Shola Ameobi

Foluwashola "Shola" Ameobi (born October 12, 1981 in Zaria, Nigeria) is an England-Nigerian football (soccer) player. He currently plays for Newcastle United F.C. in the FA Premier League as a striker. He has spent his entire career at the club.

Career

Ameobi started out with the Walker Central Youth Team in Newcastle, for whom he was spotted playing by a Newcastle United scout at the age of thirteen. After initially struggling to come to terms with the standard, Ameobi started to excel and made rapid strides towards the first team. He is currently number 23 at Newcastle and a regular face on the starting lineup.

Ameobi signed for the Newcastle United Academy on July 1, 1995, but did not make his debut for the senior team until five years later, September 9, 2000, in a home game against Chelsea F.C.. He made 22 appearances for Newcastle that season, aided by injuries to then first choice strike partnership Alan Shearer and Carl Cort.

His erratic form has earned him some criticism in the past, and although never having been claimed as a prolific goalscorer, his goals to games ratio, up to Christmas 2005 was just 34 goals from 186 Newcastle United appearances, although many of these appearances have been from the substitutes bench. However due to circumstances in the latter stages of the 2005-06 in English football campaign gave Shola a regular starting place, and the player returned the favour with six goals in Newcastle's last twelve premiership games.

In the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup, Ameobi scored twice in Newcastle's away tie at Lillestrøm S.K], taking him to second place in the club's table of leading goalscorers in European competition with twelve goals, behind only Alan Shearer.

Ameobi needed a hip operation because the injury has been plaguing him for the past two seasons. However due to Newcastle's shortage of match fit First team strikers during last season, had forced him to be postpone this much needed operation. This caused his team-mates to reportedly carry him through to the January transfer window where the Magpies could strenghten their Striking options. But the problem eventually forced Glenn Roeder to send Ameobi away for surgery two months before the Transfer Window, making the 0-0 draw away game to Manchester City his last game and so unavailable for the rest of the 2006-07 season. Shola had made 13 appearances (3 as a substitute) and scored 5 goals.

Ameobi and the Newcastle medical team reported his hip operation in the United States and making a further two appearances.