Nkiru Okosieme Explained

Nkiru Okosieme
Fullname:Nkiru Doris Okosieme
Birth Date:1 March 1972
Birth Place:Nigeria
Height:1.67 m
Position:Midfielder
Collegeyears1:2000
College1:King Tornado
Collegeyears2:2001–2004
College2:Clayton State Lakers
Clubs1:S.C. Imo State
Clubs2:Rivers Angels
Years3:2000–2005
Clubs3:Charlotte Lady Eagles
Nationalyears1:1991–2003
Nationalteam1:Nigeria

Nkiru Doris "NK" Okosieme (born 1 March 1972) is a former captain of the Nigeria women's national football team who played as a midfielder.

She played across four FIFA Women's World Cups (1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003), several African Women Cup of Nations and 2000 Summer Olympics.[1] Okosieme was nicknamed "The Headmistress" for her habit of scoring important goals with her head.[2]

Career

Okosieme captained Nigeria at the inaugural 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup while still a teenager. She played the full 80 minutes in all three of Nigeria's defeats, while attached to the S.C. Imo State club.[3]

At the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Okosieme was playing for Rivers Angels.[4] Before the tournament she declared: "We no longer have an inferiority complex".[5] She scored three goals in four games as Nigeria reached the quarter-finals, losing 4–3 to Brazil. Okosieme enjoyed playing in America so much that she joined USL W-League club Charlotte Lady Eagles and enrolled at university, where she played college soccer.[6] The W-league is the highest level for women's soccer in U.S. today. In 2001, "NK" was the second highest goal scorer in NCAA Div II. She has won the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year, and in the All-Regional team for four years. She was also a NSCAA All-American.

Okosieme has won the Africa Women Cup of Nations with the "Super Falcons" on three occasions in 1998, 2000, 2002 .

Her brother Ndubuisi Okosieme was also an international footballer.[7]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.fifa.com/olympics/2000/teams/OFT_2000_WOMEN_v3.txt FIFA.com
  2. News: Sadjere . Clement . Top 4 Female Nigerian Footballers and Their Nicknames . E-Zine Articles . 12 January 2011.
  3. Web site: FIFA Women's World Cup China '91 – Technical Report & Statistics . https://web.archive.org/web/20111227003624/http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/technicaldevp/50/08/19/wwc%5f91%5ftr%5fpart2%5f260.pdf . dead . 27 December 2011 . . 19 June 2016 . 82 .
  4. Web site: OKOSIEME Nkiru . . 19 June 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20010210235116/http://wwc99.fifa.com/english/individuals/player171008.html . 10 February 2001.
  5. News: USA 1999: Nigeria . 19 June 2016 . SoccerTimes.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20160314093830/http://www.soccertimes.com/worldcup/1999/capsules/nigeria.htm . 14 March 2016 . dead .
  6. News: Jones . Grahame . U.S. Is a Shoe-in for Bronze . https://web.archive.org/web/20160813020232/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/oct/12/sports/sp-wwcthirdplace12/2 . dead . 13 August 2016 . 19 June 2016 . . 12 October 2003.
  7. Web site: Ndubuisi Okosieme: Abuja's Garincha . allAfrica.com . 19 June 2016 . 22 April 2002 . Babajide . Otitoju . 24 January 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030124053442/http://allafrica.com/stories/200204220536.html.