Chidi Odia is quite famous, already completed his career as a Nigerian football player, who is known to many for his performances for CSKA. Although he started, of course, with a club in his homeland. What was his path to success? What trophies did he win? This is now worth a little more detail.
early years
Chidi Odia was born in 1983, December 17, in the city of Port Harcourt. It is about 500 kilometers from Lagos, Nigeria's largest metropolis.
Before he was born, Odia disturbed his mother, constantly “jumping” and moving his legs as if he was hitting the ball. The boy became the sixth child in the family. In addition to him, there were already three brothers and two sisters, as well as grandparents. They lived poorly - their parents worked a lot, but all the money went only to ensure basic needs.
The boy began to get involved in football early. From morning to night, he chased the ball with his friends, dividing into teams of 5 people. Instead of a field, they had a roadway for the game. And instead of the prize - recognition of the losing team that the winners are cooler.
The young man was addicted to football, the school faded into the background, and this did not suit his father. He wanted Odia to study “perfectly”, and then became a businessman. He shouted at the young man, tried to convince, even flogged. But he still played football.
Passion became more serious. The guys have already played in the format "street to street", organized the championships of the area. And it was at such an event that Chidi Odia was spotted by representatives of the local Eagle Cement FC (now called Dolphins).
He was then 15 years old. And he immediately broke into the Nigerian Premier League, immediately becoming a player in the main team. In one season, he spent 28 matches, scored 3 goals. This was his starry start.
Transfer scam
Incomplete season Chidi Odia, whose photo is presented in the article, played in the club "Julius Berger" from Lagos. He spent 10 matches and scored 1 goal, and then he received an offer from Europe.
In theory, the young man was supposed to fly to Russia, play for one of the clubs playing in the Premier League. But it turned out that everything was completely wrong! The agent decided to trick Chidi Odia. Yes, he said that the footballer will conclude a contract with the Russian club, but in fact he was bought by the Moldavian “Sheriff” from Tiraspol.
At the expense of the Nigerian club received $ 40,000. Football player Chidi Odia left the country as her champion, and Sheriff made an excellent, profitable deal. The defender learned about the perfect scam after arriving in Moldova.
Life in Moldova
Chidi Odia did not rebel. He did not care whether Russia or Moldova was the main thing that he ended up in Europe. After all, there are so many opportunities, unlike Nigeria.
But, of course, at first it was not easy for him. The difficulties of legionary life have made themselves felt. For almost a year he adapted to everyday realities, living on the basis of a team, and then he was given an apartment.
The young footballer began to study Russian, and independently. It turned out that his abilities are excellent. Strengthening the theory by watching Russian films and listening to our music, he spoke.
The youth liked the Tiraspol club, and the relations in the team were excellent. A quick, easy-to-play defender who is doing the unthinkable on the field, quickly fell in love with the fans. Even though his discipline was sometimes lame.
Career at Sheriff
In the Moldavian club, footballer Chidi Odia progressed and gained confidence. He became an excellent flank defender, able to maintain a balance between attack and defense. His unpredictability and adventurism became meaningful, and this confused opponents even more.
We can say that for 4 years spent in the club, he occupied the right edge, making him a zone of stability and security.
In total, he played 58 matches in the national league, scoring 5 goals. Together with the Sheriff, the young man became the four-time champion of Moldova, twice won the Cup of the country and once the Super Bowl. And in 2003, he and the team won the Commonwealth Champions Cup.
Then representatives of CSKA became interested in him. They followed the Nigerian defender for another year, and then made a transfer offer to the Sheriff. The transition was facilitated by Leonid Istrati, the player’s agent. He provided people from CSKA with a video - a cut with the best moments of a Nigerian game.
As a result, the Moscow club paid Sheriff more than $ 1 million for Chidi. This was the first time in the history of football when CSKA acquired a player from Nigeria.
Relocation to Russia
In CSKA, Chidi Odia settled quickly, since he already knew Russian. He quickly made friends with everyone, especially with Yuri Zhirkov. But he did not know how to swim. I had to quickly learn, as the “army men" performed a considerable part of the exercises in the pool.
The debut of the defender took place on April 7, 2004. When Arthur George was replaced by Valery Gazzayev, the potential of Chidi was revealed to the full. He became free, became a winger. His popularity grew along with productivity. He was not only a good football player, but also a fun guy: he funny celebrated goals scored, wore stylish braids and two pairs of watches (on some Russian time, and on the other - Nigerian).
He played for the Moscow club from 2004 to 2012. He became a two-time champion of Russia, five times won the Cup of the country, three times - the Super Bowl. And in the 2004/05 season, CSKA managed to take the UEFA Cup. But not everything went smoothly in the career of a defender.
Injury and recent years
Continuing to talk about the life and biography of Chidi Odia, it should be noted that on March 22, 2006, the footballer felt discomfort in his knee. Without paying attention to this, he continued training, and because of this, his cruciate ligaments could not stand it.
He had an operation. The injury almost put an end to his career - Chidi was recovering for 7 months. But still returned to the field.
However, after 7 workouts, he again felt discomfort. It turned out complications. Again I had to do the operation. In 2007, he spent only 100 minutes on the field.
In 2008, Chidi returned again. Yes, he avoided dangerous joints, and did not play so eagerly, but he showed the result.
In 2009, Leonid Slutsky came to CSKA. He put Alexei Berezutsky and Kirill Nababkin on the right flank. And then the club president also said that Chidi, who had been absent for almost a year, would not be able to play at the same level.
In 2012, the contract was terminated by mutual agreement. In total, the defender spent 151 matches for CSKA and scored 5 goals.
Where is he now? What does he do? Rumors were different about this. The latest news was in February 2017. Then it was said that Chidi was in Belgium, and wanted to engage in agent activities to help Nigerian football players move to European teams.