Innocent Emeghara

Innocent Emeghara
Emeghara with Switzerland in 2012
Personal information
Full name Innocent Nkasiobi Emeghara
Date of birth (1989-05-27) 27 May 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
2002–2003 FC Töss 1906
2003–2006 Winterthur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2009 Zürich II 47 (16)
2009–2010 Winterthur 28 (17)
2010–2011 Grasshoppers 40 (14)
2011–2013 Lorient 28 (5)
2013–2014 Siena 17 (7)
2013–2014 → Livorno (loan) 30 (4)
2014–2015 Qarabağ 8 (5)
2015–2016 San Jose Earthquakes 13 (1)
2017–2018 Ermis 28 (9)
2018–2019 Qarabağ 11 (5)
2019–2020 Fatih Karagümrük 31 (7)
2020–2021 FC Winterthur 15 (1)
International career‡
2011 Switzerland U21 8 (5)
2012 Switzerland Olympic 4 (1)
2011–2013 Switzerland 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 March 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2013

Innocent Nkasiobi Emeghara (born 27 May 1989) is a retired Swiss professional footballer who played most commonly as a striker.

Club career

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, his mother moved to Switzerland when Emeghara was 11, and joined with them two years later. He started playing football as a means to "cope with the language barrier and cold temperatures".[1] He began his senior career with FC Zürich's reserves aged only 17, going on to represent FC Winterthur and Grasshopper Club Zürich; on 20 August 2011, whilst at the service of the latter, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–3 away win against Servette FC, which meant he led the Super League's scoring charts at five in only six games.[2]

On 31 August 2011, Emeghara was sold to FC Lorient in France. He made his debut in Ligue 1 on 10 September, coming on as a substitute for Mathias Autret in a 1–1 draw at FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and netting the equalizer two minutes from time.[3] He scored four more league goals until the end of his first season, adding two in the Coupe de la Ligue.

In January 2013, Emeghara moved teams and countries again, joining Italian side A.C. Siena.[4] He scored four goals in as many matches to kickstart his Serie A career, including a brace in a 3–0 home success over S.S. Lazio on 18 February;[5] his team, however, finally suffered relegation after ranking second from bottom.

For the 2013–2014 campaign, Emeghara continued in Italy's top flight, being loaned to A.S. Livorno Calcio.[6][7] On 31 March 2014, he contributed with one goal to help the hosts come from behind to tie it 2–2 with Inter Milan.[8]

In July 2014, Emeghara became a free agent after Siena went into liquidation.[9] On 11 October he signed a three-year contract with Azerbaijan Premier League side FK Qarabağ,[10] but left on 5 January of the following year and began training with Winterthur,[11] before going on trial with HSV Hamburg the following week.[12]

Late into January 2015, Emeghara joined the San Jose Earthquakes.[13] He made his debut in the Major League Soccer on 8 March, playing one minute in a 0–1 away loss against FC Dallas.[14]

On 24 July 2018, Emeghara returned to Qarabağ on a two-year deal from Ermis Aradippou FC,[15] but was released early from his contract by mutual consent on 13 May 2019.[16]

In October 2020, after he trained already three weeks with the club, Emeghara signed a two-year contract at his home-based club FC Winterthur, where he launched his career back in 2010.[17] His contract with Winterthur was terminated by the club in July 2021.[18] He consequently retired from professional football.

International career

Emeghara opted to represent Switzerland internationally, and he made his debut on 4 June 2011 by playing one minute in a 2–2 draw in England for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers.[19]

