Perpetua Nkwocha

Perpetua Ijeoma Nkwocha (born 3 January 1976) is a Nigerian female professional footballer, who is the coach of Clemensnäs IF from Swedish Women's Football Division 2, she previously played for Swedish club Sunnanå SK. She was also a member and formerly the captain of the Nigeria women's national football team.

Perpetua Nkwocha

Nwocha in May 2013
Personal information
Full name	Perpetua Ijeoma Nkwocha[1]
Date of birth	3 January 1976[2]
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Clemensnäs IF (coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2014	Sunnanå SK	139**	(65**)
National team^‡
1999–2015	Nigeria	99[3]	(80)
Teams managed
2015–	Clemensnäs IF
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:41, 29 June 2015 (UTC) **From 2008–2014 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15:56, 17 June 2015 (UTC)

International career

With the Nigeria national team Nkwocha has participated in seven CAF Women's Championship editions (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014), winning five of them (2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014). At the 2004 African Women's Championship, she scored four goals in the final against Cameroon to help her country win the title. She also set a record by scoring nine overall goals during the tournament, and was named the best player of the tournament.[4] Nkwocha was voted African Women's Footballer of the Year in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011 by Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Nkwocha has also participated in four FIFA Women's World Cup (2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015), as well as the Olympic tournaments of Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008.

Club career

She played for Swedish side Sunnanå SK in both the top division (Damallsvenskan) and the second division (Elitettan) leagues from 2007 until 2014.

In June 2008, the BBC reported that Nkwocha had announced her plans to retire in two years, and that after doing so she wants to continue to be involved in football by becoming a coach.[4] As of 2012 she was still playing in Sweden's second-tier league.[5]

Ahead of the 2015 season, 39-year-old Nkwocha left Sunnanå to join lower division (4th tier) Clemensnäs IF in a player-coach role.[6] She spent part of the previous season coaching boys' football in Nigeria, but wanted to settle in Sweden after taking Swedish citizenship.[7]

Personal life

Nkwocha is in partnership with former Turkey based Çanakkale Dardanelspor professional striker and now by Piteå IF playing Ghanaian footballer Justice Tetteh Komey.[8]

Honours

International

Nigeria

• African Women's Championship (5): 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014

Individual

• African Women's Footballer of the Year (4): 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011
• African Women's Championship Top goalscorer (3): 2004, 2006, 2010

References

1. "List of Players – 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
2. "List of Players – 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
3. "Profile". FIFA.com. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7479616.stm
5. "Soccerway profile". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
6. ""Peppe" blir tränare" (in Swedish). Damfotboll.com. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
7. "Sunnanå tappar "Peppe"" (in Swedish). Damfotboll.com. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
8. "FF har gjort klart med Tetteh Komey". Norran. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.

External links

• Perpetua Nkwocha – FIFA competition record
• Pictures of Perpetua receiving African Women Player of the Year award in 2004
• Perpetua Nkwocha at SvFF (in Swedish) (archive)
• Perpetua Nkwocha at Clemensnäs IF at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-03-04) (in Swedish)
• Perpetua Nkwocha at Soccerway