Nedum Onuoha

Chinedum "Nedum" Onuoha (born 12 November 1986 in Warri, Nigeria, Nigeria) is an England association football. He currently plays for Manchester City F.C. and the England national under-21 football team. He is a defender, typically a centre back, but he can also play at right-back or left-back.

Career

Early and personal life

Born in Nigeria, Onuoha was raised in Manchester, England. He went to Hulme Grammar private school in Oldham for his education. An outstanding junior sprinter; aged 14 he finished in second place in the final of the 2001 English School's Athletics Association Junior 100 metres contest, clocking 11.09 seconds and beating current Great-Britain sprinter Craig Pickering.

He is also currently the co-national record holder for boys under 15 standing triple jump, in the Sports Hall events held annually throughout the UK, the record is held with international long jumper Jonathan Moore. The distance of 9.44 meters was achieved at Wigan in 2002.

Onuoha currently lives in the Middleton area of Manchester with his family.

Manchester City

Onuoha played regularly for Manchester City's reserves in the 2003–04 season, and had his first involvement with the Manchester City first team in the 2004–05 pre-season, playing in a friendly against Bury F.C.. He made his first team debut against Arsenal F.C. in the Carling Cup on 27 October 2004, at the age of 17. He made his Premier League debut as a substitute on 1 November 2004 at home to Norwich City F.C.. Though Onuoha's natural position is centre-half, manager Kevin Keegan initially played him at right back with the intention of improving his passing ability.

Onouha made 18 appearances in his debut season, but suffered a series of injuries during the 2005-06 in English football season, meaning he played only 12 games.

Due to several injuries throughout the 2006-07 in English football season, Onouha was brought into the team for several long periods of time. He soon established himself and was rewarded with a new four-year contract.

He captained the Manchester City side to a 2–1 victory over Bristol City F.C. in the Carling Cup 2nd round. He scored his first goal for City at home against Tottenham Hotspur F.C. on 16 March 2008 in a 2–1 win. On 5 April 2008 Onuoha dislocated his shoulder in a game against Chelsea F.C. and was ruled out for the remainder of the 2007-08 in English football season following surgery.

Both Onouha and Micah Richards enjoyed an injury free game in the first match in the 0-2 away win against EB/Streymur on 17th July 2008.

International career

Onuoha is a regular in the England national under-21 football team, making his debut on 12 October 2005. He was part of the squad participating in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in the Netherlands. During the Championships Onuoha was subjected to racist abuse from Serbian fans, but received praise for maintaining his conduct amid provocation. He played in each of England's four fixtures, but limped off in extra-time in the semi-final against the Netherlands national football team after all three of the permitted substitutions had been made. England went out 13-12 on penalties in the semi-final. He will be eligible for the team until the summer of 2009. He captained the England Under-21 team for the first time in a 0–0 draw with Poland national under-21 football team Under-21s.

In March 2007, Onuoha received an international callup from Nigeria national football team, but has not announced whether he wishes to represent Nigeria or England at full international level.