Francis Uzoho
Francis Odinaka Uzoho // (listen)(born 28 October 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Cypriot First Division club Omonia and the Nigeria national team.
| Uzoho with Nigeria in 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Francis Odinaka Uzoho | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 28 October 1998 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nwangele, Imo State, Nigeria | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | Omonia | |||||||||||||||
| Number | 23 | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Aspire Academy | |||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Deportivo La Coruña | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Deportivo B | 26 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Deportivo La Coruña | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | → Elche (loan) | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | → Anorthosis (loan) | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | → Omonia (loan) | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | APOEL | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2021– | Omonia | 33 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017– | Nigeria | 27 | (0) | |||||||||||||
Honours
| ||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 01:44, 7 Januart 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:54, 17 November 2022 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||||
Club career
Born in Nwangele,[1] Uzoho joined the Senegal branch of Aspire Academy in 2013, aged 14;[2] initially a forward, he was converted into a goalkeeper after being deemed "too slow" at the age of 12.[3] In 2016, after impressing on a tournament in Barcelona, he joined Deportivo de La Coruña's Juvenil squad.[3]
Age rules meant that Uzoho could only become available to sign a contract with Dépor in January 2017;[4] shortly after signing his contract, he started to train with the first team.[5] Promoted to the reserve team ahead of the 2017–18 season, he made his senior debut on 10 September by starting in a 3–0 Segunda División B home win against Real Madrid Castilla.[6]
Uzoho made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 15 October 2017, starting in a 0–0 away draw against SD Eibar.[7] At the age of 18 years and 352 days, he became the youngest ever foreign goalkeeper to debut in La Liga, and the second-youngest player to appear in the league during the campaign at that point, only behind Real Madrid's Achraf Hakimi.[8][9]
On 24 August 2018, Uzoho renewed his contract for three seasons[10] and was immediately loaned to Segunda División side Elche CF for one year.[11] In February 2019 he moved on loan to Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta,[12] in the search for more first-team football in the run up to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[13]
After making his debut for the club, concerns were raised about his health certificate.[14] As a result, Anorthosis Famagusta were deducted 9 points, which they appealed.[15] The club's deduction appeal was rejected, although Uzoho's appeal against his personal penalty of a one-match ban and €1,000 fine was successful.[16]
In July 2019 he returned on loan to Cyprus, this time with Omonia.[17] He played a limited number of games, due to a serious injury he suffered while playing for his national team.[18] In July 2020, Uzoho moved permanently to APOEL on a three year contract, but was released at the end of the season.
On 1 September 2021, Uzoho joined Omonia on a three-year deal,[19] as back-up to Fabiano.
On 13 October 2022, Uzoho received praise for his performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Europa League. Omonia lost 1–0 to a late goal, but Uzoho made 12 saves on the night.[20] He was nominated for the Europa League Player of the Week and Save of the Day awards.[21]
International career
Uzoho represented Nigeria under-17s at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Aged only 14, he was an immediate backup to Dele Alampasu.[8][22]
In October 2017 Uzoho received his first call-up to the Nigerian senior squad.[23] He made his full international debut on 14 November, replacing Daniel Akpeyi in a 4–2 friendly win against Argentina.[24]
He was named in Nigeria's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[25] By that time he was considered Nigeria's first-choice goalkeeper.[26]
He withdrew from the national squad in November 2018 due to injury.[27] He was a squad member at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[28] Uzoho was in goal for Nigeria in the 3rd place match against Tunisia, which they won.[29]
In October 2019 he suffered a ligament injury in a friendly match against Brazil,[18] and underwent surgery in November 2019.[30]
On 25 December 2021, He was shortlisted in 2021 AFCON Nations Cup by caretaker coach Eguavoen as part of the 28-Man Nigeria squad.[31]
On 29 March 2022, Uzoho was in goal for Nigeria in a World Cup qualifier against Ghana. He suffered criticism for his performance, as an error on his behalf led to a goal for Ghana, and ultimately cost his team entry to the World Cup.[32] He tendered an apology, mentioning "I wanted to take my nation to Qatar but rather did the opposite".[33] National teammates and ex-internationals, such as Alex Iwobi and Vincent Enyeama, showed support for Uzoho.[34]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 5 December 2022[35]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Deportivo B | 2017–18 | Segunda División B | 26 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | ||
