Samuel Okunowo

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Samuel Okunowo
Personal information
Full name Samuel Gbenga Okunowo
Date of birth (1979-03-01) 1 March 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Ibadan, Nigeria
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Right back
Youth career
1993–1995 Kwara Bombers
1997–1998 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Shooting Stars
1998–2001 Barcelona 14 (0)
1999–2000 → Benfica (loan) 9 (1)
2000–2001 → Badajoz (loan) 0 (0)
2001–2003 Ionikos 0 (0)
2003–2004 Dinamo Bucureşti 2 (0)
2004–2005 KF Tirana 0 (0)
2005–2007 Metalurh Donetsk 2 (0)
2006–2007 → Stal (loan) 11 (0)
2009 VB Sports 4 (0)
2009 Waltham Forest 0 (0)
2012–2013 Sunshine Stars 30 (3)
Total 72 (4)
International career
1999 Nigeria U20 5 (0)
1997–2000 Nigeria 8 (0)
2000 Nigeria Olympic 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Samuel Gbenga Okunowo (born 1 March 1979) is a Nigerian retired footballer who played mainly as a right back.

Injury affected the vast majority of his professional career, which was spent in eight different countries other than his own.

Club career

Born in Ibadan, Okunowo signed with La Liga club FC Barcelona at only 18. In the 1998–99 season he competed for the starting spot in the main squad with Michael Reiziger,[1] and managed 21 appearances all competitions comprised (15 starts) as the Catalans went on to win the national championship.

However, Okunowo did not manage to remain with Barça, going on to serve two unassuming loans, with Portugal's S.L. Benfica and Spanish second division club CD Badajoz and being released in June 2002. He went on to represent – with very little impact as well – teams in four different countries: Greece, Romania, Albania and Ukraine.

In 2007, Okunowo was on trial at Northwich Victoria of the Conference National and Vilanova del Camí in the Spanish amateur leagues, but nothing came of it. Two years later, he returned to active with VB Sports Club in the Maldives. However, in October 2009, he joined England's Waltham Forest, playing in a league eight levels below the Premier League.

In February 2010, Okunowo underwent a trial with Polish first division side Odra Wodzislaw, in an attempt to return to top flight football,[2] but nothing materialized. He also met the same fate whilst looking for a club in Norway.[3]

On 5 January 2012, Okunowo returned to his homeland and signed with Sunshine Stars F.C. for one Nigerian Premier League campaign.[4] He retired the following year, aged 34.

International career

Okunowo represented Nigeria at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship (helping the hosts reach the quarterfinals), the 2000 African Cup of Nations and the 2000 Summer Olympics,[5] gaining eight senior caps.

Personal life

In July 2012, Okunowo lost all his possessions when a fire broke in his mansion in Ibadan.[6] He subsequently reached out for help from former club Barcelona,[7] which obliged.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lewis blisko Odry, Everson czeka, Bruno Basto już nie; Futbol, 5 February 2010 (Polish)
  3. ↑ 2009: Spilte på Maldivene og nivå åtte i England / 2010: Fikk prøvespille i norsk eliteserie; VG, 19 June 2011 (Norwegian)
  4. ↑ Ex-Barca ace Okunowo joins Sunshine; MTN Football, 5 January 2012
  5. ↑ Samuel Okunowo – FIFA competition record
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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