Samuel Chukwueze

Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze (// (listen); born 22 May 1999) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Villarreal and the Nigeria national team.

Samuel Chukwueze
Chukwueze with Villarreal in 2018
Personal information
Full name Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze
Date of birth (1999-05-22) 22 May 1999
Place of birth Amaokwe Ugba Ibeku, Abia State, Nigeria
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Villarreal
Number 11
Youth career
Future Hope
New Generation Academy
2012–2017 Diamond Football Academy
2017–2018 Villarreal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018 Villarreal B 20 (4)
2018– Villarreal 151 (21)
International career‡
2015 Nigeria U17 7 (3)
2018– Nigeria 27 (4)
Honours
Representing  Nigeria
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:25, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:09, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

Early life and education

Chukwueze was born in Amaokwe Ugba Ibeku, Abia State.[2] He is of Igbo descent and was brought up in a Christian family with a younger brother and a younger sister. He attended Government College Umuahia and Evangel Secondary School. He started playing football at the age of 8 and he admired Jay-Jay Okocha as his football idol growing up.[3]

Club career

Chukwueze joined Villarreal CF's prolific youth setup in 2017, from local side Diamond Football Academy.[4] After being initially assigned to the club's Juvenil A squad, he made his senior debut with the reserves on 15 April 2018, coming on as a second-half substitute for Sergio Lozano in a 1–1 Segunda División B away draw against CE Sabadell FC.

Chukwueze scored his first senior goal on 20 May 2018, netting his team's second in a 3–2 away defeat of Bilbao Athletic. He contributed with two goals in 11 appearances during his first season, as his side missed out promotion in the play-offs.

Chukwueze made his first-team debut on 20 September 2018, replacing Nicola Sansone in a 2–2 home draw against Rangers, for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.[5] He also made his league debut on 5 November 2018, playing a 90-minute full play in a 1–1 home draw against Levante, for the 2018–19 La Liga.

In April 2019, he won the Nigeria Football Federation's 2018 Young Player of the Year award.[6]

On 12 April 2022, in the second leg of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League quarter-final away to Bayern Munich, Chukwueze scored the equaliser in the 88th minute, helping Villarreal progress to the semi-finals of the tournament.[7]

On 8 April 2023, Chukwueze scored a brace and recorded an assist against Real Madrid in a 3–2 away victory.[8]

International career
Samuel Chukwueze with Nwakali U17 World Cup MVP award with Hon. Victor Apugo and Kelechi Nwakali with Samuel's U17 World 2015 Chile Most Valuable Player Award
Chukwueze holding the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup Bronze Boot

After playing for Nigeria at under-17 level, he received his first call-up to the senior team in October 2018.[9] He made his debut for the Nigerian senior team on 20 November 2018 as a starter in a 0–0 friendly draw against Uganda.[10][11]

In May 2019, Chukwueze was invited to represent Nigeria's senior team at the Africa Cup of Nations and the Under-20 team at the Under-20 World Cup. However, Villarreal said he could only play in one of the tournaments.[12] He ultimately decided to take part with Nigerian's senior squad for Africa Cup of Nations hosted in Egypt[13] and scored his first senior goal in Nigeria's 2–1 win over South Africa in the quarter finals.[14]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 13 May 2023[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Copa del Rey Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Villarreal B 2017–18 Segunda División B 112——112
2018–19 92——92
Total 204——204
Villarreal 2018–19 La Liga 265329[lower-alpha 1]1388
2019–20 37341—414
2020–21 2841011[lower-alpha 1]1405
2021–22 273229[lower-alpha 2]2387
2022–23 336449[lower-alpha 3]34613
Total 1512114938720337
Career total 1712514938722341
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International
As of match played 27 March 2023[16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 201810
2019122
202041
202120
202261
202320
Total274
Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Chukwueze goal.
List of international goals scored by Samuel Chukwueze[16]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
110 July 2019Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt South Africa1–02–12019 Africa Cup of Nations
217 November 2019Setsoto Stadium, Maseru, Lesotho Lesotho2–14–22021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
313 November 2020Ogbe Stadium, Benin City, Nigeria Sierra Leone4–04–42021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
415 January 2022Roumdé Adjia Stadium, Garoua, Cameroon Sudan1–03–12021 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Villarreal

Nigeria U17

Individual

References
  1. "Samuel Chukwueze". Villarreal CF. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  2. "Samuel Chukwueze: Gịnị ka ị ma maka onye a na-ekwu na ọ bụ 'ọkacha agba na Super Eagles ugbua'?" [Samuel Chukwueze: What do you know about the person who is said to be 'the best in the Super Eagles now'?] (in Igbo). BBC Sport. 26 June 2019.
  3. "Chukwueze: Villarreal winger reveals Okocha admiration". Goal.com. 4 September 2019.
  4. "Samuel Chukwueze signs 5 years Contract with Villarreal FC". Diamond Football Academy. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  5. "Samuel Chukwueze makes Villarreal debut in Rangers stalemate". Goal.com. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  6. Okeleji, Oluwashina (2 April 2019). "'Motivated' Samuel Chukwueze wins award ahead of Osimhen and Onyekuru". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  7. "Villarreal's Samu Chuckwueze scores late goal to stun Bayern Munich". The Guardian. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  8. "Real Madrid crash to Villarreal defeat as title chances fall further away". ESPN. 8 April 2023.
  9. Okeleji, Oluwashina (6 November 2018). "Injury forces Francis Uzoho to withdraw from Nigeria squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  10. "Nigeria v Uganda game report". ESPN. 20 November 2018.
  11. Okeleji, Oluwashina (22 November 2018). "Samuel Chukwueze: Youngster says Nigeria debut fulfils a dream". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  12. Okeleji, Oluwashina (7 May 2019). "Samuel Chukwueze: Villarreal winger facing Nigeria dilemma". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  13. Okeleji, Oluwashina (9 June 2019). "Africa Cup of Nations: Iheanacho left out of Nigeria squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  14. Benson, Max (10 July 2019). "Nigeria 2-1 Bafana - last-gasp goal as South Africa crash out of Afcon 2019". The South African. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  15. "S. Chukwueze". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  16. Samuel Chukwueze at National-Football-Teams.com
  17. "Chukwueze wins Europa League title with Villarreal as Man Utd's trophy drought continues | Ripples Nigeria". www.ripplesnigeria.com. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  18. FIFA.com. "FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 - Matches - Mali - Nigeria - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  19. "Awardees at DFA End of Year Party". Diamond Football Academy Official Website. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  20. "Samuel Chukwueze Turns 18 today". Diamond Football Academy Official Website. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
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