Expatriate footballers in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany