John Ogu

Ugochukwu John Ogu (born 20 April 1988) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Israeli club Maccabi Jaffa and the Nigeria national team.

John Ogu
Ogu training with Nigeria at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Ugochukwu John Ogu[1]
Date of birth (1988-04-20) 20 April 1988
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Maccabi Jaffa
Number 30
Youth career
Akwa Starlets
2004–2005 Akwa United
2005–2006 Flying Sports Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Drava Ptuj 97 (8)
2010–2011 Atlético CP 0 (0)
2011 Almería B 0 (0)
2011–2012 Leiria 17 (3)
2012–2014 Académica 27 (1)
2014–2019 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 151 (13)
2020 Al-Adalah 7 (0)
2022 Hapoel Nof HaGalil 9 (0)
2022– Maccabi Jaffa 34 (1)
International career‡
2013– Nigeria 26 (1)
Medal record
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 June 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:09, 17 July 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Ogu began playing football at the youth departments of Akwa Starlets, Akwa United and the Flying Sports Academy. On 23 September 2006, he began his senior career in Slovenia when he signed with Drava Ptuj from the Slovenian PrvaLiga. In his four-year stint, Ogu scored eight goals in 97 appearances.

In Portugal

In the summer of 2010, Ogu moved to Atlético Clube de Portugal, which then played in the Terceira Divisão in Portugal. After six months, he moved to neighboring Spain and signed for Almería, but played only in Almería B of the third division. In November 2011 Ogu returned to Portugal and joined Leiria, but at the end of the season the team dropped to the second division.

In July 2012, Ogu moved to Académica from Primeira Liga. Ogu scored his first goal in the third round of the Portuguese Cup against Ponte da Barca. He scored his first league goal against Vitória de Setúbal in a decisive win that ensured the team remain in the top division.[2] All in all, Ogu played two years at Académica and scored one goal in 27 league appearances.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

In the 2014–15 season, Ogu arrived in Israel and on 2 September 2014 made his debut in Hapoel Be'er Sheva in a 0–0 draw against Maccabi Petah Tikva in the Toto Cup. On 7 September, he signed a four-year contract with Hapoel Be'er Sheva.[3] Five days later, he made his debut in the Israeli Premier League when he opened the team against Beitar Jerusalem at Vasermil Stadium and on 29 November scored his first goal in Hapoel Be'er Sheva in a 4–0 home win over Maccabi Netanya. In the first season of the team, and at the end of the season reached the finals of the Israel State Cup, losing to Maccabi Tel Aviv.

In the 2015–16 season he competed with Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the UEFA Europa League qualifying and even scored a goal against FC Thun from the Swiss Super League, but the team was eliminated in both games. Later in the season he scored four goals and assisted five, was part of the team's winning the State Championship and was among the candidates for the title of footballer of the season.

Entering the 2016–17 season, Ogu was ranked on Walla Sports web site as the number 1 footballer in Israel by 60 sports journalists and professionals. On 11 August 2016, Ogu won the Israel Super Cup with Hapoel Be'er Sheva after winning 4–2 against Maccabi Haifa. Later on, he faced the UEFA Champions League qualifying team and reached the playoff stage in which he was eliminated against Celtic, and as a result fell to the UEFA Europa League stage. On 28 December, Ogu and Hapoel Be'er Sheva won the Toto Cup after a 4–1 win over Ironi Kiryat Shmona in the final game. On 29 April 2017, Ogu scored the winning goal in the championship game against Maccabi Tel Aviv helping Hapoel Be'er Sheva to win the league championship for the second time in a row.

Al-Adalah

In January 2020, Ogu signed for Al-Adalah on a six-month contract. He left the club having made seven appearances.[4]

Hapoel Nof HaGalil F.C.

On 2 February 2022, Ogu returned to Israel to join newly promoted club H. Nof HaGalil until the end of the season.[5]

Maccabi Jaffa

On 30 May 2022, signed for Maccabi Jaffa.[6]

International career

In March 2013, Ogu was called up to the Nigerian national side for a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier. He debuted against Kenya in a 1–1 draw, where he was used as a substitute to replace an injured Victor Moses.[7] On 31 May, Ogu scored his first international goal against Mexico in a friendly game which took place at the Reliant Stadium in Houston. On 9 June, Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi selected Ogu as one of 23 players to participate in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.[8]

On 18 March 2015, he was called up with 27 other players for the proposed friendly matches against Bolivia and South Africa.[9]

In May 2018 he was named to Nigeria's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[10] He was included in the 23-man squad to AFCON 2019.[11]

Career statistics

Club
As of 1 June 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Other Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Drava Ptuj 2006–07 Slovenian PrvaLiga 1600000––––160[12]
2007–08 2721000––––282[12]
2008–09 2541000––––264[12]
2009–10 2922100––––313[12]
Total 978410000001019–
Atlético CP 2010–11 Campeonato de Portugal 0010––10[13]
Almería B 2010–11 Segunda División B 00000000––00[14]
2011–12 Segunda División B 00000000––00[14]
Total 000000000000–
Leiria 2011–12 Primeira Liga 1730000––––173[13]
Académica 2012–13 Primeira Liga 20120305010311 [13]
2013–14 70100000––80[13]
Total 27130305010391–
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2014–15 Israeli Premier League 3446010––––414[13]
2015–16 344305021––445[13]
2016–17 30100001311[lower-alpha 1]0442[13]
2017–18 29320401011[lower-alpha 1]0464[13]
2018–19 2412010521[lower-alpha 1]0333[13]
Total 151131301103053020818–
Al-Adalah 2019–20 Saudi Professional League 701000––––80[13]
Hapoel Nof HaGalil 2021–22 Israeli Premier League 900000––––90[13]
Maccabi Jaffa 2022–23 Liga Leumit 000000––––00[13]
Career total 308252211403554038331 –
  1. Appearances in the Israel Super Cup

International
As of 16 July 2019[15]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 2013100
201400
201520
201600
201731
201870
201930
Total251
As of 1 June 201[15]
Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ogu goal.
List of international goals scored by John Ogu
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
110 November 2017Stade Mohamed Hamlaoui, Constantine, Algeria Algeria1–01–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Hapoel Beer Sheva

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. "V. Setúbal 0–1 Académica". ZeroZero.pt. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  3. "Ogu signed contract for Hapoel Be'er Sheva". SoccerLaduma. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  4. Adewoye, Gbenga (10 September 2020). "Ogu: Nigeria midfielder's emotional farewell message as Covid-19 ends Al-Adalah career". goal.com. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  5. Iyanda, Niyi (23 January 2022). "Nigerian midfielder John Ogu returns to Israel, joins Hapoel Nof Hagalil". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  6. Goldstein, Igal (30 May 2022). "פרסום ראשון: ג'ון אוגו חתם במכבי יפו". The Sport Channel (in Hebrew). Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  7. "Nigeria VS Kenya". Fifa.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  8. "Nigeria to take new-look squad to Confederations Cup". BBC. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  9. "Ogu Happy To Be Recalled To Nigeria Set-Up". SoccerLaduma. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  10. Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  11. "Nigeria: Super Eagles' Team List for Afcon 2019". allAfrica.com. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  12. "30 John Ugochukwu Ogu". Prva liga Telekom Slovenije (in Slovenian). Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  13. John Ogu at Soccerway
  14. John Ogu at FootballDatabase.eu
  15. John Ogu at National-Football-Teams.com
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