In that same year, he helped the under-21 team finish second at the 2011 UEFA European Championship, scoring in the 2–0 group stage win against Iceland.[20] He represented the country at the 2012 Summer Olympics, netting in the 1–2 group phase defeat by South Korea.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 11 September 2021[22][23][24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Zürich II 2006–07 Swiss 1. Liga 6 2 – – – 6 2
2007–08 15 5 – – – 15 5
2008–09 26 9 – – – 26 9
Total 47 16 - - - - - - 47 16
Winterthur 2009–10 Swiss Challenge League 28 17 3 5 – – – 31 22
Grasshoppers 2010–11 Swiss Super League 33 9 4 1 – 2[a] 0 – 39 10
2011–12 7 5 0 0 – – – 7 5
Total 40 14 4 1 - - 2 0 - - 46 15
Lorient 2011–12 Ligue 1 27 5 1 0 3 2 – – 31 7
2012–13 1 0 0 0 0 0 – – 1 0
Total 28 5 1 0 3 2 - - - - 32 7
Siena 2012–13 Serie A 17 7 0 0 – – – 17 7
2013–14 Serie B 0 0 0 0 – – – 0 0
Total 17 7 0 0 - - - - - - 17 7
Livorno (loan) 2013–14 Serie A 30 4 0 0 – – – 30 4
Qarabağ 2014–15 Azerbaijan Premier League 7 4 1 1 – 0 0 0 0 8 5
San Jose Earthquakes 2015 Major League Soccer 7 1 0 0 – – – 7 1
2016 6 0 1 0 – – – 7 0
Total 13 1 1 0 - - - - - - 14 1
Ermis 2017–18 Cypriot First Division 28 9 2 0 – – – 30 9
Qarabağ 2018–19 Azerbaijan Premier League 11 5 0 0 – 7[b] 0 – 18 5
Fatih Karagümrük 2019–20 TFF First League 31 7 1 0 – – – 32 7
Winterthur 2020–21 Swiss Challenge League 15 1 0 0 – – – 15 1
Career total 295 90 13 7 3 2 9 0 0 0 320 99
  1. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of 23 March 2013[25]
Switzerland
Year Apps Goals
2011 5 0
2012 3 0
2013 1 0
Total 9 0

References

  1. ^ "Innocent Emeghara, coupable d'être très doué" [Innocent Emeghara, guilty of being very gifted]. Tribune de Genève (in French). 20 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Xamax marque enfin et bat Zurich. Servette perd" [Xamax score at last and beat Zurich. Servette lose] (in French). Radio Télévision Suisse. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Sochaux privé de réussite" [Sochaux deprived of success]. Le Figaro (in French). 10 September 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Agra ed Emeghara in bianconero, depositati i contratti" [Agra and Emeghara in white-and-blue, contracts deposited] (in Italian). A.C. Siena. 25 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Emeghara, "serial buteur" face à la Lazio" [Emeghara, "serial scorer" against Lazio] (in French). Radio Télévision Suisse. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Emeghara ceduto al Livorno" [Emeghara loaned to Livorno] (in Italian). A.C. Siena. 27 August 2013. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Official: Livorno sign Emeghara". Football Italia. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  8. ^ "Inter let lead slip in Livorno". ESPN FC. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  9. ^ "West Ham close to signing out-of-contract Swiss international". Brentwood Gazette. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Emeghara rəsmən 'Qarabağ'da" [Emeghara joins Qarabağ] (in Azerbaijani). FK Qarabağ. 11 October 2014. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Medienberichte & Klubnews zur Rückrunde" [Media reports and club news for second part of season] (in German). FC Winterthur. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Innocent Emeghara on trial at Hamburg". Vavel. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Quakes sign Innocent Emeghara as third designated player". San Jose Earthquakes. 31 January 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  14. ^ "San Jose Earthquakes vs. FC Dallas match report: Blas Perez stoppage time goal gives Hoops 1–0 win". SB Nation. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  15. ^ ""QARABAĞ"IMIZDAN NÖVBƏTİ TRANSFER" [Last transfer from Qarabağ] (in Azerbaijani). Qarabağ FK. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "Üç futbolçu ilə yollar ayrıldı". qarabagh.com/ (in Azerbaijani). Qarabağ fk. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  17. ^ "FCW verpflichtet Innocent Emeghara" (in Swiss High German). FC Winterthur. 5 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  18. ^ "Vertrag vorzeitig aufgelöst – Innocent Emeghara verlässt den FC Winterthur". Der Landbote. 26 July 2021.
  19. ^ "England fight back to deny Switzerland". UEFA. 4 June 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  20. ^ "Swiss surge continues with defeat of Iceland". UEFA. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  21. ^ "Innocent Emeghara". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  22. ^ "I.Emeghara". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Innocent Emeghara". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Innocent EMEGHARA" (in French). Ligue 1. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  25. ^ "Innocent Emeghara". European Football. Retrieved 13 October 2015.