Desire Oparanozie
Oparanozie playing for Ataşehir Belediyespor in the 2013–14 season | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Ugochi Desire Oparanozie[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 17 December 1993||
Place of birth | Owerri, Nigeria[2] | ||
Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Guingamp | ||
Number | 9 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
??–2010 | Bayelsa Queens F.C. | ||
2010–2012 | Delta Queens F.C. | ||
2011 | → Lüleburgaz 39 Spor (loan) | ||
2012–2013 | Rossiyanka | 11 | (2) |
2013–2014 | Wolfsburg | 1 | (0) |
2014 | Ataşehir Belediyespor | 7 | (6) |
2014– | Guingamp | 106 | (45) |
International career‡ | |||
2010– | Nigeria | 35[3] | (22) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 May 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:08, 17 June 2015 (UTC) |
Ugochi Desire Oparanozie (born 17 December 1993) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a forward in the Division 1 Féminine for Guingamp and the Nigerian national team.
Club career
Oparanozie started her career at Bayelsa Queens in the Nigerian Women's Championship and moved to Delta Queens in 2010. She then spent 2 months on loan at Düvenciler Lisesispor in the Turkish Women's First Football League in 2011, before returning to Delta Queens.[4]
In 2012, she joined Rossiyanka from the Russian Women's Football Championship, with them she played four matches at the 2012–13 UEFA Women's Champions League, scoring one goal.[5]
Oparanozie joined Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg for the 2013–14 season signing a two-year contract.[6][7] In the first half of the season, she only appeared in one game, and mostly played for Wolfsburg's second team. In the winter, after half a season, she left Wolfsburg.[8] On 21 February 2014, Oparanozie transferred to Ataşehir Belediyespor to play the second half of the season in the Turkish Women's First Football League.[9]
Guingamp
For the 2014–15 she joined Guingamp of the French Division 1 Féminine,[4] where she was joined by Nigerian international captain Evelyn Nwabuoku during the following season.
Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Oparanozie was named club captain and began her leadership reign well with a win over Metz on the opening day of the season.[10]
International career
As a junior international she scored 2 goals in the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and 3 goals in the 2012 tournament.[11][12]
Oparanozie has been a regular member of the Nigerian national team since 2010, participating in the FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments of 2011, 2015, and 2019.[13][14]
In April 2019, she was named the new captain of Nigeria by coach Thomas Dennerby who praised Oparanozie for her 'discipline and good character'.[15]
Following the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, in her role as captain, she led calls for equal pay in Nigerian football citing disparity with the bonuses received by the team's male counterparts.[16]
She has also been part of the Nigerian squads of the African Women's Championship of 2010 and 2014, 2016 and 2018, winning all four tournaments. She scored crucial goals in both the 2014 and 2016 finals.[17][18]
Honours
International
Nigeria
Individual
- 2014 African Women's Championship : Golden Boot
Club
Delta Queens
- Nigerian Women's Championship: 2011, 2012
References
- ^ a b c "List of Players – 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ "Team" (in French). En Avant de Guingamp. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ "Profile". FIFA.com. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ a b "Desire Oparanozie transfers" (in German). SoccerDonna.de. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ "Player Champions League profile". UEFA. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ "Neue Angreiferin" (in German). vfl-wolfsburg.de. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ Juchem, Markus (13 June 2013). "VfL Wolfsburg verpflichtet Desire Oparanozie". WomenSoccer. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ Juchem, Markus (23 January 2014). "VfL Wolfsburg trennt sich von Desire Oparanozie". WomenSoccer. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Futbolcular-Ugochi Desire Oparanozie" (in Turkish). Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ^ "Oparanozie: Nigeria striker captains Guingamp to winning start against Metz". au.sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ "Players – Top goals". FIFA. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Players – Top goals". FIFA. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Canada and Nigeria seek consolation win". FIFA. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Oparanozie: No words to explain this feeling". FIFA. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ Saliu, Mo (12 April 2019). "Why I made Desire Oparanozie Super Falcons Captain - Dennerby". Latest Sports News In Nigeria. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ "Desire Oparanozie demands equal pay for Nigeria's women's side". 30 July 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ "African International Competitions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Nigeria reclaim African women's title". BBC Sport. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
External links
- Desire Oparanozie – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Desire Oparanozie – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Desire Oparanozie at Soccerway
- Player stats in France (in French) at statsfootofeminin.fr
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Living people
- 1993 births
- Nigerian women's footballers
- Nigeria women's international footballers
- 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- WFC Rossiyanka players
- VfL Wolfsburg (women) players
- Ataşehir Belediyespor players
- Women's association football forwards
- Division 1 Féminine players
- En Avant de Guingamp (women) players
- People from Owerri
- 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- Frauen-Bundesliga players
- Nigerian expatriate women's footballers
- Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
- Expatriate women's footballers in Turkey
- Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Russia
- Expatriate women's footballers in Russia
- Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
- Expatriate women's footballers in Germany
- Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in France
- Expatriate women's footballers in France
- Delta Queens F.C. players
- Bayelsa Queens F.C. players