Benedict Akwuegbu
Personal information
Full name	Benedict Akwuegbu
Date of birth	3 November 1974 (1974-11-03) (age 35)
Place of birth	Lagos, Nigeria
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Basingstoke Town
Number	34
Youth career
1989-1991	Jos Highlanders
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991-1992 1992-1993 1994-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-2002 2002 2002-2004 2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006 2006 2006-2007 2007 2008 2009-	RC Lens K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst Harelbeke Waregem Tienen Grazer AK Shenyang Ginde (loan) Grazer AK Karnten St. Gallen Wacker Innsbruck Siegen Tianjin (loan) Panserraikos Qingdao Beijing Hongdeng Basingstoke Town	25 (9) 49 (17) 20 (10) 27 (9) 100 (31) 18 (5) 20 (8) 14 (7) 12 (4) 11 (0) 10 (1) 8 (4) 10 (3) 21 (6)
National team2
2000-2005	Nigeria	30 (8)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:26, 30 April 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 11:26, 30 April 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Benedict Akwuegbu (born 3 November 1974) is a Nigerian football striker, who plays for English side Basingstoke Town.

He played for Nigeria national football team and was a 2002 FIFA World Cup participant.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Akwuegbu started his career at the age of 15 in Nigeria before moving to French outfit RC Lens at the age of 17.^[1] Then he spent five years in Belgium with KRC Harelbeke, KSV Waregem, KVK Tienen. Austrian side Grazer AK signed him after the 1998 season.

[edit] Grazer AK

Grazer AK won the Austrian Cup and Austrian Supercup in 2000 and 2002 and the league title in 2004 with his good performance. He won the Best Forieign Player and nicknamed "Austrian Bomber" by the press.^[2] He played in 20 European games as he scored 12 including some remarkable goals. He attracted several German Bundesliga clubs like Hamburg SV and FC Kaiserslautern.^[3] However Grazer AK refused the offer from Kaiserslautern.

[edit] Qingdao Janoon

In April 2007, Akwuegbu was signed by Qingdao Jonoon. He scored his first goal for Qingdao on 13th of May 2007, an 84 minute equalizer in 3-2 lose away at shanghai schenhua. In a 2-1 home win against Henan Jianye on 19th of May 2007. Qingdao Jonoon went on to win the match with a spectacular strike from Benedict Akwuegbu. In 39 minute, earning him a man of the match award. Qingdao Janoon boss, Yin Tiesheng spoke very high about him and his performance in the media, Akwuegbu become one of the most consistent player in Qingdao squad. He was a vital part in Qingdao attack throughout the campaign and notched 6 goals in 20 games. Akwuegbu had an excellent season and was favorite of Qingdao Janoon fans. Many Qingdao fans acknowledge Akwuegbu's excellent skills and strong on the ball. He was legendary in the city of Qingdao.

[edit] Basingstoke Town

Benedict has now joined Basingstoke Town in the Conference South.

[edit] International career

Akwuegbu was selected to U-16 World Cup Final squad in 1989 hosted by Scotland.^[4] However he never had the chance to play as sitting on the bench in all four matches without substitution. Nigeria was beaten by eventual winner Saudi Arabia at the quarter-final stage. He also played for the U-20 national side.^[2]

In 2000, his success in Austria made him joining the Africa Cup of Nations tournament which he played his first international game against Tunisia. With his progress in the team he was involved in the 2002 World Cup Qualifier and scoring two goals in the process, His performance made him selected to the 2002 World Cup Final squad. He played the only World Cup game against England.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Grazer AK

• Austrian Bundesliga
  • Winner: 2004
  • Runner-up: 2003
• Austrian Cup
  • Winner: 2000, 2002
• Austrian Supercup
  • Winner: 2000, 2002

[edit] International

• Africa Cup of Nations
  • Runner-up: 2000

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.sinosoc.com/match/playerDetail.asp?id=1163
• http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_worldcup.asp?HeroID=22890
• http://www.footballplus.com/players/16841/Benedict-Akwuegbu.html
• http://old.hki.uni-koeln.de/studium/oldPS/ws0001/obiora/players_profile.html
• http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=3991/index.html

v • d • e Nigeria squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Shorunmu • 2 Yobo • 3 Babayaro • 4 Kanu • 5 Okoronkwo • 6 West • 7 Ikedia • 8 Adepoju • 9 Ogbeche • 10 Okocha • 11 Lawal • 12 Ejide • 13 Afolabi • 14 Udeze • 15 Justice • 16 Sodje • 17 Aghahowa • 18 Akwuegbu • 19 Ejiofor • 20 Obiorah • 21 Utaka • 22 Enyeama • 23 Opabunmi • Coach: Onigbinde