Stephen Eze
Stephen Eze (born 8 March 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Queen's Park in the Scottish Championship.
| Eze playing for Lokomotiv Plovdiv in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 8 March 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Makurdi, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Queen's Park | ||
| Number | 66 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2014 | Lobi Stars | ||
| 2014–2016 | Sunshine Stars | 63 | (3) |
| 2017 | Ifeanyi Ubah | 29 | (0) |
| 2017 | Kano Pillars | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 57 | (3) |
| 2020 | Tobol | 0 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Jamshedpur | 20 | (4) |
| 2021–2022 | NK Solin | 1 | (0) |
| 2022– | Queen's Park | 12 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015–2018 | Nigeria | 13 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:10, 1 December 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 July 2019 | |||
Career
In Nigeria
Eze started his professional career at Lobi Stars. He played regularly during two seasons, before moving to Sunshine Stars in September 2014.[1]
After two seasons with Sunshine, Eze joined Ifeanyi Ubah where he won Nigeria Super Cup in early 2017. On 9 November 2017, Eze joined Kano Pillars.[2]
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Two months later, on 18 January 2018, Eze joined Bulgarian First League club Lokomotiv Plovdiv, signing a two-year contract.[3] On 18 February, he made his league debut for Lokomotiv, coming on as a substitute for Asen Georgiev against Pirin Blagoevgrad, .[4] On 16 April 2019, Eze scored his first goal for Lokomotiv in a Bulgarian Cup match against Septemvri Sofia, which Lokomotiv won 4–0.[5]
Tobol
On 21 January 2020, Eze joined Kazakhstan Premier League club FC Tobol.[6] An injury sustained in a pre-season friendly match meant he never got to feature in an official game for the team, as he had to undergo an operation in Turkey. Eze parted ways with Tobol in July 2020.[7]
Jamshedpur FC
On 10 September 2020, Eze joined Indian Super League side Jamshedpur.[8] After his one year contract was completed, on the 1 July 2021, Eze left Jamshedpur FC and became a free agent.[citation needed]
NK Solin
On 17 February 2022, Eze joined Croatian First League club NK Solin. He made his debut coming off the bench in a 3-0 loss against NK Dugopolje.[9]
Queen's Park
After a year with Croatian club NK Solin, Eze signed for Scottish club Queen's Park in August 2022.[10]
International career
Eze was invited to play for the Nigera national team. He was named in the Super Eagles' 23-man A' team which played in the Caf CHAN 2016, led by coach Sunday Oliseh. Eze played all the group games, but the team was eliminated in the first round. His performances led to an invitation to the full Nigeria team. He was also in the A' team in the 2016 African Nations Championship where results improved, Nigeria progressing to the final before losing to the hosts Morocco.[11][12]
In May 2018 he was named in the preliminary 30-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia;[13] however, he did not make the final 23.[14]
Career statistics
Club
As of 22 September 2019[update]
| Club | League | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | First League | 2017–18 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 31 | 1 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
| Career statistics | 48 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59 | 2 | ||
Honours
- Ifeanyi Ubah
- Nigeria Super Cup: 2017
- Lokomotiv Plovdiv
References
- ^ "Eze joins Sunshine from Lobi". supersport.com. 13 September 2014.
- ^ "CHAN Eagles defender, Stephen Eze joins Kano Pillars". sportsration.com. 9 November 2017.
- ^ "Nigeria's Stephen Eze signs two-year contract with Lokomotiv Plovdiv". goal.com. 19 January 2018.
- ^ "Lokomotiv 1–0 Pirin". soccerway.com. 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Lokomotiv Plovdiv 4–0 Septemvri Sofia". soccerway.com. 16 April 2019.
- ^ "Стивен Эзе – новичок желто-зеленых". Fctobol.kz (in Russian). FC Tobol. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Удачи, Стивен!". Fctobol.kz (in Russian). FC Tobol. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
- ^ "Nigerian International Stephen Eze joins Jamshedpur". Fcjamshedpur.com. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ "Stephen Eze". Playmaker. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Stephen Eze Signs for Queen's Park". queensparkfc.co.uk. Queen's Park Football Club. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ Isabirye, David (5 February 2018). "Morocco wins 2018 CHAN championship". Kawowo. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ Cavell, Nick (4 February 2018). "Morocco beat Nigeria 4–0 in final to lift trophy". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal.com. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ "Iwobi named in Nigeria World Cup squad". Bbc.co.uk. 3 June 2018.
External links
- Player Profile at National-Football-Teams
- Profile at Soccerway