| Deportivo La Coruña | 2017–18 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| Elche (loan) | 2018–19 | Segunda División | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| Anorthosis (loan) | 2018–19 | Cypriot First Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Omonia (loan) | 2019–20 | Cypriot First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
| APOEL | 2020–21 | Cypriot First Division | 18 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 19 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Omonia | 2021–22 | Cypriot First Division | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2022–23 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 78 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 103 | 0 | ||
International
- As of match played 7 October 2021[36]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 26 | 0 | |
Honours
Omonia
References
- ^ "Profile" (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "FIFA WORLD CUP DEBUT FOR FORMER ASPIRE FOOTBALL DREAMS KEEPER UZOHO". aspire.qa. Aspire Academy. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Francis Uzoho: "A veces extraño jugar en punta"" [Francis Uzoho: "Sometimes I miss playing up front"] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "El Dépor ficha al nigeriano Francis Uzoho" [Dépor sign the Nigerian Francis Uzoho] (in Spanish). Riazor. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Una promesa nigeriana se entrena con el primer equipo del Deportivo" [A Nigerian prospect trains with the first team of Deportivo] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "El Castilla sucumbe ante el Depor en tan solo veinte minutos" [Castilla fall against Depor within only twenty minutes] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Eibar-Dépor will be remembered for Francis' debut". Deportivo La Coruña. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ a b Oluwashina Okeleji (16 October 2017). "Nigerian Uzoho revels in historic La Liga debut". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ "El portero del Deportivo Francis Uzoho entra en la historia de LaLiga" [Deportivo goalkeeper Francis Uzoho goes into LaLiga's history] (in Spanish). Marca. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Francis renueva su contrato con el Dépor por 3 temporadas" [Francis renews his contract with Dépor for 3 seasons] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "Francis jugará esta temporada cedido en el Elche" [Francis will play this season on loan at Elche] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "Nigeria goalkeeper Francis Uzoho joins Anorthosis Famagusta on loan - Goal.com". www.goal.com.
- ^ "Francis Uzoho: Nigeria keeper moves for first-team football". BBC Sport. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ "Francis Uzoho: Nigeria keeper caught up in Cyprus 'health certificate' probe". BBC Sport. 9 February 2019.
- ^ "Francis Uzoho: Cypriot club Anorthosis to appeal points penalty". BBC Sport. 19 February 2019.
- ^ "Uzoho wins appeal against one-match ban". BBC Sport. 24 February 2019.
- ^ "Francis Uzoho encuentra nuevo equipo en Chipre". 4 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Nigeria keeper Uzoho facing long injury lay-off". 15 October 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ OmonoiaFC (1 September 2021). "Ποδοσφαιριστής της ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑΣ ο Φράνσις Ουζόχο!". Omonoia FC. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "Francis Uzoho: Omonia Nicosia keeper and boyhood Man Utd fan stars at Old Trafford". BBC Sport. 13 October 2022.
- ^ efosataiwo@vanguardngr.com (14 October 2022). "Uzoho nominated for two Europa League awards after heroics". Vanguard News. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ "Nigerian-born teenage goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho makes La Liga debut". Daily Post. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ Oluwashina Okeleji (5 November 2017). "Deportivo goalkeeper Uzoho delight at Nigeria call-up". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- ^ "Argentina 2-4 Nigeria World Cup 2018 friendly match: match report, goals, action". AS.com. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ "World Cup 2018: Arsenal's Iwobi in Nigeria's 23-man squad". BBC Sport. 3 June 2018.
- ^ "World Cup 2018: Nigeria's Uzoho still on a 'learning curve'". BBC Sport. 11 June 2018.
- ^ "Injury forces Francis Uzoho to withdraw from Nigeria squad". BBC Sport. 6 November 2018.
- ^ "Nigeria: Super Eagles' Team List for Afcon 2019". 12 June 2019 – via AllAfrica.com.
- ^ "Bronze for Nigeria as Super Eagles beat Tunisia 1-0 to win 3rd-place game of AFCON 2019". www.pulse.ng. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
- ^ "Francis Uzoho: Nigeria keeper says knee operation 'a success'". 15 November 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Eguavoen announces Nigeria final TotalEnergies AFCON squad". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Francis Uzoho's error cost Nigeria World Cup ticket against Ghana – Henry Nwosu". Footballghana. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "World Cup howler: It's worst time of my life, says Uzoho". Punch Newspapers. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ Eludini, Tunde (5 April 2022). "Enyeama, others react as Uzoho apologises for World Cup miss". Premium Times Nigeria. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "F. UZOHO". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Francis Uzoho". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
External links
- Francis Uzoho at BDFutbol
- Francis Uzoho at LaPreferente.com (in Spanish)
- Francis Uzoho at Soccerway